A TRANSFORMING TRANSITION
The Search for a Vicar at St. Brigit Episcopal Church
2021

An exciting time is happening at St. Brigit….we are beginning the search for a full time Vicar to lead us, inspire us and journey with us as we move toward growing into the fullness of our Divine Nature.

Of course, there is a process….could we be Episcopalians without a process??? So here we go with “the process”.

Transition Ministry:  The Diocese is central to the search and we are working closely with the Rev. Canon Vanessa Stickler Glass who is the Missioner forTransition. Her role is to work with congregations as they search for the next leader for their church. To this end, she will be guiding the search committee on the protocols for finding, interviewing and deciding on a person to call or not to call. There is a level of interview training involved and she will be leading that process. She also posts our position description (Profile and Portfolio) on various job sites within the nation-wide Episcopal platforms, and interacts with those priests who are interested in St. Brigit. Vanessa (as she is comfortable being called) has already met with the Bishop’s Committee Community to get us started and will continue to be with us throughout the process.

Our first task was to develop a Portfolio of answers to questions that the Diocese sends to all candidates regardless of the church for which they might be interested. This was written and approved by the Bishop’s Committee Community last month. The second document, the Church Profile, is a much longer and detailed description of all aspects of St. Brigit including pictures of various events that describe the community. Its purpose is to give a priest who is looking at different opportunities a clear picture as well as the “flavor” of our congregation. The Bishop’s Committee Community approved the Profile December 17, 2020 and it has been sent to Vanessa for her review. 

Search Committee:  The Search Committee is the incoming Bishop’s Committee Community: Sean McGaughey, Bishop’s Warden; Jim Thoming, Treasurer; Jeff Nieusma, Property Warden; Alicia Florin, Barb Miller, Tracy Platz, Geri Sue Coe, Vicky Emerson and Sharon Fasano (non member) Clerk of the BCC.

Search Committee Chair:  Learning from our experience in the past search, the BCC saw a need for a Chair who would not be a member of the BCC and would have an administrative role in working with Vanessa, the Bishop’s Warden and the members of the BCC.  The Chair is myself, Peg Nelson, and I will be the administrator of the process for the search. In that light, I will not be a part of the interviews or discernment or making the decision on whom to call or not call to St. Brigit. With the mechanics of the search being handled, the BCC will be more able to attend to the work they do which is vital to the forward movement of St. Brigit as well as search for a Vicar. 

Each month and more often as the process moves forward, please look for A Transforming Transition to keep abreast of the Search process.

An exciting time for all of us at St. Brigit….remember the Search Committee in your prayers, thank them for the additional time they will be taking to do the search and still be doing the work of the BCC….their hearts and minds are working for us all.

A prayer for transforming transition:  Our heavenly Father…We ask that You would use this time to challenge us, to encourage us, to change us, that we may continue to grow and be transformed and in this process find hope to offer the world around us.

In our conversations and our sharing, in our eating, resting, learning and laughing may we notice You, find You, follow You and offer You. Amen.  
(Celtic Book of Daily Prayer)