Beginning This Interim Time

Excerpt from a sermon, preached June 1, 2008,
by the Rev’d Canon Tony Harwood-Jones, Interim Rector,
suggesting what the Interim period at St. Luke’s might be like:

Just in case there are newcomers here today, you should know that (to quote a 1960s phrase) today is the “first day of the rest of our life.”

Last week we said goodbye to the person who has been our Rector for the past 14 years.

Bob and Myrna will no longer be seen at worship here at St. Luke’s  They must clear the way for the congregation to move forward.

So, we now begin a period – which may last as long as two years – called the “Interim.”  I have been appointed to shepherd the parish through that phase.

What we are doing in this Interim time is preparing ourselves to locate, and then welcome, a new Rector into our midst.

There are some among us who are troubled by this two-year gap between Rectors.  They rather thought that a properly run organization would have a new Rector appointed to begin today, so that our life together might flow seamlessly.

But the fact is that clergy who would be a good “fit” for St. Luke’s do not grow on trees.  I personally know many clergy who would not want to be employed here, and would, if they were appointed, try to change many of the things that this parish holds dear.

We will have to look far and wide to find someone who will be a good “fit.”  Which means we will have to get the word out – to market ourselves – to sell ourselves – so that the right kind of person might hear about us, and ask to be considered for the position.

Which means that we have to be of one mind about who we are and what we’re trying to “sell” to a potential new Rector:

• is it this beautiful building?
• our excellent organ and music programme?
• our traditional “look and feel”?
• our ministry to the homeless?
• our fund-raising for orphans and children far away?
• all of the above?
• something else?

When a Rector leaves, all parishes go into a certain amount of ferment: some parishioners dearly hope that everything will stay the same when the new Rector comes; while others think that now is an excellent time to make some changes.

For example (and this is intended to be a light-hearted illustration because the matter is comparatively small): already, on my first day on the job, a parishioner said to me, “Must we keep on calling the clergy ‘Father’? It’s so archaic!”  It’s a small thing, yet some will agree with it, and some won’t.  Whatever your views during this Interim period, we must find a way to be of one mind about who we are and what we want a new Rector to help us to become. I should add that, as Interim Rector, it is not my job to make changes, but to help build consensus on what should change and what should stay the same.

Once we have built that consensus, and we put the word out across the land, not only might the right person ask to come among us, but people who are not suitable at all might apply for the job.

While the Bishop does the initial screening of applications, he does delegate to a small body of parishioners the task of interviewing and selecting from a short list of candidates.  The Churchwardens and Synod Delegates of this parish – who are selected at our Annual General Meeting next February – are ex officio on this “canonical committee” – so we will need to build a level of trust and confidence that our wardens and Synod Delegates can conduct the interviews and make the selection in our behalf.

Building consent, getting the word out there, forming the right interviewing team, and conducting the interviews will take some time – perhaps as much as two years (we shall see).

It will not be easy.