St. James Episcopal Church, Clinton NY

Terms (and people) to Know: As we proceed with our search

During this Interim period, you will hear many terms mentioned. For those new to St. James (or the Episcopal tradition), and those who have been around for a while who have heard these terms and vaguely know what they mean (because everyone uses them as if we do know what they mean), here is a short list of definitions.

Diocese - The administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. St. James is part of the Diocese of Central New York under Bishop Gladstone B. "Skip" Adams.
Interim Period - The time when a Parish is between Rectors.
Interim priest - A clergy person whose special calling is to help parishes during the transitional period of interim.
Parish - Generally understood to be a self-supporting congregation, but can also mean any congregation. So, our Parish is St. James Episcopal Church in Clinton (New York).
Parish Profile - A document providing information on a parish, including the parish's services and programs, budget, parish life and goals, and previous clergy. The parish profile is made available to clergy who may be interested in a call to a position in the parish.
Rector - The permanent Priest. This person has both pastoral and administrative duties. A candidate for Rectorship can not have been a (recent) interim or supply priest at the Parish.
Supply Priest - A clergy person who leads a parish in worship and celebrates (blesses and consecrates) the Eucharist when the regular priest (canonical priest) is not in residence. Typically, the supply priest is available only for scheduled services and usually has no other duties within the parish. Some of our supply priest are Don Berry, John LaVole, Karen Lewis and Peter Williams.
Vestry - The group of lay members elected by the congregation to run the secular business of the parish. The vestry is the legal representative of the parish. We have nine vestry members at St. James. Each serves for a three year period. Click here to learn more.
Wardens - The officers of the Parish. The senior warden leads the parish between rectors and is a support person for the rector; our senior warden is Heidi Philley. The junior warden often has responsibility for the church property and buildings; our junior warden is Jim White.

Adapted from An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians," Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors, available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/