UU Church of Berkeley

As members of the UUCB Ministerial Search Committee for a settled minister, we have deep appreciation for the work Reverend Greg Ward has done with us in his two years of interim ministry. The work he did with us as a congregation made our job as a search committee easier; we were able to present a clear picture of who we are, where we shine, and where we want to grow.

He helped us to see what in our church life was draining our energy as well as what we could be proud of. In providing assistance and guidance to us as a search committee, his boundaries have been impeccable. Careful to never try to influence us in our decisions, he was always there for us in times of disappointment and quandary. Although he told us as a congregation that pastoral care was one thing he couldn’t spend a lot of time on, he provided that care to us in the thick of it.

His support for us as a committee has been empowering. When we did not have a candidate to bring forward to the congregation, he immediately wrote a letter to the congregation that helped the congregation through our disappointment. We believe, with gratitude, that his role in strengthening trust, adaptability, and commitment among our members has been key in enabling us to now move forward into the second round of search with the support of the congregation.

UUCB Ministerial Search Committee

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Our previous co-ministers of 18 years were very dear to me; it was hard to imagine church life without them. And yet in my heart I knew it was time for a change, for them and for us.

Now it is difficult for me to imagine a better interim minister than the Reverend Greg Ward. With his intelligence, humor, perception, and dedication, he has helped to steer us along the next path on our journey. Perhaps his role with us is best described in his own words, which were part of a letter to our congregation following our ministerial search committee for a settled minister announcing we were not bringing a candidate to the congregation:

“My greatest gift is as mechanic—to listen, tinker, test drive for a while, tune up and, finally, turn over a congregation to someone who can drive them where they dream of going.”

His accomplishments here are too many to list. But all along the way, he included us in his work. Prior to Greg, I envisioned an interim minister as a palate cleanser: someone to break set following either a successful or not-so-successful ministry. But Greg has been so much more.

With his help we moved a great deal farther along the road toward healing from ministerial misconduct that happened decades ago but only came to full light within the last few years. By presenting everyone with the facts of the situation and allowing everyone a chance to be heard, we were able to make great progress in healing and understanding each other.

As we move from two ministers to most likely one, Greg has shown us where we as a congregation can step up. There has been renewed energy in worship, social justice, staffing, stewardship, and a program council. He pointed out to us early on that we need to take more responsibility for pastoral care of each other.

One of the most important things to our congregation is powerful worship. Greg consistently presents inspiring sermons that are personal and universal, humorous and serious, socially conscious and inwardly reflective.

Any congregation would be blessed to have him as a minister.

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Rev. Greg Ward has done a fantastic job as the interim minister of UUCB over the past two years (2014-16). I've been a UU for almost 25 years, at four different congregations with many different interim and settled ministers, and Greg's preaching has been the most consistently inspirational. His sermons are meaningful, thought-provoking, humorous, and masterfully delivered. He tells stories from his life and his heart, frequently resulting in laughter and head-nodding (and sometimes tears) from congregants of all ages. He is wonderful with our youth and has done a tireless job facilitating many after-church "congregational conversations" about what we were seeking in a settled minister, especially during the first year of his two year interim ministry. I highly recommend Rev. Greg to any UU congregation looking to be inspired!

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Although for family medical reasons, I have not been a full time participant in the transition, I have enjoyed and been nurtured and enriched by Rev. Ward's time with our congregation. His sermons have, in various ways depending on the topic, skillfully blended his deep personal experience and eclectic background in science, social science and theology to create a stimulating and rewarding experience for me, and they have often moved me deeply.

His role in our church's transition has been nuanced and complex. From my perspective Rev. Greg faced at least four serious organizational concerns. I list them here because they presented significant problems the required much of his attention. 1) Over the years our congregation had gradually come to rely on the Ministers and paid staff to provide most management services and the worship experience. Although we have a group of extremely generous, skilled and dedicated people volunteering their services, they were a small percentage of the congregation. 2) We had an unsustainable budget for financing church activities in the long-term. 3) Much of the congregation had become separated into interest groups that used the church as a meeting place but weren't much connected to it's daily functioning. 4) The congregation had been dealing with a repressed and unspoken “After Pastor” experience that occurred more than 20 years ago well before our last ministers took office. When that topic recently surfaced, it created great pain for those who had loved and felt nurtured by that minister and for those who felt betrayed by his abuse of authority. This created an organizational disfunction characterized by generalized loss of trust that results from betrayal by an authority figure and ensuing apathy among many of the congregation.

