UUA Ministerial Credentialing Process

Many Windows: Conversations on Ministry with Rev. Jules Taylor features three episodes related to the credentialing process:

Meet the Ministerial Credentialing Director - Darrick Jackson (May 21, 2024) - "Welcome Rev. Darrick Jackson, the UUA’s new Ministerial Credentialing Director! If that name seems familiar, Darrick has just come from the executive team at the UU Minister’s Association. Same person, new job. I spent a few minutes talking with Darrick about his new role."

A Move to Educational Resources: The New MFC Paradigm Series (August 12, 2024) - "My guest for this episode is the Rev. Dr. Michael Tino, executive committee member and “Transformation Shephard” of the UUA’s Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC). Our topic is the new shift from the old MFC Required Reading list to the NEW Educational Resources paradigm."

Competencies in Ministry: The New MFC Paradigm Series (September 4, 2024) - "This episode continues the New MFC Paradigm series. My guest is the Rev. Amanda Poppei, co-chair of the UUA’s Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC). We’re discussing the areas of ministerial competence, and the addition or re-addition, of a competency in theology."

The Ministerial Formation Network is a program created for support and networking. All aspirants are eligible, and membership extends through candidacy.

About the Ministerial Formation Network (MFN):

"The Ministerial Formation Network (MFN) is an innovative and collaborative UUMA/UUA program designed to support every aspirant and candidate for our ministry no matter where they live, go to school or what their background and plans for ministry might be. The MFN offers discernment support & meaning making, collegiality and praxis/skill building education as a benefit of UUMA membership. At the heart of the MFN is individual or group companioning – without a layer of evaluation. There are Vocational Advisors (working 1:1) and Discernment groups (6-10 people), both of which offer practical information, spiritual connection and collegial care with guidance from experienced ministers. Participants in the MFN also have access to specialized learning opportunities on a range of topics relevant to ministry beyond the more formal curriculum of theological schools and field work. Aspirants and candidate members in the MFN are also invited to relationship-deepening retreats with peers and mentors and all chapter activities as well. In June 2025 there will be an MFN convening in conjunction with Ministry Days in Baltimore.

Enrollment in the MFN happens automatically when a person joins the UUMA as an Aspirant or Candidate in the UUA’s ministerial credentialing program and continues until one achieves Preliminary Fellowship, withdraws or opts out. Regular mailings and invitations are sent out to announce MFN programs, and orientations are held regularly to introduce participants to the full array of MFN and UUMA offerings." - from the Ministerial Formation Network (MFN) webpage

Meadville Lombard: Email Rev. Jules Taylor, Director of Contextual Ministry or call 312.546.6482

Ministerial Credentialing Office/Ministerial Fellowship Committee: mco@uua.org