The Rector Search Committee thanks you all for your prayers together in our weekly prayer group, during the services and individually. We have felt the Holy Spirit in our presence as we discern our work preparing to present our finalists to the Vestry for selection of our next Rector.

The RSC completed the interviews of the five semifinalists over the course of five weekends ending in March. We met each week to discuss the individual candidates and review our copious notes and comments.

We took the weeks surrounding Holy Week and Brenda’s last Sunday to complete background and reference checks. Now we feel prepared to ready ourselves for our Chair, Mary Malhotra, to present our recommendations to the Vestry at their annual retreat this coming weekend.

The Vestry will interview our final candidate recommendations and then select who they believe should receive the call as our next Rector. We hope, since the Bishop will need to approve our call, that by the end of May, we will be able to share the good news of our new Rector with the Parish.

Over the summer, our new Rector will be moving into the Rectory, and familiarizing themselves with all of the pastoral and administrative details only the Rector can appreciate.

We hope Homecoming will be our official timing for our new Rector to lead our church into the next exciting time of worship and growth.

With thanksgiving to our Risen Lord and the St. James’ parish,
The Rector Search Committee

We are so very thankful as we continue to feel enveloped by your prayers, especially as we have reached another critical period in the Rector search. The Holy Spirit is guiding and enlightening our conversations, as we discern our candidates. We thank God at each meeting for clarity and guidance.

We completed the initial interviews of the 11 candidates which we had culled from 35 applicants. The interviews were engaging and provided for a deeper insight into their personal spiritual life, their preaching, and their thoughts on leading a complex organization such as St. James’.

We continue to watch their sermons online and speak confidentially to their references and those who we know in common in our faith. The search process is moving along in a swift but thorough manner.

At this point, our field now consist of 5 semifinalists. Confidentiality for our semifinalists is important, as their parishes are not aware they are meeting with St. James’. To respect that, the semifinalists will only meet with the Rector Search Committee members during the next step. The semifinalists will be brought in individually to New York over the course of 5 weekends beginning in February. During their two-day, two-night stay in New York, the semifinalists will have time for more intimate in-person conversations; they will lead Bible studies, join the RSC for casual meals, and lead a homily and Eucharist for the RSC.

During this time, we will complete our background work and referencing on the semifinalists. Our goal is to identify and present the finalists to the Vestry in early to mid-March.

The final phase will be completed by our Vestry who will conduct separate in-person interviews with the finalists and meet their families and make the final, unanimous decision on our next Rector in the Spring of 2023.

With thankfulness to the parishioners of St. James’,

The RSC

Always first, we thank you for your dedicated prayers and ask for your continued devotion in lifting up our committee during the discernment process to present the Vestry with finalists for calling our next Rector.

Second, the response for interested clergy to be our next Rector has been remarkable in both quality and quantity of applicants. We appreciated the care and great attention given by each applicant in their materials reflecting their faith and passion for ministry.

We received 35 applications consisting of thoughtful, get-to-know-you cover letters, responses to specific St. James’ questions, a formal CV and a detailed Office of Transition Ministry (OTM) which is a multi-page document that requests references, links to sermons, and questions about the applicant’s ministry and spiritual practices. Our request for applications came to a close Thanksgiving weekend.

Since then, the RSC has carefully studied each applicant’s submissions, listened to a variety of their online services, and dug deep into the applicants’ online presence. 

After thorough and independent research by each RSC member, we came together to discuss our discoveries, findings, and to share what we each learned. It was three long evenings but joyful as we first prayed for each applicant by name and talked through each packet and then discussed which applicants would best serve St. James’ to become candidates as part of the next step. 

We have consensus on the candidates, and there are 11 who we believe we should meet for a first virtual face to face. 

The RSC has contacted all applicants this week with notice of their status, that is, moving forward in the interview process or not.  

After we complete the process described above, there are two more important phases for the RSC. 

• Determine the semi-finalist list and conduct in person interviews with those candidates here in NYC, and after
• Select finalists for recommendation to the Vestry  

The final phase will be completed by our Vestry who will conduct separate in-person interviews with the finalists and meet their families and will hopefully make the final decision on our next Rector in the Spring of 2023. 

Dear Parishioners,

We have now reached a key period in our Rector search timeline. Today, our Parish Profile was posted online on our St. James’ website as well as the Diocesan website and Episcopal News Service. You can view the Profile here.

The Profile is a result of much prayer and work by the RSC, our Clergy, the Wardens, the Vestry and with guidance from the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Vital work was done by St. James’ parishioners who offered much direction in our summer survey and our Parish meeting. We thank you and appreciate the many who contributed to telling the story of who we are, how we live, and where God is leading us.

The Profile is accessible to all interested applicants, with instructions on how to apply through November 18.

After the RSC reviews all applicants’ materials, we will begin to narrow the field of those interested to those who have a Jesus-centered spiritual life, leadership agility, and relevant experience that will best lead St. James’. We will interview candidates and then narrow the list again. Those applicants will be asked to come to New York in early 2023 for in-person meetings over the course of two days.

From those interviews, the RSC will select two to three candidates to present to the Vestry for interviews and selection of the next Rector of St. James’. We continue to expect the process to continue through early spring.

During this time, we continue to ask for your prayers as we discern with our minds and our hearts the candidates, one of whom will lead St. James’ in our continued life of Christ.

With appreciation,

Your Rector Search Committee

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

We hope you had a restful summer. We are excited to all be back together at Homecoming this Sunday, September 11.

The RSC has spent the summer working on the Parish Profile, which is the online multi-media narrative for potential applicants to learn who we are, how we live our discipleship, and what we seek in a new rector. We are thankful for the time spent by our Parish in offering thoughts at the Parish Meeting and the online survey. It gave us much to work with as we wrote the profile. We also spoke with all the staff and clergy for their input.

The Parish Profile is now in the review part of the process. Our Wardens and the Diocesan Canon for Transition Ministry have given their comments, and now our clergy and the full Vestry will give their input.

We continue to believe mid-Fall is an achievable timeline for posting the Parish Profile and the required diocesan documentation for the Office for Transition Ministry.

There are still three important phases of the RSC work following the posting:

• Candidate application submission and review  
• Determine the semi-finalist list and conduct interviews with those candidates  
• Select finalists for recommendation to the Vestry  

The final phase will be completed by our Vestry who will conduct in-person interviews with the finalists and meet their families, and will hopefully make the final decision on our next Rector in the Spring of 2023.

Faithfully,
Your RSC members

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”  – Jeremiah 29:11

Dear Friends,