Vital Posts / Clergy Transition

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  • Discernment During Institutional Depression
    Is anyone else concerned about our church’s impassioned embrace of depression as we look toward General Convention and a challenging future? The Episcopal blogosphere is full of articles underscoring our grim institutional trajectory. A couple of…
  • Confession of a Priest’s Wife
    I don’t want to share my friend with church. In January my family moved to a new community and church. The parishioners have been wonderful, and the community has embraced our children. It has been a good transition. But let’s be ho…
  • Leaving
    This morning I received the letter from my Rector saying he was leaving our parish in New York City and going to a congregation in Vermont. We knew it was coming…he’d always said he’d serve at St. Mary’s for about 10 years. At last year’s…
  • St. Nicholas: Putting away (my) childish things
    St. Nicholas greeted us at the door. This evening is one of my favorites leading up to Christmas. The children giggle, laugh, and point. Some hide behind their mothers’ legs, peeking one eye out at the jolly ole soul. We combine the delight…
  • The Five Steps in the Discernment Process, Part 8: Responding to a Call or Lack Thereof
    Responding to a call or lack thereof No matter how closely you have followed the advice on this blog, the reality is only one final candidate will receive a call from the vestry and search committee. Most will receive what feels like a rejection…
  • Leaving is Lonely
  • The Five Steps in the Search Process: Part 7 Interviews
    Engaging in face–to-face interviews There are two forms of face-to-face interviews: a visit to your current parish by a subgroup of the search committee, and a final tour and interview at the prospective parish with the whole search committee …
  • The Five Steps in the Search Process, Part 6: Questionnaires
    Discern what search committees are looking for and respond to their questions Some search committees ask for responses to questionnaires with an initial application. Other committees review initial applications and nominations and send informati…
  • The Five Steps in a Search Process, Part 5: Resumes and OTMS
    Basic Paperwork for Entering a Search Process: OTM Portfolios, Résumé, and Cover Letters  Three documents are required to make initial contact with a search committee: a résumé, an OTM Portfolio, and a cover letter. Each of these documents s…
  • Five Steps in the Search Process, Part 4
    Identify appropriate open positions When searching for open positions, clergy should develop a fairly broad screen to help discern which available positions might be appropriate matches. Elements in an initial screen might be: geography, kind o…
  • The Five Steps in the Search Process, Part 3
    Step 1. Define your skills, values, and purpose Who are you, what are your blessings, and where might you like to exercise those blessings? If you don’t know who you are, you will not be able to discern what positions might be good for you, a…
  • The Five Steps in the Search Process, Part 2
    Understanding the process from the clergy’s perspective Clergy beginning to search for a new position can anticipate spending a year or two looking at several prospective positions before finding a good match and receiving a call. This process…
  • The Five Steps in the Search Process, Part 1
    One of the my core values is clarity. Hence, entering into search processes early in my career drove me nuts, as the process seemed opaque. I never knew what happened when or why. Nor could I understand why there were long lapses in communication f…
  • Fresh Start in the Search Process
    Yikes! The Rector is retiring/leaving and there are so many dynamics going on!  Where can we get some perspective?  Where is there help? A new resource from Fresh Start builds upon 10 years of experience helping congregations move th…
  • Raising PKs
    My daughter was only four months old the first time I truly understood the challenge of raising PKs – priest kids. I held her in my arms as we waited by the door for my husband to lock up the church. Her little face peaked out from a caterpil…
  • February Update: New Vestry Papers Content
    As promised, ECF Vital Practices continues to add to its January/February Vestry Papers themed content with two new articles: Covenants in Congregational Life In his role as the Episcopal Church’s Missioner for Church Planting, Ministry …
  • Care and Feeding of Priests
    Click here for a Spanish translation of this blog post. In 14 years as a clergy spouse, I’ve witnessed the gamut of how a congregation cares for its priest. Don’t get me wrong – I know that the congregation pays its priest – and…