Discernment Committee
So! The Vestry approves our Parish Profile and the Church Deployment Office Search Request Form. We notify the Diocese of Pennsylvania who, following the Bishop's approval, posts our CDO form online. With these actions, Holy Trinity moves into the search phase of our discernment process.
So! What comes next?
- You will receive a letter from the Discernment Committee announcing that our search for a permanent rector is open. A copy of our CDO Search Request Profile will accompany this letter. If you know of a possible candidate, you may inform that person so he or she may apply.
- The Discernment Committee will send a letter to the rectors of area parishes informing them of our search and requesting that they pass on our information to potential candidates or nominate candidates they deem qualified.
- Our CDO Profile is posted on the national Episcopal website. That posting will generate inquiry from potential candidates.
- All candidates, whether they send letters of inquiry to us directly or to the Diocese of PA, are evaluated by the Diocese using our search criteria.
- The Diocese of PA will send us a list of qualified candidates. We will begin our search using this list.
We anticipate a time period of about 4 weeks, from the time our CDO form is posted online until we receive the list of qualified candidates from the Diocese. In the meantime, the Discernment Committee is working to organize our interview protocol--crafting the questions and discussions we will use for telephone and personal interviews with potential candidates and their references. The questions and discussions are based on our parish goals, our expectations of the rector's responsibilities and on the candidates' actual experiences.
The Discernment Committee will be open about the process as we move through the search phase. We will, however, need to exercise complete confidentiality concerning the candidates we consider and interview. Please feel free to ask us about where we are in the process, but please understand we will not be able to discuss any candidate(s) or the status of any candidate(s). We are all very excited about moving forward! You have made this possible by your interest and attendance at both Conversations events, by your participation in the Vestry Visioning forums, by your feedback on our draft Parish Profile, and by your comments, concern and prayers along the way. Please know that we are so grateful for your interest and support. Stay tuned for further adventures!
P. S. We again extend our thanks to Ginny Zahn for sharing her time and talent in formatting our very attractive Parish Profile. Thanks, too, to Heather Robino, editor, and the writers that contributed to this important document: Bill Zahn, subcommittee chair; Mary Letzkus, Bob Burkholder, Pat Platt, Ann Barbarin and Cathy Stout. In July, we say bon voyage to Jim Hemphill (and his family) as they depart for their around-the-world in 365 +1 days. Jim: Thanks for your contributions as a member of the Discernment Committee during its first year.
Questions? Contact Cathy Stout, Chair: 610-933-2771
(note: This is an edited version of remarks made by Cathy Stout at the 2007 annual meeting)
Spring is coming and Holy Trinity is preparing for a season of change and growth. Our Vestry, clergy, staff and members are getting our own “garden beds” ready for a new time of possibilities.
The Discernment Committee is privileged to be part of this time of preparation. I want to thank each committee member for their willingness to serve—to work, to think and consider prayerfully what our heritage, our traditions, our strengths and our challenges bring to the process of choosing, inviting and welcoming a new rector into our community of faith.
We are nearing the completion of the Self Study phase of the discernment process. What does that mean?
- One, we have prepared for Committee and Vestry review the first draft of the content portion of the Parish Profile.
- Second is the item that will close our Self Study phase: The Church Deployment Office Search Request Form: or CDO Form. While the Parish Profile is a multipage snapshot and statement of who we are, where we see ourselves going, and what we hope to accomplish with our new rector, the CDO Form is the “official” form that will allow our search to be broadcast through many channels. And WE NEED YOU to help us finish this form!
We look forward to seeing all of you—and more!—at the April 22nd Conversations 2 event. The Committee thanks the Vestry, our clergy and staff and all of you for your prayers, support, insight and conversations as we continue this ministry.
Respectfully submitted,
Cathy Stout, Chair
What is happening? Are we making any progress in the search for a permanent rector?
And the answers are: Plenty! And Yes!
The Parish Profile—that “book” we write to paint our parish portrait—is coming to life. Members of the Parish Profile Subcommittee are pulling together their sections into a draft that will be submitted to the Vestry. Your thoughtful and vital input from the Vestry Visioning process and the Conversations event in November plays an important part in the picture our Parish Profile will present of Holy Trinity.
The next step awaits you! It’s time for our next parish-wide event and we need you!
The Discernment Committee invites you to join:
Conversations 2!
Our Parish, Our Goals, Our Priest
Sunday, April 22, 2007
After the 9:00 AM Worship Service
in the Parish Hall
Light fare and beverages will be offered—Child care provided
During this workshop, we will work together to develop:
- Four main goals of Holy Trinity as a parish for the next few years
- Four primary responsibilities for our new Rector
- Holy Trinity in 300 words or less; or our institutional IM (aka instant message!)
Save the Date!
The holidays are over! Two months into our Christian "New Year" and over a month into the new calendar year, the Discernment Committee is mapping out an ambitious schedule for the coming weeks and months. We will be meeting weekly or semimonthly, either in subcommittee workgroups or as a whole, with the goal of completing our self-study phase, culminating in the finalization of our Parish Profile document.
Recent activity:
The Parish Profile Subcommittee met December 11th to organize available data and determine additional data needed.
Pat Platt and Cathy Stout compiled the valuable input gathered during the Conversations event in November; consultant Dick Ullman contributed commentary.
