Transition News
Call for Nominations for the Discernment Committee (Sept. 22, 2022)
Canon Lee Curtis met virtually with the Vestry on Sunday, September 18, to discuss upcoming steps in the transition process. He recommended that we complement our approach to forming the Discernment Committee by soliciting nominations in addition to applications. His advice is based on extended experience that parishes wind up overlooking excellent candidates who may not see themselves in this kind of role but are recognized more broadly in the community for their deep listening and prayerful discernment skills.
We are grateful to those who have applied already for the Committee and for those that have been encouraging applications in the background. After considering Canon Lee’s advice, we are opening a nomination period for you, the members of St. Michael’s, to tell us who you think would be a good candidate for this committee. The nomination window begins immediately and runs through October 3. We encourage you to speak with potential nominees in advance, but that is not required. Please send the nominee’s name and a short explanation of why they are a good candidate to transitionsmaa@gmail.com or contact Sharon DeLand at sharon.deland@yahoo.com. You may also continue to submit applications through October 3.
We are still targeting posting our position in early March with the intention of issuing a call for a new rector in June or July. We are confident that the process for soliciting congregational input can be completed in a way that enables deep reflection and dialogue in a timely manner.
Please continue to hold the Vestry in your prayers. If you have questions, please contact Sharon DeLand (sharon.deland@yahoo.com), or our Wardens, Patrick Reilly (patdanareilly@msn.com) and Vangie Wells (evangelinewells@me.com).
We are grateful to those who have applied already for the Committee and for those that have been encouraging applications in the background. After considering Canon Lee’s advice, we are opening a nomination period for you, the members of St. Michael’s, to tell us who you think would be a good candidate for this committee. The nomination window begins immediately and runs through October 3. We encourage you to speak with potential nominees in advance, but that is not required. Please send the nominee’s name and a short explanation of why they are a good candidate to transitionsmaa@gmail.com or contact Sharon DeLand at sharon.deland@yahoo.com. You may also continue to submit applications through October 3.
We are still targeting posting our position in early March with the intention of issuing a call for a new rector in June or July. We are confident that the process for soliciting congregational input can be completed in a way that enables deep reflection and dialogue in a timely manner.
Please continue to hold the Vestry in your prayers. If you have questions, please contact Sharon DeLand (sharon.deland@yahoo.com), or our Wardens, Patrick Reilly (patdanareilly@msn.com) and Vangie Wells (evangelinewells@me.com).
Invitation to Apply for the Discernment Committee (Aug. 31, 2022, rev. Sept. 6, 2022)
Dear Parishioner,
Thank you for holding the vestry in prayer during the first few months of our transition to a new rector. We are in the initial stages of a long process that involves everyone. In A Change of Pastors, Loren Mead describes the five steps of the transition journey this way:
We are moving out of the early, in-between stages, and are ready to ask for participation from the wider community of Saint Michael and All Angels by convening a Discernment Committee, which will oversee both the congregational self-study process and the search for a new rector. We are calling this committee the Discernment Committee (rather than a search committee) to emphasize the important first steps of self-study before beginning the search process. The self-study process will be simplified from the CLAD and Parish Profile process we completed eight years ago. It includes gathering input and distilling our community's needs and changing mission through sharing our stories and reviewing changing demographic and cultural shifts. The commitment to the committee will be significant, with meetings twice a month until the process is complete. We expect to be doing the self-study process in November, and hope to be conducting our search in the Spring of 2023 when most of the other unfilled positions are being posted. If you are interested in participating, please fill out this application online (use the link available in eNoticias) or fill out this form and take it to the parish office. The deadline for applications is September 20, 2022. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Vestry Liaisons for Transition, Terese Bridges (trbridges@icloud.com) and Sharon DeLand (sharon.deland@yahoo.com), or our Vestry Wardens, Patrick Reilly (patdanareilly@msn.com) and Vangie Wells (evangelinewells@me.com).
