Rector Search

Celebrate? I don’t feel much like celebrating at church right now, and maybe you don’t either. It’s Lent. No alleluias, no cheerful hymns, and Father Mike and Cyndy are retiring. You might wonder what the next steps are for calling a new priest to shepherd us here at St. Philip’s. The vestry has met with Bishop Read, and he has given us a broad outline of the process. However, the process doesn’t really begin until after Father Mike’s last day.  Hopefully, by then, the bishop will have found an interim priest for St. Philip’s. The Venerable Mike Besson, Archdeacon, will lead us through the search process, which could take eight to twelve months. To begin, a search committee chair will be appointed by the senior warden in consultation with the vestry, a diverse search committee of seven to nine will be appointed by the senior warden and search committee chair in consultation with the vestry, and a workshop will be held for the congregation to create a parish profile to assist the committee in beginning the search. After prayerful consideration, if you feel called to serve on the search committee or would like to have someone else considered, please let anyone serving on the vestry know. Likewise, if you have any questions, please ask. We don’t know everything yet, but we are most happy to share what we do know, and this process, with you!

It feels like we should be doing something right now, and we should! We should celebrate. Maybe we should be using this time between now and their departure at the end of June for prayerful self-examination, as with every lent, supporting Father Mike and Cyndy in the changes they are experiencing in their personal lives, and celebrating with them the last twenty years we have lived life – both joyous and heartbreaking – together with them.

God’s peace,
Sharon Carson, Sr. Warden

Rector Search

Celebrate? I don’t feel much like celebrating at church right now, and maybe you don’t either. It’s Lent. No alleluias, no cheerful hymns, and Father Mike and Cyndy are retiring. You might wonder what the next steps are for calling a new priest to shepherd us here at St. Philip’s. The vestry has met with Bishop Read, and he has given us a broad outline of the process. However, the process doesn’t really begin until after Father Mike’s last day.  Hopefully, by then, the bishop will have found an interim priest for St. Philip’s. The Venerable Mike Besson, Archdeacon, will lead us through the search process, which could take eight to twelve months. To begin, a search committee chair will be appointed by the senior warden in consultation with the vestry, a diverse search committee of seven to nine will be appointed by the senior warden and search committee chair in consultation with the vestry, and a workshop will be held for the congregation to create a parish profile to assist the committee in beginning the search. After prayerful consideration, if you feel called to serve on the search committee or would like to have someone else considered, please let anyone serving on the vestry know. Likewise, if you have any questions, please ask. We don’t know everything yet, but we are most happy to share what we do know, and this process, with you!

It feels like we should be doing something right now, and we should! We should celebrate. Maybe we should be using this time between now and their departure at the end of June for prayerful self-examination, as with every lent, supporting Father Mike and Cyndy in the changes they are experiencing in their personal lives, and celebrating with them the last twenty years we have lived life – both joyous and heartbreaking – together with them.

God’s peace,
Sharon Carson, Sr. Warden