Transition To a New Ministry

    Search Committee

Chair: Timothy Coyle (623-3000)  Search Committee Members

What We're Doing (updated 7/16/08)

 

 In late winter 2008, the Vestry of St. Andrew's appointed a 12-member committee to lead the search for a new priest. The Committee has been charged with preparing the Parish Profile in addition to recommending one candidate to the Vestry to serve as our new Rector.

As one of its first actions, the Search Committee crafted a meditative prayer to guide our way. At every Sunday service, the prayer, printed in the church bulletin, is read aloud by the congregation. The prayer reflects our hope and belief that our search for a new spiritual leader will be divinely inspired, a calling from God faithfully shared by the parish and the chosen rector.

Soon after, members of the Search Committee began engaging parishioners to better discern who we are as a church, what our needs are and how we envision our future together. In April and May 2008, the Search Committee held a series of "focus groups," attended by more than 100 parishioners. A group for young adults and youth was especially well attended and a session was held at Westminster Canterbury, a retirement facility in the neighboring city of Virginia Beach, where a number of the church's older members reside.

The Committee also developed and mailed a detailed survey to church members. More than 150 parishioners completed the survey; the consultant helping us with the search called the response remarkable. In essence, the purpose of the focus groups and the survey was to address three central questions: What keeps you coming to St. Andrew's? What would make the church a more enriching experience for you? What would you like the next rector to be like?

Members of the Search Committee spent several meetings compiling the responses. Overall, the results reflect a congregation that to a remarkable degree shares a common view of who we are, what's important to us and the kind of person we'd like our next spiritual leader to be. The information gathered by the Committee during this looking inward period of discernment was used in the creation of the Parish Profile, which was approved by the Vestry at its meeting on August 18, 2008. After the Parish Profile has been shared with the diocese, it will be posted on the St. Andrew's website and also distributed to parishioners.

The next phase of the search process will be to look outward and begin receiving the names of priests who may be interested in serving as the sixth rector of St. Andrew's. The Search Committee will interview the most promising candidates, visit perhaps three to five of the candidates who seem to be a good fit and, ultimately, recommend a single priest to the vestry which will make the final decision and actually call our next rector.

The diocese, the vestry and our consultant will continue to work closely with and help guide the Search Committee through the entire process.

Please pray every day for our new rector as yet unknown to us and for the Search Committee and feel free to direct your questions, ideas and concerns to Tim Coyle, Chairman, or to Jim Affeldt, Jenny Brown, Lois Gail Davis, Jon Glass, Bill Hennessey, Steve Herbert, Sally Kellam, Robin Kruger, Penny Lewis, Sid Roberts or Ginny Thumm, members of the Committee.

 

Rector Search FAQs

We have developed a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and answers!) about the St. Andrew’s Rector Search and Transition. 

Help from the Diocese

The Reverend Win Lewis, Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese, has been and will be working closely with the Vestry and the Search Committee to help guide the parish through the process of transition and to make available diocesan support and resources.

 

Contact Us

Communication is vitally important during this time of transition.  The Vestrywill keep the entire congregation informed but we want and need to hear from you too.  Please feel free to email or call Tim Coyle, Chairman (623-3000) or to contact any member of the Search Committee to continue to share your ideas, concerns and suggestions concerning the search process.

 

 

 

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