Rev. Greg faced the challenge of diagnosing the subtle and often obscured expression of these complex organizational problems and creating a strategy to address them. He brought to our congregation his professional experience as a skilled organizational consultant, theological training, previous ministerial experience, and his ability to engage in deep personal introspection. From my observations, he also maintained a disciplined, professional, objective and compassionate relationship to the process and the congregation. In brief, he held up a dispassionate mirror to our congregation. He helped us identify the nature of existing problems, our strengths and weaknesses, what needed to change, how we wanted to experience ourselves in the future, and he provided a process and road map for accomplishing this.

I have observed that some people wanted Rev. Greg to provide a more hands-on directive approach and personal involvement in the details of problem solving and implementation. In my professional experience helping to strengthen small non-profit organizations, an effective consultant helps people begin to see their organization in a more objective light. They support a participatory diagnosis of existing issues and desired goals, and they provide a process (or road map) for designing a strategy to achieve the objectives. Then they let the organizational members learn by grappling with the details of implementing the strategy. They don't directly mange the detailed implementation. In order to grow and change, both individuals and organizations need to struggle with the discomfort of feeling at loose ends that always accompanies change in order to discover and experience their strengths and weaknesses, and develop the perspectives and skills to achieve their objectives.

From my observations, I think Rev. Greg lead us through this process skillfully and with great insight and objectivity. I can say to any church looking for an interim minister that Rev. Greg will provide expert diagnostic capabilities and organizational assessment. He will help develop a vision of where you are, how you got there, where you may want to go, and he will provide an effective process for navigating that effort. But, he probably won't do it for you. He will also provide exciting, informative, inspiring, often very moving sermons. I will miss his energy, intellectual perspective and wisdom.

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I've been attending UUCB just since 2013 and not tuned into how its run particularly. Given that, however, I thought your OD ideas & the all-congregational meetings you ran were very helpful.

- it seemed smart, given that UUCB had too many staff for our staff to be downsized. Also these meetings allowed me to understand a bit about the UUCB committee structure.

- when I learned at one of these meetings how important pledges were to getting a good fit w/ a new minister, I pledged before becoming a member.

- I'm glad there was a meeting that allowed a pretty complete airing of the ministerial scandal of the 80's, not perfect, but very good considering the difficulty of the subject.

I've appreciated your sermons that included relevant personal stories from your life, especially the first one talking about the feedback you received and the changes you made when you were new to being a pastor.

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Your sermons were wonderful. Great topics and very thoughtfully , professionally and cleverly presented. Your sense of humor is appreciated. I do have a picture of your elephant costume. Thanks!

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Greg Ward is a very special person…… It has taken time for me to fully appreciate how kind and thoughtful Greg is, and how he embraces his life; his calling; and the people he comes in contact with.

Greg is honest. And he is fearless. He took on some very difficult issues in our church, and he was open, plain speaking, and persistent. In particular, I have appreciated his efforts when it came to addressing ministerial misconduct, and the tightening of our budget (which included the departure of some beloved people), to help us move forward in a more fiscally sound way.

He did not shrink from the inevitable criticism, or the various ways I have come to realize voluntary spiritual organizations “shift” in terms of their alliances and allegiance. Being a designated change agent – is a particularly difficult job requiring a particularly gifted and dedicated person. He was always clear: this is OUR church… He is only temporary. He made it clear we needed to take responsibility for ourselves? That we COULD take on this responsibility? And that we had a bright future.

He appears to relate to all ages – small children up to our oldest members. He is professional, even-handed, mindful.

As I both experienced Greg and watched him in action, my admiration and respect continued and continues to grow. I am not easily impressed. But this man is inspirational! Tender. Fierce. Vulnerable. Human. Reflective.

