More than two millennia ago, Julius Caesar led his armies to Gaul, writing for the home folks just three words: Veni, Vidi, Vici–I came, I saw, I conquered.
So in the spirit of modern-day Caesarian conciseness, your Minister Search Committee has a very short report to Emersonians:
We searched…. we sorted….. we saw…. and we SUCCEEDED!!!
We are so excited to bring you the news that we have found not just a match, but a great match–a minister candidate who will bring to Emerson not only s-o-o-o many of the qualities you asked us to look for, but also others that made us go “Wow! YESSS!!”
The Reverend Ed Proulx (rhymes with true) is currently the interim minister at First UU Congregation of the Palm Beaches in Florida. He’s a graduate of Meadville-Lombard—a journey he undertook as he completed a nearly 30-year career in banking and financial management. He is married and the father of two young-adult daughters.
As a layperson in his home congregation in South Carolina, he chaired the church’s budget drive, adult education and social justice efforts, and was extremely active as a worship leader and in the religious education program for both children and adults. To underline his expertise in finance, he has recently been invited to join the UUA’s pension committee.
But his background in religious education, worship and finance are just the starters. As the committee got to know Ed, we just kept finding things about him that told us he was the minister we were looking for.
- He’s a people person, who loves talking to people, getting to know them and involving them—newcomers, oldsters, even folks we haven’t seen in a while– in meaningful engagement with the church.
- He’s an excellent manager with a deep-seeded belief in the ability of people—both congregants and staff–to succeed at what they undertake.
- He believes that worship services should be intelligent and thought-provoking and should challenge people to go out and make the world a better place in some way.
- He’s a person of great honesty, integrity and vision.
- He’s a listener, a motivator, who’s more concerned with what we want to be as a church than what he thinks should be happening. He’s willing to embrace great ideas that work for similar churches or look for novel approaches.
- He has deep connections within UU, and, thanks to his years as a lay volunteer, a perspective that spans from pew to pulpit.
- He wants a long-term relationship with our congregation and will work tirelessly toward our spiritual, intellectual, organizational and financial success.
And that’s STILL just the tip of the iceberg.
Soon, you’ll have a chance to meet him yourself and experience what the search committee found in our minister candidate. During candidating week, April 23-30, Ed will preach on two Sundays, and between those services you’ll have ample opportunities to meet, greet, visit, ask questions and get to know him. Right now we’re in the process of planning candidating week activities that will include every Emersonian. On April 30, the congregation will take the next step when we vote to call our candidate to settled ministry.
So, it’s with great joy and excitement that we announce our wonderful news. Your search committee has committed tremendous time and effort talking to you about our church’s hopes and aspirations, integrating that into the portrait of Emerson that we compiled for applicants, and identifying from the pool of ministers who applied a candidate who is a great match for Emerson. In the next few weeks, you’ll be hearing more—about Ed and about candidating week activities.
In the meantime, thank you for entrusting this vitally important task to the seven of us, and thank you for your unwavering support—even when we had to be at our most tight-lipped and enigmatic. We’re honored, humbled, exhilarated and—to be honest—a little exhausted!
A huge thanks to the Search Committee! Reverend Proulx sounds like a good match for Emerson, and I am looking forward to him soon.