For anyone who is interested in learning more about St. Ann's Episcopal Church, here is our profile. It will tell you all about who we are, where we came from, and what we are looking for in our future. We hope that our new rector is out there looking for us and will find this helpful. Interested candidates should write to [email protected]
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St. Ann’s Episcopal Church Parish Survey In August, the Rector Search Committee prepared a survey to assist us in compiling a thorough and accurate parish profile based on the feedback from the entire St. Ann’s community. The survey opened in early September. The congregation was given over 3 weeks to complete the survey, which was made available in both an online and paper format. A total of 142 responses were submitted with a total completion number of 99. Much of the demographic information gathered from members regarding age, education, and background will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the parish and who attends any of our services. Other trends may be unexpected, such as how the parish prefers to focus attention locally without a desire to pursue programs outside our community. Finally, the surveys revealed a broad consensus among parishioners about the things we value most and the areas in which we see opportunities for growth and change. The following report presents highlights of what is important to the parish and areas that stood out. Who We Are St. Ann’s congregation is for the most part made up of long time parishioners. Most (56%) have attended St. Ann’s for more than 20 years and live within 5 miles (59%). The congregation is largely older (44% over 66, only 4% 26-40), with nearly double the number of women compared to men, and well educated (38% graduate degree, 31% Bachelor’s degree). The following graph reflects our reasons for “staying at St. Ann’s”. The top two drivers being “Style of Worship” and “Fellowship”. In Section 3 of the survey, respondents were asked to rank the pastoral specialties with their level of importance. In order to highlight a few of the stronger responses we have included the following graphs. For example you will see that 41.38% rank Youth Worker/Leader – Ability to inspire youth and incorporate them into the full life and Ministry of the Church as most important. Another notable response was Preacher – Ability to preach with clarity and to make the Gospel relevant in people’s lives. Section 4 asks the respondents to rank in order of importance our Parish Ministries and programs. In addition to a strong ranking for Sermons that are personal and applicable to daily life, we noted a high ranking for Newcomers are made to feel welcome by the Parishioners. Section 5 focuses on Characteristics of a Good Rector. The general consensus is one that reflects a Rector as a facilitator who helps generate ideas, has stable theological views, regards the Bible as an interpretation of God’s dealing with humanity, and who has an informal conversational delivery.
Section 6 asked for your comments related to two questions. The first being From your viewpoint, what does the Parish do best? The many responses included the following areas: a warm and welcoming atmosphere, fellowship, outreach programs, and music. We include the following comment as it is a beautiful statement of what St. Ann’s Parish embodies: St. Ann’s is one of the most welcoming places I have had the pleasure to walk into. The doors and the arms of the clergy and parishioners are literally open to all. It is a place to find peace……. The second question asks, From your viewpoint, where does our Parish need to improve? Answers included, developing Outreach, attracting young families, growing the congregation, cultivating more volunteers, increasing stewardship, calling a Priest who is warm and genuine, and utilizing more digital communication. The committee thanks you for your participation and your thoughtful comments! The Search committee has been meeting regularly since March 2019. To date several important phases of the search have been successfully completed, including:
• Meeting with and receiving guidance from our Diocesan Transition Liaison, Diane Gaidon • Conducting a Parish Summit, led by Canon Woodley • Developing and opening the Parish survey to solicit demographic information, feedback and suggestions from the St. Ann’s Parish. The committee is pleased to report that as of September 16th, one week into the survey, over 85 parishioners have responded to the survey online. We thank all of you who have completed the survey. Your feedback is vital to our process. As you may know we have begun preliminary work on the Parish Profile. Parishioner input via the Summit and survey will give shape and add context to this document. The Profile is a comprehensive document that reviews our church’s community, geography, history, facilities, community resources and area attractions that would be of interest to potential candidates. In addition, we are completing the Office for Transition Ministry (OTM) Portfolio. This information will eventually be posted on the OTM website so interested clergy candidates can access and apply for the Rector position. The Portfolio advertises the position, providing details which include average attendance, the compensation package, and our last three incumbent Rectors. It also asks a dozen questions that require a written narrative. The answers to these questions describe our liturgical style, stewardship, our involvement in the wider community, pastoral care etc. Our next steps will be to analyze the survey data and present the results to both the Vestry and the Parish. Respectfully submitted, Susan Knoepffler (chair) https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SaintAnnsParishSurvey Please click on the link to complete the survey. The Rector Search Survey Is LIVE now. Please join us for brunch on our opening day of the Parish Survey on Sunday, September 8th. We will have laptops available in the Parish Hall after the 8:00 am and 10:00 am services to help parishioners complete the survey online. Committee members will be available to guide you through this process. Brunch items will be available too.
