Introducing the Candidate for Settled Ministry at First Unitarian Society

At last Sunday morning’s assembly, the Ministerial Search Team announced that it has chosen Rev. Chad Snyder as its candidate to be our next FUS minister! He is a committed humanist who is currently a member of Merging Waters UU (formerly Michael Servetus Unitarian) in the Twin Cities. You can hear his enthusiastic greeting to the congregation at the end of the assembly recording or go directly to his recorded remarks at the bottom of this post.

To help you all get to know him, we included a series of “Fun Facts” in his own words throughout the assembly: 

• I’ll watch pretty much anything with spaceships, sorcery, or superheroes. In my opinion, the Ewoks are underappreciated. 

• One of my favorite jobs was teaching kids and adults how to swim. It’s pretty great to see people of any age realize they can do something they thought was beyond them. 

• Something that always makes me smile is my dog Stanlee wrapped up in blankets, with just his nose and ears popping out. Gets me every time. (Stanlee was the first family member to hear about the match!) 

• I teach a course to lawyers titled “Don’t Be a Jerk.”    It is surprisingly popular — every lawyer I know thinks they know some other lawyer who really needs to take it. 

• What excites you about working with a congregation in a time of change?  Possibility. Or possibilities. When we know we’re in a moment of change or transition, sometimes we are more open to the kinds of possibilities we might have overlooked before.  You get a “Sure, let’s give it a try” attitude that can be a lot of fun. 

Rev. Chad’s personal website is available here. This includes sermons and other materials to help you understand why we’re excited to introduce him to you all. 

And next?  Rev. Chad will join us at FUS for a week of “meet, talk, and think.”  He will address the congregation on Sunday, April 19. Over that next week, April 20 to 24, the Search Team will be hosting several small group meetings for you to ask questions and get to know him better. To sign up for any of these groups, please use this form. On April 26 he will lead the assembly. Afterwards (with an opportunity to grab a mini meal) the congregation will vote on whether to “call” him as our next minister.  

We’ve all been waiting a long time for this moment and our team could not have asked for a better outcome. As you dive into the links above and learn more about Rev. Chad, we hope you share our enthusiasm! 

 Bob Aderhold                                           

Phil Duran                                         

Martha Hardesty                                         

Stella Paynter                                               

Karen Rowehl 

Christine Salm 

Denise Victora de Meireles 

Karl Winthrop-Davies