St. James Episcopal Church, Clinton NY

Search Committe Update: September 2009

FROM THE SEARCH COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 200 9

Dear Friends,

The members of the Search Committee (for a new Rector) have met as a group with Canon Karen Lewis, from the Bishop’s office, and are in the planning stages of our search and discernment process.

As shared with us by Canon Lewis, the process can be separated into stages, each of which requires a commitment of time and resources:

Preparation and Planning
Self Study
Clergy Search
Discernment Call
Mutual Ministry

We are at the start of the Self Study stage. This stage is focused on helping us understand our strengths and weaknesses as a parish as well as our aspirations for our next rector. Our Self Study Subcommittee is headed by Matt Weber; working with Matt is Colleen Campbell, Chris Fox, Sandra Love, and Barbara McKnight. This subcommittee has specifically been charged with "lead[ing] our congregation through a process of self study seeking the congregation's consensus of their Ministry, Identity, Direction, Systems Functionality, Church Growth Capacity, History with Clergy, and Expectations for Future Clergy. The Self -Study Committee will develop, and the Vestry will adopt, a parish profile and leadership criteria for the new clergy. The profile information and proposed compensation needs to be reviewed by the Bishop's office. It will then be posted on the central deployment website of the National church.

As a first step in our Self Study process, we will be undertaking a Parish-wide Survey, working in September with a survey format provided by Holy Cow Consulting company. Please watch for announcements in the service bulletins, via e-mail, and by regular mail for the various ways by which each Parish member will be able to complete the survey questionnaire.

Search Committee

Randy Wilson chairs the search committee. Blair Jones and Barbara McKnight are the other primary leaders (vice-chairs) Other members are Karen Anderson, Mike Baldwin, Libby Beardsall, Colleen Campbell, Pat Evans, Chris Fox, Ken Iles, Sandra Love, Barbara Swetman, Emily Vicks, Jean Vicks and Matt Weber.

"How long will it [the search] take?"

The length of time to complete any given stage of this process depends upon many variables, including the frequency of meetings, the willingness of members to work independently and collaboratively, issues that need to be addressed (i.e., it may be necessary to work on conflict resolution or financial challenges before proceeding with the search), the length of time required to develop a parish profile, delays due to holidays and vacations, etc. Flexibility is essential. The "average time from departure of a rector to the calling of a new rector is 12 to 18 months "

(All quoted material is sourced from Parish Transition - Clergy Search Process, Diocese of Central New York.)

Please note that every member of your search committee is sworn to maintain confidentiality regarding the name and/or identity of all candidates.

Every Parish Member should be an active participant in this process. We look forward to your questions and comments and would welcome your help on our various subcommittees.

Should you want to suggest the name of a possible candidate, please contact:

Judy Fried,
Diocesan Deployment Officer:
jfried@cny.anglican.org
315-474-6596.

Judy is the first line of formal contact for any and all potential candidates.

Asking your prayers as we undertake our search and discernment process,

Your Search Committee
Randy Wilson, Chairperson
Blair Jones, Vice Chairperson