The Search Committee is in full swing: we met on Tuesday to talk through our hopes and dreams for Saint John’s, to map out our timeline, to divide responsibility for the next steps in the discernment process, and to develop the prayer that we will use together throughout our search.  You should expect to hear from the Search Committee soon, inviting you to participate in some aspect of the discernment process.  We want to make sure that we have heard from everyone, whether in meetings or through surveys, so that the profile of Saint John’s that we present to potential Rector candidates is complete, accurate, genuine, and inclusive. 

While you wait for that call, what the Search Committee needs most from you right now is three “Ps”: your prayers, your patience, and your pledge.  We ask your prayers that we may hear and heed the voice of God in our discussions and deliberations.  We need your patience: this process will take time—surely more time than any of us wishes it would—and we are quite confident that we will make mistakes, miscommunicate, hurt feelings, and beg your forgiveness many times along the way. 

And the Search Committee needs your financial pledge.  Whom we select as the next Rector of Saint John’s is constrained by the parish’s budget, and that budget is entirely dependent on the pledges we receive in the coming days for the 2020 calendar year.  How much we collectively pledge will determine how many hours per week we will be asking from our Rector, and that determination will affect whom we can call to be that Rector.  Likewise, how much we pledge will determine what level of experience we can expect from our incoming Rector, and what accommodations and sacrifices the incoming Rector can expect. This Stewardship season will therefore have a profound impact on the Rector Search process and the future of Saint John’s.

Commitment Sunday is this coming Sunday, November 24.  On that day, we will invite everyone to bring their pledge forward.  We are counting on everyone to pledge boldly in this period of transition, in a spirit of hope for what St. John’s can be.  

Thank you for your prayers, your patience and your pledge!

Louis 

Louis Tompros, Stewardship Chair and Search Committee Chair