My Blog

Tag: rector search

  • Together in the Journey of Transition

    Gay and I are grateful for the extraordinary ways in which we are being enfolded in the embrace of St. John’s! The generous welcome and hospitality you have extended is helping us to get acquainted with the parish and get started in the work of transition. Permit me to mention several things that will be central to the fruitfulness of this season of transition.

    Momentum in Mission ~ As I meet with key leaders and ministry groups, I am finding a healthy and vibrant momentum in your pursuit of Christ's mission. We will look for ways to encourage that forward movement. In some cases, that will mean doing exactly what you are already doing. In other cases, we will be looking at next steps, which will involve expansion or refocus. In still other instances, we will be looking at new initiatives.

    Search Process ~ The process of searching for and calling a rector is a process of mutual discernment. In the past few years, this process has changed in positive and important ways throughout The Episcopal Church. Each Diocesan Bishop, with the support of the Office of Transition Ministries, directs a process tailored to the diocese and congregation. Our parish leadership will work closely with the diocesan transition officer, Canon Tristan English, as the process unfolds. In the early stages of the process, members of the parish will be asked to provide information that will allow development of a contemporary and accurate profile of the parish. At each stage of the process, the parish will be provided with as much information as possible.

    Focus Areas of Transition ~ You will hear frequent references to “Focus Areas of Transition.” They are:

    Heritage: Understanding and celebrating the history of this congregation and its relationship to previous clergy, the community, and the diocese.

    Mission: Discovering the congregation’s unique identity, what it is called by God to be and to do, in accordance with and apart from previous clergy leadership.

    Leadership: Encouraging and facilitating naturally evolving shifts in leadership roles which occur in times of transition and allowing new leaders to come to the forefront in creative and constructive ways.

    Connections: Assisting the congregation in discovering how they can bless one another, the larger community, and their present and future clergy. Continuing relationships with the diocese, so that each may support the mission and work of the church.

    Future: Building commitment to the leadership of the new Rector in order to move into the future with openness to new possibilities. These five tasks are the work of the congregation and are ongoing, not sequential, in nature. They represent the key ways in which the parish takes an honest look at itself. As we make decisions, we will ask lots of questions and have lots of conversations.

    My Priorities ~ In addition to the usual duties of a rector, I will facilitate the five focus areas. I will also devote particular energies to several areas of parish life that the Vestry and I will identify together as opportunities for special attention of the parish and focus of my vocational experience and gifts.

    Congregational Health ~ St. John’s is already a very healthy congregation! So, as we journey together during this transition, we will be mindful of the overall health of the congregation and its missionary activity. Four of the most important elements of congregational health are good communication, trust, mutual accountability, and healthy interpersonal behaviors.

    In all things, we want to prepare every aspect of the life and ministry of the parish to receive your new rector and ensure that your ministry with your new rector is positive and fruitful in every possible way.

    I'll see you in church!

    Ron Short Sig Blue

     

     

     

     

    The Rev’d Ron Pogue Interim Rector

     

     

     

  • The Search for Authenticity

    The vestry of The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Lexington, where I am serving as Interim Rector, is accepting applications from its members to serve on the Rector Nominating Committee.  This committee will guide the process from a parish self-study all the way through to the time when they will present nominations of two or three priests to the vestry, which will extend a call.

    The search for a rector is a process of mutual discernment.  Just as the Rector Nominating Committee and Vestry will be looking at potential rectors, those potential rectors will also be looking at the parish.   In fact, we have to assume that a number of people have already been looking at the parish and diocesan websites. 

    Just as the parish hopes the priest that is finally called will be who he or she claims to be, the parish  must also hope to be the parish it claims to be!  In this mutual discernment, parish leaders and prospective rectors will not be looking for perfection, in the sense of being complete and without errors or flaws.  What everyone will be looking for is authenticity!
    Onion3
    The serch for authenticity in the discernment process is sort of like peeling back the layers of an onion.  Nobody can predict the outcome of this discernment process.  Permit me to share an example of how unpredictable the process of calling a spiritual leader can be.

    Fifty-seven years ago, two Baptist congregations that were looking for a new pastor both wanted the same young man, a recent graduate of Boston University School of Theology.  They wanted to meet him and listen to him preach.  He asked each committee, “About what shall I preach?”  They both responded, “Preach about your dreams and visions.”

    When the people from the First Baptist Church in Chattanooga heard him, they did not believe his vision for the City of God and rejected him as a possible pastor.  Although surprised and shaken, the young man did not lose confidence in the dreams and visions God had given him.

    When people from a Montgomery, Alabama congregation heard him preach, they believed his vision, called him to be their pastor, and he accepted.   Within a few months, a black woman of that city named Rosa Parks, refused to go to the back of the bus and the African American leadership of Montgomery turned to their newest pastoral leader, The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. of The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church for leadership.  He led a crusade to tear down the walls of legal segregation.  His authentic witness to what he had seen and heard cost him his life in 1968.  But because of his witness, others heard and saw the vision, dreamed the dream, and continue to carry on the work.

    The right pastor at the right church at the right moment in history.  Who could have predicted it?  Who could have predicted what would happen two millennia after a young Jewish carpenter invited a dozen average people in the remote hills of Galilee to follow him?

    This is for certain: the disciples, the people of Dexter Avenue, and Dr. King were listening when the call came and they responded in trust and authenticity when they heard it.  They knew they weren't perfect but they trusted God to empower them to do what needed doing and to make them the people God was calling them to be.  And that’s the task that lies ahead of any community of faith that is in transition and any member of the clergy who is under consideration to be their new spiritual leader.

      "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God" (Hebrews 10:31) but when in trust we place ourselves in God's hands, God forms us, shapes us, and does more with us than we can possibly do with ourselves.  God With Us makes authenticity possible.

    Be-authentic Ron