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Greetings from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Albany, NY.

See the Parish Profile here.

In my role as Senior Warden and member of the Rector Search Committee at St. Andrew’s, I am writing to ask a favor. 

At St. Andrew’s, we are in an active search for a full-time rector. Our Office for Transition Ministry document (OTM) has been on-line since late summer, 2022. We have had an ad in Episcopal News Service for the last several months. Yet, we have had minimal response.

The Rector Search Committee and Vestry have decided to cast a wider net.  We feel by reaching out to seminary alumni/ae associations, we can tap into an audience who might not otherwise think of exploring the idea of coming to this Diocese and more specifically to St. Andrew’s. 

We are asking you to share the attached Parish Profile as soon as is reasonably possible and preferably prior mid-April. Our Profile tells a much more thorough and accurate story of our congregation, our beliefs and how we bring the word of Jesus into the world. Feel free to also explore our website to learn more about St. Andrew’s and its people. (htttps://standrewsalbany.org) 

While we are not certain why we have had minimal response, we speculate one reason may be due to our somewhat unique situation. We are in the Diocese of Albany and currently do not have a bishop. The bishop election is tentatively set for September 2023, with the consecration tentatively set for February, 2024. Because of the low response to our OTM, we believe it is likely there are three factors may be at play.  One, without knowing who the bishop will be, some clergy might be reluctant to make a commitment to a parish. The second is that even though we are in the Diocese of Albany, we along with a handful of other congregations, practive inclusion and welcome all. We have a reputation of being progressive. We have a concern that when one reads that the OTM is from the Diocese of Albany, there may be a reluctance to explore the OTM or ENS ad further.  The third reason is that the OTM document by itself is limiting in that it does not provide a full description of St. Andrew’s. 

Our hope is that this isn’t too big of an ask. If you have questions about our request, please feel free to reach out to me. My contact information is below.

Faithfully,

Barbara Wisnom, Senior Warden
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
10 N. Main Ave
Albany, NY     12203
bwisnom@nycap.rr.com
518-209-9588