We have already completed the first step in the rector search process, which is to prepare the Parish Profile. The Parish Profile is an in depth description of the parish, based on interviews and focus groups with members conducted over the last several months. The Profile provides potential rectors with a brief history about Messiah, including our congregation and our ministry focus. Our Parish Profile will also be a wonderful tool to introduce newcomers to our parish. If you have not yet had a chance to look at it, it can be seen on the Messiah website at http://www.messiah-santaana.org/news/profile.pdf. Now that the Parish Profile has been completed, it has been sent, along with other information about the rector position at Messiah, to the Clergy Formation and Deployment Office of the Diocese. This office is staffed by the Rev. Canon Joanna Satorius, canon for formation and deployment. The information in the profile is posted on a national data base which is available for clergy who may be considering pursuing a calling at a new parish. Our profile is now posted on this database and available for review by potential clergy.
At this point, we are at the “name gathering” stage of the process. Any clergy person who is interested in being considered for the Messiah rector position will submit his or her name to Rev. Canon Satorius. This gathering of names may take several months, while potential clergy consider whether or not they feel called to pursue a position at Messiah. Although it may seem as if not much is happening during these months, this waiting time is an important step in allowing the Holy Spirit to enter into the process, not just for our parish, but for the potential candidates.
After the names have been submitted, Rev. Canon Satorius then reviews the list and does a preliminary background check of the candidates. During this process, Rev. Canon Satorius only reviews the names for any “red flags” which would prevent the priest from serving in the Diocese; neither she nor the Bishop makes any other decision as to whether a priest should remain on the list. Once this process has been completed for each candidate, a list is compiled, and the list is sent to the Messiah Discernment Committee. Although we do not know for sure when that will happen, we expect it to be sometime after the beginning of the year.
When we receive our list of names, the potential candidates will be sent a few written questions, and will be requested to submit answers to the questions, along with other supplemental materials, such as sermons. The Discernment Committee has already met and drafted the questions to be sent to the candidates, so we will be ready as soon as we receive our list. The candidates will also be provided with additional information about Messiah, which may include bulletins and the monthly newsletter. Then, there is a waiting period while the candidates put together their responses and packets. Only after the materials have all been submitted will the Discernment Committee begin interviewing candidates. Some candidates may also be visited at their home parishes by members of the Discernment Committee, so that there is a chance to see the candidates in their own current parishes. Ultimately, after this process and lots of prayer, the Discernment Committee will pass three names on to the Messiah Vestry. The Vestry makes the final decision as to who to call to be the next parish rector from the three finalists.
What can you do now? Continue to pray for our parish, for the discernment committee and for the potential candidates. With your prayers, we know that the next rector of Messiah parish will lead us in the direction God has chosen.
Nancy Whitehead
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