St. Dunstan’s seeks a new rector!

St. Dunstan’s is a suburban parish incorporating about 275 members.  We are financially sound and have no debt.  We celebrate Eucharist twice on Sunday morning.  Our religious celebrations range from Maundy Thursday watch, contemplative gatherings in the Julian tradition, and community services with choral music for all major events in the liturgical calendar.  We have an active parish with outreach activities serving elders, low income families, people who are homeless or in transitional housing, members who are unable to come to church to worship, those in the military, and the surrounding communities.  Our parish life activities include after church coffees,  meals in conjunction with religious celebrations, making & selling chocolates from a secret parish recipe, and supporting our youth to attend summer camp. There is an active Foyer group and a fledgling children and youth ministry.

Madison, Wisconsin is a medium size city surrounded by small towns with an excellent quality of life and a close-by rural farm community. We are located 75 miles from Milwaukee, 3 hours from Chicago and driving distance to Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Madison has a vibrant music scene, excellent K-12 and University academic programs, and a wide-range of year-round outdoor activities.

To apply, please contact Canon David Pfaff (pfaff@diomil.org).

Learn More About Our Community. Follow the links. Or, click on Links on the sidebar.

 MISSION OF ST. DUNSTAN’S CHURCH

In response to Christ’s divine humanity,  St. Dunstan’s strives to seek, love, and serve God, welcoming all to:

+ Gather in worship

+ Serve people in need

+ Care for the environment

+ Listen and respond to each other

 

Goals of St. Dunstan’s Church

STRENGTHS to build on:  (Which goals are so important to you that if they were not true of this congregation, you would not want to be a part of it?)

1.  Nurture a loving Christian community among the diverse people of God.

2.  Build on our recognition of God’s presence in our grounds, people, liturgy, and outreach.

CONCERNS in our congregational life that need to be addressed: (Which of these goals, if they were not implemented, would make you seriously consider looking for another church?)

1.  Address the congregation’s pastoral needs.

2.  Make decision making process clear, consistent, transparent and accountable. 

MISSION to our communities:  (To which mission or ministry do you believe God is calling you?)

1.  Develop and maintain a consistent plan of welcome and incorporation for Parishioners and Newcomers.

2.  Support both our outreach and in-reach.*

ASPIRATIONS for the next four years:  (Which of these goals, if any, do you believe match God’s hopes and dreams for our church?)

1.  Nourish a strong and vibrant congregation through effective formation.

2.  Develop a stewardship & financial plan of energy, facilities and grounds.

*Through our discussions regarding outreach and in-reach (you’re correct, Webster doesn’t know this word) we discovered these are words with wide variation in meaning among those who use them.  For the purpose of our discussion, outreach shall refer to “ministering to those in need, outside of our parish community”; in-reach shall refer to “ministering to those in need within St. Dunstan’s”.  That begs the question about the difference, if there is one, between in-reach and pastoral care.  We’re not attempting to answer that question in this document.

View the 2008 Parochial Report. 

 

 St. Dunstan’s Church Interim Process

St. Dunstan’s Church welcomed our interim rector in October, 2008. Tasks were identified, including revisiting the history of the congregation, clarifying our special identity and dreams, exploring shifts in leadership roles during transition times, renewing and reworking relationships with the diocese, and building commitment to the leadership of new clergy.

The Vestry’s retreat in February, 2009, assessed the congregation’s needs and identified short term goals for congregational life in worship, doctrine, action and oversight. The Vestry selected an interim task force, which wrote a prayer for St. Dunstan’s to use during the interim process, collect data and plan a history day. The congregation participated in Historical Reflection Day.

During the second half of 2009, the interim task force prepared events to guide the congregation in clarifying values and identity to lead to long term goals, action steps and a mission statement for St. Dunstan’s.

In 2010 The Vestry created a Pastoral Discernment Ministry to work with the bishop’s deployment officer to lead the process for calling a new rector.

