This is an open letter to the minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Manchester, NH.
Dear Pat. Welcome to your new post. Don’t get too comfortable because your new congregation may present well but you really need to get to know them better. I’m gonna save you some time and if you take my advice you’ll start searching for your next congregation as soon as possible.
First off the long-time members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Manchester, NH have a belief they only voice in private that the Unitarian Universalist Association is “a union for Ministers and the only way to keep costs down is to hire ministers fresh out of seminary and replace them every couple of years.” Ivan Belliveau, Kelly Teevan, Webster Anderson and others. Yeah I was in the room when this was spoken and I also convinced them that firing the minister while she was on a contractual sabbatical probably wouldn’t look good with the UUA.
Second the UUCM leadership like to put on the dog but only if it doesn’t cost any money out of pocket. And a whole bunch of that money came out of mine.
In the summer of 2011 I learned that my husband had entered into a financial arrangement with UUCM member Paul Doolittle. Well I started to pay off that debt but Paul D. sniffed more money to be had and with the help of the leadership at UUCM we found ourselves homeless and destitute by the end of summer.
In February of 2012 our long-time employment as Sexton’s at UUCM was terminated for the stated reason “We need Paul’s money for a sprinkler system.”
Good luck in your new job.
Art Joly & Lynn Shackelford
