The Search Committee continues to work hard preparing the parish profile, and has made good progress over the summer months. The Committee has decided to adopt the Strategic Visioning work that was done by the parish last year as a way of structuring the profile, and the document contains sections on each of our core values - Caring Community of Faith, Engaging Outreach, Compelling Worship. This structure has proven to be very helpful in our work.
All but one section of the profile has been drafted, and almost all have undergone an initial review and edit by the Committee. We have asked Danielle Reese to help us with a "pre-layout editorial review" prior to having our Layout Team, headed by Margaret Geanisis, select pictures, choose fonts and design the final document. I can tell you that we have seen the initial design for the first few pages and it looks tremendous! It will be a compelling and attractive introduction of Good Shepherd to prospective rectors!
In terms of timing, I expect that we will spend the rest of the summer finalizing the profile, which is about what we expected. We'll share the document with the vestry in September, and are planning to publish the profile by the end of September.
From the publication of the Parish Profile through until the end of the process, our work will be highly confidential to protect potential candidates.
Our goal continues to be that we will call a new rector in the spring, which will allow them to sell their home in the peak season and relocate to Acton well before the beginning of the new school year, if either of those is a consideration.
One of the design suggestions from Margaret and team is that we adorn the profile with quotes from parishioners. This approach has been used effectively in previous profile documents. To that end, you will see posters in the church starting this weekend on which you can write a short statement that reflects how you feel about Good Shepherd and our church family. We'll have several posters, each of which will have a separate theme, and you are invited to write something associated with that theme.
If you will not be at church, please write to any of us on the committee with your thoughts and reflections on what makes our church family so special. Think about how you would complete one of the following sentences: "Our church is at its best when ..." or "Good Shepherd is special to me because..." or "In the future, I would love Good Shepherd to ...".
Finally, we all want to thank you for your diligent prayer support. We know that we are wrapped and protected in prayer both when we meet and when we work independently. It is not easy to take something as organic and dynamic as our church family and capture it in a profile document. Please know that it is your prayers and the movement of the Holy Spirit that have allowed us to make the progress that we have.