Are we still in transition? – Judy Nelson

Now that our rector position has been posted and the Search Committee has been set up some of you are
wondering if we are still in transition? The answer is yes, we are. Here’s a summary of transition and what steps
have been taken already, and what is left to complete before we can call a new priest.…. It’s been seventeen
months since our previous priest, Father Martin, retired, and the congregation of St. Andrews Episcopal Church
in Tacoma began our clergy transition journey. The Diocese of Olympia has a 43-page manual to help
congregations navigate this process, and little by little we are working our way through it.

Your vestry began by stepping in to run the day-to-day activities of St. Andrews, interviewed interim priests, and
invited Father Tom to come and work with us during this time of transition. He is a seasoned interim priest and
has helped us reopen our church and our ministries in this post pandemic world, as well as guiding us as we
worked through the myriad steps involved.

Your vestry set up a Profile Committee who were tasked
with creating our profile. (The committee was led by Tom
Egnew, and included Margo Fleshman, Ken Rhodes, Kristina
Younger and Ed Wolfer). They worked diligently and
created a document describing our congregation. We knew
they had done a bang-up job because the Bishop’s office
approved the document almost as soon as it was submitted.
Evidently that is not the typical process. Meanwhile, your
vestry completed the Office of Transition Ministry portfolio
for the diocese and put together a Search Committee that
would vet potential candidates. The rector position has
been officially posted and by the third week in April the
Search Committee should begin receiving names and begin
the actual vetting process. Both aforementioned
documents are posted on our website. Please take a look.

The work of the Search Committee (led by Pam Rhodes, includes Steve Sissel, Holly Greer, Cindy Martin, Colin
McDaniel and Joan Halley) must be done with confidentiality and once they have narrowed their search and
chosen one candidate, they will forward that name both to the diocese and to the vestry for a decision. The vestry
will interview the candidate and take an up or down vote (approve or not). Assuming the vestry approves the
choice, the vestry will then officially call the candidate to become our next priest. If the vestry does not agree
with the choice, the Search Committee continues their vetting process.

So, we are nearing the end of our journey through transition. You have all been very patient with this detailed
process, but I know we are all anxious and excited by the prospects of these next few months. Please continue
to be patient and let our committees know how proud and grateful we are to them for their hard work.

If you have questions, feel free to reach out to your vestry, especially your Senior Warden, Susan Rowe, your
Junior Warden, Kendall Burch, or your previous senior warden, Judy Nelson. We are all happy to try and answer
them as best we can.