Flocking

A little over two weeks ago, at our monthly Vestry meeting, our Rector announced his resignation.

Well, it’s not quite as bad as all that. He received, unsolicited, a “call” to become the rector at another church in Ohio. “Call” refers both to the actual invitation from the parish, as well as the call of God to move on to some new spiritual task.

It’s a great opportunity for him — a new parish, being nearer to family, an opportunity to serve on the board at the local seminary — and it’s one that he would never have expected at his “advanced” age (his late 50s).

For our parish, the timing is unfortunate. Between the controversy over General Convention, the diocese starting with a new bishop, the beginning of our renovation and build-out, and general continued finanicial tough times, financially, the parish is in an unsettled state.

Being the third largest Episcopal parish in Colorado, and the fastest-growing, our new bishop has taken a personal interest in the matter, and came to meet with the Vestry last night to talk about the search process, by which we’ll go about obtaining a new rector. He spoke of both our responsibilities, and what support and duties the office of the bishop has in the process.

It’s kind of funny, because, growing up Catholic, the “search process” was just never part of the equation. Priests came, priests went, shuffled around by the diocese by imperial whim, with (it seemed) little or no input from the local parish. The idea that our local church (albeit with the approval of the bishop) actually hires a new rector seems downright radical.

I don’t know what role I’ll be playing in this process. As a member of the Vestry (for two years more), I’ll be involved at least in the final decision; I may also be on the Search Committee, both a daunting and an interesting prospect.

After the meeting with the bishop, some of us stayed to evaluate our options on the building. With the further turmoil, and the possibility of losing some members, did we want to put a halt to the construction, or somehow scale it back? A few people had actually asked that question, some of whom never thought the building expansion was a good idea, others of whom were in a mild state of panic.

We all looked at each other, wondered why we were there, and gave a big thumbs-up. It will take something much more disasterous than this to make such a huge change in course and retrenchment the best option. Not only would there be significant costs to either halting or slowing the process, but the damage to the spirit of the parish would be significant as well.

And, even more pragmatically, we’re still healthy financially and such a project will be quite attractive to a new prospective rector. Our parish is a “plum” for some lucky priest out there.

Part of what’s taken me aback about the whole incident has been the way some folks have reacted, as if their best friend in the world were suddenly diagnosed with stomach cancer and would be dead next week. Maybe it’s my business background, but I would expect “managers” to come and go, seek new opportunities, get promotions. Fr. John has been with us for eight years (longer than Margie and I have been tehre), and while I don’t think anyone was expecting him to leave right now, that sort of thing happens. The parish goes on.

And it does. One of the things that folks note about our parish is the sense of family, even as large as we’ve gotten. Though a key member of that family is going away, the family continues. Nestled as part of a larger family, the Episcopal Church as a whole (despite its own turmoils), we’re larger than any one figure. We don’t put big “Hear Fr. John’s Sermon This Week” signs out front. It’s not a cult of personality. To put it in sappy religious terms, the most important person at the church, the one we’re actually there for, isn’t going anywhere.

Maybe that’s just some Kubler-Ross denial on my part. I dunno.

Anyway, I’ll continue to chronicle (with appropriate discretion) the process. It should be interesting — and, in fact, a fine opportunity. Fr. John has been a great rector, but it’s often good to bring in someone new every now and again to shake things up — hopefully for the better. If we do our job right.