Planning Our Future - Together!
SPR Rector Discernment
This page will be updated regularly as we proceed through the rector search process. We encourage you to visit often as updates are made available!
An Update from the Wardens on the Rector Search Process
June 5, 2026
Dear Fellow Parishioners,
We're writing with an update about our rector search process. Last spring, the vestry, our elected lay leaders, appointed a committee to discern who would be our next rector: co-chairs Andrew Chipman and Antoinette Daniels, and members Patrick Jonker, Shirley Knight, Kari Martin, Romonda McKinney, Jordan Posey (Lanfair), and James Tonsgard. (Ariana Strahl also served on the committee for part of the year.) They worked hard for more than a year, reviewing the parish survey results, conducting listening groups, writing a parish profile, receiving and reviewing applications, conducting interviews, and finally recommending a candidate to the vestry.
The vestry voted to accept the committee's recommendation and call the candidate. We talked with the rector candidate over the course of several weeks, but we were unable to come to an agreement. The candidate was very attracted to SPR as a vibrant urban parish, but we could not agree about finances and parted ways prayerfully.
Where does this leave SPR, our beloved community? Thankfully, before Interim Rector Rev. Wes Smedley finished his time with us, he worked with our stellar priest associates to create a rotation of preachers and presiders through the beginning of September. We will have sermons, and communion, every week as usual! We have also asked Rev. Jack Seymour, our long-serving deacon, to coordinate with the priest associates to address pastoral care emergencies.
Along with the bishop's staff and the bishop, the vestry is exploring options for next steps for SPR's full-time clergy needs. It's been less than a week since we ended our cordial discussions with the rector candidate, and we are already in the thick of discussions and discernment about what comes next.
We wanted to give you an update so that you can join us in prayer for SPR and the vestry; in joy for our lovely priest associates and the care and wisdom they share with our church; and in gratitude and thanksgiving for the dedicated service of the rector discernment committee. Although we all hoped that we would be able to present a new rector, the vestry and the church have been using this interim period well to strengthen our community and continue to seek God's will.
SPR is God's church. We are grateful to worship and pray alongside you, and we look forward to feeling the Spirit with you this Sunday at our parish picnic.
With love,
SPR's Wardens, Jason Evans and Mel Parks
CAT Results
Dear People of SPR,
As part of the process to search for a new rector, parishioners took a survey called the “Congregational Assessment Tool,” or CAT, during Lent. The consulting company who administers the CAT also produces a report of the results, providing information about what parishioners say they want and how our church’s attitudes and qualities match up against those of other congregations.
The vestry and Rector Discernment Committee received training from the diocese about how to interpret the results. The Rector Discernment Committee led small group discussions in June to get more feedback about parishioners’ experiences and ideas and help them complete the picture of the congregation sketched out by the CAT and the work of the Transition Team last fall. The vestry is also thinking about the CAT results, and we wanted to share a snapshot of our thinking with you.
The CAT reported that the following four goals are the highest priorities for parishioners:
Develop the spiritual generosity of the people to financially support the ministry of the church.
Create more opportunities for people to form meaningful relationships.
Develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to reach new people and incorporate them into the life of the church.
Strengthen the process by which members are called and equipped for ministry and leadership.
For the past few years, the vestry has been thinking about the leadership structures of the church. In particular, we plan to restructure how we talk about involvement at SPR so that everyone feels supported by the church leadership and connected to the larger mission. How do the various volunteer activities and ministries relate to each other and to our goal to live into radical hospitality? How can we live into our core values–caring, community, belonging, helping, inclusivity? And how can we sustain all of this in a joyful, life-giving, and critical community?
The vestry will have a retreat in August and will roll out more about how the CAT is informing our conversations as we head into the new program year this fall. Until then, we are grateful for your presence and your prayers.
Your SPR Wardens,
Jason and Mel
2025 Rector Discernment Committee
Thank you to our parishioners who have discerned a call to serve on our rector discernment committee! Below, you will find the names, roles, and liturgy times of our search committee members.
Andrew Chipman, Co-Chair [10am]
Toni Daniels, Co-Chair [10am]
Patrick Jonker, Member [10am]
Shirley Knight, Member [8am]
Jordan Lanfair, Member [8am]
Kari Martin, Member [10am]
Romonda McKinney, Member [10am]
Ariana Strahl, Member [10am]
Jim Tonsgard, Member [8am]
Almighty God, giver of every good gift,
look graciously on your Church,
and so guide the minds of those
who shall choose a rector
for the Church of Saint Paul and the Redeemer,
that we may receive a faithful pastor,
who will care for your people
and equip us for our ministries,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
-Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for the Election of a Bishop or other Minister
SPR Core Values
From the Interim Rector
Dear SPR Community,
I am excited for you as you begin the important steps of engaging the Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT) and as you discern your leaders for the Rector Search Committee. Congratulations. Please know you and this process are a central part of my prayers for you in the coming weeks.
You have prepared for this moment in many ways, including your work last December on a Core Values exercise from a resource called the Interim Ministry Network. Over 100 SPR parishioners from both the 8am and 10am services participated. Below you will find results from that work which come directly from parishioners’ verbal and written responses to five questions:
What do SPR’s stated core values say about who SPR is in this moment?
What, if anything, surprised you about the core values NOT included as current values of SPR?
Why do you think the values of inclusivity and multicultural were named as aspirational?
Which of these core values connect with SPR’s current vision: “To mirror the radical hospitality practiced by Jesus?” Which of these core values suggest different language or a different vision?
Given the core values named by the congregation in this exercise, what gifts and skills and passions in ministry would you like to see in SPR’s next rector?
This is your good work, so please use it to the fullest in the coming weeks and months. It is a privilege and a joy to travel this part of the journey with you.
Your brother in Christ,
Wes Smedley
Interim Rector