Transition & The Search For Our Next Rector

Final Transition Note – July 9, 2024

Dear Parish Family,

I’m excited to say that this will be our last Transition Notes as we have secured our Priest-in-Charge, and our Search Committee has completed the task that God and St. James’ asked of them. On behalf of St. James’, I want to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation for their flexibility and time as we are both blessed and grateful for the work they did on our behalf. Please greet them and give them a high five, hug or word of thanks next time you see any of them at church. Our Search Committee consisted of Cory DelRegno, Betsy Davis, Peter Sabonis, Vic Pellicier, Terri Demosky-Tippett, Peg Pelch, and Joanna Sutphin.

I also want to send a thanks to our Vestry for all their hard work as they have been supporting extra duties and meetings to keep things running smoothly at St. James’, the Nursery School, and our Thrift Shop. Our Vestry consists of Blix Winston, Jim Bullington, Gabby Markham, Carla Kaufman, Natalie DelRegno, Chris Henyon, Ashley Conlon, Rainey Stafford, Bryant Dulany, and Cheri McClanahan.

Thank you to the Thrift Shop Board under the leadership of Joanna Sutphin for facilitating a new manager at the Thrift Shop. Stop by the Thrift shop and say “Hi” to Tracy Cloud our Manager. Thank you to our Nursery School Board under the Leadership of Terri Demosky-Tippett and our Nursery School Director Amanda Norman.

We have an Awesome Diocese and have had so much support from The Right Rev. Carrie Schofield-Broadbent Bishop of Maryland, The Rev. Canon Dr. Kristofer Lindh-Payne, The Rev. Canon Christine McCloud, and our search consultant The Rev. Canon Dina van Klaveren. I know I have felt the love and support from the Diocese as they have lifted up St. James’ during our transition and offered support and their time. They have reminded me how much we are loved by their example of loving as Christ and coming to be with us to support us during our time of Transition. I also want to say thanks to The Rev. Canon Kristin Krantz for leaving us with some great tools and loving spirit to help us in our journey.

How blessed we are to have The Rev. Mark Delcuze as long-term supply and how grateful we are to know he will be with us a little longer this summer.

I am so grateful to everyone at St. James’ for walking with us during this transition. I look forward with great excitement to see where we will go and how we will continue to spread God’s love once we have The Rev. Angela Furlong join us in September!

Blessings,
Cheri McClanahan

Transition Note – July 2, 2024

Hello, St. James’ EC friends and family. It is an honor and a privilege to be writing this note to you as your newly-called Priest-in-Charge. I feel so blessed to enter into this relationship with you, and I look forward to all of the wonderful opportunities our relationship will foster. I see all of the work you have put into discerning who and whose you are as a church, and where you want to be as we move forward together in Christ. I am committed to working alongside you with that in mind.

I will share a little more about myself in The Shell. Until then, please know that I am devoted to building relationships with all of you, with the school, with the Thrift Shop, and with the wider community. I care deeply about where we go and what we do as Christians. And, I care about WHY. I care about YOU. What is most important to you? Feel free to reach out and let me know what you are passionate about as we move forward together to love and serve our God.

Together, we can do anything. I whole-heartedly believe that.

God’s Peace and Love be with you.

Angela+

To keep the parish informed as we go through this process, we will be emailing these Transition Notes on Tuesdays. They will also be posted to our website and hard copies will be available on Sundays. The purpose of these notes is to openly share what the Vestry is and will be doing in the days ahead. There are many decisions that will have to be made in the coming days; we feel strongly that open communication is key to assuring the process is a smooth one.