IMEC Annual Meeting November 2nd – Election Results

IMEC OFFICERS – 2022-2023

The Rev. Terri Thornton, President
The Rev. Dr. Alicia Alexis, Vice-President
The Rev. J. Kathryn Costas, Treasurer
The Rev. Mary Ellen Dolan, Secretary

IMEC BOARD OF DIRECTORS – 2022-2023

The Rev. James Newman
The Rev. Courtney Tan
The Rev. Dr. John Throop
The Rev. Dr. Ron Pogue
The Rev. Cn. James Harlan
The Rev. Wayne Fletcher
The Rev. Don Davidson

Interim Position Open

St. Stephen’s in Schenectady, NY, said “good bye” to their rector of 33 years on June 30, 2022. They define themselves as “a progressive parish in the Diocese of Albany.” The members of the parish are  very welcoming and they have a nice physical plant. A rectory is available for use by an interim. The vestry recognizes that having the same rector for 33 years would be difficult for the next rector.  In their words, “we would always be comparing the next rector to the only rector most of us have ever known as adults.” They are seeking an interim for 12-18 months (longer if deemed necessary) to adjust to life without their beloved rector and to adjust to his departure.  

In meeting with the vestry, they reported that ten years ago there was conflict in the parish. Some left and others remained. There is no current tension within the parish. They are a Rite II parish and there is a lot of appreciation for their music program. They have a superb organist, choir, and handbell choir.  

The Diocese of Albany is presently without a Bishop. The profile for the next bishop is due to be completed the middle of August. St. Stephen’s has not participated in the life of the diocese for a very long time because of theological differences. They are participating in the process. An interim would be beneficial to help them as they adjust to many changes.   

Schenectady, NY, is part of the capital district outside of Albany and St. Stephen’s is located in a safe neighborhood in the city. A variety of venues for entertainment (theatre, symphony, shopping malls, restaurants, etc.) are within a short distance.   

The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Papazoglakis
Diocesan Transition Minister
Episcopal Diocese of Albany
580 Burton Road
Greenwich, NY 12834
518-878-4156

The Impact of Repetition – A Being of Use Teaching

Practical methods for making mission 
and purpose memorable in congregational settings 
Written and produced on February 1, 2022
By The Rev. Dr. William Carl Thomas
President – IMEC
Faculty – Interim Ministry Network

The Impact of Repetition
Download a PDF of the article

February 1, 2022

I’m going to very intentionally repeat myself in this article. 50 years ago I learned the importance of the Rule of Three Impacts when it came to making a memorable impression. As a nineteen year-old college student, I wrote and sold radio advertising in the summer of 1972 for WCAS in Cambridge Massachusetts. My main competition was the newspaper (which is hard to imagine in our current world of fragmented media). I would often cold call a store and introduce myself while I gained the owner’s attention. I mean, who wouldn’t want to talk to a salesman! If a successful conversation ensued, I might get to the point where I taught the reason why more than one ad on a radio station was needed. At that moment, I abruptly stopped my presentation and asked if my potential client remembered my name. Most often a blank look followed. I mean, there’s a lot going on when being accosted by someone like me with a briefcase! To help make my point, and to build a deeper relationship, I would repeat “My name is Bill Thomas. My name is Bill Thomas. My name is Bill Thomas.” 

Fifty years ago three times was the minimum amount of received impacts needed to make a point in a world without internet and very little cable. In the same spirit as my cold call hopefully taught a business owner, please let me offer an insight that has helped me build congregational vitality in both settled and interim situations. Whether highly liturgical or free-form, when congregations gather, the human embrace of expectation and habit organizes that time. The trick for the skilled communicator, such as the one who repeats “My name is Bill Thomas. My name is Bill Thomas. My name is Bill Thomas,” is to find and use a moment within that gathered time, either in person or now online, to expound and reinforce.

My practice is to settle into preaching by offering an adaptation of the words from Psalm 19 verse 14 followed by a statement of purpose proclaimed as mission or invitation. My current approach, as I preach in differing congregations as a retired Episcopal Priest, sounds like this:

O Lord our strength and our redeemer, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight for God invites us to live and love like Jesus, so that in the power of the Holy Spirit, others may do the same.This is a moderately subtle call to discipleship, a word that often has a negative connotation. Often I will reveal to a congregation why this call to be a disciple is at the heart of following the loving, liberating, and lifegiving way of Jesus. 

Another mission or invitation that I use following my adapted Psalm 19:14 is We belong to one another. Together, with God’s help, we can make one another stronger.  This statement lends itself to print documents as well as mission oriented conversation in congregational leadership meetings.