His sermons have been the best I‘ve heard. His services are thoughtfully planned, and I believe he has given Interim Ministry a great deal of thought and attention. He interjects the spiritual/sacred feeling sometimes missing from Unitarian Universalist sermons. He is not an apologist. He expresses his believes clearly and without reserve, but likewise without requirement. I felt I could take what I would from the sermons; and leave behind what didn’t resonate for me.

Anyone who is lucky enough to have Greg Ward as an interim minister is indeed fortunate. He is a consummate professional. He is always thinking. And I would say, always “feeling.”

Best of everything for you Greg…… I will miss you. But you won’t be forgotten. You came into my life at an important time and I have grown under your umbrella, and in relationship to you, as I worked on figuring out who you are, more of who I am, and where I fit into this Fellowship.

You are indeed, special!

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There have been many very effective Social Justice activities at UUCB during the past year, and many church members deserve a lot of credit for bringing them about. However, Greg, more than anyone else, deserves the main credit for these successes. These wonderful Social Justice activities at UUCB began over a year ago when Greg called a meeting in his office of about half a dozen UUCB social justice types, and encouraged and guided us to develop our program, which as led to the Social Justice Council and all that it has accomplished during the past year. Thank you, Greg.

On the whole, I think Rev. Greg has been an outstanding interim minister. I wish he could stay until we get our permanent minister.

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I think that our congregation was truly fortunate to have you as our interim minister. Any interim minister assignment is challenging, and I think the UUCB assignment was exceptionally challenging. You performed your job admirably under very difficult circumstances. Our congregation was polarized over very painful issues including: dealing with the Reverend Boeke affair thirty years after it happened; a campus in sorry need of repairs due to mismanagement and deferred maintenance; a lack of trust between the congregation and the leadership of the congregation; a bloated staff structure that we could not afford; and, finally, numerous sacred cows (such as the music program) that couldn't (and can't) be touched no matter how dire the circumstances. In addition to all of these problems, our congregates were and still are in a state if denial about how serious our problems are.

I cannot figure out whether stepping up to help us through this period was an act of supreme bravery, a love of the challenge of an impossible task, or not being aware of how bad the situation really was. I suspect it was some combination of the three. In any event, you did an admirable job of carefully analyzing the situation, coming up with solutions that would help assure our long term viability, and convincing the congregation that these steps were both necessary and unavoidable. Your Congregational Conversations were very helpful for those who attended them and helped instill a sense of ownership of the problems and the solutions. The process was painful but necessary, and I certainly can understand why you may not be the most popular person at UUCB. But I think we have set a course in the right direction.

In the process of your interim ministry you have had to help us make hard choices.

On a personal note, I truly appreciate your sermons and your delivery and you humor. You had a very tough job and you did very well. There is still a lot of work for us to do, but you have helped immensely in getting us back on track. I will truly miss you and I hope we can find a settled minister who is as effective as you are.

I wish you the best of luck on your next job. You are battle tested!!!

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My overall response is that this has been a excellent two years under your guidance. Great strides have been make in several areas:

· including lay people in worship services

· enhancing the involvement of the laity in all areas of responsibility

· establishing the program council; it is not yet functioning as it needs to, but the very difficult work of getting it started has been done. Our challenge will be to keep it going.

· governance: finally, board members are starting to realize that we do not have to follow the "experts". They provide guidance but we need to make our structure/methods fit us--not abide by a rigid set of rules.

· human resources. We have had huge problems in that area and not all is solved yet, but you certainly have gotten us started on the path to ethical, legal and thoughtful functioning.

· making the community minister relationships consistent was great! I am sure you found that each one had a different covenant.

· It is because of you and how you have pushed us to face issues that Freestone problems are finally being addressed. Thank you!

I cannot tell you how much I personally appreciate your governance/program council work. Some time ago, I tried to show how we needed something along the lines of the council and I also knew that our governance did not need to rigidly follow what Carver proposed. I just didn't know how to help make that change.

As I think you know, most of us really appreciate the imagination and depth of your sermons.

Many of us wished we knew how we could be of help when you were putting in so many hours especially during the first 6 months to a year of your time with us.

