Transition Committee: Prayer, Good Work and Hawiian Shirts

Here we are! As you can see by our Hawaiian shirts and summer attire, we strive to balance work and play! As Marilyn noted previously, we have hit the ground running. We are busy preparing for video interviews, in-person opportunities in early October and the election itself. And although the events seem a long way off, work has already begun on Bishop Smith's retirement celebration and the Consecration of our new diocesan Bishop in April 2010.

In addition to the hard work that is ongoing by all the various members of of our committee, we took some time during our recent meeting to remind ourselves how important, as committee members and as people of the Diocese, it is to approach this election and process with a posture of openness. We have been blessed by the presence of our Chaplain, Rebecca Scruton, at each of our meetings. Her presence and leadership help us to remain prayerful throughout the process. We are reminded that it is through a discernment of God's will and the workings of the Holy Spirit that this Diocese will have a new Diocesan Bishop.

We were reminded yesterday, in the letter to the Ephesians, “the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.” Thanks be to God for the gift of the Holy Spirit which sustains and guides us through all the work that we do!


Submitted by Molly James, Transition Committee

A Microcosm of the Church: Transition Committee Moves into High Gear

I certainly hope that all the members of the Search and Nomination Committee have had some good vacation time by now. They really earned it! They worked so hard, and so intensively, to bring us a slate of nominees who fit the Diocesan Profile better than any others. They produced a terrific web presentation. They met and worked and wrangled and got exhausted and partied together and came out on the other side changed and grown. They formed some friendships that they know will endure. We on the Transition Committee give them our hearty thanks and congratulations, and we hope you do, too.

Like the Search and Nomination Committee, our Transition Committee is manned (womanned?) by many people from all over the diocese. They come from many walks of life; they’re male and female; some have computer skills, some not; some are still active in their occupations, some are retired; some are lay and some are clergy. All are giving their expertise and time and enthusiasm to the work of presenting the nominees, helping with the election, helping plan Bishop Smith’s retirement, and coordinating a wonderful Consecration for our next diocesan bishop.

Like the Search and Nomination Committee, we began our work last December. But our timeline is much longer. We’ve had the luxury of taking several months to build a good foundation. And now we hit the ground running!

Our work is focused right now on what comes next: continuing to remind the diocese about our nominees with bulletin inserts, interviewing the nominees and making their interviews accessible on the website (ctbishopelection.com), and planning for the big weekend in early October when we introduce them face to face to the diocese. It’s been a learning process for all of us. For me the big piece of learning has been to trust God more and more for gradual and reliable guidance. A child of this culture, I am overcaffeinated and overexpectant. This process teaches me each day to trust and to wait and to know that God is the one pulling the strings—even as we all continue to work like crazy. It’s just the latest incarnation of such learning, and I’m sure not the last.

Won’t you join us in praying for the nominees and for the process and the diocese? Hold them up to Jesus, give them to God. Let the Spirit whisper and shout as we walk this way together. And know that all will be well—and we don’t have to pull the strings so hard.

Submitted by Marilyn Anderson, Committee Chair

And the Nominees are....

It’s July 1^st, and as promised, here are our nominees (in alphabetical order):

Rev. Mark Delcuze, Rector, St. Stephen’s, Ridgefield, CT

Rev. Ian Douglas, Angus Dun Professor of Mission and World Christianity, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA

Assoc. Rector, St. James’s Church, Cambridge. MA

Rev. Beth Fain, Rector, St. Mary’s Church, Cypress, TX

Rt. Rev. James Curry, Bishop Suffragan of Connecticut (Under the Suffragan Bishop nomination process)

And here is our new web-site, where you can learn all about them: http://www.ctbishopelection.com

We have a plethora of goodies on this site: a biography and essays as well as a picture and video clip to introduce you to each of the candidates. There are also prayers and scripture readings (the same scriptures that we, the search committee studied and prayed over in our meetings), that we encourage all delegates to use as tools to your discernment process as you prepare for the election in October. The site also includes information about the petition process and plans for introducing the candidates to the diocese. Additional information about the candidates, any petition candidates and the election process will be added to the web-site as time goes on.

And this blog will also be continuing. The transition committee will be taking it over. Keep checking back for details on their plans for introducing you to the candidates, the election and the installation.

It has been a great pleasure to serve as a member of the Search and Nomination committee. When we first started in December I knew only two other members and neither of them well. Over the past seven months we have become a community, and while I (and especially my family) am happy that I have my Saturday’s back, I am looking forward to seeing everyone again in October at Diocesan convention, if not sooner at some of the activities introducing the candidates.

I hope that you have enjoyed sharing the nomination process with me through this blog and that you will continue to enjoy it as the transition committee shares their journey with you.

Cathy Schrull

Please Stand by....

