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Radical Muddling
On the Cusp
Our search for a new priest at Grace might be nearing its end. On Friday night, the candidate that the Search Committee selected (who we’ve been calling “Father/Mother McFadden-Chang” during Youth Group, in a humorous attempt to make it easier to talk about this anonymous-and-potentially-really-significant person) will visit Providence and be given a final once-over. On Friday night, we’ll share a meal with him/her; “we” in this context means vestry members and their partners, so Jake-the-atheist will meet McFadden-Chang before most church goers do. Then, the Vestry and the Search Committee come together on Saturday morning , sit around, and try to make predictions. Will McFadden-Chang be right for Grace? Will Grace be right for McFadden-Chang? Does this person embody enough of our values? Is (s)he strong where we are weak? (Also, I’ll be wondering if (s)he liked the all-local vegetarian dish I’m preparing for the dinner, but I’ll do my best to not let that sway my judgment.)
Choosing a leader is harder than I expected it to be. The process of finding someone to follow, and to learn from, is very different from finding someone to be my friend: I’d rather have someone who can lead in a way that’s right for Grace-as-a-whole rather than someone who will be my buddy or pursue my pet projects. McFadden-Chang doesn’t have to share my liturgical passions, or want to hang out with the teenagers on Sunday nights. It doesn’t matter to me if McFadden-Chang is a-U2charist-chanting-low-churcher, or a smells-and-bells-Anglo-Catholic. What matters to me is that this person is right. That this person sees a church that is both booming and struggling, that is both flourishing and in need of nurturing.
Rightness is an obscure and intangible thing, and we’ll all be looking for it next week. So, if you have a moment, keep us in your prayers. Grace Episcopal Church, Providence RI, is a wonderful, healthy, happy place, full of good people who are nearing the end of a long journey.Comments
First of all, I have to say that I am going to use the word "U2charist" all the time now. That's just brilliant. Second of all, thanks for these wise, generous reflections, LiZ. Grace Church Providence is lucky to have you, and I will keep the community in my prayers this week as you move toward your decision.
Food for thought: what kinds of qualities / behaviors / quirks would someone you'd want to have as your priest demonstrate when gathered with a group of people around a dinner table? What about if you replaced the word "priest" with "friend"?
I think that the difference between what I would want in a priest and what I would want in a friend is who that person has to be right for. A friend has to be right for me; this isn't to say that we have to agree on everything, or even anything, but we have to be right together. A priest has to be right for the congregation, for the church. A priest has to be good at leading, and at guiding, at budget-balancing and flock-building, etc. If I find someone who is good, or good enough, at those things to be right for the congregation (and not perfect, not all-things-to-all-people), then that person doesn't have to be just-right for me. I want a friend who is right for me would, chances are share some of my values and interests; a priest who is right-for-the-congregation could be someone who simply didn't disparage my values and interests.
I don't want to sound like I'm setting a low bar, because I'm not. I actually think that McFadden-Chang is the kind of person who will be right-for-me-as-a-friend, and right-for-the-congregation-as-a-priest. But I would have voted to call him/her even if the latter was true and the former was not.