At the outset of this process, we shared with the congregation our goal, a summary of the process that we would follow and said that to be successful, it needed to be “Bathed in Prayer.” Indeed, it has been, from the weekly prayer in our worship services to individual prayers offered by many in this congregation. The committee’s meetings were opened each time with a prayer offered by one of our members and closed with the prayer which was included in the prayers of the people.

The committee was blessed to be very representative of the congregation as well as the variety of gifts and skills that each member brought to our process.

Our initial step was to organize ourselves for the challenges ahead and a plan was developed to finish our initial discernment process and generate the parish profile to begin accepting applications during July and August of 2024. You may recall the parish survey, the forums where we offered our thoughts on the history of St. Christophers, and many conversations with staff and various committees in the church. These were critical to the development of the parish profile and development of the description of the person we were seeking to be our next rector.

Once the application period ended, we began to review the background and credentials of each of the applicants in early September. We also conducted exploratory interviews via Zoom with each candidate who passed through our initial evaluation of their application. By early November, we had reduced the number of candidates and invited them to come to Chatham to meet with us and have a discussion which focused on their background and interest in becoming the next rector at St. Christopher’s. This was a major part of the discernment process for the committee and each candidate.

In mid-December, we invited one candidate back to Chatham to have a “meet and greet” session with the vestry. It was designed to be exactly that and not an interview. An opportunity to get to know the candidate and for the candidate to get a sense of the vestry. That afternoon, the committee voted unanimously to recommend the candidate to the vestry. The following day, Debby Saliba and Win McCausland presented the recommendation to the vestry and it was accepted by a unanimous vote.