Prayer for St. Dunstan’s During the Interim Process:

written by the Interim Task Force

 Gracious God, thank you for the community of St. Dunstan’s and for calling us to be part of this holy place.  Help us to explore and clarify our identity as your people.  May we listen with open minds to each other, to your creation and to you.  Give us the grace to understand our part in your church’s mission to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.  Please send your Holy Spirit to be a bridge from where we are to where you want us to be.  AMEN.

History Day: Finding Meaning in Our Story

 St. Dunstan’s parishioners met for an afternoon in May, 2009, to discuss and consider the congregation’s history and its meaning for our people and our church today. Our history was outlined along with contemporaneous world events. Discussion included what drew people to St. Dunstan’s and what the participants would like to see in the future. Other items included considering the purpose of the congregation, who the lay and clergy leaders have been, obstacles before the church, turning points, and significant programs and buildings in our history.  “Meaning” statements were drawn up after small group sessions.

The assembled group discussed who we are as they talked about the meaning of the story of St. Dunstan’s. Main observations included:

This is an outreach church; we are deeply committed to that, and it comes out in all our discussions.

There are very different ways for experiencing the parish; do we accept that we all experience people and events differently?

Clergy, Vestry and congregation are not always on the same page; there is no framework for accountability that is known by all parties.  Related to this, does the congregation want control in the hands of clergy or the congregation?

We have a core group of people who care about this parish through its troubles and conflicts; some others have left in a lot of pain. How did being wounded keep us from growing and progressing? Our underlying mission is being wounded.

We find our community by gathering, at Table, either for Eucharist or food social gatherings.

The group identified many common goals for St. Dunstan’s. Eventually they influenced the congregation’s 2010 mission statement and goals statement.

 

St. Dunstan’s Day

Building the Future: Finding Meaning in Our Story

St Dunstanites met and did these things!

11:30   Prayer and purpose

11: 40  Session One:  Parish History Map & Finding Your Place in Story

Outline of History on Wall:    World Events & Parish Events

Exercise: Line up by arrival at St. Dunstan’s, Form Groups of 3, and Discuss:        

What drew you to St. Dunstan’s?

What was going on when you came?

                      Describe a high point and a low point of your life here?

                      “More than anything else, I look forward to ___________happening at St. Dunstan’s.”

Please Put  1) Your Arrival at St. Dunstan’s on the time line, and

2) What you look forward to at St. Dunstan’s wallpaper on the way to get your food

12:30 pm   Pot Luck Meal

1:00     Session 2:  Telling Highlights & Mapping the Story

              Ponder what we look forward to having happen at St. Dunstan’s.

              Telling the story backwards from the future…

What were the most important events during this Period?

Other Refection & Comment Questions:      

            What was the congregation’s purpose?

            Who were the leaders, clergy and lay?

            How did they lead?

            What resistance, if any did they face?

            What obstacles were before the church?

            What turning points occurred during this period?

            What significant programs or buildings were created?

If someone wrote a newspaper article about the church during this period, what would have been the headline?  What key points would have been discussed?

            What were the “elephants in the room” not talked about or addressed?

2:15     Break

2:30     Session 3:  Finding Meaning in the Story

                        Meaning Statements in Groups of 4-6 people, List brainstorm ideas, circle consensus

                        Report/Show to the Large Group the small group Meaning Statements

                        Each person “votes” by checking THREE that they believe best describe St. Dunstan’s

                        Closing Comments?  Where did you find God in this event?

3:50     Centering Prayer to Honor and to let Go of the Past to free us for the Future.

4:00     Clean up

 

Norms Exploration

What is of great value for St. Dunstan’s to mature into a vibrant congregation? The goal of the congregational meeting in October, 2009, was to give clear answers to this question.

A common thread was concern about how decisions are made. The way we welcome newcomers was seen as needing improvement; people are ambivalent about welcoming and not wanting to offend. Fear of the future was evident. Communication can be better as we are ready to talk about the elephants in the room, and how to manage resources. Some said we need to tolerate differences.

