Tod Connor and Diane Evans have been added to the Transition Committee. Tod will be chairman of the team, and we are at work looking at congregational questionnaires and profiles from other churches in preparation for creating our own.

So, what is this entity called “Transition Committee?” In a nutshell, we on the T.C. will engage the members of the congregation in dialogue about the nature, mission and vision of this church. First, we will create a questionnaire to sent to all members for completion. That material will then be collated into a draft of the church profile, which everyone will have a chance to read and respond to. At some point in this process there will be focus groups held after church for discussion of who we are here at St. Philip’s.

Questionnaire. Each member of the congregation will be asked to complete a questionnaire about how you view this church/congregation. It will ask questions in the areas of demographics, church participation, church involvement, congregational identity, organizational characteristics, worship, personal faith views and beliefs, tasks of the church, tasks of the rector/vicar, style of ministry, sermon style, etc. These will mostly be in the form of statements which can be marked on a scale of “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” There will also be space for you to write your thoughts if they aren’t covered in the questionnaire or to expand on any of the questions. The first step in this process was the “brainstorming” session held in early March. That information has now been condensed, printed and given to the members of the committee.

Church Profile.  This is a document that will result from the findings of the questionnaire, the brainstorming process held in early March, and the focus groups. This is the “Who We Are Here At St. Philip’s and What This Church Is About” statement.

Focus Groups.  Prior to completion of the Church Profile, members of the congregation will be given the opportunity to respond to the first draft in discussion groups to be held probably after church on Sundays. This input from all of you will then be considered for incorporation into the final document.

The Church Profile will then be submitted to the Diocese and placed on the St. Philip’s website. This step signals that we are ready to receive profiles from rectors or vicars who might be interested in serving at St. Philip’s. This step will mark the end of the Transition Committee’s work and the beginning of the Search Committee’s tasks in earnest.

This process, especially completion of the questionnaire, will call on each one of us prayerfully and carefully to think about St. Philip’s--our place in the congregation; our dreams for the future; our commitment to support in terms of prayer and presence, as well as time, talent and treasure; our willingness to adapt to inevitable changes.

One of the reasons that transition and search will take at least a year is that Martin was with us for a long time--17 years. He was the founding pastor of St. Philip’s. He guided this congregation over time into the vital, vibrant, family-oriented congregation we have become. Many of us are here because our initial contact with Martin. AND, it’s now a new time. It’s like the child who grows up and goes away to college or leaves home to work in another city. It’s new and different, exciting and scary, full of opportunities and potential pitfalls, all requiring that choices be made. It’s a transition time, with the safety net of parents who support and encourage and are there, though at a distance.

Barry, our interim priest, is providing that guidance through this interim period, that knowledge that “someone is tending the store,” the leader we can turn to with our questions. The interim period is also giving us our first real experience with change--different ways of doing that which is familiar to us and experiencing the varying feelings that may be evoked by that differentness. The “familiar” has become “strange.”

NEXT MONTH: Change--and its stages. Where are we? Is anybody really doing anything? Why do I feel so unsettled by what’s going on?

                Karen Krestensen

Update: Transition & Search Committees

The Bishop’s Committee met on May 16. Much of what was discussed is covered by other articles in this newsletter, so I'll only add a few miscellaneous items of interest here.

· We will be moving toward parish status this year! The diocese has hinted that they would welcome the move, and it will help the search process. We will start the process immediately, and hope to finish in time for the October convention.

· Bill DeRouchey reported that we have a good prospect for renting some of the upstairs offices. Debby Dodds is already renting one of the offices.

· Bill also reported a grant for major reconstruction on the Sunday School wing is very unlikely. There are few grants available for churches, and they all require matching funds. Since the congregation will already be spending extra money on the search process, it is a bad time to ask for money. He will organize a roof repair party this fall to fix the worst damage.

· There was damage to the back door of the Parish Hall recently, and at first it was thought to have been from a break-in attempt. However, after inspecting the damage it seems just as likely to have happened from the inside. If you ever notice any damage to the building, please report it immediately so we can get it fixed.

                 Bruce Clift, Clerk