Canon Lee and Father Lowery, our interim rector, have given us excellent guidance in this transition, and we encourage everyone to stay updated on the transition process through the Transition tab on our website. This discernment process requires a prayerful, considered approach. As we enter this process as an entire community, please prayerfully consider these words from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the 20th-Century Jesuit mystic and paleontologist:
Thank you for holding the vestry in prayer during the first few months of our transition to a new rector. We are in the initial stages of a long process that involves everyone. In A Change of Pastors, Loren Mead describes the five steps of the transition journey this way:
- Saying goodbye and reconciling with the past
- Direction finding and discernment
- Self-study
- Search
- Commitment to new direction in ministry
We are moving out of the early, in-between stages, and are ready to ask for participation from the wider community of Saint Michael and All Angels by convening a Discernment Committee, which will oversee both the congregational self-study process and the search for a new rector. We are calling this committee the Discernment Committee (rather than a search committee) to emphasize the important first steps of self-study before beginning the search process. The self-study process will be simplified from the CLAD and Parish Profile process we completed eight years ago. It includes gathering input and distilling our community's needs and changing mission through sharing our stories and reviewing changing demographic and cultural shifts. The commitment to the committee will be significant, with meetings twice a month until the process is complete. We expect to be doing the self-study process in November, and hope to be conducting our search in the Spring of 2023 when most of the other unfilled positions are being posted. If you are interested in participating, please fill out this application online (use the link available in eNoticias) or fill out this form and take it to the parish office. The deadline for applications is September 20, 2022. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Vestry Liaisons for Transition, Terese Bridges (trbridges@icloud.com) and Sharon DeLand (sharon.deland@yahoo.com), or our Vestry Wardens, Patrick Reilly (patdanareilly@msn.com) and Vangie Wells (evangelinewells@me.com).
Canon Lee and Father Lowery, our interim rector, have given us excellent guidance in this transition, and we encourage everyone to stay updated on the transition process through the Transition tab on our website. This discernment process requires a prayerful, considered approach. As we enter this process as an entire community, please prayerfully consider these words from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the 20th-Century Jesuit mystic and paleontologist:
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
To reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
Unknown, something new.
Only God could say what this new spirit
Gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
To reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
Unknown, something new.
Only God could say what this new spirit
Gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you.
Peace and Blessings to each of you!
Patrick Reilly
Rector’s Warden
Patrick Reilly
Rector’s Warden
Update on Transition (Aug. 22, 2022)
Thank you for holding us in prayer during the first few months of our transition to a new rector. With the presence of an interim rector, we can now focus our attention on creating a Discernment Committee to lead us in reflection on our future pastoral needs and to conduct the search for a new rector.
We are in the initial stages of a long process that involves everyone. In A Change of Pastors, Loren Mead describes the five steps of the transition journey this way:
We are currently in the second step on this process, with some work still to do with the first step, reconciling the past, along with reconciling the present situation due to all the changes in our practices due to the Covid outbreak. However, there are a couple of items to bear in mind as we work through this in-between part of the transition. First, the third step, Self-study process, is much simpler than it was eight years ago, when we had to complete a parish profile. Second, we now have our interim rector who can help guide us through the process.
Canon Lee gave us excellent guidance as we began this transition, and all of what he said still holds true. This is a discernment process that requires a prayerful, considered approach. Also, it will work best to conduct our search in the Spring of 2023 when most of the other unfilled positions are being posted.
The Vestry has decided to form a Discernment Committee to help with this process. If you are interested in participating, please watch for an application that will be available in eNoticias soon. As we enter this process as an entire community, please prayerfully consider these words from Teilhard de Chardin:
We are in the initial stages of a long process that involves everyone. In A Change of Pastors, Loren Mead describes the five steps of the transition journey this way:
- Saying goodbye and reconciling with the past
- Discernment and direction finding
- Self-study
- Search
- Commitment to new direction in ministry
We are currently in the second step on this process, with some work still to do with the first step, reconciling the past, along with reconciling the present situation due to all the changes in our practices due to the Covid outbreak. However, there are a couple of items to bear in mind as we work through this in-between part of the transition. First, the third step, Self-study process, is much simpler than it was eight years ago, when we had to complete a parish profile. Second, we now have our interim rector who can help guide us through the process.
Canon Lee gave us excellent guidance as we began this transition, and all of what he said still holds true. This is a discernment process that requires a prayerful, considered approach. Also, it will work best to conduct our search in the Spring of 2023 when most of the other unfilled positions are being posted.
The Vestry has decided to form a Discernment Committee to help with this process. If you are interested in participating, please watch for an application that will be available in eNoticias soon. As we enter this process as an entire community, please prayerfully consider these words from Teilhard de Chardin:
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
To reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
Unknown, something new.
Only God could say what this new spirit
Gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
To reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
Unknown, something new.
Only God could say what this new spirit
Gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you.
Nuts & Bolts Forum: Sunday Worship and Music
offered in-person and via Zoom on Aug. 7 and Aug. 14, 2022
|
These are the questions we asked attendees. If you have not yet provided feedback, please do so here: |
The PowerPoint Presentation we used in the forum appears below. 
| ||
