Profile and Search Committee Update

The Profile and Search Committee continues to labor diligently to fulfill our charge and mission. We are getting closer to our first goal – to produce a comprehensive profile of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany. We have reached out to the people of the diocese through our on-line survey and the structured listening sessions. Our profile is intended to present a holistic, honest, and transparent description of the diocese, including our past, our present, and our hopes and dreams for the future.

Once the profile is completed and published, we will embark on the search process to plot the course for electing the Tenth Bishop of Albany. There is an established vetting protocol by which nominees will be screened and recommended to the Standing Committee. Dates for the election and consecration will be scheduled. All of this needs to be undergirded with prayer.

It is needful to restate the purpose of the Profile and Search process and the role of the committee. Each of the eight deaneries elected a clerical and a lay representative. The Standing Committee elected six at-large members. In addition to these 22 voting members, a non-voting chaplain and a paid confidential secretary round out the committee. We have a diversity of geographies and theological perspectives – truly a “wide tent.”

Members of the Profile and Search Committee have covenanted to work together in harmony and Christian charity across our differences. We are intended to be a neutral presence, not favoring any group or constituency, not political or partisan. We acknowledge that there are issues and grievances among the people of our diocese, but the task of the committee is to facilitate the election of a bishop who will shepherd us through these issues and the difficult conversations that will ensue. It is anticipated that it will be an arduous and multi-year process. Nevertheless, it is our fervent hope that healing and reconciliation will finally come.

To summarize, the Profile and Search Committee has two specific functions: First, to accurately describe the Diocese of Albany via the profile and second, to facilitate the nomination for the episcopal election in concert with the Standing Committee.

I encourage the people of the diocese to pray for us and for the Tenth Bishop of Albany, whoever that will be. Please plan to share your specific issues and concerns with our next shepherd, who will be called “… to be in all things a faithful pastor and wholesome example for the entire flock of Christ.” (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 517)

Sue Ellen Ruetsch, Chair
Profile and Search Committee