The Transition Ahead
As our Holy Spirit community faces an important transition, I would like to first express my gratitude and thanks to Josh Condon and his family for all the contributions, sacrifices, and improvements they have made to our church and school. I have a unique perspective of serving on the Vestry both when Josh arrived and later when he departed. Under Josh’s leadership, we have greatly enhanced our church facilities, financial position, church and school relations, membership, and overall spiritual growth as a community. Even though we have lost a very capable and energetic rector, he has left us in a great place and we have solid foundation to build upon.
You should all be comforted that your Vestry and staff have really stepped up to adjust to our new situation. Josh’s departure was a surprise to all of us, but we are successfully dealing with our new responsibilities and preparing for the arrival of our next rector.
The Vestry is working with Diocesan leadership to prepare for the rector search process. This is a very structured, thoughtful, and deliberate process. The first phase of this is to prepare a Parish Profile. This is a document that describes our community; it will be posted on the Diocese’s website where potential candidates can view and understand what makes Holy Spirit Church and School unique and special. Each member of the Holy Spirit parish has an important role to play in creating this document. We will soon be opening a survey tool to solicit feedback from our parishioners. Your thoughtful feedback will be compiled, analyzed, and placed into a report to help define the Parish Profile and guide our new rector Search Committee.
The Search Committee will do the “heavy lifting” to identify, vet, and recommend our next rector. This will all be done in coordination with the Diocese and will cast a wide net to find the best candidate possible. Final approval of the new rector will be the responsibility of your Vestry. With the Search Committee, we will seek a diverse, but committed group of parish members to shoulder this important responsibility, which will direct the future of our community. We will also ask for representation from Holy Spirit Episcopal School on this committee.
Since Josh’s last Sunday on May 7th, we are working with the diocese to identify an interim rector to fulfill the short and mid-term sacramental, pastoral, and administrative needs of the church and school. This may require a few more weeks to identify the best candidate. In the meantime, Sunday services will be presided over by John Pitts and other priests from the Houston area.
I realize that transitions are rarely appreciated, but I ask that we all find ways to support each other and our church staff and leadership. We have a lot going for us and I feel confident that many members of our congregation will step up to help keep our community resilient and strong. Please pray for our parish, Vestry and staff, and the new Search Committee. As we all navigate through an uncertain few months ahead, also pray that we grow closer together spiritually and strengthen our bonds as an institution.
We know you have many questions and we will do our best to keep you up to date on our process and progress as we go along.
John Del Mixon
Senior Warden