Albertson appointed UCC Conference Minister Search Coordinator and CCM Support

The churches and conference ministers of the United Church of Christ have a supportive new ally in the denomination’s national offices. The Rev. Lee Albertson, former church pastor, conference committee chair, and acting conference minister, has been called to serve as Conference Minister Search Coordinator and CCM Support for the UCC.

“I am so excited to be in this new role, which started this past Tuesday, Sept. 6,” said Albertson. “It is a half-time, dual-role position: First, to support searches from beginning to end for Conference Ministers, Interims, Designated and Acting. The second component is to provide administrative support to the Cabinet and Council of Conference Ministers.”

Albertson, who most recently served as acting conference minister in the Southwest Conference for six months, is trained in community organizing, interim ministry, clergy and congregational boundaries, mediation and conflict resolution, and grief recovery.

He served four Lutheran parishes (ALC and ELCA) from 1973 to 1998. He then served in interim settings until 2003 when he received privilege of call in the United Church of Christ and accepted the call to be the senior minister at First Congregational UCC in Albuquerque, N.M. During that time he chaired the Committee on Church and Ministry, Southwest Conference, UCC for six years.

After his retirement in 2012, Albertson served as interim pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd, UCC, in Albuquerque, before stepping in as the Southwest Conference’s acting conference minister in 2015.

“As Acting CM I worked with several congregations in the search and call process,” said Albertson. “That experience was so rewarding in supporting and guiding folks as they listened to the Spirit lead them in the calling of a new pastor. So, when this new position at the national setting of the UCC became available I felt called to apply. I am so grateful to accept this opportunity to be a part of such important work in the national setting to support the search and call process of Conference Ministers when needed.”

Albertson grew up in Mahnomen, Minn., and graduated from high school there in 1965. He then attended Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in sociology. He attended Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, and graduated in 1973 with an M.Div degree. He earned his D. Min from the Schools of Theology, Dubuque, Iowa, in 1988.

“With my years of experience on so many levels in the church I feel and hope I will be able to be a very helpful resource to the Conferences in the United Church of Christ, especially as they start and end the search and call process as well as supporting the Cabinet and Council of Conference Minister’s as they gather several times a year for mutual support, and collaboration,” said Albertson. “I love the United Church of Christ, its polity and mission of social justice work throughout the world.”