The Interim Task Force pointed out some important themes from the discussion at History Day. They are:

(1)   Strengths of St. Dunstan’s include: outreach, spiritually uplifting building and grounds, and commitment to the parish.

(2)   Dis-ease or dysfunction of St. Dunstan’s include: woundedness and comforting each other; “us versus them” behaviors between congregation, vestry and clergy; lack of accountability framework; power struggles over turf and money.

(3)   Mission of St. Dunstan’s includes: outreach, inclusiveness, stewardship of land and creation, and worship and spirituality.

(4)   Aspirations of St. Dunstan’s include: to recruit people and ideas and give them the commitment of the parish; to remember worship in all things; to transition clergy (priests and deacons) well.

Event participants discussed worship today and tomorrow, money and physical assets, leadership, newcomers, conflict and communication, doctrine/core beliefs, and men, women and children. Many ideas came forth.

Tomorrow’s worship, according to the group, might have services that are not all alike, and may involve a variety of options or styles. More congregational development and participation are welcome.

Consideration of money and physical assets brought out these ideas: we believe this is a generous parish; our property is special and valuable and expensive; huge gifts care for ongoing need since we have no mortgage. Controversy and confusion exist about how our physical assets are used, maintained and valued.

Accountability problems are apparent in leadership. Participants believe that clergy make final decisions with or without OK from vestry or congregation. The Wednesday morning discussion group is seen as making decisions rather than having decisions made in vestry or open meetings. Communication issues include lack of knowledge that formal decisions are publicized online, in newsletter and on the bulletin board. Some meetings happen without being announced. We have a “doing” culture; everyone is expected to do many things.

Issues with newcomers include lack of clarity regarding who are greeters, lack of consistency in welcoming, and families not always given orientation when they come regarding consistency of classes and childcare.

Conflict and communication issues were discussed under leadership. In addition, it was pointed out that we have gone viral with murmuring among ourselves, and people will often say nothing in order to not offend.

Discussion of doctrine and core beliefs brought out that the Bishop has the final authority on matters of doctrine and the Priest sets the tone; who makes decisions about how we live out doctrine? Members need to have conversation about doctrine issues.

Men, women and children discussion showed that females plan and men do things. We have female majorities in vestry and acolytes, and formerly we had a female priest. Men mainly work on buildings and grounds, and women mainly cook. It is ok for part of a family to be present. We have the problem of waiting for more children to be here before meeting the needs of the ones who already are here. Juvenile acolytes have been treated as second class part of the altar party.

Charge to the Search Team From the Vestry
April, 2010

The Wardens in consultation with the Vestry of St. Dunstan’s commissions the following members to serve as the Search Team: Patti Brennan, Liz Ferguson, Celia Fine, John Laedlein, Valerie McAuliffe, Mark Rooney, Connie Ott, JonMichael Rasmus, Kathy Whitt

Charge: The Search Team will select a candidate for Rector to be presented to the Vestry who is then responsible for issuing the Call.

It will be the charge of this group to:

1. Review this charge with the Vestry.

2. Determine a time line and budget to be approved by the Vestry.

3. Organize within: elect officers and establish ground rules.

4. Receive names of potential candidates from the congregation and others and forward these to the Diocesan office for consideration.

5. Receive candidate applications from the Diocese of Milwaukee. The number of applications should be great enough for discernment given a variety of gifts and skills. It may be necessary to request another set of applications if the first ones are all eliminated or there are too few
for sufficient discernment.

6. Determine and carry out the process of review and selection in consultation with the Diocesan Deployment Officer. The Vestry is available as a resource to the Search Team as needed and appropriate.

7. Submit monthly reports to the Vestry and congregation as to status/ progress of the search without violating the confidentiality of the process.

8. Submit the name of one candidate to the Vestry.

9. Close and celebrate. Job well done!!