St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
Ayer, Massachusetts

Faith, Community, and Love

St. Andrew's Rector Search

Conversations With Scripture Conversations With Scripture Conversations With Scripture Conversations With Scripture Conversations With Scripture

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

Rector (Half-Time): St. Andrew's Church, Ayer, Massachusetts: Diocese of Massachusetts

St. Andrew's Rector Search Committee is inviting applications for the position of Rector at St. Andrew's Church in Ayer, Massachusetts. Half-time position with full housing. We are a small strong parish, founded in 1889, serving about 150 households in Ayer and surrounding towns.
Please take a moment to read our Parish Profile (listed below) and the Guide for Applicants (below).


Ayer, Massachusetts

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church is located in Ayer, Massachusetts, a small town centered around a traditional Main Street. Located 35 miles northwest of Boston, Ayer is rich in history and family friendly, and offers easy access to the ocean, mountains, and urban areas of New England. Our parishioners come not only from Ayer, but also from surrounding towns--primarily Groton, Harvard, Shirley, Devens, and Littleton, Massachusetts. The towns we serve have a combined population of 40,450.


Useful Resources and Links - St. Andrew's Church

We encourage you to try out all the links in the menu bar at the left. Our Site Map has additional links of interest. In any case, we would like to highlight the following links:

  • Our Mission Statement The words "Faith", "Community", and "Love" (at the top of every page of this web site) are a concise summary of our Mission Statement.
  • Our Statement of Affirmation We welcome all people to St. Andrew's.
  • Our Safe Church Policy "All of us share in the responsibility for making our church a safe haven for all people." The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
  • Our Vestry Covenant Sure we disagree, but we disagree using the pronoun "I" with love and respect toward one another and in ways that are not divisive of either the vestry or the parish.
  • Our Parish Profile Developed by the Search Committee as an outcome of the Appreciative Inquiry process. This is a pdf file [1.3Mb] and will take about 10 seconds to download.

Useful Resources and Links - Diocese of Massachusetts

The diocesan web site is www.diomass.org and we'd like to point out these links:

How to Apply

Rector Search Timeline

  • Keep up-to-date with the search process by checking the timeline below.

INFORMATION FOR PARISHIONERS


A Prayer for our Search Committee

Almighty and everliving God, we lay the life of our parish before you in this transitional time as we search for a new rector. Renew in St. Andrew's a sense of your love and mission, that we may be raised in ministry to serve the communities around us, and be guided to that one who will serve amongst us as priest and rector. Guide the members of the parish search committee, that they may patiently listen and hear what your Spirit is saying in all that they do. Give our community the grace and power to follow where you would lead the way, that your Name may be glorified among us and your people strengthened in hope for the work of reconciliation. All this we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.


Search Committee Members

Faith Salter - Ayer (Co-chair), Bill Veno - Harvard (Co-chair), Nancy Barringer - Groton, Jeanne Cassin - Groton, John Ferrillo - Harvard, Manny Lindo - Harvard, Lydia McClure - Groton, Mary Medeiros - Ayer (Vestry Representative), Carolyn Smith - Groton, Phil Welton - Ayer, Dick Dabrowski - Groton (Senior Warden)(ex-officio member), Linda Kaferle - Harvard (Junior Warden) (ex-officio member).


Useful Resources and Links - St. Andrew's Church

  • A Prayer for Our Search Committee Written by Search Committee member, Philip Welton, and read at the Prayers of the People each Sunday.
  • Our Parish Profile Thank you all for participating in the Appreciative Inquiry process; this Parish Profile is the result. A copy will be mailed to every household on the parish mailing list. If you would like additional copies to mail to friends or potential candidates, please contact Lynn in the parish office or ask any member of the Search Committee.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. May I recommend someone to be considered for the position?
Yes. The Search Committee will gladly receive any recommendations from parishioners.

2. Why are the Search Committee's proceedings confidential?
Members of the Search Committee are forbidden to discuss details of the search process with anyone outside the committee -- including spouses and partners. This is out of respect for the privacy of candidates who apply, are nominated or otherwise considered for the rector position. It's likely that many candidates will be working in other parishes and will not want their candidacy known publicly unless and until a final selection is made. Parishioners can expect frequent updates about the committee's general progress at the announcements on Sundays, in the X-Press, and on this page of our parish website.

3. Will rector finalists come to St. Andrew's and participate in a service before the final selection is made?
No. We can't publicly identify applicants, even finalists. We have a commitment to confidentiality with applicants. Most of them hold clergy positions elsewhere and we don't want to jeopardize their current positions. The one name we can make public will be that of the new rector, and only after he or she is called, has accepted, and the contract is signed. This is the standard approach within our Diocese and the ECUSA.


Rector Search Timeline

28 September 2009-Search Committee Meeting.
The Search Committee is tentatively scheduled to make its final decision today.

September 2009-Candidate Visits.
Candidates will be visiting St. Andrew's and meeting with the Search Committee.

24 August 2009-Search Committee Meeting.
The committee selected three (3) candidates for on-site interviews at St. Andrew's.

9, 16, and 23 August 2009-Off-Site Visits.
Search Committee members visited parishes, listened to sermons, and interviewed candidates.

20 July 2009-Search Committee Meeting.
The committee narrowed the field to four (4) candidates and organized off-site visits. Names of the candidates have been referred to the Clergy Deployment Office at the Diocese for their review.

13 July 2009-Search Committee Meeting.
Continued to review applications and the additional materials supplied by candidates.

22 June 2009-Search Committee Meeting.
Continued to review applications and the additional materials supplied by candidates.

1 June 2009-Search Committee Meeting.
Twelve (12) complete applications were received from candidates located throughout the U.S. The committee screened applications and requested additional information from some candidates.

15 May 2009-Deadline for receiving applications.

3 May 2009-Search Committee Meeting.
The committee screened the CDO forms supplied by the diocese; committee members will be making specific contacts to request materials. Individual applications were not reviewed.

9 March 2009-ECUSA Congregational Development Officers Meeting.
Rev. Cynthia Hubbard attended on behalf of the Diocese of Massachusetts. St. Andrew's is now officially "receiving names".

6 March 2009-Rector Position Posted Online.
Bishop's Office posted the job opening in the Positions Open Bulletin published by the ECUSA Church Deployment Office in New York.

5 March 2009-Parish Profile Brochure Approved by the Bishop's Office.
Parish Profile brochure, submitted to the Bishop's Office on Tuesday, was approved today.

1 March 2009-Rector Search Committee Meeting.
Final draft of the Parish Profile brochure was discussed and approved. CDO form completed.

23-24 January 2009-Rector Search Committee/Vestry Retreat.
During a Friday evening and Saturday retreat, we developed the basic material for the Parish Profile, based on the results of the Appreciative Inquiry process.

7 and 14 December 2008-Appreciative Inquiry Process.
After the Sunday services, parishioners were invited to participate in the visioning process known as "Appreciative Inquiry". Some parishioners participated individually and on the telephone with Search Committee members. Every household in the parish was also contacted by mail and some parishioners responded in writing.

18 November 2008-Vestry Meeting.
Motion passed (5-1-1) to engage the services of Carol Kingston of Ipswich, Massachusetts as consultant to the Rector Search Committee.

21 October 2008-Vestry Meeting.
Motion passed unanimously passed (5-0-0) to appoint a Rector Search Committee consisting of twelve parishioners (listed above).

2 September 2008-Vestry Meeting.
Motion passed unanimously (10-0-0) to move into Search, effective immediately, and to form a Search Committee.