Dear Friends,

The Rev. Cannon Michael Barlowe met with the Vestry this week to discuss our upcoming search process.  He reminded us that St. Paul's is a very important parish in the Diocese of California.   The diocese perceives St. Paul's to be an "anchor" parish because of its location and history.   We are a microcosm of the diocese both ethnically and socio-economically.  We are in the midst of a growing area, and we have a school with a strong commitment to the diverse population of Oakland and serving the poor.

Canon Barlowe encouraged us to resist the temptation to rush through thesearch process.  He reinforced the idea that this period of discernment isan important opportunity to identify who we are and to identify what specialgifts the new rector will need to bring to the position.   He advised us towait at least two more months to get to know each other before we start theprocess of forming a search committee.

Once we have moved through this waiting period we will begin the process offorming a search committee.  It will be the responsibility of the committeeto develop a parish profile through a series of town hall meetings whereevery member of the parish will have an opportunity to be heard.   TheBishop's office, through Canon Barlowe and his assistants, will meet withthe committee on a regular basis to provide advice and support, such asscreening the applicants, providing technical help with web-posting andhelping to develop benefits packages.

During the next couple of months, I'd like each of you to give some thoughtand prayer to the possibility of applying to serve on the search committeewhen the time comes.   Keep in mind that this will be a very rewarding buttime consuming commitment, involving weekly meetings, possibly for over ayear and will also involve some travel to interview candidates in their homeparishes.   Before we begin the application process, we will post a "job description" to give you a better idea of what will be expected.

With love,
Phil
Philip Andrew Merrick
Senior Warden