St. Christopher's Episcopal Church

Dear friends

We write on behalf of the Vestry with news of the successful completion of our Rector Search. After a great deal of faithful work, the Search Committee recommended that the Vestry call the Rev. Eric Biddy to be our next Rector, and the Vestry voted - unanimously - to adopt its recommendation. This is excellent, if not unexpected, news.

We expect Bishop Lee to give us his approval in the next few days, and we still need to tie up a few administrative loose ends. The loose ends include the details of when Eric will leave his current role of Associate Rector for a few weeks of contemplation, and when he will return to assume his new role; at the moment, we expect him to depart in the second half of December and be back for our Annual Meeting at the end of January, 2016. We will arrange an installation ceremony as soon after his arrival as rector as possible, depending on the Bishop's availability.

We cannot overstate how grateful we are for the hard work that the Search Committee has performed so thoroughly, efficiently and promptly. We will announce how we are going to celebrate its extraordinary contribution to the parish in due course. 

We also want to thank you for your patience, your prayers, and for taking part in our discernment so whole - and open - heartedly. Thanks to your generosity with your time and support, our discernment has been conducted in complete harmony, resulting in clarity of purpose that will help guide us in the future, and in emphatic support for our call to Eric. We believe that we can all be pleased with the process, and delighted with the results. May God continue to bless our ministry together in the years to come.
​
Faithfully,
Bill Pearson
Sheryl Roche
​Wardens

St. Christopher's Parish Profile is here! After review by the search committee, diocese, and vestry, it’s ready for you to read!

​As you are aware, since Paris's retirement, our plan has been to undergo a period of discernment and introspection in the hope and expectation that, in late October or early November, we will decide to call our Associate Rector, Rev. Eric Biddy, to be our new Rector. Our excellent search committee has made great progress with the discernment and introspection: they have completed a survey of the parish, and have organized gatherings of many small groups of parishioners, both with the aim of soliciting our opinions. Thanks to the search committee's considerable efforts, we remain on the schedule we set for ourselves.
 
Meanwhile, we have been looking for an Interim Rector to bridge the period between now and approximately February, 2016, at which point we hope to install Eric. I am delighted that Rev. Bill Nesbit has accepted the position. Bill has just completed fifteen years as Rector of St. Charles Episcopal Church in St. Charles in this Diocese. He will carry out all of the normal duties of Rector, and will, I am sure, strengthen our church while we continue through our period of transition. This coming Sunday will be his first with us, and he will be preaching at all three services. I hope that he will be able to meet as many of us as possible on Sunday.
​
Faithfully, Bill Pearson, Senior Warden

St. Christopher's Search Committee will hold meetings with small groups of parishioners (8 to 10 in a group) on Sunday, August 30, and Sunday, September 6, after services as well as on Tuesday, Sept. 1, during the day and Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 7:30 pm. The Sept. 2 meeting is specifically for the youth. These meetings are designed to learn more from members of the parish about their current view of the church, their goals for the future, and the specific skills and characteristics needed by the next rector to carry out those goals.

Sign-up sheets are in the parish hall.  The sheets have been posted on the bulletin board just to the left of the white door leading from parish hall into the church.

• Are you 16 years of age or older?
  
• Have you attended St. Christopher’s consistently over the past 12 months or longer?
  
• Would you like your impressions of the church to be included in the discernment process of calling our future rector?
  

By answering yes to these three questions the Search Committee invites you to participate in our work by taking an online survey known as the CAT (Church Assessment Tool). Our diocese strongly endorses the use of the CAT during the search process, viewing it as a powerful means of revealing who we are as a church and what directions are most important for our future. This assessment will help the Search Committee, and ultimately the future rector, understand the range of views that exist at St. Christopher’s, and the possibilities, willingness, capacity and energy for moving our collective ministry into the future.

All answers are strictly anonymous. Given your anonymity we hope that you’ll feel willing and able to candidly share your perceptions, opinions and experiences by answering the multiple-choice questions of the CAT.

Are there more members of your household that fit the criteria listed above? If the answer is yes, please be sure to share the link to the CAT so that their views are included.

Would you prefer to take a paper copy of the CAT? Not a problem. Contact any one of the Search Committee members below for a paper version, or to ask questions about this part of the process:

• Paul Clark, co-chair
  
• Paul Goyette, co-chair
  
• Linda Bolte
  
• Susana Cardenas
  
• Peg Curran
  
• Laura Jordahl
  
• Rebecca McFall
  
• Amanda Miller
  
• Sheryl Roche
  

Are you ready? Great! Set aside approximately 20 minutes of time to complete the CAT, as it must be entirely completed in one sitting.  The CAT will remain open until the end of July. Here is the link, and thanks!

The St. Christopher's Search Committee had its first meeting on Wednesday, June 24, and was commissioned by the church at services on Sunday, June 28. On June 24, the Committee met with Andrea Mysen, associate for ministries for the Chicago diocese, who explained the various responsibilities of the Search Committee. The Committee will meet throughout the summer and give members of the parish ample opportunity to contribute to the process. We are confident that the Committee can do the work required by the diocese - which also will fulfill the needs of the parish - in a timely and efficient manner.

As a reminder, the Search Committee members include Paul Goyette and Paul Clark (co-chairs), Laura Jordahl, Linda Bolte, Peg Curran, Peter Walters, Amanda Miller, Rebecca McFall, Sheryl Roche, and Susana Cardenas (as a non-voting member representing the church's youth).

Check back for news from the committee.