[Magdalen] Epiphany

[Lynn Ronkainen]

From: "James Oppenheimer-Crawford" > I think this is essentially the way the 
Methodist Church operates.


In my experience, most Methodist conferences (?) re-assign their pastors 
every 7 years. I'm not sure how much 'fit' is considered. Once that rhythm 
is created, it seems to work. There's always a definite horizon and a new 
sun rise.

Lynn

website: www.ichthysdesigns.com

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not a 
single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me." 
attributed to Erma Bombeck
 "Either Freedom for all or stop talking about Freedom at all" from a talk 
by Richard Rohr

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From: "James Oppenheimer-Crawford" <oppenheimerjw at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2016 3:16 PM
To: "Magdalen at herberthouse.org" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] Epiphany

> I think this is essentially the way the Methodist Church operates.  Their
> executives gather and decide where the ministers will go in the coming
> year.  At the same time, if a minister is doing reasonably well, they 
> won't
> want to move them.
>
> Actually, the minister I was talking to is AME Zion, so they may do things
> a bit differently.
>
> Sounds a bit unstable for a minister with a young family.
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>
> On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:36 PM, Mahoney, W. Michael <wmmah at stoneledge.net>
> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 10:21 AM, Judy Fleener <fleenerj at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Please pray that we at St. Paul's, Muskegon have not picked 
>> > incorrectly.
>> > Not only are we experiencing discomfort with a change in liturgical
>> styles,
>> > but also a seeming inability to get work done in a timely fashion.
>> >
>>
>> It may be that its a rocky start and that eventually things will work 
>> out.
>> We can hope and pray.  But it is certainly consistent with my belief that
>> the Church ought make much greater use of the "Priest-in-Charge"(PIC)
>> approach.
>>
>> With the PIC approach, a priest is hired with a two to three year
>> contract.  The contract provides both for periodic evaluation and *no 
>> fault
>> *termination or non-renewal.
>>
>> There are many good reasons why rectors should have tenure.  But they are
>> not sufficient to grant it to a priest the day he or she arrives.  It
>> doesn't happen in the academic world; it doesn't happen it the private
>> sector; it doesn't happen in other denominations; and, it shouldn't 
>> happen
>> in the Episcopal Church.
>>
>> The literature on "transition" is extensive.  But you will find little if
>> any discussion of the plain fact that a "call" is ultimately a crap 
>> shoot.
>> Prayer and hard work may improve the odds but they don't eliminate risk.
>> The PIC approach does not eliminate risk either but it does lower the 
>> cost
>> when things do turn out badly.
>>
>> We are in the midst of a transition in my parish.  I kid our search
>> committee that if our eventual "call" works out wonderfully, we will all
>> say it is the work of the Holy Spirit.  But if it turns out to be a
>> disaster, the search committee will get the blame.  I am not just 
>> kidding,
>> though,  We need more explicit recognition that the hiring process, like
>> most human things, is an uncertain business.
>>
>> Mike M.
>>
>> Mike M.
>>