Hi,

Our web-site announcing all the details of the nominees for the 15th Bishop of Connecticut is still being tweaked. We REALLY want everyone to go to that web-site to learn all about them. The blog post announcing the nominees will be re-posted later today...after the official email announcement with the link to the official web-site goes out to the diocese.

Selecting a Slate

Our six final candidates have come and gone and the Search/Nomination Committee has selected the slate of candidates that we will be announcing on July 1^st. Our two and a half day long retreat ended with a closure activities and celebration party for the committee.

Wednesday night’s Eucharist and reception with the candidates, their spouses, the Diocese’s chancellor, cannons and current bishops started this phase of the process on the perfect note. This was the first time that that anyone outside of the committee learned who any of our candidates are. The reception time was put to good use by the candidates as they learned more about the diocese of Connecticut, and what it means to be Bishop in Connecticut from Bishop Smith and our suffrigans.

Thursday morning began with a group breakfast with the committee, the candidates and their spouses. The breakfast ended with a time of scripture and prayer, where we read, again, the passage from 2 Samuel, where Samuel searches for the next King of Israel from amongst Jesse’s sons and anoints David. Focusing on that passage, each of us offered up a one phrase prayer for the day.

The remainder of the day was spent by the committee meeting with each candidate for 90 minutes. We started each session by asking the candidate to pray, and then asked them how their individual discernment process had progressed. Each candidate was then asked a number of questions, some of which were asked of all of the candidates, and some of which were tailored specifically for that candidate based on what we had learned about them. We finished up by asking each of the candidates about their relationship with Jesus and then by joining hands and praying for the candidate. It was such a joy to hear how much each of these priests of the church love our Lord!

Friday afternoon, the committee’s final and most important task began: selecting our final slate. On this day we began with the Eucharist. We then prayerfully discussed each of our candidates. What were the “pros” of this candidate? What where the “cons”? Did we find anything in their reference checks? And as superficial as it sounds, how are their social skills? We prayerfully rated each candidate on a scale and added each candidate's ratings together. We prayed. We discussed the candidates again. We prayed again. We discussed again and prayed again. Finally we voted, placing our ballots in the chalice, and came to consensus on our slate.

We have an extremely gifted slate of candidates. Each and every one of them will make a marvelous Bishop for our diocese. I can’t wait until you get to meet them!

Right now we are completing the web-site that will introduce them to you. Check back, either here or at our the dioceses web-site ( http://ctdiocese.org ) on July 1^st for the link to our new web-site that will introduce you to our nominees!

Hospitality

From the very beginning of our process, one of the goals of the Search and Nomination committee has been to share the spirit of hospitality with our candidates. Now we get to directly demonstrate Connecticut hospitality to our candidates.

Late afternoon, Wednesday, June 23, our six candidates will gather with the Search and Nomination committee, our three bishops and several diocesan officials for a Eucharist and reception at a central Connecticut parish. Each candidate will have a host to ensure that they have a time during the reception to meet one-on-one with Bishop Smith, and an opportunity to meet Brad Babbitt, Chancellor, Jack Spaeth, Canon for Finance and Marge Roccoberton, Canon to the Ordinary.

Waiting for our candidates and their spouses at their hotel will be Diocese of Connecticut tote bags, containing, among other things, a selection of made-in-Connecticut products. It is at this hotel that the entire committee will be conducting our final interviews with each of the candidates on Thursday. These interviews can be expected to be blunt and rigorous, with the committee asking tough questions of the candidates, and the candidates asking tough questions in return. As prayer has played an integral part in all of the committee’s activities, we expect prayer to be an integral part of our interviews with each of our candidates.

While the candidates are busy with the committee, a non-committee host will act as tour guide to the spouses. And Thursday evening a group of two or three committee members will host each candidate and their spouse for dinner at one of the local restaurants.

Friday morning, we will bid our candidates goodbye. And then the committee’s final and most important task begins: discerning which of these candidates will be announced at nominees for election of the 15^th Bishop of Connecticut.

Six Invitations

Our visits to our remaining candidates completed, the committee met this last Saturday, June 13th, to discuss our visits to our remaining candidates.

As always we began with scripture and prayer. This week we began with a study of 1 Samuel 16:1,6 – 13, when Samuel was searching for the next King of Israel, anointing, at the direction of God, the “runt” of Jesse’s sons, David.
Although different aspects of this scripture struck the various members of the committee in different ways, all of us heard that we should trust God and be attentive to each other.

As we discussed our remaining candidates, the pros and cons and gifts and skills of each, it was clear that all of them are more than qualified to be our next Bishop. Taking regular breaks for prayer and doing a lot of “holy listening” to each other we talked about what each candidate would bring to us from their home setting, their personalities and how they will live among us as Bishop.

Now, as our mutual discernment process continues, we are inviting six candidates to come visit us.