Re: Fulltime parish position open in .....

[Louie Crew <lcrew@ANDROMEDA.RUTGERS.EDU>]

Am I the only one who thinks that most interims are hired for far too long,
even when the previous rector left a mess, that the interim process is
designed and promoted by consummate 'Ps' on the Myers-Briggs, that healing
is made more difficult if you encourage patients to stay in the hospital
licking the wounds rather than moving back into the world with healthy
activity as soon as reasonably possible?

One parish near me took three years.  Admittedly they had at least two
accept their offer and then turn them down before arriving, but still:
three years?!!  And the previous rector had not left a very bad mess.  I
severely wounded a friendship that I value when I teased one member of their
search committee by saying, "I've figured out your problem.  All of you on
the committee are so glad to be running the place that you really don't want
a new rector to come in and take over."  My friend normally has a great
sense of humor but glared daggers at me for the rest of the evening.  And I
had said it no one else hearing me!  Somehow I felt her anger was prompted
by something bigger than her sensitivity about being over worked for such a
long time.

That was several years ago. Last week I told this story to the very fine
rector whom they finally hired.  The rector nodded knowingly and said I had
hit the truth directly on the head.   Fortunately the new rector knew how to
dodge the pitfalls already planted, and is enormously popular.

I think that most searches take way too long in academia too.  It seems no
accident that lawyers, clerics and professors are the only modern people who
still wear medieval clothing for special occasions in our professional life.

Louie, a consummate 'J'

Louie Crew, 377 S. Harrison St., 12d, East Orange, NJ 07018.  973-395-1068
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~lcrew