Update from the Rector Search Committee

REPORT FROM COTTAGE CONVERSATIONS

For the past several weeks we have conducted a series of cottage conversations, small group listening sessions.  Here parishioners shared their thoughts about St. Matthew’s going forward and the candidate we call to lead us there.  Some 200 parishioners attended the 22 sessions during which we focused on the questions which the Diocese provided us to describe St. Matthew’s and the new rector we seek. We gathered a treasure trove of information!  Everyone’s input has been compiled and a visual summary of each of the five questions has been used to generate five word clouds which you can view at the link below.

Not sure what a word cloud is? It’s a collection, or cluster, of words depicted in different sizes. The bigger and bolder the word appears, the more often it was mentioned within a given text and the more important it is. So the more prominent the word appears in the cluster, the more often it came up as part of the cottage conversations. This is helpful to provide a visual image of the larger themes while also capturing all responses.

PARISH PROFILE

The cottage conversation questions and your responses also form the backbone of our parish profile.  This is the document which the vestry will forward to the Diocese to advertise nationwide to the Episcopal community that we wish to call a new rector.  For these four weeks your search committee is drafting this parish profile.  We intend to present it to the vestry for their approval at their February meeting.  The vestry will then forward our parish profile to the Diocese.  

PARISH WIDE MEETING  - Mark your calendars!

Your search  committee will host a parish wide meeting on February 22nd at 9:00 AM in the Education Building.   We will review in detail where we stand with our process and our schedule.  Jeff Thompson will also take us through those marvelous word clouds.  Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about this fascinating program.  

These are exciting times for St. Matthew’s.  We will keep you advised of our progress.  

If you have questions, please seek out a member of your Rector Search Committee.  We welcome your questions and want this process to be as transparent as possible.