June 21 2026: On May 31, about 20 people stayed after church to have lunch and participate in the timeline exercise. We had a large group discussion around the following for each decade since our church was founded 50 years ago:
- who joined the parish during each decade
- what was going on at St. Clare’s during that time period
- what clergy were serving at St. Clare’s?
- what trends were noticed since they joined the parish?
On June 14, we had almost 30 people participate in the listening session to help build our parish profile and narrow our search for a new rector. We had small group and then larger group discussions about:
- What are positive aspects of St. Clares?
- What are we open to changing at St. Clare’s?
- What are the core values of St. Clare’s?
- What attributes are St. Clare’s searching for in a new rector?
- What attributes of Fr. Ron does St. Clare’s want to continue?
- How can St. Clare’s connect more with the surrounding community?
Rev. Foote provided an overview of both events and discussed next steps at the June 15 Vestry meeting. The Search Committee will be preparing the parish profile over the summer with guidance provided from Canon Reyes. Our goal is to be talking with potential candidates by the fall.
June 14 Rector Search Listening Session: On Sunday, June 14, there will be an all-parish meeting to discuss what we want our future to look like, and what skills we want to look for as we seek a new rector. The discussion will be led by the Rev. Beth Foote, and we will also hear from Cannon Sierra Reyes. You’ll definitely want to stay after the service to share your opinions. Luncheon will be served.
May 10, 2026 — Q&A on the transition process from the Rev. Beth Foote
Thanks to the Rev. Beth Foote, who will serve as our short-term interim priest through the end of June, and will help us get rolling on the transition process. Today she gave a short presentation and answered questions after the service. Here is a link to her presentation: St. Clare’s Transition Q&A May 10
May 1, 2026 — A letter from our Senior Warden
Our Parish community has many new challenges and opportunities this next year. With the retirement of our Administrative Assistant Diane Granlund, who served St. Clare’s for so many years, we were able to hire Gwyneth Hogarth-Dodge, who brings a whole different set of skills to the office of St. Clare’s. For those of you who have met her I am sure you will agree with me that she is a delight to work with and readily available to help find solutions if we have problems. If you have not met her yet, please stop by the office and say hi. Also remember that our new office hours are Monday-Thursday 9:30-3:30.
With Father Ron heading to the “Great White North,” we are now in a time of change. The vestry has been working tirelessly with Father Ron to make sure we have all the information we need before he goes. Not letting any grass grow under our feet, we have a great search committee in place lead by Stanley and Sonja Sommer. They have already been in contact and are working with the Diocese to move forward in the process. The search itself is expected to take about a year. In the meantime May and June will be covered by Rev. Beth Foote, and we have supply priests lined up every other Sunday through the end of November. On the Sundays without a priest we will be doing morning prayer. A schedule will be posted shortly.
As when Father Ron went on sabbatical, this is a great time of opportunity and expansion. We can try new things and see what appeals to us and what doesn’t. Again I am asking for people to step up to help take over gaps within ministries etc. During sabbatical people tried new things and we saw some new faces and ministries emerge from this. My hope going forward is that people will respond and again step up into leadership roles, even if they have felt uncomfortable with that in the past. This is a great opportunity to see what gifts God has given you that you may have been keeping under a bushel. I know everyone here is willing to be helping hands, but I ask you to dig deep and also be the feet that lead us. If we don’t have leaders certain ministries may not be continuing. But, it also means we can try new ministries which is exciting.
At some point in our lives God called to all of us. He has lead us on a path that is filled with joy, sadness, burden, and many other experiences that we never anticipated. But ultimately that call has led us all to St. Clare’s. God has us in this place, and now he is asking us to show our commitment. It is not going to be easy while we work our way through the transition and selection interval, but I don’t remember anything in our baptismal vows saying “and I promise to give you a pair of rose colored glasses and everything will be easy.”
I know in my very soul that we can do this, I know that God has St. Clare’s in the palm of his hand. I know that the Spirit just blows through St. Clare’s like a gale. I know we regularly see miracles happening at St. Clare’s. We should be stoked by all of this.
My mantra since we received the news of Father Ron leaving was, “We’ve Got This.” I am not changing that — if anything I am doubling down on it. If you have any questions or want to take on something, please reach out. Don’t wait to be asked — be proactive.
Thanks so much again for all that everyone does!
“We’ve got this!”
Tracy Brown, Senior Warden