The Discernment Committee met January 8th to accomplish several objectives:
- Finalized our Committee Covenant;
- Reviewed the next steps with the Conversations data;
- Developed some calendar targets;
- Pinpointed communication opportunities with the parish.
The Vestry approved a proposal from the Discernment Committee to incorporate the information and feedback from the Visioning process into that of the Discernment process.
Next steps:
Committee meets January 22nd to continue distilling information from the Conversations event. We will begin to integrate that information with that from the earlier Visioning process.
Parish Profile Subcommittee meets January 22nd to begin compilation of gathered documents and statistics.
Committee will be commissioned at the January 21st 10:30 service. Cathy Stout will give an update to the congregation at the 8:00 and 10:30 services.
We are working to provide updates to our page on the Holy Trinity website.
Parishioners will receive the summary compilation in the coming weeks of information from the Visioning and Conversations dialogues for your response and comment.
The Parish Profile document and Parish Vision Statement will be developed with the most current and valid information available, incorporating the views of the parish membership.
Conversations!: Sharing Our Stories in November was a rich time of parish dialogue. 92 parishioners spent their time that morning and over lunch expressing their diverse experiences and hopes within our Holy Trinity family. From that dialogue, the Discernment Committee has gathered much valuable information:
• Why are we here?
• What keeps us here?
• Where do we want to go?
We have compiled your input and are now in the process of integrating it into the rest of the information that will make up our Parish Profile. What sort of information goes into our Parish Profile? Our parish history and our place in the community,
our activities and involvement in that community, our spiritual journey, our financial overview, a picture of our membership demographics and our community demographics, our struggles—
past and present, our strengths, our direction for the future. All of this will paint our Holy Trinity portrait so that we can accurately portray ourselves to potential applicants. The Parish Profile
is part of the self-study process that we are now exploring.
Our Parish Profile Subcommittee met December 11th to begin to organize the information resources needed to produce an accurate and viable document. The Discernment Committee will
meet as a whole January 8th to review our status and discuss the Conversations! data. This is an exciting time for us—we are making progress toward having all of our documentation at hand for the search process.
Please continue to keep the Discernment Committee and the search process in your prayers. And please continue to give input and to ask questions of us.
Blessings,
The Discernment Committee
Cathy Stout, Chair
Rev. Richard L. Ullman, Consultant
Members: Cathy Stout, Chair; Ann Barbarin, Bob Burkholder, Fran Curtin, Jim Hemphill, Lars Knutsen, Mary Letzkus, Pat Platt, Heather Robino, Corinne Spangler, Bill Zahn
“The time for calling new clergy leadership to a congregation
has been called prime time for renewal. It is a time ripe in
opportunity to build strength within the congregation…”
From Choosing to Serve: Resources for the Calling Process
by Richard L. Ullman
You may be asking, “Just what is this Discernment Committee all about? What is it supposed to be doing?”
The Discernment Committee is appointed by the Vestry and is accountable to the Vestry. They are responsible for the specific tasks of conducting the parish selfstudy process and conducting the discernment process for calling a permanent rector. Guided by their Consultant, they keep in close communication with the Vestry and the parish, executing the ministry of discernment on behalf of the parish.
The following is a summary of the Discernment Committee’s first report to the congregation at both services on Sunday, September 10th. The work of the Discernment Committee began in February this year when the Vestry began calling parish members to serve in the ministry to guide the process leading to the call of a permanent rector. Six Vestry and committee members attended a diocesan workshop at Christ Church, Media, with the purpose of becoming acquainted with the process of discerning and calling clergy to our parishes.
The final members of the committee were appointed in May. Bill Zahn and Cathy Stout convened the Discernment Committee and we held our first meeting together on June 21, 2006.
We met several times during the summer with two specific purposes. The first: to get to know one another so that we can work with open hearts and minds to be able ultimately to come together with a common mind in this vital ministry. Each time we meet, we pray, spend time in Bible study, and discuss how this ministry reflects our greater ministry within Holy Trinity and our community. The second: to select a Discernment Consultant to
assist us through the process.
We have engaged the Reverend Richard L. Ullman of Philadelphia. Dick Ullman is a retired priest and comes to us with extensive experience in pastoral and diocesan level ministry, in coaching congregations through transition, in teaching and writing handbooks for leaders and consultants. Dick has met with Father Ted, Pastor Pat and the Discernment Committee. We are looking forward to his working with the committee and with all of you
as a congregation.
We plan to communicate frequently with you through several channels: this newsletter,the Sunday bulletin, announcements and conversations. We will keep you apprised of the process as we all become more fully involved.
Please note the prayer included here and each Sunday bulletin. We would ask that you incorporate that prayer into your own daily prayers to support the committee in our work, and to support the parish in your work over these next months as we search for a
permanent rector. It is work that the committee, our clergy, Dick Ullman and all of us will be doing together to the glory of God and all for the accomplishment of His larger work that He calls us to do.
Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a rector for this parish, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries? through Jesus Christour Lord. Amen.
Ann Barbarin
Bob Burkholder
Fran Curtin
Jim Hemphill
Mary Letzkus
Pat Platt
Heather Robino
Corinne Spangler
Bill Zahn
Cathy Stout, Chair
Dick Ullman, Consultant