A transition in leadership is often a tender time for both ministers and the communities they serve. We encourage you to reach out to Member Support as soon as you begin to consider this transition. We would be honored to assist you in discerning your next steps and in navigating this period of change gracefully.
We support and equip Unity leaders and spiritual communities through all aspects of the employment process. The job search timeline is included below along with documents to guide you through each step of this process. Please review this material and reach out to membersupport@unity.org if you have any questions.
Employment Related Documents:
Benefits of Using UWM Employment Services
Did you know that UWM provides free employment services for both ministers seeking new positions and ministries looking to hire? There are many benefits including:
- Assurance for both candidate and ministry that each is in good standing and have met all employment prerequisite requirements
- Guidance on the best “next steps” for your ministry or career path following a personalized assessment by a member of our team of experienced Unity ministers
- Resources and expertise you can leverage for marketing, interviewing, contracting, and other employment topics
- Access to Unity ministry openings and viable candidates around the globe via broad-impact marketing tools including the UWM employment website and The Path
- A dedicated team of individuals focused on connecting ministers and ministries for the best possible outcome
Whether you are a candidate or a ministry, it is important that Unity ministers and Unity ministries use UWM Employment Services.
Candidates: Our pre-employment review process ensures each and every candidate for employment in a Unity ministry is indeed in good standing or has a Plan of Action (POA) in place to return to good standing. All candidates regardless of their level of credentialing and position they are seeking go through this standard pre-employment process.
The pre-employment review process also verifies that each potential candidate is current on the required:
- National criminal background check
- Psychological evaluation
- Annual Continued Education Units (CEUs) and Annual Credentialed Leader's Report (CLR)/Ministry Report form (AMR)
- Code of Ethics, Sexual Conduct Policy, and Social Media Policy Acknowledgement
- Authorization to Release Information for Employment
Notice: In accordance with US Citizenship and Immigration Services requirements, “All US employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens." For more information...
Ministries: All ministries seeking to hire go through a similar standardized pre-employment process to ensure the ministry is in good standing and available to enter the hiring process. If a ministry is currently not in a position to hire, UWM will recommend appropriate support services to assist them in the employment readiness process. We also encourage you to review the list of Suspended Ministers and Rescinded Ordinations.
If you have any questions regarding these processes, please contact membersupport@unity.org.
Unity Worldwide Ministries is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We encourage our member ministries to do the same. Unity Worldwide Ministries is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Unity Worldwide Ministries are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion or belief, disability, medical history, genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Unity Worldwide Ministries will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.
Employment Opportunities
NOTE: All qualified candidates must have a current background check on file with Unity Worldwide Ministries as well as be up to date on their Credentialed Leader's Report, Continuing Education Units, and other employment prerequisites as noted above in the Information for Candidates section.
Candidates may also be required to complete an employment assessment if they have not been serving in pulpit ministry for a period of time.
The complete list of open ministries can be found here.
For questions, please contact employmentassistance@unity.org
For those seeking something other than traditional full-time, single-ministry employment, you can find a number of unique employment opportunities (guest speaker, spouse/partner situations, sabbatical/traveling minister, Ministers of Record, limited-hours, etc) on our special employment opportunities page.
There are currently no posted assistant/associate minister vacancies.
We also post opportunities for non-ministerial roles like executive directors, office administrators, music directors, youth directors, and others upon request.
UWM requires affiliated ministries to be under the leadership of a Unity minister. This ensures that the ministry is served by a well-trained professional who is grounded in Unity teachings. Sometimes a ministry is not in a position to hire a Unity minister. UWM's Special Dispensation process supports ministries in hiring someone who is not a Unity ordained minister while they prepare for an ordination path. Special Dispensation involves a three-way agreement between a leader, the ministry, and UWM. The leader could be a licensed Unity teacher, someone from another faith tradition, or an individual with leadership skills that is interested in serving as a Unity leader.
If you believe that Special Dispensation might be a good choice for your ministry, please contact Rev. Joanne Burns, Member Support Coordinator and Consultant Team Liaison, at JBurns@unity.org to learn more about the process before completing any of the forms. If you are already in the program, please send ongoing communications and 6-month renewal forms to Rev. Marygrace Sorensen, Special Dispensation Assistant, at specdispassistance@unity.org.
- Special Dispensation - Information and Policies
- Special Dispensation - Forms
- Special Dispensation Mentor Manual
Because Unity and Centers for Spiritual Living have similar theologies, we have negotiated a reciprocal employment and ordination policy with CSL. This reciprocal agreement is part of the Special Dispensation Process.