Hello Friends!
I want to talk about our time of transition. There are four basic parts to any transition in church leadership. I want to give you an update about where we are and where we are headed.
The first step is to process your time under the leader who has departed and address any problems that presently exist. There will generally be a mix of feelings, and sometimes there are things left undone that must be addressed and issues that have been deferred and now demand attention. This must take place while the transitional leadership (me in this case) establishes relationships with all of you so we can build the trust to enter into the next steps in the evolution of Memorial. How long it takes to address the various things left undone and to process the last few years is complicated because Memorial is in a situation of strained finances, and we have to discover why and develop a sound approach to fixing it. Some of our operational processes must also be amended to be consistent with the business practices of The Episcopal Church. There are some operational areas that lack any formal process and documentation, and we must develop that to ensure that future leadership has everything that is needed to be successful. I will work as hard as I can to move swiftly, but I am still in the process of discovering things, and I think this could take a few months to fully understand the state of the church-- maybe as long as three months, though I am hoping two. How long it will take to fix the finances and establish or fix broken processes is much harder to estimate because that is dependent upon some variables I cannot control. I will need your help!
The second step is much more fun. It is where we dream and discuss and imagine the Memorial of the future-- say five years down the road. Who do you want to be? What kind of qualities do you desire in a leader? What are some of the things you love most about your church? It is during this step that we develop a parish profile that will be published on the Office for Transition Ministry web site and will ultimately attract good applicants to lead Memorial. We will hold a couple of community meetings and we will develop a parish wide survey, and then a committee will develop the profile. This will take a few months-- it is the data gathering part and hearing one another that determine the length of the step, and this will set up the actual search for success.
The third step will be the search process for a permanent rector. The beginning of this step can overlap with the second step if we have separate committees. The search committee should represent the diverse perspectives of our community, and they will develop the criteria for the person who will be called to serve Memorial. A call notice will be carefully drafted; a job listing posted on the Office of Transition Ministry website of The Episcopal Church and on other key places where clergy look for work. Before the job listing is even posted, the search committee will determine the criterial for passing an application through to an interview, and they will develop metrics for the “short list” of candidates who will be invited to a second interview. The final step of the search process will be recommending a candidate to the vestry, who will then vote “yes” or “no.” Sometimes a parish search committee will recommend the top two candidates to a vestry, and the vestry will make the decision, however how we undergo this process will be determined by you. The length of this step could be a few months-- 5 or 6, depending upon how many applicants you receive.
The fourth step is forming a transition committee to welcome the new rector by providing the resources necessary to get up to speed and be successful in their transition. This could include advice on housing, schools if they have children, recommendations on various services, e.g., car mechanics, grocery stores, etc. and information about this awesome community. This committee can be formed at any time, as long as you are ready to greet your new rector on day one and go from there. It may only take a few meetings and some homework to prepare for the rector's arrival. This work can be accomplished in six weeks or less.
This annotated outline is not exhaustive, but it should allow you to have a better feel for the process.
Where we are in our transition work will be communicated to you clearly and regularly. You will not be given details about various appplicants because those types of personnel details will be made held confidentially by the search committee. But you will know where we are in the transition process.
We have work to go in this awesome community. Some of the work will be fun, and some of it may be difficult, but I promise to be as transparent as is possible and to keep our nominal parish life, our ministries and our worship moving and vibrant while we engage in our process of transition.
God is with us always. Pray for one another; spend time with one another; and listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit, When God's people determine to do God's work of doing justice and living humbly in love, amazing things can happen.
In Christ's love,
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