December 5, 2007
My Dear Parish Family,
As I begin my tenth year as your rector, I need to share some very important information with you. During the past summer, Jerry and I had decided that we would plan to retire in January, 2009. However, the Holy Spirit has intervened in our lives in a very different way.
This past weekend, Jerry was offered – and accepted – an invitation to become the Organist/Choirmaster of Christ Episcopal Church, Tyler, Texas. This is a remarkable opportunity for him to exercise the considerable musical gifts with which the Lord has blessed him; the sort of ministry for which he is so well suited and for which he has spent much of his life in preparation. At Christ Church, he will oversee a large ministry of music, including adult choirs, a choir school for children, and a concert series for which he will serve as artistic director. So, instead of retiring next year, we will soon be moving to Texas.
On a personal note, I will very much miss All Saints’ and all of you. On the other hand, Tyler is about an hour and a half’s drive from Shreveport, where two of our grandchildren live, and that is a great attraction!
Jerry is to begin his new position on February 1. Our plans are not yet firm, but since there seems to be no current opportunity for me to exercise ordained ministry in the area of Tyler, I could continue my ministry here, possibly through Lent, God willing and the Bishop consenting.
I have notified the Wardens and Vestry, the staff, the Bishop and the Canon to the Ordinary of this extraordinary offering. The Rev. Canon Mark Stevenson, Canon to the Ordinary, will meet with the Vestry on Monday at their regular meeting and begin the steps toward transition and the search process for a new rector.
Advent is a time of anticipation of the coming of something new. Let this be for all of us a time of anticipation of the new life to which God is calling us all in Christ. Let us place our trust in the Lord Jesus and the new life toward which he leads us as members of his Body. Come; let us walk in the light of the Lord.
In Christ,
Susan+
TIME OF TRANSITION
1st Installment, January 6, 2008
This is the first in series of reports to the congregation on the departure of the Very Rev. Susan Davidson as rector and the search for a new rector. Mother Davidson has announced plans to move to Tyler, Texas, perhaps in the spring of 2008. At her invitation, the Rev. Canons Mark Stevenson and Scott Albergate attended the All Saints’ vestry meeting on 10 December. The canons are aides to Bishop Charles Jenkins.
The canons’ message was that it is natural for a congregation to experience a range of emotions as one rector leaves and a new rector is called. The important things to remember are that God already knows the identity of All Saints’ next rector and that, for now, we need only to pray for that person.
In the Episcopal Church, the diocesan bishop does not unilaterally assign rectors to parishes. Rather, the parish’s vestry oversees a process to discern God’s will and then to "call" the new rector, subject to the bishop’s approval. The Diocese of Louisiana has a framework in place to help parishes with this process. The details for All Saints’ process will be worked out later, but the preliminary framework looks something like this:
Shortly after the All Saints’ annual congregational meeting in late January, the two canons will meet with All Saints’ senior warden for 2008. (John Odell is the 2007 senior warden. An election for 2008 senior warden will take place at the first vestry meeting after the congregation meeting, probably on the same day as the congregation meeting.)
The canons and the senior warden will discuss appointing a search committee for a new rector and beginning a "self study" of All Saints. The self-study is a process by which the congregation identifies itself, its strengths and weaknesses, its place in history and what it hopes to find in a new rector. The search committee could consist of seven to nine members of All Saints’, and at least one should be a member of the vestry.
In evaluating people for the position of rector, the search committee may consider priests who are recommended by the congregation, by friends of the congregation, by the bishop and by others. And it may consider priests of whom it learns through a parish-and-priest matching service run by the national Episcopal Church. Through a process of interviews, visits and prayer, the search committee likely will narrow the list of potential rectors to a handful, then recommend one to the vestry.
It is the vestry that calls the rector, subject to the bishop’s approval.
In general, the search process, from appointment of a committee to the calling of a new rector, takes six to 16 months. Thus it is likely that Mother Davidson will leave well before a new rector arrives. In the interim, the diocesan office will work with the senior warden to provide a priest to officiate at services and help with parish leadership.
The vestry encourages itself and all members of the congregation to pray for Mother Davidson, to pray for her successor at All Saints’ and to pray for God’s blessing on All Saints’ as it begins this process. Anyone with comments or questions about the process is invited to speak with any member of the vestry.
Drew Broach,
Secretary to the vestry
TIME OF TRANSITION
2nd Installment, February 13, 2008
This is the second in a series of reports to the congregation on the departure of the Very Rev. Susan Davidson as rector and the search for a new rector. Mother Davidson has announced plans to move to Tyler, Texas, after Easter 2008.
