Dear Fellow Parishioners,   On Monday April 12 the Vestry met and voted on the selection for our new Interim Rector and concluded that The Rev. Barbara Abbott would be the best fit for our parish.  On Tuesday morning, Bishop Michel and I spoke via phone and he endorsed the Vestry’s decision.  We believe Rev. Abbott will support our parish and lead us with pastoral grace and also with the dignity and enthusiasm required during the transition to a new permanent Rector.   It is with great pleasure that I introduce The Rev. Barbara Abbott as our Interim Rector.   Rev. Abbott will start serving as Interim the first week in May.  I will formally introduce Rev. Abbott during Advents Annual Meeting on April 25 at 10:00 in the parish hall.  Please join us in giving her a hearty Advent welcome at that time.    Many of you may wonder what is being done in preparation to start the search process for the permanent rector.  Several weeks ago I waded through the church records and found all of the information used in the last search process.  Basically there are two phases of the search process:  The first is a self-study of the parish which will result in a defined parish profile.  The second phase is that of discernment/search.   The last self-study took about six months and resulted in our parish profile dated 15 Sep 1996.  Since we did a similar effort two years ago in the form of the Long Range Plan (LRP) I see no reason why we can’t use some of that data and decrease the time required for this part of the process.  The last discernment/search phase took about ten months before we issued a call for our new rector.   Believe me I am all for shortening the process where ever possible but we need to proceed with due diligence and much prayer in order to find a rector that meets the needs of our church.   As we move forward I’ll keep you informed on the details of both the interim and permanent rector search process.   Thank you for your patience and your prayers.   Faithfully Yours,   Pete Peterson Senior Warden