Rector Search Documents

Search Committee Update June 2009

The Search Committee has made a good start so far on the lengthy process of identifying a new Rector for St. Andrew’s. The members of the Committee were selected by the Vestry in September 2008 and on September 19 met for the first time, along with our clergy; Vestry and Wardens; the Diocese’s deployment officer, Vicki Weiderkehr; and with the consultant selected by the Diocese to work with the Committee, Diane Paterson.

On September 20 Committee members gathered with Diane Paterson for a retreat at the Parish House at which the members began to get to know each other. The committee initially consisted of twelve members, evenly divided between men and women and with representation from all four of St. Andrew’s weekly services; unfortunately, two members have subsequently withdrawn due to the illness of a family member and time constraints leaving the ten members who continue to serve today.

Committee members have met on a biweekly basis since the September 20 retreat and arranged for a December 6 training session with Linton Studdiford on a technique for group work that the Diocese endorses, “Appreciative Inquiry”.  Diane Paterson has joined the Committee for many of these meetings.

The Search Committee drafted and distributed a Parish Survey to some 200 current and former parishioners on November 30 and has been delighted with the response to date: some 102 parishioners filled out the eight-page survey and made recommendations for St. Andrew’s future.

The Committee has been greatly assisted by a limited access web site that the Diocese made available for our work. We have used the web site to post minutes of meetings, notes from interviews and Parish Survey results – a very efficient and satisfactory way of communicating internally.

The Parish Survey is one of four different methods the Committee has used in getting a clear picture of what the St. Andrew’s congregation wants and needs in a new Rector. The other methods were
  • “Coffee Hour Conversations” with 82 attendees held following all three Sunday services on January 26 and February 1 and following the Wednesday healing service on February 4
  • interviews with five current clergy that took place in January
  • a storytelling session in March at which thirteen parishioners recounted their favorite reminiscences about parish life.

The Committee held a parish-wide meeting and potluck supper on Sunday, March 29th to update all members of the parish on how the search process has progressed and what we have identified as the parish’s preferences in a new Rector. Some sixty parishioners attended that meeting. The full presentation from that event appears below.

We are very grateful for the encouraging and positive response of both parishioners and our clergy to the ongoing efforts of the Committee.

Search Committee Update: Thanksgiving Week 2009

The ten members of your Search Committee continue to meet weekly in seeking St. Andrew’s new Rector and in listening closely for direction in recognizing that person.  We are in the process of reviewing 43 applications including resumes and detailed Diocesan forms.  By mid-December, we hope to receive back responses to essay questions sent to each candidate, to get a closer look at their gifts and how they might fit our parish.  On December 15 we also will be closing the process for accepting additional applications.  We are grateful for the number of resumes received to date and are surprised that they come from every quadrant of the U.S., and even from Canada.

We have developed questions for the telephone interviews that we will undertake in January and will be role-playing next month a telephone interview with the Rev. Vesta Kowalski of Mount Desert.

After digesting the resumes and essay questions, we will begin checking references for the most promising candidates.  All 43 applicants have already gone through the initial background check performed by Diocesan deployment offices across the country. We also have begun work on developing the in-person interview questions we will use with finalists.

The Committee hope to progress from telephone interviews to in-person interviews and parish visits in March 2010.  We would like to make a call of St. Andrew’s next Rector by April 2010.  We anticipate that the new Rector could take up this new calling by June 2010. It is possible, of course, that the new Rector’s arrival could be sooner, God willing.

 

Search Committee Update: First Sunday after Epiphany

January 10, 2010

The ten members of the Search Committee have reviewed applications from candidates for St. Andrew’s new Rector and this week are beginning telephone interviews with several of the most promising.  The deadline for submission of application materials (a resume, a Church Deployment “Personal Profile” with ministry specialties ranked and a “Leadership Description” form) was December 15, 2009–a date followed closely by Christmas and associated distractions.  Nonetheless, during that time, your Search Committee reviewed responses to essay questions that we posed to each of the candidates. 

We continue to anticipate concluding the search process with a job offer in April 2010 or sooner, God willing, following in-person interviews and parish visits.

The Committee has been greatly assisted by the counsel and encouragement of Diane Paterson, the Diocesan consultant who has been with us on this journey since September 2008, and Vicki Wiederkehr, the Canon for Deployment and Ministry in the Dioces of Maine.  We also have deepened and strengthened our fellowship with each other as the discernment process progressed and are grateful for many moments of clarity and laughter over our months together.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers as we keep you in ours.

Sally Crane and Steve Ward

Search Committee Co-Chairs


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