When I began serving as rector of St. Matthews Episcopal Church, Charleston, West Virginia in 2003, I discovered a wonderful yet lost mission statement. I began to offer at each sermon, again following my adaptation of Psalm 19:14, these words crafted ten years before my arrival: For God calls us to be Christ-centered community, equipping and enabling ourselves to minister  in the Power of the Holy Spirit, so that people are drawn to Christ. In my seventh year as rector at the parish annual meeting, I asked the congregation to say this mission statement aloud. To their surprise, strong voices filled the church and said it aloud. 

There is another spot in the normative liturgy of the Episcopal Church where I deepen the meaning of sharing the Peace of Christ. As I prepare to say, “May the Peace of the Lord be always with you” to which the congregation replies “And also with you,” I say, “My brothers and sisters in Christ, I offer you Shalom.” At appropriate moments in our pastoral relationship, I teach the meaning of Shalom as found in the book Mutual Ministry by James Fenhagen. Without going into great detail, to invite shalom means to offer the richness and fulness of all that God has to offer.

I hope that you’ve noticed that God’s subtle sense of humor abounds in this article. Not only do I hold a B.S. in Communication from Boston University, but I spent the first ten years of my professional life using communication techniques to unsettle people in order to get their attention to buy something they might not really need. I hear holy laughter when I find I need to use those same techniques these past forty years to undo the damage I might have caused in those first ten. By the way, the least important thing I may have I told you is “My name is Bill Thomas. My name is Bill Thomas. My name is Bill Thomas.” What do you claim as bears repeating.

TLC: Talk, Listen Connect: Next Session – March 10, 2022

To receive an email with the zoom link, please complete the TLC Contact Form

WWe Shall Be Changed: Conversations for Leaders in the Post Pandemic Church
Read
“Is it time to push “reset”?
By Prince Rivers

Concluding
Thursday March 10th via Zoom
1:00 pm Eastern
Molly Dale Smith and Jim Newman
look at
Leadership: Challenge and Change from
We Shall Be Changed:
Questions For the Post Pandemic Church
edited by Mark D.W. Edington.
See PDF prepared by Church Publishing.

Here’s a link to scribd.com to review the book using the 30 day free trial if you are not already a subscriber:https://www.scribd.com/book/479355240/We-Shall-Be-Changed-Questions-for-the-Post-Pandemic-Church

Persons of Color IMEC IMN Annual Conference Scholarships

IMEC Needs Your Help!

Please copy and send this information to someone for whom a scholarship might be of use or to someone who knows such a person.


The Board of IMEC (Interim Ministries in the Episcopal Church) is pleased to announce a scholarship opportunity for colleagues who are People of Color to attend the Virtual 2021 Interim Ministry Network Virtual Annual Conference. 
The IMN Annual Conference is the best opportunity for networking, continuing education, and building supporting relationships as an ecumenical and interfaith community of intentional interim clergy.  IMEC is the professional association of Episcopal priests and laity who are committed to intentional interim ministry in service of congregations in leadership transition.

 Eligibility:           Be an Episcopal priest who is a Person of Color

  •  Be serving in an interim position or is in their own transition having completed an interim appointment and seeking their next interim appointment.
  • Be an IMN member or willing to join to access the conference. 

OR

  • Completed an IMN training course toward certification as an Intentional Interim within the last two years.
  • Be an IMN member or willing to join to access the conference. 

The scholarship covers the conference fee balance after the candidate commits by paying the $50 registration fee deposit.  This year, conference presentations will be available after the conference to accommodate scheduling.  This is a non-competitive scholarship.  We will fund as many qualified applicants as resources allow and have set aside IMEC resources to do so. 

 How to apply:    Send an e-mail of interest to The Rev, Dr, William Carl Thomas, President IMEC with the following information:
              Name
              Address
              Diocese
                  AND
              Parish serving or last parish served
              Position
                   OR
              When and where you attended IMN training 

What happens next:  Once your expedited Virtual 2021 IMN Annual Conference scholarship application has been approved, two things happen, in parallel.  IMEC will send your information to IMN so they know to expect your registration. You will go to the Virtual 2021 IMN Conference registration page and register, submitting with a $50.00 deposit and IMN membership, if needed.  IMN will provide you and IMEC with a confirmation of registration and invoice for the balance. IMEC will send payment to IMN directly.
For more information or questions, please contact Bill Thomas at 252-876-6841.

How to support this project:
Forward this announcement to any colleagues who might qualify or to Transition Officers and bishops who might know someone.
Contribute to the scholarship fund, through the IMEC Donations button on our website.