On the Emmaus Road: A Guide for Transitions in Ordained Leadership

By Mary Brennan Thorpe

How can a church best respond when their priest tells them “I’m retiring,” or “I’ve been called to another parish?”
This book outlines to receiving a new ordained leader, recognizing that every parish is different. Discerning exactly what your parish needs can be both a challenge and a joy, and On the Emmaus Road affirms that you can listen to God’s voice while attending to other day-to-day tasks. Based upon several years of doctoral research into the work of search committees in the Diocese of Virginia, this book has been refined through the experience of using its new methodologies in over seventy-five calls.

With both traditional and creative new approaches to the clergy search process, Thorpe gives a wealth of resources for your parish to not only survive the days to come, but thrive in the midst of them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Release date: Nov 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781640653023

Mary Brennan Thorpe

The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe served as an intentional interim rector as well as a settled rector before becoming Director of Transition Ministry and then Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of Virginia. She has facilitated over a hundred transitions at this point in all sorts of congregations and has consulted on others. Her doctoral research informed her work in that ministry and in this book. She has followed her own circuitous Emmaus Road to this work, having had vibrant careers in technology design and management and in public policy and advocacy before ordination. She is a graduate of Jersey City State College (BA in Music), of the Hartt College of Music of the University of Hartford (MMusEd), Virginia Theological Seminary (MDiv with honors), and Columbia Presbyterian Seminary (DMin). She also holds a certificate in the Management of High-Technology Companies through Stanford University and the American Electronics Association. She is an iconographer – one of her icons is on the front of this book – and musician, a wife, a mother of five and grandmother of five.

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Copyright © 2020 by Mary Brennan Thorpe

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Church Publishing

19 East 34th Street

New York, NY 10016

www.churchpublishing.org

Cover icon by Mary Brennan Thorpe

Cover design by Marc Whitaker, MTWdesign

Typeset by Rose Design

A record of this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN-13: 978-1-64065-301-6 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-64065-302-3 (ebook)

In gratitude for the bishops, colleagues, lay leaders, parishes,

and friends who informed and encouraged this work,

because your gifts and graces shine throughout this book.

No words are enough for Doug, my encourager and partner

in life, love, and writing. I am blessed.

CONTENTS

Preface

I. Introduction

The Structure of This Book

II. A General Outline of the Transition Process

III. For the Departing Priest

IV. For the Vestry: Phase One

a. Vestry Involvement in the Process: A Quick View from 10,000 Feet

b. Planning a Good Goodbye

c. Options for Calls: A Closer Look

d. Securing an Interim

e. Calling a Priest-in-Charge Rather Than Using an Interim Rector

f. Selecting a Discernment Committee and Committee Chair

g. What Is the Work of the Discernment Committee?

h. The Commissioning of a Discernment Committee

V. Other Vestry Considerations

a. Communications during the Time of Transition

b. Staff Issues

VI. Particular Considerations for Challenged Parishes and for Challenging Times

a. Challenged Parishes: Growing Smaller and Poorer

b. Challenged Parishes: Bad/Sad/Mad Endings

c. Challenging Times

VII. For the Discernment Committee: Phase One

a. An Overview of the Work Ahead

b. Communications and Vestry/Committee Interactions during the Time of Transition

c. The Self-Study Process

d. Tools for Self-Study

e. Mind the Gap: Bridging Information-Gathering between Who Are We Now and Who Is God Calling Us to Be Next?

f. Preparing the Community Ministry Portfolio

g. It’s Done!

h. Promoting Your Position

VIII. For the Vestry: Phase Two

IX. For the Discernment Committee: Phase Two and Final Steps

a. The Spiritual Nature of the Work You Do

b. First Stage Interviewing

c. Behavioral Interview Guide

d. Short-List Work

e. On the Road: Visiting Candidates in Their Own Parish

f. For the Discernment Committee: Final Phase

X. For the Vestry: Final Steps

a. One More Goodbye: To Your Interim Rector

b. Welcoming Your New Priest

c. When Something Goes Sideways

d. How the Diocese Welcomes Your New Priest

XI. Last Words

Appendix A: Sample Surveys

Appendix B: Some Guidelines for the Conduct of Focus Groups

Appendix C: Appreciative Inquiry-Style Congregational Meeting

Appendix D: Community Ministry Profile Worksheet

PREFACE

Eighty-four calls.

Since I began this work of transition ministry several years ago, we’ve midwifed more than one hundred calls for rectors, vicars, priests-in-charge, and deacons-in-charge in this diocese. Add in the facilitation of appointments of a number of interim rectors, and it’s safe to say that almost every possible mistake has been made, a great number of unusual situations have been faced, a range of all possible emotions felt.

So consider this book, based upon research as well as the lived experience of transition in Episcopal churches of incredible variety, your way to avoid repeating mistakes you don’t need to make, a way to navigate the usual pitfalls, a way to see the goal clearly and move toward it confidently.

What’s the goal?

Here’s what it is not: hiring a priest. You’re not contracting with a plumber (although many of us have plunged a few toilets in our parishes). You’re not figuring out who the best heart surgeon is to fix your ticker (although many of us have sat with and wept with and prayed with parishioners with broken hearts). You’re not hiring a lawyer to sort out who owes who what when someone has cheated you (although many of us have facilitated knotty and painful conversations between those whose relationships have been torn).

You’re seeking God’s will for your parish in the next chapter of its story, and discerning what spiritual leader will help you write that chapter.

That might seem a bit intimidating—how do we hear God’s voice?—but this book will help you get there. Through process, prayer, wisdom from those who have done this before, you will find the priest you need, and you might find that as the process evolves, this experience will be spiritually transformative.

The title?

