Rector's Rambling - October 17, 2010 - 10 year musing

At the end of February I will (God willing) reach a milestone – the 10th Anniversary of my serving here at St. John’s as Rector. This upcoming occasion has caused me to muse a bit on the past while looking to the future.
My first 2-1/2 years as a priest were as the curate (assistant) at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, on what is called the Philadelphia Main Line. This was a wonderful Anglo-Catholic Episcopal parish tucked between Villanova University and Rosemont, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr Colleges.
My next position was as the Rector of a parish in a small town 25 miles south of Pittsburgh, St. Mary’s in Charleroi. At one time this town and the surrounding towns were thick with a dozen or so steel mills, but only the remnant of one was left, plus a corning glass factory, and a coal mine. There were many joys ministering in this town where nearly everyone had lived there all their lives! I spent about 4-1/2 years as Rector of St. Mary’s.
In late 2000 God began to prepare me to answer the call to come back to the Detroit area, where I had grown up. Long-time member Dave Schafer and my father were friends and co-workers, and Dave had kept me informed the about the last Rector’s pending retirement, as well as the interim priest situation at St. John’s. Finally, in October of 2000, a search committee was formed and I was contacted about interviewing for the position.
In addition to an interview with Bishop Gibbs that November day, and lunch with the search committee, we had a parish potluck with the Search Committee, Vestry, and their families. It is unusual to expose so many people to a candidate, but enjoyable none the less!
I knew by that evening that I would be called to St. John’s, and after due diligence on the part of the Vestry I was formally called to be Rector in January, arriving in February.
In hindsight, between the search committee, vestry, and their families, I met almost the entire parish at that potluck the day I interviewed! But I didn’t know that at the time. I would not find out how small a congregation St. John’s had until after I accepted the position as rector – but that is a story for another day.