On 13 February, the senior warden John Odell, junior warden Bob Burns and vestry secretary Drew Broach met with the Rev. Canons Mark Stevenson and Scott Albergate of Bishop Charles Jenkins’ staff. The diocese has a framework in place to help parishes through the transition and the process of searching for and calling a new rector.
Canon Albergate will soon suggest the names of a couple of priests who may be considered as interim rectors of All Saints’. The selection will be up to the vestry.
The canons recommend that:
n All Saints’ prepare a farewell and a gift for Mother Davidson.
n The wardens and secretary nominate a member of the congregation to chair the rector search committee and take that nomination to the vestry for appointment. (This could happen as early as the weekend of 16-17 February.) Ideally the chairperson is task-oriented, a leader, a consensus builder, spiritually grounded, respected by the congregation and prayerful.
n Once the vestry appoints the chairperson, the wardens, the vestry secretary and the search committee chairperson nominate six or eight additional members of the congregation to serve on the committee and take those nominations to the vestry. Ideally, one or maybe two of these nominees will be members of the vestry, to provide a bridge between the search committee and the vestry. It is also advisable that the senior warden not be a member of the search committee. Search committee members should be prayerful, able to work well in groups, creative thinkers, regular in church attendance and, taken as a whole, representative of the range of backgrounds and interests in the congregation.
Once the vestry has appointed the remaining members of the search committee, the canons will return to meet simultaneously with the vestry and the committee. This is tentatively scheduled for 13 March. The next steps would then be undertaking a self-study of All Saints, to determine who we are and what we are seeking in a rector.
If members of the congregation have suggestions of priests to be considered as potential rectors, it is advisable that they hold these names until after the self-study is complete.
In general, the search process, from appointment of a committee to the calling of a new rector, takes six to 16 months.
The vestry encourages itself and all members of the congregation to pray for Mother Davidson, to pray for her successor at All Saints’ and to pray for God’s blessing on All Saints’ as it begins this process. Anyone with comments or questions about the process is invited to speak with any member of the vestry.
Drew Broach,
Secretary to the vestry
TIME OF TRANSITION
3rd Installment,
16 February 2008
During its annual retreat at the Solomon Episcopal Conference Center, the vestry, on recommendation of senior warden John Odell, junior warden Bob Burns and secretary Drew Broach, appointed Pete Bohnsack to chair the rector search committee.
Soon these four will be meeting to consider six other people to be nominated to the committee. Search committee members should be prayerful, able to work well in groups, creative thinkers, regular in church attendance and, taken as a whole, representative of the range of backgrounds and interests in the congregation.
The six names will be taken to the vestry for a decision, perhaps at its 10 March meeting. A joint meeting of the vestry and search committee with the Rev. Canons Mark Stevenson and Scott Albergate is scheduled 13 March to move into the next phase of the search process.
Also at the vestry retreat, Canon Albergate recommended to the wardens a priest candidate for interim rector. John, Bob, Drew and Pete plan to meet with this candidate. Should they wish to proceed, they will take their recommendation to the vestry for a decision.
The vestry encourages itself and all members of the congregation to pray for Mother Davidson, for Pete and for the next rector of All Saints’, and to pray for God’s blessing on All Saints’ as it begins this process. Anyone with comments or questions about the process is invited to speak with any member of the vestry.
Drew Broach,
Secretary to the vestry
Time of Transition
4th Installment, 12 March 2008
On recommendation from senior warden John Odell, junior warden Bob Burns, secretary Drew Broach and committee chair Pete Bohnsack, the vestry on 10 March approved these parishioners to serve on the rector search committee: Cathy Burns, David Estes, Marsha Gassan, Margaret Goodman, Luanne Francis and Jim Wallace.
The vestry and the committee planned to meet 13 March with the Rev. Canons Scott Albergate and Mark Stevenson of the bishop’s staff to discuss the search in more detail. Previous discussions with the canons have suggested that the process begins with a “self-study” of the parish to determine who we are and what we are seeking in a rector. This might last a couple of months.
The vestry encourages itself and all members of the congregation to pray for Mother Davidson, for Pete and the search committee and for the next rector of All Saints’. Anyone with comments or questions about the process is invited to speak with any member of the vestry.
Drew Broach,
Secretary to the vestry
Last updated 04/01/2008