Four Rewards of Ministerial Search

Unitarian Search Committee 

Our Search Committee. I’m nearly hidden, seated second from right

I am a member of The Unitarian Church in Westport, CT. Have I told you that we are in a search for a new senior minister? I am part of the Ministerial Search Committee, an honor, a privilege, and a large task!

We have now brought our first candidate of four (called pre-candidate in Unitarian parlance) for lengthy conversation, shared meals, information about our town and area, sight-seeing, and preaching. This week I benefited several times from my participation.

First Reward – Advice

I rode to the “neutral pulpit” where we heard the pre-candidate preach, with John, a fellow search committee member who recently retired from the publishing business. He’s standing behind me in the photo. The soaring roof of the church is in the background.

I took advantage of our drive to seek his advice on public relations for my book. I have a wonderful pr person, Aline, who is nearby and has excellent contacts. But I’ve been considering adding to my pubic relations arsenal with a national firm. John said, “Before you hand over any money, ask for their plan. Make sure it is realistic.” Definitely a rewarding conversation.

Second Reward – Catching Up on a Missed Article

The second also came from John. At our regular weekly meeting last night John asked if I’d seen this opinion piece in Sunday’s paper which describes the “miserable” choice between the two major candidates running for the presidency in Nigeria. I had missed it so I was very glad he asked!

Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, photo by Amanda V UN

Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent, and Muhamadu Buhari, a former military head of state, are close. The electoral commission postponed the election, saying that the military requested the delay for security concerns. I posted about it last week.

The editorial writers confirm what I’ve read elsewhere, that voters are increasingly turning away from the incumbent who has been unable to stop Boko Haram. He is facing other challenges. “Beyond security matters, entrenched corruption and the government’s inability to diversify its economy as the price of oil, the country’s financial bedrock, has fallen have also caused Nigerians to look for new leadership.”

Challenger Major General Muhamadu Buhari

So the postponement seems to be a last ditch effort by Jonathan to gain an advantage. The editorial says, “By dragging out the race, Mr. Jonathan stands to deplete his rival’s campaign coffers, while he continues to use state funds and institutions to bankroll his own. . , adding to the disgust over his inability to contain Boko Haram.”

A sorry state of affairs for Africa’s most populous country and my adopted home for so many years.

Third Reward – Info on The Book of Negroes

Kathy is another colleague on our Ministerial Search Committee and an active participant in our racial justice discussions at the Unitarian Church. She had emailed me about The Book of Negroes which was about to premiere on BET. She’d learned about from a Canadian friend. I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

“Based on the award-winning novel by Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes tells the story of Aminata Diallo after her capture and the pain she endured as part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade,” I read on the BET website. I meant to record the first episode Monday night.

I forgot, but Kathy remembered and reminded me at our Monday night meeting.  She said she would watch when she got home.

I called today to ask about it. “The opening scenes of people being captured in Mali in 1761 were a bit brutal but probably not as brutal as the actual events,” Kathy said.

She told me the first part would be repeated tonight, so I watched a few minutes before setting the recorder and heading off to my Mount Holyoke alumnae book group, where we discussed Orange is the New Black. Even though it is also a story of loss of freedom, it is like a raindrop is to a hurricane when I think of Piper Kerman, who wrote the memoir of her year in prison, compared to Aminata.  

And the Fourth?

So I get information, advice, and updates from the Search Committee. I also get the less tangible reward of community.

Boko Haram Update and Women Scientists

Quist-Arcton, photo by

Jacques Coughlin/N/A

This afternoon I heard Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR International Correspondent on All Things Considered, reporting on Boko Haram. She was describing the terrorist group’s incursions from Nigeria into the neighboring countries of Chad, Cameroon, and Niger. These three countries have agreed to work with the Nigerian military to confront Boko Haram jointly.

I went to the NPR website to find her piece (and how to spell her name) and found another fascinating piece on women scientists from Nigeria and other parts of the developing world. Five women, three from Nigeria, just won the Elsevier Foundation Awards for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World. The awards were presented by the American Association for Advancement of Science.

The  Nigerians were a physiologist at the University of Benin and two physicists, one at the University of Ibadan and the other at Bayero University in Kano. The NPR reporter who spoke with them said, “Many times they sounded just like women scientists in the U.S. They strive to get money for students, to do innovative research under tight funds and to receive support from male colleagues.”

But in the developing world they also face frequent lack of electricity, unpaid salaries, and limited computer capacity. I admire their tenacity and drive!

The audio of Quist-Arcton’s report on Boko Haram is available here.

If you see an article on race, Nigeria, or book groups that you think others would enjoy, please share it in the comments or email me with the link through the contact page.