Candidating Week: May 5-13
We thought a review of the ministerial search process up to this point might be helpful. At the beginning of this second year of our ministerial search, the committee posted online our Congregational Record, a detailed description of who we are as a church. Based on this record, potential ministerial candidates expressed an interest in our church. We then reviewed their Ministerial Records, also online, and choose the ones we were interested in pursuing further. We interviewed seven of these ministers by phone and then had the difficult task of choosing three to come to Dedham as Pre-candidates. During the visits we interviewed each of these three extensively and heard them preach at a "neutral pulpit" nearby.
We have finished the Pre-Candidating weekends. And we have picked the person we think will be the best fit for First Church based on the information you gave us last year. This was not an easy job - we had three wonderful Pre-candidates. Now we have decided and have made an official offer. Assuming the chosen Pre-candidate accepts, a small group comprised of a member of both the Parish and Search Committees and a member of the congregation at large will negotiate a contract with him or her and then s/he becomes our official Candidate for settled ministry.
What's next? Candidating Week, Sat. May 5 - Sun. May 13.
This is the time when the congregation as a whole gets involved. Beginning Sat., May 5 through Sun., May 13, there will be multiple opportunities for everyone to meet and get to know the person selected to be our next minister, as well as opportunities for her/him get to know us. The candidate will preach on both Sundays, May 6 and May 13, as well as attend large and small gatherings of parishioners during the week. He or she will meet with the staff, the lay leadership and various committees. There will be some purely social events and some time to meet with the children and youth. A full schedule of events will be coming soon. But for now, mark the dates on your calendar - you won't want to miss this important time in the life of First Church!
It is important to note that only members can vote on this matter. If you are not a member of the church, becoming one is a simple process: you sign the membership book and you are then recommended for membership at the next scheduled Parish Committee meeting. For more information, talk to Rob Ross, Anne Schiraga from the Memerbership Committee, or any one of us on the Search Committee. We urge you to consider joining before April 8 so you can be welcomed into membership before this very important vote takes place on May 13th.
Where are the Search Committee Members?
You haven't seen Jeff lighting the candles at worship service or heard Natalie's voice in the choir. They, along with the rest of our committee, have been spending their Sundays traveling to other churches, so-called "neutral pulpits," to observe each of our three pre-candidates conduct a worship service.
This is only part of what is known as a Pre-Candidating Weekend. Each weekend the Search Committee hosts a different minister. We spend most of Saturday with her/him conducting a more in depth interview and giving a tour of the church campus, Dedham and the surrounding area. In the evening, we have dinner together allowing all time for more informal conversation. The next day, after the worship service, we take the pre-candidate out for lunch giving everyone a chance to explore any remaining questions or concerns.
It is an intense experience for everyone concerned--imagine a three-day job interview! Many of you will be wondering how it is going, what these people are like. We ask for your support and patience. Due to concerns for the confidentiality of the candidates, we won't be able to give you any specifics about them. However, we feel confident, given your feedback from the survey and cottage meetings of last year that we have found three very capable people that can meet the needs of First Church.
On Sunday, Feb. 4, more than 25 people stayed after church for the "Sort & Pitch Party." An amazing amount of stuff was cleared out of the nooks and crannies of the Parish House to make way for painters and cleaners to do their work. The Search Committee wants to thank all who participated both in the Parish House and in cleaning the Parsonage. We can all be proud of how our church buildings look to visiting candidates.
Things are heating up!
We on the Search Committee are seeing a lot of each other lately. In one recent two-week period, we met six times! We are happy to get together, though, as we have been conducting phone interviews with some wonderful ministerial candidates.
We'll soon be choosing three of them as Pre-Candidates. What does that mean? We will invite each one to visit Dedham for a weekend. During that time we will interview them more extensively, show them around the First Church buildings, and observe them conducting a worship service at a nearby "neutral pulpit." It's a time for the committee and the candidate to get to know one another better.
As each candidate comes to visit, we naturally want her or him to see the church at its best and know that this is a community that cares for its church home. The newly painted interior of the Meeting House will definitely impress them, but not so the inside of the Parish House. There are plans underway to have the inside thoroughly cleaned, some of the walls repainted and the carpet cleaned. But none of that can happen until the clutter has been removed. Take a look under the stairs to the RE office, the cloakroom, the dining room. You'll see broken chairs, unidentified boxes filled with who knows what, filing cabinets with nothing in them-all stuff that needs to be sorted and either stored or thrown away. So join us on Sunday, Feb. 4, from 11:30 to 4:00 for a "Sort & Pitch Party." We'll be going through all the STUFF that has been accumulating over time and clearing it out. We'll start right after church and lunch will be provided. Wear your play clothes and "pitch" in!
Your opinion please…
There's a new question on the Search Info Board in the dining room and, as the Search Committee considers candidates, it would be really helpful to have a sense of how the church community feels about this issue:
If money is not an issue, how important is it to the church community that the minister and her/his family live in the Parsonage? Why?