The metaphor of journey is often used to describe the call of a new ordained leader, and sometimes jokingly people say that they felt like the Israelites in the wilderness, searching for the Promised Land over a forty-year span. That’s a dark image, and a frightening one.

So perhaps another journey metaphor is more helpful, and more apt. Consider the two disciples walking to Emmaus after the resurrection (Luke 24:13–35). Cleopas and a companion are walking home. Jesus has risen from the dead, but they don’t understand that yet. They’re talking about everything that had happened, perhaps feeling a little traumatized by it all. They encounter a stranger. They share this weird story, and how disappointed they were that things didn’t turn out the way they’d hoped. The stranger instructs them to think about it differently. They still are distracted and can’t wrap their minds around it. It is only later that evening, when they eat dinner together, when the stranger breaks the bread and blesses it and shares it with them, that they realize what is happening, WHO is happening . . . and then he’s gone. They reflect on it: Were not our hearts burning within us when he was with us? They go back to Jerusalem to the other disciples and proclaim what they’ve experienced, as they hear of Peter’s encounter with the risen Lord.

When a parish is in transition, it does feel like a journey. There’s grief at the departure of the prior priest if it has been a good tenure and grief at dreams unfulfilled if it has not. There’s concern about what the future might hold. There’s worry about how one does this work of managing the parish and how one secures another priest.

But there will be moments of hearts strangely warmed, if the level of anxiety about this transition can be addressed honestly, appropriately, and prayerfully. God’s will—not individual preference—will be the thing you seek. God is always doing a new thing (Isa. 43:19) and now God is doing a new thing with and for you and God’s providence is sure. The wisdom of the great cloud of witnesses who have navigated this journey can inform you. May the best practices and tools contained in this book be a road map and a comfort as you journey.

Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe

Canon to the Ordinary

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia  

I

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INTRODUCTION

The Structure of This Book

From Constancy and Peace . . .

It is a fact of life that those who live as part of a faith community see it as a constant in their lives. They know where it is, when it meets, what will happen there, and how the rhythm of the liturgy, the calendar, and the usual practices of the community shape the common life of the parish. It is, to many, a place of comfort and stability.

So what happens when the community is thrust out of that stability into a state of transition? What happens when the priest¹ departs?

. . . To Transition and Change

This book will walk you through the process of that time of transition step-by-step, with attention to the various roles of those who will be helping the parish find new leadership. It also recognizes that each parish is unique, and that one process doesn’t fit all. Our intent is to help parishes seek God’s will as they begin the next chapter of their story.

This work should be done efficiently, but not at the expense of time to hear the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It is work that should be done in a way that recognizes that every voice in the parish matters and should be heard, but not every need can be met. It is work that names that parishes need clergy with different gifts at different times in their existence, and sometimes it is work that names uncomfortable truths with no easy answer.

Transition is holy work. It is our prayer that this process will be spiritually transformative, not only for those who do the identified tasks of transition, but for the entire parish, as they are reminded of God’s providence and God’s habit of surprising us.

How to Read This Book

You will see sections addressed For the Vestry, For the Discernment Committee, and For the Departing Priest. You are welcome to read any or all of it—vestry members are not forbidden from reading discernment committee chapters and vice versa!—but please understand that certain tasks are assigned to particular groups for a good reason.

There are variations in practices in each and every diocese in the Episcopal Church, because contexts differ and context matters. Your bishop, your canon to the ordinary, your transition ministry officer² are your best guides as to what are the practices and limitations and freedoms that are operative in your diocese. Trust them, follow their guidelines, and ask questions! This process, based on several years of doctoral research and several years of lived experience, has been a flexible and effective approach. Use it in partnership with your diocesan team and may it bring you the same excellent results we have experienced.

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1. The clergy leader may be titled rector, vicar, priest-in-charge, or some other title as designated by the bishop.

2. Note that with the exception of the bishop, titles for those who will assist you in your transition process vary based upon size of diocesan staff and specificity of roles. In some dioceses, there is a transition ministry officer with a title that mirrors that specific role. In other dioceses, the canon to the ordinary is your contact for all matters relating to transition processes. In a few dioceses, the bishop diocesan is also the transition officer. Check with your bishop’s office to identify the key persons who will be assisting you.

II

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A GENERAL OUTLINE

OF THE TRANSITION PROCESS

In general, the normative process for transition is . . .

1. For the transition ministry office to have a conversation with the vestry, as soon as the priest’s retirement/departure is announced, to discuss the road ahead, especially the vestry’s role in the process and choices to be made.

2. For the church and priest to have a good goodbye.

3. For the vestry to determine which model of transition process they will use, with the recommendation of the bishop and the diocesan staff who support transitions.

4. For the appropriate committee to be formed to carry out the next steps of transition.

5. For the vestry to vote on the finalist and, if affirmed, for the vestry to extend a call.

6. If the call is accepted, for the vestry and the candidate to negotiate the terms of call, set out in a letter of agreement.

7. For the candidate, the senior warden, and the bishop to sign the letter of agreement.

8. For a mutual ministry review to be conducted after the new priest has served for a year.

Rector Calls:

In the outline above, when you get to step 4, this is how the process proceeds:

• For a discernment committee to be constituted and commissioned.

• For the discernment committee to do the work of self-study¹ with the input of the congregation.

• For the discernment committee to publish a vestry- and bishop-approved community ministry portfolio, which provides an overview of the church and its vision.

• For the church to improve its website to include relevant and up-to-date information on the church and the search process, for the benefit of both potential candidates and potential parishioners.

• For the discernment committee to receive names and select a finalist after the Office of Transition Ministry vets the candidates.

Then the process goes forward as described in steps 5 through 9.

Priest-in-Charge Calls:

In some situations, it may be more appropriate for the parish to call a priest-in-charge rather than a rector. The only difference between the