Dear Members of the Cathedral Congregation,

It is with great excitement that your Search Committee for the new Dean of the Cathedral announces the completion of its work. We have presented our top candidates to Bishop Provenzano and now await his official appointment with great anticipation.

We owe a debt to the Rev. Canon Bruce Griffith, who served as our adviser throughout this search, as well as to the Rev. Canon John D. Betit, Canon to the Ordinary, for his additional guidance. While the support from Father Bruce and Canon Betit has been invaluable, please know that the integrity and confidentiality of the process was respected by all sides from the beginning. The committee was allowed the autonomy to do the work it was charged to do, and support was available but nonintrusive. For this we are grateful.

In total we received 30 expressions of interest from all over the country. Each candidate was asked to provide written responses to three questions exploring the themes of faith, leadership and vision within their ministries. We read and evaluated these submissions, and discerned as a group 15 candidates to move forward to the telephone interview phase of the process. The best of these candidates were then invited to the Cathedral to meet with the committee in person for the celebration of the Eucharist, sharing of a meal and continued, in-depth mutual discernment.

From the outset, we were struck and encouraged by the caliber of clergy seeking consideration to become our next Dean. As we spoke and met with each candidate, however, we held fast to our commitment to discern those individuals with the strengths and vision most closely aligned with the recently articulated needs and vision of the Cathedral community. With this as our focus, we chose the top candidates and officially presented them to Bishop Provenzano on Monday, July 13^th.

The Bishop will now meet each candidate and their spouse/significant other in person. Although all parties involved are motivated to move quickly, there is still much to be done, and we cannot at this time provide an exact date for when we will welcome a new Dean. Still, as we met with Bishop Provenzano we were all encouraged by his genuine support and interest in the future of The Cathedral of the Incarnation. We are confident that we have presented Bishop Provenzano with the best candidates, each of whom could lead us forward with great promise for the future.

Your Search Committee has found this experience to be spiritually enlightening and personally enriching, and we are grateful for the opportunity to represent the Cathedral community and thankful for your prayers during this process. We are, of course, further indebted to Bishop Provenzano for bestowing his trust upon our congregation to be active and effective in choosing its leadership going forward. It has indeed been a terrific journey thus far, and we are only just beginning!

Please keep the Bishop and the final candidates in your prayers during this final discernment process. 

Sincerely,

The Dean Search Committee Members