[Magdalen] Epiphany

[Scott Knitter]

On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 9:57 PM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen
<magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
> In the early nineties, the local Procathedral was put through the  wringer
> by going through two sets of candidates and an interim who  eventually
> decided to be a candidate himself.  It was all very divisive.

We struggled with that as well. The interim's contract clearly
declared his ineligibility for the permanent position, yet vestry
members were lobbying us to include him as a candidate, saying "the
contract is just paper...you can choose to consider him." The diocese
said we could do that only if we suspended the search process and
considered him alone, not as one of the regular candidates. He lobbied
us and the vestry intensely, as he really wanted the job. We felt we
were appointed to search, not adjourn after a few months and hire the
ineligible interim. Some parishioners had grown very fond of him (I
like him a lot, too) and had a hard time with the idea he couldn't be
hired permanently.

I don't regret how things turned out in our search. We landed an
exceptional priest. The later division and turbulence couldn't be
foreseen. May God give me patience if I ever get flack for having been
on the search committee or hear criticism of our work. We did our job
and the process was a success, with God's help.

-- 
Scott R. Knitter
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA