The Unitarian Universalist church's broken ministry system
And what congregations and UUs can do about it
Ministers play an essential role in the health and vitality of churches and congregations. They serve as spiritual leaders, pastoral caregivers, theologians, and organizational managers. National leaders of a church are usually ministers. When a church's ministry and ministry systems falter, it can lead to dysfunction, conflict, and membership loss.
Today, the Unitarian Universalist church faces a ministerial crisis that threatens the church’s longterm stability and the well-being of many congregations. This article explores the core challenges and offers guidance on what congregations can do to address them.
The Problem: A Doctrinaire National Church Producing Illiberal and Ill-trained Ministers
Unitarian Universalism has long been celebrated as a church grounded in openness, curiosity, and respect for diverse viewpoints. However, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), the UU seminaries, and national ministerial organizations have increasingly embraced a rigid, dogmatic approach that departs from these core values.
Many new ministers are more focused on radical political activism than fostering spiritual growth, often imposing their views on congregations instead of nurturing open, pluralistic communities. Several top national church leaders are political and ideological extremists who question the value of basic liberal principles such as freedom of belief and expression, individual liberty, logical inquiry, and the worth and dignity of everyone.
A notable example of this shift was the infamous "White Ministers Letter," signed by hundreds of UU ministers, which publicly shamed and ad hominem attacked a minister for writing a book critical of the UUA. This incident revealed a rotten-to-the-core culture of intolerance, hypocrisy, and groupthink, with many ministers jumping on the pile-on bandwagon even though they had not read the book, and others privately expressing that they felt pressured to sign. It is questionable if those who signed the letter are fit to be ministers in a liberal church.
The Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA) and the Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) have enforced this groupthink by maintaining strict ideological control over ministers. The UU seminaries have become focused on creating progressive social justice activists not liberal ministers, with one graduate stating that critical race theory is "pounded into" the students. Another minister wrote that congregants would be shocked at how little the UU seminaries instruct future ministers about organizational management.
This narrow focus leaves many ministers ill-equipped for the practical tasks of ministering to liberal congregations with diverse membership. Those ministers who feel dissatisfied with the current political and philosophical direction are often afraid to speak up, fearing professional repercussions.
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The Impact on Congregations
The rise of too many ill-trained, illiberal, and doctrinaire ministers has caused great harm to many congregations. These ministers often prioritize promoting the UUA's political agenda over fostering spiritual growth and acceptance of viewpoint diversity, leading to division, silenced dissent, and a lack of genuine engagement with congregants. Many congregants report that discussions on national church issues are stifled at their congregations by indoctrinated ministers, creating a climate where open dialogue is no longer welcome.
This approach has contributed to membership loss and division in countless congregations. In my area alone one congregation lost over forty percent of its members and much of its budget after hiring a minister aligned with the UUA's political agenda. Another local congregation had to bring in a conflict resolution expert, while a third saw the minister hastily quitting and a significant portion of its members break away to form an independent fellowship.
At the national level, the UUA is losing members and congregations at an alarming rate, and the number of ministerial separations has reached record highs, highlighting the widespread extent of the crisis and discontent with ministry at many congregations.
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A Parish Ministers Shortage Crisis
Due to these conflicts and failed ministries, the UUA faces a critical shortage of ministers willing to serve congregations. According to a 2023 letter from the UUA Transitions Director, the number of newly fellowshipped ministers interested in congregational ministry has plummeted.
This shortage has serious implications for congregations, many of which won’t be able to find a UUA-fellowshipped minister. The UUA has even suggested that congregations consider looking outside not only the UUA but also of UU for ministers, a stark indication of the shortage.
This crisis can be attributed to a breakdown in organizational management, a lack of foresight, and an absence of common sense. UU is a pluralistic church, UUs are known for independent thinking and UU is referred to as “a church of heretics." Attempting to impose top-down political or ideological conformity on the church shows a severe detachment from reality.
The church is now experiencing the fallout of efforts to create a political orthodoxy and authoritarian governance. Attempts to enforce this conformity through shaming, censorship, and name-calling have inevitably led to pushback, strife, membership loss, and failed ministries. The UUA’s use of information control, disinformation, and groupthink has made the organization structurally stupid, leading to inevitable fundamental mistakes.
When a church is losing membership and congregations and is unable to provide congregations with ministers, much less effective ministers, there can be little argument that the church has major problems and its national leadership should not be depended upon.
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What Congregations and Congregational Members Can Do
Despite these challenges, there are several steps that congregations can take to safeguard their health and integrity:
Understand the Problem: Congregations and its members need to recognize the current dysfunction within the UUA and the harmful impact on congregations of many newly fellowshipped ministers. It is crucial to hire ministers who value the core liberal principles of freedom of belief, viewpoint diversity, and tolerance, and have healthy management skills.
Hire Thoughtfully: When searching for a new minister, prioritize candidates with strong leadership and management skills who encourage open-mindedness and dialogue. Congregations should consider hiring ministers from outside the UUA’s broken search system and even from outside UU.
Involve the Community in Decision-Making: Congregational decisions should reflect the broader membership, not just the leadership or minister. Narrow decision-making processes can lead to division and conflict, as seen in many congregations that have struggled with doctrinaire ministers and boards.
Consider Alternative Models: Some congregations may find that going without a minister is a better option than hiring someone misaligned with their values. Lay-led congregations can foster a more democratic and open environment.
Be Independent and Self-Determining: Ultimately, Unitarian Universalist congregations must be willing to operate independently of the UUA if necessary. The UUA in Boston is not a Vatican, and UU ministers are not priests. Congregations and congregants should feel empowered to reject ministers and national leadership that do not embrace the UU traditions of liberalism, pluralism, open-mindedness, and tolerance.
The current UUA is broken and may be beyond reform. However, individual congregations can take steps to protect their integrity and ensure their long-term viability and health by creating welcoming spaces for spiritual growth and diverse thought. By making thoughtful decisions about leadership and focusing on the values that define Unitarian Universalism, congregations can navigate what has become a national crisis for the church.
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Further reading
The True Believers: UU is in Danger of Becoming Just Another Church
I certainly see what you're saying. My local UU church hired an activist couple as co-ministers in 2018ish. They certainly embraced the social justice agenda, but failed to recognize that a certain amount of ministering was required from the role of minister.
In addition, there was a period from 2020 until just recently when local UU churches wouldn't even consider hiring a cis-gender, straight, white male as a minister. This left selection committees with an unfortunately small candidate pool. All three of the hires made during this period had the right identities, but none of them lasted more than 2 years.
I'm concerned that the UU seminaries (Mead and Starr King) have been taken over by the activist agenda and have neglected the spiritual formation of the congregants. Perhaps this will change... We can only hope.
We hired a minister out of school in 2016. The minister was not a success. The minister pushed the social agenda, not strongly, but the pressure was there. The minister got a higher paying gig after a year and departed. We hired a backslid Lutheran, and he has been super-great for our church. Part of the reason is that the single largest group in church is ex Lutheran ministers - in our small church, we have 5 members (of 60) who used to be Lutheran ministers.
When the failed minister was leaving, I made a few comments about the preaching style - I recommended outlining the sermon and practicing. Our best interim minister would stay at our house occasionally (from out of town) and he would go over his message 5,6,7,8 times. My comments were not received with grace.