Rector Search Committee

Heavenly Father,
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, and guide our search for a new rector.
Open our ears to your words and our hearts to your love.
Help us to listen to each other and honor all voices,
And please keep watch over the person, whom you are preparing to answer our call.
All this we ask in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Click here for the Parish Profile.  

Rector Search Committee Update
May 2013 Redeemer News

Since January, our committee has reviewed more than fifty applications from as far away as England and Hawaii.  These applications were submitted in response to the church profile that we developed following last Fall’s parish discernment process, along with computer matches supplied to us by the Diocese.  We have also been aided by numerous parishioners who have provided us with the names of potential candidates.

Based on our initial vetting of these applications, we have culled out nearly ten candidates who merit more in-depth consideration.  Starting May 1, we will begin phone interviews with these candidates with an eye towards narrowing the field to approximately five or six candidates, who we will then visit.  We will then identify a few finalists, who will be invited to meet us here at the Church of the Redeemer, before we make a final recommendation to the parish.

Our goal is still to have a new Rector in place by Labor Day.   However, we will continue our search until we have found the right candidate who exemplifies the intellectual, spiritual and leadership qualities that we desire in our new Rector.   As always, we thank you for your prayers, support and patience.

Rector Search Committee
Deadline for Receiving Applications is May 1st

The Rector Search Committee is currently receiving applications for the position of Rector.  If you know of anyone whom you think the committee should contact, please email their name to rectorsearch [at] redeemerchestnuthill [dot] org or give their name to Suzy Westcott. 

Candidates who are interested in applying should send their OTM portfolio and resume to rectorsearch [at] redeemerchestnuthill [dot] org or Suzy Westcott, 21 Essex Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.  The deadline for receiving applications is May 1st.

Rector Search Committee Update
from April 2013 Redeemer News

The Rector Search Committee is continuing to read and evaluate the resumes
of the forty-three candidates that have been received to date. In addition,
the Diocese has run a computer match which has produced approximately
forty-seven names and the committee is currently contacting those people to
see if they might be interested in applying for the position of Rector at the
Church of the Redeemer. The committee has also received a few names from
the Bishop and another five as a result of the recently held Transition Ministry Conference. It is the committee’s sincere hope that our next Rector will be among these many priests. Please continue to pray for the work of the committee as well as the many candidates who are interested in being the Church of the Redeemer’s next Rector.

Rector Search Committee Update
from the March 2013 Redeemer News

We are now in the midst of the second of three phases in our search process.  In Phase One, our committee met with dozens of parishioners and prepared a written profile that is now posted on the Redeemer website and has already elicited several applications.  We have also prepared a series of answers to narrative questions from the Diocese of Massachusetts that will not only be available online to candidates but will also be used in a nationwide search for matches to clergy who are actively seeking new positions. 

During this current phase, we are carefully reviewing submissions that have been provided to us by individuals who visited the Redeemer website, were recommended to us by parishioners or who became aware of our search through the Diocese.  To date, we have received twenty-five applications that we are now reviewing.  Three of those have come from a list of twenty-four names provided us by parishioners and friends.  If you are aware of any individuals that we should consider, please pass their names along to us.

Our review process is time consuming given the wealth of personal information, writings and sermons that are available on the Internet for most of these individuals.  When we have identified approximately twelve individuals that we feel would be appropriate for the position, we will proceed to Phase Three, in which we will interview each candidate by phone and, where appropriate, visit them in their home parishes.   When we have narrowed this group to three or four finalists, we will invite them to meet us here at the Church of the Redeemer, prior to our making a final recommendation to the parish.

While we hope to have a new Rector in place by the Fall, our primary concern is finding someone whom we think will be the right match for our parish.  If we have not found that person by September, we will continue to search until we do.

Rector Search Committee Update
from the February 2013 Redeemer News

Your Search Committee has now completed two of the three phases in our search for the twelfth Rector of the Church of the Redeemer.  During Phase One, we met with dozens of parishioners and discerned the spirit of the Redeemer, a process that culminated in Phase Two with the preparation of a Parish Profile that was submitted to the parish for review and comment at an open forum in December.  With those comments in mind, we finalized the Profile and have since submitted it to the Diocese of Massachusetts, on whose website a link to the Profile is now posted and we are listed as ‘receiving names’.  We have also recently completed a series of comprehensive responses to narrative questions that will be used to create computer matches between our parish and interested applicants.

