Board names first African American chair of MFC

The Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees appointed Jesse King, a member of Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colo., as incoming chair of the Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) at its November 20 meeting.

King will be the first African American to chair the MFC, the credentialing body for UU ministers, according to the Rev. Sarah Lammert, UUA director of Ministries and Faith Development and executive secretary of the MFC.

King will take over as chair from the Rev. Wayne Arnason immediately following the UUA General Assembly in Portland, Ore., in June 2015.

A founding partner and managing director of Fulcrum Advisors, King consults in the areas of leadership, organizational development, and philanthropy. He has experience as a congregational volunteer, Our Whole Livesvolunteer, and usher. He served on the Western Regional Subcommittee on Candidacy of the MFC for seven years.

The board also appointed Robert Jensen to the MFC’s Western Regional Subcommittee and the Rev. Dr. Kelly Murphy Mason to the Eastern Regional Subcommittee.

At the meeting, held via teleconference, the board approved the annual report from the Audit Committee, which oversees the annual audit of the UUA’s finances by an independent accounting firm. The audit was “very good,” as have been the last four years of audits, according to UUA Moderator Jim Key. The board also approved a request from the Murray Grove Association to an increase in the payout of their endowment from 5 percent to 5.5 percent for a period of three years.