[Magdalen] Once again we begin again......

[Roger Stokes]

On 18/08/2019 21:51, Jay Weigel wrote:
> I've come to the conclusion that the search process in TEC is deeply flawed
> becauseI've seen it really seriously screw up, and the reason it screws up
> is that in a number of cases search committees and parishes themselves are
> very dishonest about who they are and what they REALLY want. They say they
> want to grow and thrive, but what they really want to do stay exactly the
> way they are, and "don't you dare try to change us!" Been there, seen that.
During my ministry in the Church of England I have read a lot of parish 
profiles of varying quality and degrees of information giving. While I 
have generally not known the parish in question I suspect you are right, 
Jay, which is why I have observed that there are "lies, damn lies and 
parish profiles" to misquote. During his sermon at the installation of 
one new incumbent the bishop referred to their profile which said they 
wanted growth but not change. He pointed out that was not going to 
happen - they needed to change in ordeer to grow.
>
>> The parish profiling is the most exhausting, in my opinion.
>> I am familiar with clergy placement in two other denominations.  In both
>> theMethodist Church and the RC Church, the bishop decides.  There is
>> noparish soul-searching, and there is no break filled with substitute
>> clergy.The old clergyperson has a farewell one Sunday, and the new
>> clergypersonhas a welcome the next Sunday.  I think the number of
>> successful clergyassignments are just as high with those systems as via TEC
>> way.

When I was first ordained the advice was that if a parish advertised 
(with very few exceptions) then it was a place to avoid. Likewise if a 
priest advertised that they were looking for a new parish then they 
would not be a good hire. The patron, very often the bishop or someone 
who asked the bishop for advice, would identify a priest they thought 
would be suitable, get them to meet the wardens and provided they did 
not object then the appointment would be made. The wardens were 
inexperienced at this part of their role and wanted someone and didn't 
want to upset the patron by turning the man (always a man in those days) 
down as they didn't know when they might get another candidate to look 
at. The advantage was that the bishop probably had a more accurate 
understanding of the parish and the available clergy so was better 
placed to be a matchmaker.

Since then parish profiles have come in, more common advertising and a 
greater role for the laity in the selection process - though generally 
they still lack experience in identifying what makes a good priest for 
their parish. Incumbencies are shorter than they were, having come down 
to 7-10 years in most cases, but even so this is not something that a 
congregation will do regularly. One thing they have to be warned of is 
not to have expectations of any clergy spouse. The Vicarage comes with 
the post so that is where they will live but it should not be assumed 
that they will necessarily do X, Y and Z in the parish. If they want to 
then that is their choice. Likewise the Vicarage itself is where the 
incumbent lives but it's their home and use of it for parish functions 
is at the priest's discretion.

Roger