We are delighted to announce that we’ll be welcoming Rev. Jenny M. Rankin as our Interim Minister on August 29, 2022. Jenny will work with the Board and the Transition Team to help the congregation accomplish the 5 interim ministry goals recommended for a congregation in transition between settled ministers.

Jenny was born in Boston and raised as a Unitarian Universalist at King’s Chapel. She graduated from Princeton University and after working for a few years as a community organizer, in Paris and Boston, went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree at Harvard Divinity School. Jenny began her career as an interim minister in Hingham, Cohasset and Hopedale before going on to serve as Minister of the First Parish in Concord, a settled ministry position, for fifteen years. She received additional training in transitional ministry and decided to make this particular form of ministry her focus. She recently completed her seventh interim ministry with the First Parish in Lincoln in June of 2022. Originally a two-year contract, it was extended to three, and then because of Covid, to four. Most of her interims have been two years.

“To me, interim ministry is a ministry of accompaniment,” Jenny said recently, “I walk with congregations who are going through a period of uncertainty and direction-finding after the departure of a settled minister. All congregations have challenges, of course, and I consult with and guide churches leaders to help them choose what is “top priority” for the interim period, what most needs attention to allow the church to be ready to call a new minister.”

“Each congregation is different, of course,” she continued, “with its own unique history. but some of the issues I’ve encountered in my work include unresolved grief, conflict, factions and fissures, a decline in trust, de-energized leaders, a decline in membership and/or pledging or both. I have watched congregations engage in tough conversations and do brave work together in the service of healing. It is not magic. It takes hard work and all hands on deck. It can be uncomfortable, at times. But it is rewarding for me to see congregations emerge from an interim time with more hope, energy and strength, well equipped for their next chapter.”

Jenny loves to learn, especially in community with others. She has taught classes on Transcendentalism, Celtic spirituality, prayer and the contemplative tradition, Spiritual Autobiography, and “Creativity as a Spiritual Practice.” Sometimes, she takes the learning “on the road” and has led seminars and walking tours both locally and in Europe. With a friend and UU minister colleague, Jenny leads contemplative retreats on the island of Iona of the west coast of Scotland. In 2021, Jenny earned a certificate in Spiritual Direction at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

Jenny lives in Concord, Mass with her husband Rich Higgins, author and photographer. They have three children, now young adults. And a much-loved dog named Finn!