|
October 8, 2024
Dear Friends,
On Saturday, September 28, over seventy parishioners gathered for a World Café meeting in our beautiful sanctuary. The meeting was a culmination of our community’s work on conflict transformation.
Last fall, as our work together began, we instituted a parish wide survey administered by ‘Holy Cow! Consulting’. This survey measured views of our community and its readiness to begin a search for a new Dean. We found much to celebrate. The survey revealed a need to find ways to address a culture of conflict that many identified.
Your vestry voted to bring on a consultant, Susan Czolgolz, from WorkLife Consulting to give our community tools that would address the conflicts of the past and avoid behavior that could lead to future conflict. Through the spring and summer, Susan led workshops and facilitated conversations to teach these skills to community members. Last Saturday’s ‘World Café’ enabled us to put this good work into practice.
The aim of the gathering was to gather data about our past experiences and hopes for the future through a series of facilitated small group conversations in a ‘café’ setting. This would help leaders determine the readiness of our congregation to begin our search for new clergy leadership.
Conversations were focused on two questions; one focused on our past and another focused on the future. The first question had two parts: ‘what specific events at St. Luke’s have enriched your life?’ and ‘what specific events at St. Luke’s have been difficult for you?’ The second question was ‘my hope for St. Luke’s going forward is. . ..’
There is a comprehensive summary of the data we gathered as well as the individual table results attached below. The conversations reveal several important themes.
First, there is a deep love for the Cathedral including its ministries, fellowship opportunities, worship and outreach.
Second, there is a readiness among most attendees to begin the process of searching for new clergy leadership.
Third, there are areas of growth that we as a community would like to focus on simultaneously with the work of calling a new dean. These include, understanding our mission as a Cathedral and community, working on transparency and teaching the whole community about hospitality and welcome.
Fourth, for some, there are unanswered questions about painful parts of our shared life including our former Dean’s departure, the Becoming Beloved Community Committee, the end of our commercial kitchen ministry and staffing changes.
On Sunday, I shared the results of our work with the Lesser Chapter and the Rt. Rev. Thomas Brown. We believe that we are ready to embrace this next chapter of our life together and begin the search process for a new Dean.
Next Sunday, October 13, following each of the three services, 7:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., and 5:15 p.m., I’ll be hosting a conversation about the results of the World Café and our next steps in calling a Dean.
On Sunday, October 20, the Rev. Pamela Mott, our search consultant, will preach and celebrate at the 7:30 and 10:00 a.m. services. Following the 10:00 service, she’ll guide us through the first steps of our search for a new Dean. Please join us.
I’m grateful for your prayers and deep love for this community.
Blessings,
The Rev. George R. Stevens
| 
