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Dear St. Bart’s Parishioners,
At the end of July 2025, in accordance with the search process outlined by The Episcopal Church, the wardens of St. Bartholomew's Church (Miriam Schneider and Ray Vandenberg) appointed 11 members of St. Bart’s, including three current members of the vestry, to serve on the Rector Search Committee for our 14th rector. The role of the search committee is to gather input from the parish, prepare the parish profile, review applications from potential candidates, and conduct interviews of candidates. Their role ends with the submission of the top candidate for consideration by the full vestry. The 11 members of the search committee are: Liza Page Nelson and Keith Rook (co-chairs), Sarah Bessey, David Budd, Scott Compton, Mariel Glover, David Hilder*, Elizabeth Min*, Kari Parks*, Jeremy Russell, and Keith Reinhard. We thank everyone who has accepted our request to serve, as well as all those who have expressed to us their willingness to serve on the committee.
The committee will shortly begin working on gathering input from parishioners, clergy, staff, and friends of St. Bart’s. In the coming months, they will create and conduct a comprehensive parish survey and hold several focus group discussions with members, known as Rector Roundtables. The findings from the survey and roundtables, together with deep discernment and contemplation about the past, present, and future of St. Bart’s, will be incorporated into a parish profile. The profile will be a statement of who we are, what we aspire to be, and what we are looking for in a new rector.
Our rector search will officially be open to prospective candidates once the Parish Profile is posted on our website, social media, and on various databases of The Episcopal Church, and is anticipated to occur in early 2026. The job posting is expected to remain open for eight weeks. Ours is to be a directed search, meaning that we will have the benefit of directing all applications to Bishop Heyd and his appointed canons for initial vetting and recommendation to the RSC.
St. Bart’s is blessed to have three very strong and committed full-time clergy members, namely Vicar and Interim Rector, the Rev. Peter Thompson; Senior Associate Rector, the Rev. Zack Nyein; and Senior Associate Rector, the Rev. Meredith Ward. They will continue to serve in their existing pastoral, preaching, and programmatic roles.
Many of you have inquired about appointing the Rev. Peter Thompson as our next rector without a formal search. He may not be considered since he is the interim rector and a member of our clergy staff. Bishop Matt Heyd has informed us that he expects St. Bart’s to go through a full, formal discernment and search process. We intend to do so and to call the best possible person to be the next rector. We must have an open process to attract the best candidates. Peter will continue to lead the parish during this process, as he has since Bishop Wolfe's retirement. We have total and full confidence in him, and he has our complete support, as do Zack and Meredith, and all our staff.
We will be creating a Rector Search webpage on our website to post general updates on the process. Please note that all candidate applications are confidential, and the search committee will not reveal individual details or deliberations—not even to the wardens or vestry—until the final candidate's name is given to us. Please be patient. If you have general questions on the process, please send them to rectorsearch@stbarts.org or ask one of the members of the Rector Search Committee directly.
Please pray for the Rector Search Committee and the vestry as we begin this process. Please continue to support the church during this transition period by giving joyously and generously of your time, talent, and treasure.
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