I never thought we could make such strides toward a more efficiently functioning organization that will result in enhancing the UUCB community and the spiritual experience of our members, friends, and visitors.

To put it concisely: Thank You!

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I have experienced Rev. Greg as a solid interim minister in the past few years. As a preacher, he is bold as well as thoughtful. He can challenge in his sermons but it is always with warmth and simultaneous expression of care for those in the pews.

Rev. Greg is clearly invested and cares about the church as a whole and remembers details about individual members. At the same time, I always get a sense from him that the church is ours, not his. He delegates with confidence, sometimes he may express more confidence in someone's abilities than they may have in themselves. He certainly pushes individuals to be the best they can be, seeing their potential. It is this sense that he trusts me, that he trusts us, that helps us trust ourselves and empowers us to do our own spiritual growing and our own volunteer work and not his. I find that one of his best qualities as a leader.

When he received pushback from the congregation regarding his decisions about including dance in a worship service addressing the church's history of sexual abuse and intimidation, he addressed the pushback directly in a sermon and openly explored and owned his potential blind spots.

I admire Rev. Greg's solidity and I have also seen him be vulnerable and comfortable with expressing his own sorrow and struggles. By doing so, he allows the congregation to acknowledge and address their own struggles, individually and collectively.

Rev. Greg can use his charm when he hopes I will do some volunteer work for the church, but he will not guilt trip anyone into doing work and respects a clear no.

Rev. Greg has a great sense of humor. I have seen the whole congregation visibly relax when he uses humor in his sermons.

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One of the greatest strengths you brought to us was your ability to look at things in a much larger way, creating a context for what needed to be done. The timeline you included in the Boeke presentation was eye-opening, and really helped create perspective. If it did not convince those who had no desire to be convinced, it did create the context for those who had joined since Boeke (the vast majority of the congregation).

The greatest gift you may have given us was getting lay leadership back involved in worship. Their role does feel "real". You are a good presenter, whether sermon or secular.

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Reverend Greg,

My experience with you has been Sunday limited - Sermons and after church seminars. I have found you to be quite a good minister. Your sermons are enjoyable as they are either presented as stories with wonderful points and humor, or as seriously researched compilations of information.

You are kind to everyone; even when you seem to be pointing out areas that need address, you are gentle with your words with just enough bite so people know that there is a problem to be solved. It is difficult these days with so much animosity, to know when to do something and when not.

Thank-you for your timely help that comes with Sunday sermons.

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My two strongest takeways from the Skype interview between the Interim Minister Search Committee and you involved a question and a statement.

Your question was along the lines “Are you reallyready and open to change?”

Your statement was “Change at the speed of trust.”

“Yes,” we responded to the question, conveying more external confidence than we may have had internally.

A sigh of relief to the statement about the pace and character of change.

What we/I had not fully realized was just how atrophied were our muscles of change, and the density of the roadblocks to building trust. It was sobering when you held up a mirror so we could see for ourselves. Actually it was more than sobering, it was uncomfortable, challenging, and, well, embarrassing. I expected to experience the first two feelings, but not the sense of shame for having incrementally gone along with what had gone before.

As we were rearranging the deck chairs, you – sometimes rather bluntly – noted that our ship was not on a safe course. “Okay, then give us the coordinates to set us on the right path,” we asked. Instead you taught us astronomy for us to chart our own path. Sometimes the lessons were lengthy, sometimes when the test came I wasn’t sure you had covered that part, but I always wanted to hear what you had to say. Because by then, the inspiration to make our vessel stronger and run smoothly outweighed the shame.

A sponge, was what I often called myself in your presence. You had/have a way of pulling out what we are struggling with, rolling it around to see its full shape and content, and how it fits together with other pieces in our collective puzzle. Your confidence that things can make sense, that we can make sense of things, that the glory of life could come to fruition, inspired me and us to strive higher, faster, and fuller.

