A Yoked Congregation

What “Yoked” Means

You may hear TriUU described as a yoked congregation. A yoked ministry is a formal partnership in which two or more congregations join together to share staff — which may include a pastor — while each congregation maintains its own individual identity.

The arrangement is designed to ease the financial and administrative pressures of operating alone, allowing smaller faith communities to sustain active worship through a shared leadership model. Joining together to share resources lets these congregations focus on communal growth and spiritual service without sacrificing their own local heritage.

Yoking is not a merger. Tri-County Unitarian Universalists and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lake County remain two distinct congregations, each with its own building, its own members, its own board, and its own way of doing things.

Two congregations. Shared resources. Neither gives up who it is.

Who We Are Yoked With

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lake County (UUCLC) gathers in Eustis, in neighboring Lake County. Like TriUU, it is a values-based, non-creedal Unitarian Universalist congregation and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

UUCLC describes the arrangement on their own website this way:

“Rev. Kristina Spaude joined us in 2024 as our part-time minister, whom we share 50/50 in what is called a ‘yoked’ ministry with the Tri-County Unitarian Universalists (TriUU) congregation, located nearby in Summerfield FL.”

How We Share Rev. Kristina

The arrangement began in August 2024. Each congregation receives half of Rev. Kristina’s time and service, and each congregation pays half of the cost. She is part-time to each of us, and full-time across the two.

The unusual part is Sunday morning. In many yoked arrangements the minister alternates — present at one congregation one week and the other the next. Ours does not work that way. Rev. Kristina leads worship at both congregations on the same Sunday. She is in our pulpit in Summerfield at 9:00 a.m., and in UUCLC’s in Eustis at 11:30 a.m.

Two congregations, two pulpits, one morning. That is relatively unusual among yoked congregations, and it is the part of our arrangement most worth knowing.

Beyond Sunday mornings, the shared ministry means:

• On Sundays when she is not in our pulpit, services are led by our own members, guest speakers, or visiting ministers.
• She conducts rites of passage at both congregations — weddings, child dedications, and memorial services.
• She offers pastoral care to members of both congregations, including visits to those who are homebound, ill, or grieving.
• She sits on each congregation’s board as an ex officio member, without a vote, and is welcome at any committee or team meeting.

Watch: How This Works

A ninety-second explanation of how two small congregations share one full-time minister.

How Small Churches Share Full-Time Ministers

What Stays Our Own

Yoking touches our ministry. It does not touch our independence.

• Our governance. TriUU elects its own Board of Trustees and follows its own bylaws.
• Our finances. We set our own budget and manage our own money.
• Our building and grounds. Our home in Summerfield is ours to care for.
• Our programs. Our worship life, teams, and activities are planned and run by our own members and volunteers.
• Our identity. We remain Tri-County Unitarian Universalists, with a history reaching back to the 1970s.

How the Agreement Works

The relationship rests on a written covenantal agreement signed by the presidents of both congregations and by Rev. Kristina, drawn up in keeping with Unitarian Universalist Association guidelines. A signed copy is filed with the UUA. The agreement runs a year at a time and is renewed by consent of all three parties.

Administratively, TriUU serves as the employer of record. We handle payroll and the required tax filings, and UUCLC reimburses us for its half each month.

Why We Do It

Both TriUU and UUCLC are small congregations. On its own, neither could sustain a full-time minister. Yoked, each of us can call on the ministry of an experienced, professionally trained Unitarian Universalist minister for half of her working life rather than none of it.

It is a practical answer to a real limit. It is also a covenant in the truest sense: two congregations choosing to make something possible together that neither could manage alone.

Learn More

• Meet Rev. Kristina and our congregational leadership
• Our History — the full story of TriUU, from the 1970s to today
• Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lake County — our yoked partner in Eustis