When last you heard from the search committee, we were getting ready to conduct final, ‘at home’ interviews with our candidates. The interviews had not yet been scheduled, but I said I hoped we would be able to complete them in June. Good news – we are finishing up this week! The interviews each lasted about two days, and included a formal interview and a Eucharist lead by the candidate (search committee only), a meeting with the staff, a meeting about finances, a Vestry meet-and-greet, and a trip to Cincinnati to meet with the Bishop. Obviously, the circle of people who know the identities of our candidates has expanded, but all of those people are under the same confidentiality constraints as the search committee, so please don’t put them on the spot with questions about the candidates or how the search is going!

The next step will be search committee discernment, followed by the presentation of a recommendation to Vestry, and a call to our new Rector! There are a number of factors that may influence when a new Rector might join us, including how long the discernment and recommendation process takes, and what constraints or existing commitments the person called may have. We are doing everything we can to have a new Rector in place as soon as possible. Please keep the committee, the Vestry, the candidates, and everyone else involved in the search in your prayers!

Melanie Schlosser