We now begin the third and most challenging phase of the search process, that of identifying and interviewing potential candidates.  We will examine the qualifications of applicants who have responded to these on-line postings as well as the names of individuals who are individually recommended to us.  If you are aware of any individuals that we should consider, please pass their names along to us.

In a perfect world, we would like to have a new Rector in place by the Fall of 2013.  Ours is an unusual and challenging parish, however.  Our committee will search until it feels that it has found the right candidate who exemplifies the intellectual, spiritual and leadership qualities that you have indicated we should be seeking.  We encourage your support and welcome any ideas or names of applicants that you believe merit consideration.

Rector Search Committee Update
from the January 2013 Redeemer News

The Rector Search Committee has now completed Phase One of the process of identifying a new Rector.  Following the interviews and self-study forums that we conducted in October and November, the Committee prepared a draft Parish Profile that was circulated to the parish in early December and discussed at an Open Forum following the Sunday service on December 16.  In light of parishioner comments at the Open Forum, the committee subsequently finalized the profile and has submitted it to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.  The profile is on our website and will be accessible to all interested candidates.  

The next task of the Rector Search Committee will be to complete an Office for Transition Ministry (OTM) Worshipping Community Portfolio, which will include information on our compensation and benefits as well as answers to questions that will assist candidates in discerning if our position would be attractive or suitable for them. The Episcopal national computer program, which became active in 2010, is designed primarily to facilitate potential matches between ordained professionals and parishes seeking new leadership by matching our Worshipping Community Portfolio with the clergy’s Individual Portfolios.  From these matches, the Search Committee will begin to receive names of possible candidates.  We also encourage our parishioners to submit names of possible clergy candidates to the committee.

The Search Committee will review all applications with an eye towards narrowing this group down to a smaller number of individuals whose qualifications and backgrounds we will investigate carefully, together with personal interviews and visits.  While we are still hopeful that this process may be completed in time to have a new Rector in place by Labor Day, we are committed to searching until we find the right person for the position. 
As always, we invite you to communicate your views to our committee in person (Michael Aylward, Logan Chandler, Lucinda Doran, Chris Jones, Steve Mead, Nina Moriarty, Fernande Raine, Dick Tucker, Suzy Westcott and Leslie Williams) or through our email address: rectorsearch [at] redeemerchestnuthill [dot] org.

RECTOR SEARCH COMMITTEE

Open Forum to Discuss the Draft of the Parish Profile

Sunday, December 16th
following the 10:00 am service
in the Porter Room

All are welcome!

Suggestions of possible candidates: If you have any suggestions of possible candidates that you would like the committee to consider, please email their names, along with any other information you may have such as their addresses, phone numbers, email, or current parish, to rectorsearch [at] redeemerchestnuthill [dot] org or mail the suggestions to the Rector Search Committee at the church or leave any information you have in Suzy Westcott’s mail box in the office.  The committee welcomes your suggestions and would love to know why you think a particular person would be a good Rector for our parish.

Rector Search Committee Update from the November 2012 Redeemer News

Unable to attend a Search Committee Forum?  Click here for a copy of the survey.

Even as we prepare to celebrate Dorsey’s investiture as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, your Search Committee is hard at work finding his successor.  Since its formation in September, the committee has selected co-chairs, adopted a Search Prayer and begun work defining the process by which it hopes to discern the state of our Parish and our collective aspirations for spiritual leadership.  This process will proceed through three phases:

  • Phase One, which is now on-going, is a process of self-study and discernment whereby the committee hopes to identify where the Redeemer is at the present time, where our parishioners hope that we may progress in the future and what attributes the Parish believes are most important for our new Rector to have.  This process of discernment will include facilitated forums with all parishioners who choose to participate, as well as committee interviews with clergy, staff and committee chairs, and consideration of any additional information that interested parishioners may wish to submit.
  • In Phase Two, which will likely start in November, we will collect this information and distill it into a Parish Profile that will be circulated in draft form to the Parish and then in final form to the Diocese of Massachusetts and interested applicants across the country.
  • Finally, in Phase III we will sort through the applicants and continually narrow the group of finalists as the members of the committee carefully scrutinize the candidates’ qualifications and personal qualities.  The final recommendation will be submitted to the Parish for approval.