With the Transitions Team you drew the congregation into conversations to examine our underlying assumptions, explore other ways of being, and plan how to bring those to life. (My suggestion for your next Transitions Team: create different formats that engage participants earlier and in alternative ways; wordy Power Point slides got stale - big improvement when fish bowl and voting with feet got used)

As you settled in to being here while holding true to your role of not being of here, I felt another side of you emerge. A gentler and compassionate presentation of what you saw we could be. It is a difficult balancing; being separate enough to not think too much about the consequence of what you say, but being connected enough to say things in a way that they can be heard; that they are not rejected because they feel too disconnected but not so connected that they lack clear perspective. You brought us along to that clearing where we could see what we needed to do while feeling your support underlying our steps.

After I left the Coordinating Team last summer to join the Ministerial Search Committee, I experienced you more as a Sunday morning minister than as an organizational change consultant. My only complaint with your Sunday services and sermons is the fear that you have set the bar rather high for a candidate we may present to the congregation! Your sermons are the best I have ever heard: Rich in story, reflection, intellectual connectivity, humor, tenderness, honesty, thoughtfulness, inspiration, justice, motivation, etc. And informative about what Unitarian Universalism is; I now understand more deeply its contrast with Christianity, the absence of original sin, the focus on our lives here, and more.

In the services I also enjoyed how you engaged with children rather than simply reading to them; that you brought in a blues band to accompany your preaching; and that you got us to be Noah’s animals on the ark.

We may initially not have been as fully ready for change as we said, and the speed at which trust emerged may have felt slow. And still you led, helped lead, and prompted others to lead us to a place that is healthier than where we started.

I hope that after a good summer respite, you find yourself at a church that will need and learn from your many talents, that you will know that you have made a difference for the better in the lives of UUCB, and that you will be gentle with yourself through your next adventures.

With gratitude,

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Thanks for sharing the story of the bike, car door and how fear and loss can cloud judgment. Thank you for the powerful reminders to be in the now, appreciate what you have, embrace the love and security of today, since tomorrow may bring loss and life altering events. Thank you for sharing your humor about baseball, science, and human nature.

I think you should be given a big dose of credit for the turnaround of our congregation. It has to be difficult, stepping into a mess. Taking responsibility to unravel the threads of history, pain, financial issues and hope for the future of a beloved community. A stranger, a hired gun who uses a big brain and heart and logic to accomplish miracles.

I depend on this community for social support. Intellectual stimulation and inexpensive and terrific music.

I know it must be hard, being hired to be the voice of reason, the budget slasher the bringer of bad news. The stranger who shines the light on scary monsters in the closet.

I can only comment on what I saw as an occasional visitor. I deeply appreciate how the pledging campaign has changed. Since your influence on our community I have visited half a dozen congregants homes. I have promised to share my chocolate, and remember to be respectful of others opinions.

And you brought humor, metal, and grace to the job.

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Overall, I think you did a masterful interim ministry. Of all the forms of ministry I know of, interim ministry is one of the most difficult. My sense of you is that you already have heard most of what I will be writing here and know yourself fairly well. So I am not likely to share any new astounding observations and interpretations.

Sermons: Story telling format with a moral message- unusual and excellent content and delivery.

Ceremonies: Weddings- creative, playful, funny, memorable, appropriate, cogent, unique to each occasion.

Administration: appears to manage financial and administrative pressures well. Showed leadership at key times getting the congregation to be more self-aware of its SWOT. Created a sense of organization that has a good chance of producing meaningful programs. Attempted to get the Board to do its job better even though it did not know its job well. Encouraged the hesitant Board to take steps to update its Vision and review its ends/ goals. I believe the custodian firing could have been handled better. Increased the volunteer base.

Did an excellent job modeling responsible adult behavior, setting limits, taking care of yourself most of the time.

I could see traces of Socrates, Plato, Hegel, Locke, other Enlightenment authors, Voltaire, Parker, Channing, Emerson, Ballou, and others in your sermons.

I believe UUCB was blessed by your presence.

