March 20, 2008 

Dear Members of TJMC-UU, 

When we announced in January that we were precandidating with another congregation, we promised that we would let you know when we heard the results of our visit.  With sadness, we’re writing today to tell you that we have been asked to be the Search Committee’s candidates for ministry at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church in Walnut Creek, California, and that we have decided to accept the invitation.  This is not the final step in the search process—the congregation has to vote on our call at the end of an 8-day “Candidating Week” to be held April 11-20—still, it seems very likely that we will be leaving Charlottesville at the end of July. 

We have strongly mixed emotions, of course.  We have shared so much life together with you, and our ministry here has blessed us and broadened us.  We believe much of great value has been accomplished, and we’re very proud of all the church has done with us.  People here—you—mean a great deal to us, and many of you have been very important to us.  We will miss this church, and we will miss you more than we can say.  At the same time, this is an exciting opportunity for us to take a call to a smaller church we believe has enormous potential, in a part of the country we would like to try living in, and to share a new kind of ministry together.  And you, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church--Unitarian Universalist, are at a wonderful place in your life as a congregation, deeply involved in so much good work, engaged in such healthy ways of being together, committed to a course into the future which you are charting yourselves.  We know you will thrive—and that thriving will require your relationship with your ministers to change.  We believe some of these changes can better occur within the context of a new ministry.   

Many factors have come into our decision-making process:  family considerations, geography and demographics, the needs and wishes of both congregations, and our own hopes for the long-term path of our ministry together.  While it is impossible to do such complex issues justice in a letter, we will be very willing to share a fuller discussion in private conversations and in groups, an opportunity the Committee on Ministry with assistance from the Board will be providing soon.  That will also be a chance to hear more about the process for selecting an Interim Minister and for conducting a Ministerial Search. 

Since we shared the news that we were considering leaving, the vast majority of our conversations have been very supportive, and many people have shared moving and gratifying thoughts about our ministry here with you.  We know this is not happy news for most, and we do not want you ever to feel that you can’t express your genuine feelings to us openly and directly; that has been and always will be one of the core commitments of our ministry—indeed, of our life.  We urge you to take advantage of the opportunities that will be created for open conversation. 

In the next months of our time together, we will continue to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the health and work of this church and ensuring a healthy transition, and we look forward to sharing that commitment with you for as long as we are here.  We celebrate all that is our life, and we deeply appreciate the privilege of serving as your ministers. 

With deep appreciation for all we have shared, 

Leslie and David