Post 6: The Search Committee has been hard at work proceeding through the Diocese's recommended protocol for transition. On October 21st and 22nd the Vestry and Search Committee collectively participated in a discernment retreat that was led by Rev. Cynthia Hubbard. We worked hard that weekend to achieve a unified vision of St. Mary's history, identity, mission, and goals. It was a tremendously rewarding experience for all as we tried to honestly answer the very profound question of who we are at St. Mary's. We closed that weekend with the core content of our parish profile in place.
The Search Committee has been meeting about every other week to further define our process ahead as we look for the perfect new rector. We are in the final stages of completing our parish profile piece - a tri-fold brochure. We will use this brochure on our website as well as on the diocesan website and in mailings to prospective candidates. The Vestry and Search Committee have collectively agreed to invest further time adn energy into updating our website in recognition of the fact that many prospective applicants will be using the web to get a visual sense of who we are. We have also been using this time to meet with our wealth of retired priests to solicit their wisdom. We are blessed to have Father John RIce serving as our Chaplain throughout this process. His wisdom and gift for ministry continues to keep us spiritually grounded as we attempt to imagine what God's dreams are for our parish. We will soon complete the CDO Profile, which will effectively make us able to begin receiving names from the diocese.
As we begin our own marketing campaign we would like to ask all of our parishioners to continue to keep the Search Commitee in your prayers. We would also like to ask those of you who may spend some portion of the year attending other parishes to keep your eyes and ears open. We fully intend to conduct a nation-wide serach and want to leave no leaf unturned. If you know of a particularly wonderful minister do not be afraid to let them know of our opening and please feel free to share any names or ideas with someone on the Search Committee. Thank you for your prayers.
Peace,
Roger Boocock and Allison Bresette, Co-Chairs Seach Committee
Post 5: We had a wonderful Good Bye Reception for Father Steve on Sunday, November 13. (Click here to view pictures) and welcomed Father William Eddy as our interim Rector.
Post 4: The Vestry and Search Committee had a very sucessful retreat and were able to create our Parish Profile which will be presented in a tri fold brouchure and electronically for potential candidates. Our next steps will be to publish the Parish Profile and complete two Diocesan forms to post our search for a new Rector. Our most important next step is to host a farewell to Father Steve on Sunday, November 13. If you have photographs of Father Steve you would like included in a slide show, please either drop of your photos in the office with Barbara or e-mail them as soon as possible.
Post 3: Reminder, the Vestry and Search Committee will attend a retreat facilitated by Cynthia Hubbard, Cannon for Transitional Ministries for the Diocese on Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22 to create a profile which will be used to tell propective clergy about who we are at St. Mary's.
Post 2: The Vestry and Wardens are pleased to announce we have voted to enter into a Letter of Call for the Rev. Bill Eddy to be our Interim Rector. The letter was signed and sent to the Bishop’s Office and approval is expected this week. The wardens would like to thank Gertrude Waters and Matt Palmer in particular for their work on this engagement.
With Gratitude,
Robin Greene, Sr. Warden.
Post 1: The Vestry and Wardens would like to thank the many people who stepped forward to volunteer as candidates for the search committee. We believe the 12 whom we have called will need all our prayers and support throughout this next year.
Our search committee represents a cross section of St. Mary's with Allison Bresette, Roger Boocock, Jim Cranitch, Lois Gagnon, Brad Goodwin, Hilary Greene, Mary Ann Mans, Jack Moran, Jud Phelps, Henry Ramage, Judy Scarafile, Janis Umschlag, and John Rice, Chaplin.
The first stage with the entire parish will be led by Cynthia Hubbard, Cannon for Transitional Ministries for the Diocese, on be Sunday, September 25. Cynthia will hold an Appreciative Inquiry which will inform our profile process. We will have one combined service at 9:00 a.m. (Joy Mass at 9:30 - no church school) and then do our work together.
The second stage is October 21st and 22nd, when the Vestry and Search Committee will attend a retreat with Cynthia on Friday night and Saturday. The purpose of this retreat is to create the profile which will be used to tell propective clergy about who we are at St. Mary's.
As you can see, we are well ahead of the time line to begin our search when Steve retires at the end of the year. His last day with us will be November 13 and we would like to be able to focus on his 30 year ministry and celebrate him as he enters the next phase of his journey.
Check in on this page for further updates on our Transition process - this page will be updated weekly. |
