We are a healthy congregation.
Do we really need help with a transition?

In recent decades we have learned that congregations are complex emotional systems. Transitions within those systems are, therefore, emotional processes of equal complexity.

As one clergy replaces another, many transitions occur within a short time. These include:

• The congregation's transition from one clergy to another
• Members of the congregation lose an old friend as others are gain a new one
• Two clergy and their families must adjust to new congregations, homes and communities
• Staff and lay leaders must learn to work with a new clergy who will have new ways of doing things.

All of these transitions will involve many people, and all will have strong impact on your congregation and its members. SCC can help your clergy and lay-leaders ensure that the transitions proceed as smoothly as possible.

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Some of our members have vast hiring and executive recruiting experience. Aren't they capable?

Looking for new clergy is a unique task. In the private sector, hiring an employee or an executive is largely a rational process. True, the person should get along with others and fit the corporate culture, but the new executives need not be anyone's dear friends. They need not be present at important times in the personal lives of their co-workers.

Clergy, on the other hand, are people we see when we are not at work. They see us in hospital gowns and in funeral homes. They are integral to the most important moments of our lives. Experience hiring in the private sector does not mean that a person knows how to hire a rabbi or minister. The fact that we avoid using the word "hire" relative to clergy, only hints at the differences.

Michael Remson has been on both sides of the search process, interviewing for rabbinic positions and, as an interim rabbi, guiding congregations during their searches. His professional experience, however, is only a small part of his background. He has studied congregations as living, emotional systems with such teachers as Rabbi Edwin Friedman and Rev. Peter Steinke, two of the people who radically changed the way Americans understand churches and synagogues. Michael understands both the rational and the emotional aspects of the process, and he can help you design a process that will lead to the right decision for your unique congregation.

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What do you specifically do that our denomination or movement staff can't do?

While many staff people have a good understanding of emotional systems, few have our extensive experience with congregational transitions. More important, most denominational staff people are overworked. They simply can't give you the time required. If you are an SCC client, you will have our full attention. When we come to your community it will not be to solicit donations or to visit other congregations. It will be for the sole purpose of being with your congregation.

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What services do you offer?

We can guide your congregation through all sorts of transitions, and especially the transition from one clergy to another. We can explain them to your members, train your board to cope with them and guide appropriate committees to successful conclusions of their tasks. We also offer a variety of workshops, some of which are described on this website.

How can we help your congregation?
Contact us for more information.

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