Ministry Transition -Welcome Rev. Liz Luoma

Welcome to our Minister Transition webpage! 

As of December 1, 2021 - Unity Santa Fe Welcomes Rev. Liz Luoma as our New Senior Minister!
We have a new Senior Minister!
 
 
Welcome Rev. Liz Luoma
 
We are so excited to have invited Rev. Liz Luoma to Unity Santa Fe as our Senior Minister! She and her wife will be with joining us, officially on December 1, 2021.
 
 
Rev. Liz Luoma is a dynamic speaker, teacher, and a licensed, ordained Center for Spiritual Living minister who is near the completion of her Unity Special Dispensation program in soon becoming an ordained Unity minister.
 
Rev. Liz is a master communicator and presenter whose mission & passion in life is to help people awaken to the Truth of Who they are as Spiritual Beings and to provide the tools necessary to live with more Love, Peace, Joy, Harmony, and Freedom in all areas of their lives. Rev. Liz is passionate and highly skilled in leading growth workshops and teaching classes using Universal Life principles, love, humor, and practical application steps.
 
Rev. Liz moved to Santa Fe with her beloved wife, Rev. Davine Joy Young, and their rambunctious cat, Spartacus LoveBug.  She may be reached on email at revliz@unitysantafe.org or on her cell at (714) 478-9561.

Unity Santa Fe New Minister Search & Hiring Process

Last March, the Board of Trustees empowered a Search Team of 4 - Wanda Brown, Karol Ryan, Heidi Gall, and Catherine Donavon - to begin the lengthy process of searching for our new Senior Minister. 

  • Prior to the “Search”, we conducted two congregational surveys for input about the ministry and a new minister.  There were also two workshops conducted by Gregory Rouillard in March to obtain additional input.
  • Unity Worldwide Ministries (UWM) has a department specifically for the search process. They have a list of requirements for both the Ministers applying and the Ministries searching.
    • For the Ministry - We created a Packet that included feedback from the congregational surveys and workshops facilitating a deep dive into both who we are as a ministry and what we are looking for in a new minister. It also included a brief snapshot of the ministry including the finances, staffing and congregation. This packet is considered the job posting and was submitted to UWM on June 1, 2021, and was subsequently sent out by UWM to the Unity Minister “world”.
    • For the Minister – UWM verifies that the candidates are in good standing with UWM, have completed a UWM background check and several release forms.
  • We received 7 resumes from Unity Ministers applying for the position.  The Search team reviewed the materials sent, including hours upon hours of videos of the candidates. After meeting criteria gained from our surveys and workshops and much discussion, Wanda did an initial video interview, followed by a full team interview on Zoom. 
  • The Search team identified 4 candidates to present to the Board. However, two withdrew for personal reasons. When Rev. Liz Luoma arrived on the scene, the Search team found her to far outshine the other applicants and felt strongly that she met the criteria for our new Sr. Minister, especially in professional ministerial experience and Unity Santa Fe values. With the Search team’s recommendation, the Board decided to invite only Rev. Liz to a candidating weekend.

(Rationale in bringing only one candidate. While this is not the case in every ministry, it is becoming more common in Search processes. With the considerations of the intensity of the weekend - for both candidate and ministry; with the expense of bringing people into Santa Fe; with the awareness that ONE was far and above the preferred candidate, that decision was made. It could be considered unfair to invite the other candidate, if we were pretty clear about who we would be choosing.)

  • Rev. Liz joined us the weekend of October 22-24.  On Friday evening, she met with the Board for about two hours. On Saturday morning she held a two-hour Zoom meeting with interested congregants, and on Sunday she gave the sermon and meditation and met with congregants afterwards.
  • On Sunday, after her service, surveys were distributed to the congregation requesting their input about Rev. Liz as a potential new minister.  Online surveys were also available. We received 77 completed surveys. Ninety percent (90%) of those surveys rated Rev. Liz as "Excellent" (the highest ranking) or "Very Good" (the second highest). The input from the Congregation is simply that - input for Board consideration. The Board makes the decision about who to invite into the position. 
  • The Board of Trustees met on Saturday, October 30th and voted unanimously to offer Rev. Liz Luoma the position of our new Sr. Minister. Rev. Liz was delighted at the news.
  • The contract has been signed and Rev. Liz will start as our new Sr. Minister on December 1, 2021!

While, we realize that some people would have loved to see other candidates; and/or that others would like to see Rev. Liz an additional time, the Unity Santa Fe Board of Trustees is following best practices as recommended by the Unity Worldwide Ministries.  With the congregational input from surveys and workshops and extensive interviews by the Search Team and Board of Trustees, we believe we have selected a wonderful new Sr. Minister who “embraces our Unity Santa Fe values and embodies Spirit’s grand expression for our congregation.”  We invite the entire congregation to open your minds and hearts to Rev. Liz.

If you have any questions, please send them to the Unity office at communications@unitysantafe.org, and we will do our best to answer them as quickly as possible.

Thanks and blessings,

Tom McCrory

President, Unity Santa Fe Board of Trustees