On May 23, 2010, this congregation commissioned the Search Committee at the 10:30 Pentecost service. The Search Committee has eleven members (in alphabetical order): Jay Boberg, Deborah Giordano, Peter Haight, Brian Holm-Hansen, Don Lloyd, Judith Lyons, Octavia Miles, Sally Miller, Arthur Morey, Jennifer Pavia, and Tim Whalen. The Vestry nominated these eleven persons at the May 2010 Vestry meeting after months of discussion and debate. We did our best to take into account the desires of those who expressed an interest in the search committee, as well as our desire to have a balanced committee that represented all the major elements in our community. Not all desires could be accommodated, but we think we have an excellent group. We think everyone brings a unique viewpoint and a deep commitment to this parish. This is a weighty responsibility. It is probably the most important thing we will do together as a community for many years to come.

From this point forward, the Search Committee is in charge of the search for a new permanent rector. The Search Committee will begin by organizing itself − choosing its own chairperson and its own meeting schedule that meets all the needs of its members as best it can. That will not be easy: we deliberately put on board people with very different schedules: parents with young children, persons with full-time-plus jobs, and retirees. That is who we are. The Search Committee Chairperson will be the primary liaison with the bishop's office and the Vestry, although two Vestry members (Tim Whalen and Judith Lyons) will also serve on the Search Committee to ensure good communication.

Over this summer, the Search Committee will get to know itself and formulate its plan for the search. The "typical" search involves several phases: (1) sifting through resumes − mostly provided through the bishop's office - to weed out unlikely or unsuitable candidates (2) sending out a formal written questionnaires (3) sifting through responses to the written questionnaires to choose the persons for interviews (4) interviews by telephone or in person (5) in-person interviews and visits by Search Committee members to the candidates in their home parishes and (6) constant prayer and discernment.

The parish profile you have worked with the Profile Committee to draft will be the touchstone for this search process. This profile will not only guide the Search Committee in what to look for at every stage, but it is the document that will be out for all candidates to see as our "job description." In reviewing the parish profile, candidates be, in effect, "interviewing" the parish. The parish profile will be available for the whole parish to review and discuss together in just a few weeks.

The Search Committee's work will take some months to complete. It is likely that by sometime next Spring, the Search Committee will be in a position to propose three finalists to the Vestry. At that point, the Search Committee will have concluded its work. Exactly how long this takes will be up to the Search Committee, but the Vestry will be regularly updated on this work and will be able to open the process up to discussion if it appears to hit some snags.

After receiving the information about the three finalists, the Vestry will make the final decision together. This will involve the Vestry meeting with the finalists and securing the bishop's approval. It will not involve some sort of "audition" before the congregation. It will involve, above all, our prayerful search for a consensus together. Ultimately, we hope to feel that the Holy Spirit is guiding us to call a certain priest to be the rector at St.-Augustine by-the-Sea.

The Search Committee and the Vestry will try to update the congregation on the process as often as possible, without disclosing the details of candidate pool, which must remain confidential for obvious reasons.

For those of you in the congregation not directly involved with the search, do not think you are off the hook. Your prayer and fellowship is a crucial part of the search process. Think about what you want St. A's to become, pray on it, and make sure the Search Committee knows what matters to you.

Copyright © 2010 St. Augustine by-the-Sea