Hello friends,
I’m Jane Brewer, Senior Warden, and I have an update for you on our search for our next rector.
Over many months, the search committee, led by chairperson Frank Burger and ably assisted by consultant the Rev. Tracie Little, have worked in earnest to discern, identify, and name a candidate to be rector of St. Christopher’s. They developed a set of profile documents, underwent interview training, and prayerfully asked God to help them discern the person who God was calling to serve the church in our midst as priest, pastor, teacher, and leader. They have served faithfully, and on your behalf, I’d like to thank them for their work.
Today I have the great pleasure to inform you that the time has come to announce that a finalist has been named, the vestry has voted, and the Standing Committee of the diocese has given their consent to the election of the Rev. Jerry D. Lasley to be our next rector.
Fr. Jerry happens to be coming to us from another St. Christopher’s, in High Point, North Carolina, where he has served as rector since 2016. Fr. Jerry was received into the Episcopal Church in 2015 by Bishop Michael Curry, our current Presiding Bishop, while he was serving as bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.
Fr. Jerry is in the process of planning his move from North Carolina to Michigan, and we expect to receive public greetings from him very soon. His official start date with St. Christopher’s is January 1. He is informing his congregation in North Carolina this morning as well. As you might guess, the good folks there will likely experience some feelings of loss, and I would encourage you to refrain from making public comment on their Facebook page, should you find it, so that they can process this loss in good spirits, as it were.
Of course, this good news means that we must also begin to say good-bye to our Priest-in-Charge, Rev. Ann, who was willing to come on board at the outset of the pandemic and has offered us her preaching, pastoral leadership and care, and her help to the vestry as we made sometimes difficult choices in the face of unprecedented circumstances. On behalf of the vestry and of all of you, I want to thank her most sincerely for her ministry among us. You have been God’s good gift to us, and we let you go on to the next chapter of your ministry with our blessings and deep gratitude.
Ann’s last day as our Priest-in-Charge will be December 31, and her last Sunday with us will be December 20. I hope as many of you as possible will be with us on that day as we say our good-byes in Zoom coffee hour after church. If you are unable to do so, you are welcome to send notes to the church office, and we’ll be sure they are forwarded to her.
In thanksgiving for all God has given us, and for the new chapter of our lives as the St. Christopher’s community we are about to begin, I invite you to remember Fr. Lasley, Rev. Ann, the search committee, and the vestry in your prayers of thanksgiving, as I gratefully remember you all in mine. May God bless us all.
Jane Brewer
Senior Warden