Hosted by the Ministerial Search Team

Break Barriers, Build Beliefs (B4) Workshop
Held Saturday, November 9th
Facilitated by Rev. Amanda Schuber (see bio below)

What We Learned - read our post-workshop summary!

Download the Discussion Guide, which includes helpful summaries of types of bias and microagressions.

Thank you to all who filled out the pre-workshop survey.
The responses were helpful to Rev. Schuber in preparing for our workshop, and will also provide very useful feedback for the Search Committee and prospective ministers.
The survey has closed, but if you are interested in reading the questions, here is a pdf version.

Some feedback from workshop participants:

“It was an enlightening day and the Reverend was a wonderful presenter.”

“I feel like it prompted great self-reflection for us as individuals and as a church with positive and inspiring ideas for how we move forward in love for ourselves as we fumble, one another in the church and everyone who walks in the door!”

“I hope [potential visitors] will see our social media posts with rainbow colors and core values and know we are a sanctuary.”

“Rev. Amanda is a talented and gifted person, presenter and minister! The UU community is fortunate to have Amanda in our presence.”

“I love that we have welcomed teachings like this into the Search Process. It is so needed, and I am grateful we are bringing the UUA Resources into the process… I was left wondering how much we are tied and living in past systemic infrastructures instead of one that pulls us into a more expanding future for today’s world. This was an excellent inquiry to step into and see where we get stuck.”

“I’d love to see us take this forward in some way, using the guidance to help us in our work to create a vision, a mission, and processes for conflict resolution and communications.  It was very good stuff!”

From the Ministerial Search Team:

The B4 workshop is a highly recommended part of the ministerial search process. It brings forth the opportunity to examine how congregations can temper and avoid bias and prejudice becoming a part of the search process. Avoiding bias is yet another way to put our faith into lived experience and improve the odds that, regardless of identity, we will find the minister who is the best match for us and who will serve us well. 

This workshop opportunity allows the entire congregation fuller participation in the search process. It will allow us to explore our hopes and concerns for a new minister, learn more about the search process, and see how our history (both personal and congregational) might interfere with our efforts in this search. 

Credentialed ministers in our faith who are LGBTQ+, disabled, younger, older, working class, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, fat, neurodiverse, genderqueer and other marginalized identities still face discrimination as part of the ministerial search process.

“Will the new minister hear me? Will my concerns and needs be met? Will the minister understand what I’m living with? How will the community respond to our minister?” In answering these questions, a picture of the “ideal minister” (categorized by age, gender identity, nationality, physical or cognitive ability, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and more) comes to mind.  With this picture in place, it can be easy to exclude ministers who fall into certain categories unintentionally. As we get caught up in comparing candidates to our “picture,” we can forget what we hoped for in a minister.

The B4 workshop was designed by the UUA to help congregations grapple with breaking old cultural habits, and rebuild belief in the power of Beloved Community.  It was developed over the 2022-23 congregation year to answer the call of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change as published in Widening the Circle of Concern (June 2020).

Meet Rev. Amanda Schuber

I tend to find introductions like this awkward, as I never really know where to begin. I am Amanda Schuber, my pronouns are she/her, or anything said in love. I have lived in the deep South for most of my life and consider myself a dedicated Southern Minister. My wife, Wanda, and I have been married for 19 years and live with two of our three children in Middle Georgia. I spend most of my free time engaged as a taxi and sports mom extraordinaire for my two youngest children, Joseph (almost 12) and Nora (14). Our oldest child, Samantha, and her husband, Cody, are stationed in South Dakota, serving in the United States Air Force. When not at the ball fields, our family loves to camp and hike all over the country. I am also an avid gardener, crafter, and theater patron.

I have served the UU world in various capacities over the last 30 years, including sitting on the Boards of EQUUAL Access, Interweave, and CUUYAN (Continental UU Young Adult Network). I spent two years living in Boston, working at the UUA in the Office of Congregational Fundraising. Additionally, I have been a Beyond Categorical Thinking facilitator since 2004 and have been privileged to work with well over 50 congregations in that time. Congregationally, I have held many positions, including social action chair, worship chair, and DRE. 

I am a  graduate of Starr King School for the Ministry. I’m honored to serve as Minister for High Street Unitarian Universalist Church in Macon, GA and as the Disability Justice Associate on the Side With Love Organizing Strategy Team. My call to the Ministry currently pulls me to the parish and trauma/chaplain ministry in the more distant future. I am an advocate for disability rights and visibility in the wider world and within our denomination. Specifically, I strive to create a welcoming and supportive space for those living with mental health challenges and their families.