In a perfect world, we would like to have a new Rector in place by the Fall of 2013.  Ours is an unusual and challenging parish, however.  Our committee will search until it feels that it has found the right candidate who exemplifies the intellectual, spiritual and leadership qualities that you have indicated you are seeking.

Our Search process will be conducted as transparently as the privacy of applicants and the logistics of the search allow.  We encourage parishioners to meet with us and to convey their thoughts and aspirations this Fall so that our interviews and inquiries next year can most accurately convey the current state of the Redeemer and hopes for the future. 

If you were not able to attend a Forum in October, the committee has scheduled one additional forum, which will take place on Wednesday, November 7th at 8:30am.  Please let Suzy Westcott know if you are able to attend (suzywestcott [at] hotmail [dot] com or 617-852-7705).  If you are unable to attend, please feel free to share your thoughts through our dedicated e-mail link:  rectorsearch [at] redeemerchestnuthill [dot] org.  We have also established a page on the Redeemer web site to report on our progress:  http://www.redeemerchestnuthill.org/rector-search-committee

Michael Aylward
Suzy Westcott
Co-Chairs

Rector Search Committee Update from the October 2012 Redeemer News

      Since the Rector Search Committee was commissioned on September 9th, it has met three times and plans to meet at least weekly until a new Rector has been called.  It has received its charge from the Vestry and has succeeded in getting itself organized.  The co-chairs are Michael Aylward and Suzy Westcott, the recording secretaries are Fernande Raine and Leslie Williams, the chaplains are Lucinda Doran and Chris Jones, and Logan Chandler has agreed to keep the committee informed of best practices.
      To date, the Rector Search Committee has scheduled seven parish-wide self-study forums (please see below) to gather information from all parishioners in order to write the Parish Profile.  The Parish Profile will only be as descriptive of the Church of the Redeemer and its hopes and dreams as the number of people who lend their voice to this process.  Participating in one of the forums is the single most important thing you can do to help the Search Committee so please do sign up and make time to attend.
      The committee is also working on the Search Committee prayer, and it is studying examples of other church’s Parish Profiles in order to determine the format that the Church of the Redeemer’s will take and what additional information will be needed.

THE RECTOR SEARCH COMMITTEE NEEDS YOU!

One of the first jobs of the Rector Search Committee is to write a parish profile, describing the Church of the Redeemer as it is today, its hopes and dreams for the future, and the attributes it is looking for in its new Rector.  In order to write a profile that is both accurate and reflective of the thoughts and wishes of the parish, the Search Committee is scheduling seven self-study forums and hopes that every parishioner will attend one of them.  Please sign up in the Office Hallway or by contacting Suzy Westcott at suzywestcott [at] hotmail [dot] com or 617-852-7705 to let the committee know which forum you will be attending.  Each forum will last approximately 90 minutes and will be held at the church.  The choice of times and dates is as follows:

  • SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14TH   11:30AM
  • SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14TH   7:30PM
  • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18TH   7:30PM
  • MONDAY, OCTOBER 22ND   7:00AM
  • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24TH   7:30PM
  • SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28TH   11:30AM
  • SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28TH   7:30PM
  • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH 8:30 AM (Just added) 

A light lunch will be provided at the 11:30am forums, light snacks will be provided at the 7:30pm forums, and a light breakfast will be provided at the 7:00am forum.  If childcare would be helpful, please let Suzy know. 

We can be reached at rectorsearch [at] redeemerchestnuthill [dot] org.

THE RECTOR SEARCH COMMITTEE
Michael Aylward, co-chair
Suzy Westcott, co-chair
Logan Chandler
Lucinda Doran
Chris Jones
Fernande Raine
Dick Tucker
Leslie Williams (Vestry liaison)
Steve Mead (ex-officio)
Nina Moriarty (ex-officio)