First a word about the individuals that make up the Search and Nomination committee: Our names and parishes are listed on the diocesan web-site, but who exactly ARE these folks that are examining our potential candidates for the 15th Bishop of Connecticut? The Standing Committee, in consultation with Bishop Smith, selected the members of our committee from representatives submitted by the Deaneries. We have five active priests, two retired priests and a vocational deacon. We have a high school student, two high school teachers, an IT Geek, a lawyer/entrepreneur, a state employee and some Moms/”full time volunteers”. We are men and women, Afro-American, Hispanic, Chinese and various flavors of white/Europeans in background. We live in cities, suburbs and rural areas. We come from rich and poor parishes and from parishes in between. We root for the Yankees or the Red Sox, but we all root for UCONN Women’s Basketball! Theologically we are liberal and conservative, and right in the middle. We are the diocese of
And, as we break into smaller groups for the current interview processes, we try to make each sub-group as diverse as possible.
And now back to our regularly scheduled blog….
Having completed conference calls with our second round candidates, the Search and Nomination Committee met together May 23rd to review the interview results. We had prepared for this meeting by listening to the recordings of our conversations with the candidates. We also had in hand the synopsis of each interview, as prepared by the “recording secretary” of each interviewing group.
As always, we began with scripture and prayer. Drawing upon our notes of the interviews, and referring back to our candidates’ applications, we prayerfully considered each of the candidates we had interviewed. As we discussed the candidates, we continued to go back to our profile: Can the candidate articulate a vision for the diocese’s future? Are they formed by scripture and prayer? How do they speak about nourishing the clergy, supporting lay ministry and helping us reconcile with one another? Do they have a diverse background of experiences to draw upon? We also asked ourselves what additional information we wanted to know about each individual.
Removing candidates from our “go-forward” list is getting more and more difficult, but at the end of the meeting, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we had discerned a list of candidates that we wanted to learn more about. Those candidates that we did not go forward with received a personal phone call from our Chair, Sylvia Ho, thanking them for their participation in our discernment process.
And now we are visiting our seven remaining candidates. Once again breaking up into teams of three, some visitations occurred this last weekend (May 30 and 31), with others occurring this coming weekend (June 6 and 7). Our visits consist of attending a Sunday service at our candidate’s parish and listening to them to preach. We are also interviewing five references, and conducting a further, in person, interview with the candidate that includes a list of standard questions that all of the candidates are being asked, as well as the individual questions that the committee wanted to ask each particular candidate. The questions, to both the candidates and the references, are designed to give us further insight into how the candidate matches up to our profile.
The most fun and relaxed part of each visit is sharing a meal with the candidate and, if they are married, their spouse. For everyone, this has proved to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the visits. Gathered around the table at a favorite restaurant, it is an informal time of fellowship and unstructured conversation. An opportunity to share stories and talk about mutual interests, and often discover mutual friends!
The committee will meet as a whole again on June 13th. At that time, we will discuss our “on-site” experiences and discern which candidates will be invited to come and meet with the entire Search and Nomination committee (and a few selected others) for the final round of interviews.
As always, thank you for your prayers. Please keep them coming, especially for those members of our committee that will be traveling this weekend!