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Concerning the service of Rev. Greg Ward at UUCB

About a year and a half ago I started coming to UUCB seeking community, after many, many years of not going to any church. In the beginning, I came mostly to the Personal Theology talks and skipped the worship services. I had a hard time even saying, "I'm going to church." Eventually, I stayed for the worship services, and it was the sermons of Rev. Greg that motivated me to continue attending

Rev. Greg is an excellent writer and speaker with a welcome blend of sharing his personal story and insights, with passionate reflections on the wider world of social justice. He's well-read and introduces new ideas and points of views into his talks. I like it that he doesn't wear robes and that he can talk about a spiritual life without dwelling on God (however a UU might do that). Plus, he's funny. He has a great sense of humor

I've only been attending Sunday worship on a regular basis for a short time, but, in that time, I have no complaints or suggestions for change. Any UU church would be lucky to land him.

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Still in the throes of grief over the decision of our settled ministers to retire, I was skeptical when Rev. Greg arrived to serve as Interim Minister at UUCB. As someone new to our church community (and new to church at all, for that matter), I held back and watched him for a good long time. To be honest, there were a few sermons in the beginning that felt forced, like the sermon that featured a suitcase to remind the congregation that he is only an interim minister and that we always had to remember he would be leaving. But I have come to view that sermon and others less as recycled texts and more as themes that are imperative for the time of transition. It turns out that we did need to be reminded he would be leaving. Because he became important to us and, over time, his sermons touched us at deeper and deeper levels. Beyond the transformative experience of worship, Greg has used his position as an Interim Minister to force our congregation to look at some difficult patterns and tensions within our house. Among many things, this includes directly confronting the dysfunctions that developed following boundary violations by a prior minister, facilitating intergenerational workshops so that the older, middle age and young people in our congregation could talk to each other, instituting a worship associate program, and making difficult staffing changes. Without question, feelings were hurt along the way and undoubtedly Greg made some mistakes. But my observation is that he tried very hard to process each decision according to UU principles. I am extremely grateful he has traveled these last two years with us.

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I appreciated your many intake interviews at the beginning of your ministry with us as you got to know us.

I have worked with you as a member of our Coordinating Team for your first year here, and in both years as the Stewardship Convener.

In both these arenas I have experienced your ability to grasp the current state of our efforts and then engage intensely with us to make a difference in how we see ourselves, and to encourage us to take bold steps when we realize there may be a different path than the one we have been on.

You are effective, thorough, have a multitude of ideas and approaches and are willing to work with us to guide us as we choose to move forward. Even though some of your suggestions have been uncomfortable (staff reductions and reorganization of jobs, face to face canvassing, squarely facing our relationship to money and giving), we have taken your lead to make many changes. It is my opinion that we are a better, more vibrant and viable community because of your ministry with and to us.

Personally, I have found you to be warm, generous in praise, forthright, willing to have your ideas edited, and willing to hear conflicting opinions. Sometimes, as you yourself have acknowledged, you ‘talk too much.’ Yet you are very effective in expressing your ideas and I remember your coaching with Jo Maxon and myself when we started our first ‘face to face’ canvass. I struggled to capture all the ideas and methods you were offering. But once you had given us a framework, you let us ‘build the barn together,’ so to speak. We depended and still depend on your point of view when we run into difficult passages with donors. It is obvious to me that you have a lot to offer any UU congregation in fund-raising coaching and approaches.

I have enjoyed your sermons. Your delivery is excellent, your content engaging and timely, your use of personal anecdotes and sharing effective in getting your message across. Although I have not always enjoyed some of the changes in the way worship has been designed, overall I think of them positively. I was sorry to see the youth choir mostly eliminated from worship and am glad to see it now has begun to reappear.

I appreciated the Transition Team formation and resulting Congregational Conversations that brought the community into dialog and discussion about where we have been, where we are and where we are going. Our difficulties with the After Pastor process have not totally been resolved, but I think we gained ground.

I am proud of the Social Justice Council, the revival of the Program Council, the Worship Associates and the Stewardship ‘Connecting’ efforts. Your training for ‘Connectors’ (aka canvassers) was instrumental to our success, and your nomination of the Congregation in three areas for awards at our District Assembly was a nice way for us to look at ourselves ‘in the mirror’ more favorably.

You are good at your job as an interim, and the next congregation you serve will benefit, as we have. I wish you success as you continue in this type of ministry.

With much gratitude and appreciation,