The words no senior warden wants to hear are, “I’ve accepted a call to Our Lady of the Perpetual Trout Stream. My last Sunday is (fill in the blank).”

In the Diocese of East Tennessee, these words set into motion a search process to call a new rector that can take from nine to 18 months and on rare occasions even longer. As anxiety-evoking as these words are, however, wardens, vestries and congregations need to know they are not alone in this time of transition.

I’m from the bishop’s office, and I’m here to help. Really, I am!

Once the rector has given notice of a new call, vestries are required by diocesan canon to let the bishop know within 10 days. Often the bishop knows within minutes. Soon after, I am informed and call the senior warden to answer questions about next steps. While the senior warden usually wants to have a search committee in place the following day, I advise that the next steps are to see that the life and ministry of the departing rector are celebrated appropriately and to begin the process of calling an interim rector.

Frequently, wardens and vestries see the transition time as an opportunity to save money and opt for calling a part-time interim rector rather than a full-time interim. Our experience has been, however, that parishes fare better by calling a three-quarter time or full-time interim because more stabliity is provided, which lowers anxiety in the congregation.

After the rector has departed and the interim rector is in place, the vestry meets with me to go over the diocesan search-process guidelines. A second meeting is held shortly thereafter to select the search committee and to introduce the vestry to the person who will serve as the search committee’s consultant. These consultants are trained to guide the committees through the stages of the process, and through their experience and knowledge they can help committees avoid missteps along the way. Our search consultants are the Rev. Frank Cooper and Martha Woodward from the Upper East Area; the Rev. Bo Lewis and the Rev. Canon Dick Brown from the Middle East Area and the Rev. Betty Latham, the Rev. Gene Smitherman and Lynn Schmissrauter from the South East Area.

During a Sunday service soon after their selection, the search committee members are commissioned in the name of God and on behalf of the congregation to exercise their ministry of finding a rector who will be the best match for the parish. In this service, committee members promise to perform their work with diligence, faith and prayer. The congregation, in turn, promises to uphold the committee with their prayers and participation.

Initially, the search committee spends time getting organized and building community. Then, guided by their consultant, they begin the self-study phase of their process. This phase provides an opportunity for the congregation to examine who they are within the Body of Christ, to look at their past and present and to dream about their future, to determine their mission and ministry and finally, to take that information and prayerfully determine the type of clergy leadership that would best fit their parish.

Once the self-study is completed, the committee includes that information in a Parish Narrative Profile along with information on the parish history, demographics, financial status, worship preferences and programs. Concurrent with developing the narrative profile, the committee will complete a Parish Search Request application that is entered into the national Church Deployment Office system and used to solicit names of potential candidates for the position.

The search committee typically receives between 30 and 50 names from the CDO and other sources. In some cases, with the bishop’s blessing and the vestry’s approval, options for receiving a shorter list of candidates approved by the bishop can be requested.

We ask the search committee to keep information about the candidates confidential. Many clergy relate horror stories of how members of their parish learned they were in a search process from someone standing in line at the grocery store. Out of respect for everyone involved in the process, we ask that any information that could identify someone be kept within the committee. If asked about who is in the search process, members are instructed to chant the search committee mantra: “I’m sorry, I can’t talk about that. Ohmmmmmm.”

This is not to say that everything having to do with the process is confidential or secret. The search committee chair is encouraged — no, urged, no, begged — to make announcements to the congregation each and every Sunday on the status of the search process. He or she simply cannot say anything that would identify an individual.

Once candidates’ names are received, the committee determines who to select for the next phase and begins screening and interviewing to select four to six people to visit at their home parishes and to invite to the local parish for interviews. At this stage, each candidate must meet with the bishop.

Finally, the day of discernment comes. In a retreat setting, the search committee, guided by the Holy Spirit (and their consultant), spends a day in prayer, discussion and silence to determine whose name they will submit to the vestry for consideration.

Once the decision is made, the search committee as a whole meets with the vestry to present the name with written and verbal information on the person selected. If the vestry chooses, they can meet with the candidate before making their decision. It has been our experience, however, that vestries have trusted the search committee’s work and feel comfortable with the person the committee has selected.

The vestry votes to issue the call, obtains the bishop’s permission, extends the call by phone or letter and the new rector accepts (insert Hallelujah Chorus here).

At this point, the search committee steps aside, and the vestry develops a Letter of Agreement with the new rector. The Letter of Agreement is a covenant between the rector and the vestry and includes such things as when the rector will begin his or her ministry, the expectations of the rector and the vestry’s responsibilities, the rector’s compensation, times of work and leave, expenses, discretionary fund, use of buildings and an expectation that an annual ministry review will be conducted. The Letter of Agreement is signed by the senior warden and the rector and is reviewed and signed by the bishop and the chancellor.

After the call is issued and accepted, the temptation for parish members is to wipe their weary brows, heave a sigh of relief and slip quietly into the back pew. They must not yield to that temptation, however, because a new phase of the process has just begun.

Once the date has been set for the new rector’s arrival, the congregation must say goodbye to the interim rector. I advise that the interim rector’s last Sunday be a couple of weeks before the new rector arrives to give a break between. Parishes typically have a reception to honor and thank the interim rector for his or her ministry, and it’s a good idea for the wardens to meet with the interim rector to allow him or her to pass along any information that might be useful to the new rector.

The beginning of a new ministry is a particularly vulnerable time. It is important that the congregation welcome and support the rector and family as they settle into a new community of faith. One formal way of welcoming the rector is the Celebration of New Ministry, which is planned by the vestry and the rector with the help of the search committee. This service is used when a priest is being instituted and inducted as the rector of a parish. The bishop serves as the chief minister and celebrant of the service.

It is helpful after the first six months and before the rector’s first anniversary for the rector and the vestry to look the goals and expectations set during the self-study phase of the search process to see if they still apply and if adjustments need to be made. This review of the ministry of the entire parish is facilitated by the search consultant and involves the rector, vestry and search committee. With this event, the search process officially concludes.

This is a condensed version of the diocesan search process, and many details have been omitted in this broad brushstroke. Each search process is different, and I hope the process is flexible enough to be adapted to the situation. The time for calling new clergy leadership to a congregation is one of the most challenging ventures in the life of a parish. Congregations also find that searching for a new priest is a time for hope and an opportunity for renewal.

Canon Alice Clayton, diocesan deployment officer, 865-966-2110.

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