Minister & President candidate announced

Dear Colleagues in Ministry:

Grace and peace to you in this time of transformation.

The Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ Board of Directors is delighted to announce that they will present the Rev. Dr. Jim Antal to the 207th Annual Meeting for election as Minister and President.

At their meeting on March 25th, the Board unanimously accepted the Minister and President Search Committee’s recommendation of Dr. Antal, who has served as the Senior Minister of Plymouth Church, UCC, Shaker Heights, Ohio since 1996.

Dr. Antal brings to his ministry a strong Christian faith, commitment to the United Church of Christ, experience in vital congregational ministry, a passion for prophetic witness and justice, and a deep personal spirituality. Among Jim’s mentors are Henri Nouwen and William Sloan Coffin, Jr.

While at Plymouth Church, Dr. Antal led the congregation in a sustained period of growth and transformation, initiating small group ministries which engage 100 members, taking on the task of hosting Head Start and homeless families and voting overwhelmingly to become an Open and Affirming congregation. Under Dr. Antal’s leadership, Plymouth Church also had its first ever capital campaign, raising $1.35 million.

While in Shaker Heights, Dr. Antal provided occasional columns for the Cleveland Plain Dealer in reference to many of the major issues of our times.

Dr. Antal is no stranger to Massachusetts, having served as the Senior Minister of the Newton Highlands Congregational Church from 1986 to 1995. While at the Newton church, he served as President of the Newton Clergy Association, leading the 100+ rabbis, priests and ministers of Newton to respond to many issues, including a potential school strike, issues of sex education in the schools, and anti-Semitic threats. At that time, he wrote a regular religion column in The Newton Graphic and was a member of the Board of the City Mission Society of Boston.

He has also served as the Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, New York, and as Chaplain at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, MA.

Dr. Antal received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University, his Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Andover Newton Theological School, where he won an award for his work in promoting the Jewish-Christian dialog. Dr. Antal is married to Cindy Shannon. They have two sons.

We look forward to an exciting and celebratory Annual Meeting as Dr. Antal is welcomed back to the Massachusetts Conference. Dr. Antal is already an outstanding leader in the United Church of Christ, and he will bring that same outstanding leadership and faith to the Massachusetts Conference. We are grateful for the work of the Minister and President Search Committee.

Over the next week there will be two additional emails regarding actions taken by the Board of Directors on March 25th; one action regarding restructuring and our process as we move forward and the other action the result of preparing a balanced budget for 2007.

We appreciate your prayers as we experience both the joys and pain of change, and we pray we have listened well to God’s still speaking voice as we attempt to live out a faithful discipleship.

Faithfully,

Nancy J. Lawrence
Chair, Board of Directors

The Rev. Jill D. Graham
Chair, Search Committee