April 7, 2022

Dear Saints,

We’re starting something new with our continuing efforts to improve and expand communication to parishioners and supporters and friends! Beginning today, we’ll be sending out a bi-weekly Thursday email to you that will give more in-depth information and reflection than we are able to offer through the Tuesday Dove news blast. Every other week the contents will be a reflection/message from me about a variety of things theological, practical, and aspirational (and hopefully occasionally inspirational). Then on the alternate weeks, we’ll be spotlighting a particular ministry, group, or opportunity that we want you to know, or know more, about. We realize from hearing your comments occasionally that many of you wish for more in-depth communication, so we hope this bi-weekly email will be “news you can use.”

This week I’d like to talk about something a few of you have asked me to explain more about: my work as your interim rector - why am I here and what do I do? 

Just like any other area of life, interim ministry has evolved over the years. In times past, an interim rector was more like a placeholder, someone to make sure church was still happening during the time after one rector departed and a new one arrived. For the most part, most folks felt like everything was just “on hold” during this time. So, if a bequest was received after a long-time pillar of the church’s death designated for a new landscaping project, the parish leadership might say, let’s wait for the new rector and see what he (because it was usually a “he”) wants to do for landscaping. 

But a few churches reacted differently. Why burden our new rector with a decision about landscaping? Let’s deal with this now. Or let’s replace the carpet now or even start a new ministry now because this is our parish no matter who the rector is. And certainly, let’s address problems now, because it is unfair to burden a new rector with decisions that are difficult and possibly will upset people (like dealing with a problematic personnel issue or closing down a long-standing ministry that is no longer viable). It’s really not a good idea to ask a new rector to terminate an employee because “we knew it was a problem and we were waiting for you to deal with it.”

And interim rectors began to get training to help parishes along in this period in between, to assess where problems might be and work to resolve all that can be resolved, as well as to tighten up and strengthen the infrastructure, and the leadership, and other systems present in the church, understanding that an interim can and should make the hard decisions and help the parish become a healthier place for the new rector. Interims are trained in foundational work (theories of change and transition, systems theory), learn about tools for assessing systems, listening and communicating, appreciative inquiry etc., and schooled on the general areas in which a parish should focus during interim time, including helping the parish deal with grief and change. Now almost all clergy who serve as interims in our Diocese are trained and certified in this specialized work.

(And yes, I have received interim ministry training, having been certified in 2018 by the Interim Ministry Network and also in 2020 by the Center for Congregational Health.)

When Brent Melton resigned in 2020, your vestry leaders met with our Diocesan transition leaders to discuss the upcoming time of transition. The vestry heard two options: 1) hire a priest in charge who would sign a 3-year contract that would be reviewed at the end of 2 years and by mutual decision decide to either end it or convert the priest in charge to rector; or 2) hire an interim who would serve for as long as needed to help the parish uncover and let go of past hurts and conflict, strengthen systems, attend to issues that need shoring up or fixing or letting go of, discover strengths and assets - so that the parish can grow healthier and stand on firmer footing before entering into a relationship with a new rector. Your vestry chose option 2, believing that there was some work to be done. And that’s how I got here.

An interim period is a time of growing, as well as a time for grieving; a time of strengthening, as well as a time to admit weaknesses; a time for sweeping out cobwebs, as well as identifying traditions worth preserving and recognizing assets that may have been invisible. A successful interim can last for 6 months or 3 years. You may hear “12 - 16 months” as the average, but some parishes can get real clarity in less than a year, while others may recognize that there is work to be done that is simply going to take the time that it takes before inviting a new rector into relationship. Interim time is time to recognize and reckon with our realities.

We are embarked on a number of projects at All Saints, even if everyone doesn’t see them. I work with staff and vestry particularly to recognize and reckon with all aspects of the parish’s life and work and worship and to try out new things and experiment with new ways of being a community. Parish vitality is our work.

Our discernment committee works on a particular aspect of the interim time - the collection of information that will inform the parish portfolio, the discernment of the type of priest that would be a good fit for this particular parish in this particular time in its life, and the work to put together that profile, get the position posted, and work through applicants until the best match is found. 

So the interim time is not just about finding a new rector but is an opportunity to strengthen the parish’s health in every way. Getting healthier can be painful, though, as you all know. Changes in size, changes in personnel, letting go of some services or ministries that are no longer connecting with folks - those things can be upsetting. And getting healthier has to be intentional, too. It has to be something we all buy in to - working to strengthen the community, deepening our own connections to one another and to the world around us, deepening our spiritual lives. 

The CAT survey told us a lot, and we’ll be taking all that information into consideration as we move forward as a staff and vestry in addition to the discernment committee’s work. You as parishioners are being invited to invest some time into dealing with some “baggage” that is hindering your health and your ability to attract a healthy rector and to grow. This work is vitally important to do, it is our priority right now, and is part and parcel of our interim work, not a side show. So please, when the opportunity becomes available in a few weeks, sign up to participate in our sessions on reconciliation.

So we are not just waiting for the new person to come. We are engaged now in good, necessary work. I know for some it feels like we’re just in neutral…. Can’t we just call a new rector and let them deal with whatever needs dealing with? But I hope you recognize that it is not fair to call a new rector into a system that has not dealt with underlying conflict or to ask a new rector to “fix” the parish’s problems. The parish profile that reads, in essence, “Hi, we’re a lovely parish; we have some conflict but we’d like to sweep that under the rug. We also have some problems we’d like to drop in your lap as soon as you arrive so you can fix them” is not actually going to attract a great new rector. What will attract a great rector is to be able to say, “We used our interim time to uncover and deal with underlying conflict, to strengthen our systems and to put our resources to work to address the realities of our parish and to appropriately support our vision. And also we are a lovely parish.”

I was thrilled to be called to All Saints as your interim, and as I have told both the vestry and the discernment committee, I am committed to remain and continue this work for as long as it takes. I will stay until the new rector is called, if that remains the will of the vestry. I believe that God is working with all of us together to give us strength and courage to love and serve God here on River Road.

I’m always happy to talk with folks who have questions or concerns or just want more information. My door is almost always open. Call or email me just to chat or to set up a time to meet. 

Blessings,
Penny+
All Saints Episcopal Church | Website
804-288-7811