Ministerial Search

Profile of Minister We are Seeking

The 1st Unitarian Church of Sioux City seeks a minister who will:

• exercise an open, creative ability to recognize the need for, and then to develop appropriate spiritual, ethical, and intellectual concepts and insights though Sunday services presented in a stimulating and challenging manner;
• enhance and increase the awareness and visible presence of the First Unitarian Church of Sioux City as well as Unitarian Universalist Principles within the Siouxland community-at-large, while promoting growth in both congregational numbers and resources.
• foster fellowship and community within our congregation by combining professional competence in communication and empathetic counsel with strong reliability of character.

Mission Statement

• To provide an evolving dynamic religious community, open to all, to celebrate and respect diversity and diverse spirituality.
• To learn from, empathize with, and encourage people in their personal spiritual quest.
• To act upon our Unitarian Universalist principles in a responsible search for truth and social justice.

Profile of Our Congregation

The First Unitarian Church of Sioux City is a 119 year old, 70 member, evolving dynamic Midwestern Congregation, committed to growth and dedicated to social witness and community action. Although our individual member’s personal religious beliefs range from atheism, to earth centered spirituality and traditional theism, the majority of the congregation identify themselves, to at least some degree, as humanist. Diverse as we are, our member’s agree that celebrating common values, intellectual stimulation and spiritual growth are the primary reasons they continue to attend church.

Our church has been without a permanent full-time minister since 1995. Consequently, our lay-leadership has become self-organizing and pro-active in addressing congregational issues and challenges, as well as in handling the day to day workings of the church. Within the past nine years, we’ve evolved from a congregation of individuals who approached dilemmas asking, “Why doesn’t somebody do something?”, into an empowered religious community, nurturing each other and taking responsibility for our own needs.

We became a designated Welcoming Congregation April 23, 2000. Earlier that church year, with the facilitation of our consulting minister, we developed our current Missions Statement. At that time, Action Steps for carrying out our mission were also written which are reviewed and updated annually. Community Building is very important to us, as is sustaining and enriching our liberal religious voice within the greater Siouxland area. With 72% of our members over the age of 50, we are acutely aware of the importance of congregational growth in order to achieve these goals. We look forward to hiring a minister who can provide us with additional spiritual leadership, while facilitating our lay-leadership in attaining our goals.