“Glad You Asked” is a series of question-and-answer columns from the Bishop Search Committee. Wondering what’s going on? Looking for details? Ask the committee by submitting questions here.
Q. Suddenly there’s a lot of Search Committee activity squeezed into a short amount of time at a busy season of the year — the listening sessions and the Holy Cow survey. Was any thought given to extending the search, taking more time?
A. We did lose about a month’s worth of time because of the wildfires and have had to compress a lot of work into a shorter time frame than we originally planned.
Our co-chairs were directly impacted by the fires. The Rev. KC Robertson lost her home and is ministering to the 250-plus parish households at St. Matthew’s in Pacific Palisades who have lost their homes or suffered long-term damage. The other co-chair, Thomas Diaz, director of pastoral care at All Saints in Pasadena, is ministering to the members of 85 parish households who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire.
Ultimately the decision by diocesan leaders was this: The wildfires were severe and devastating but localized. Considering the health of the whole diocese, we will keep going on our original timetable, focusing on the future, showing our strength and our commitment to normalcy and health. Yes, we are the wildfires, but we are more than the wildfires.
That has meant we’ve had to shorten our timetable and move more quickly than we originally planned. We know: It’s hard to find times for in-person gatherings and Zoom meetings that align with everyone’s schedule and the many other events on our diocesan calendar. We’re grateful to everyone for their extension of grace and patience as we move ahead.
One of the things we heard in our first listening session was that the wildfires showed the diocese at our best as we came together to deal with devastation. We think that our candidates will be attracted by the resilience, faith, and hard work of everyone in this diocese.
Q. We know you have a subcommittee putting together the profile. Given the short time frame here, will the results of the listening sessions and the Holy Cow survey be included in the profile?
A. Yes! Right now the Profile Committee is working on the “background parts” of the profile: our history; descriptions of ministries; information on culture, geography, and demographics; an explanation of diocesan finances; and gathering maps and photos. We’ll get those materials ready to go while we await the results of the survey and the listening sessions.
That is the part of the profile that you, the diocese, will help us write with your comments, your input, your participation, your feedback. These results will tell us — and our candidates — what we are looking for, what is important to the diocese, how we view our future. So please participate — come to a listening session and take the survey when it goes live March 31!
The schedule of listening sessions is available here.
Details about where and how to take the Holy Cow survey will be available when the survey is opened.