One of the steps in the search for a new rector is to survey the parish. Every member of the parish who is 16 years of age or over is welcomed to complete the survey. We strongly urge you to complete the survey online as this program automatically compiles the results. If you prefer to answer the survey on paper, it will be available in the Parish Hall. To return a printed copy of the survey, your best option is to bring it to church and put it in the offering plate (or hand it to me or an usher). Your second option is to put it in an envelope and mail it to St. Ann’s Episcopal Church at 262 Middle Road, Sayville, NY 11782. We ask that you consider all the questions prayerfully. For your answers to have the greatest effect on writing the parish profile, please submit your online or paper survey by October 1st. As a member of the St. Ann’s family, we need to hear from you, so please take the time to respond as soon as you can. Please contact any member of the Search committee if you have any questions about the survey or any other aspect of the search for our new rector. Prayerfully submitted, Rich Acierno [email protected] Peg Flanagan [email protected] Jackie Gandolfo [email protected] Don Hester [email protected] Sue Knoepffler [email protected] (Chair) Gerry Pagels [email protected] We write to provide you with a status report regarding the search for the next Rector of St. Ann’s Church.
Your input is vital to the development of our Parish profile, and we want to ensure that as many members of the St. Ann’s community as possible contribute to the process. We are currently finalizing the Parish Survey to be available on the St. Ann’s website. Paper copies of the survey will also be available in the Parish hall for those without easy access to a computer. The plan is to have the survey available in early - mid July. The survey will gather demographic information as well as information about St. Ann’s, its future, and the qualities of our new Rector. We welcome your prayers, engagement, support and questions. Yours sincerely, Susan Knoepffler, Chair Email: [email protected] We write to provide you with a status report regarding the search for the next Rector of St. Ann’s Church.
We are currently preparing a Parish Survey to be available online as well in paper copy in the Parish hall. The plan is to have the survey available in early July. You will be provided ample notice of how and when to gain access. The survey will be about St. Ann’s, its future, and the qualities of our new Rector. We are about to begin writing portions of the Parish Profile which include the parish history and details of our community. We are also in the process of reviewing the St. Ann’s website to ensure that it is current, easy to navigate and informative through both photos and narrative. Thank you to Fr. Hugh, Fr. Brian, John Smith and Shin Chung for their efforts. We welcome your prayers, engagement, support and questions. Yours sincerely, Susan Knoepffler, Chair Email: [email protected] We write to provide you with a status report regarding the search for the next Rector of St. Ann’s Church.
As we search for a new Rector to lead our congregation, we need to discover not only what qualities we seek in a Rector, but also what qualities we aspire to as a church. On Sunday, April 7th The Rev. Canon Claire Woodley led our Parish Summit. Over 60 parishioners had the opportunity to share their ideas and hear the views of other parishioners as we explored where we have been, where we are now and where we want to be. We are grateful to all who were able to attend. We are currently preparing a Parish Survey to be available online as well in paper copy in the Parish hall by late May. The survey will be about St. Ann’s, its future, and the qualities of our new Rector. Your input is vital to the development of our Parish Profile. We welcome your prayers, engagement, support and questions. Yours sincerely, Susan Knoepffler, Chair Members: Rich Acierno, Peggi Flanagan, Jackie Gandolfo, Don Hester and Gerry Pagels It is a time to get together and look at where we have been,
where we are now, and where we want to be. When: April 7, 2019 Where: St. Ann's Parish Hall Time: 11:30 am-3 pm Lunch will be provided The Vestry and Search Committee invite you to join us this prayerful event. We write to provide you with an initial status report regarding the search for the next Rector of St. Ann’s Church. Six members of the parish, whose names are listed below, accepted a call to serve on the search committee. The committee has met a couple times, including a meeting with Canon Woodley (Canon for Ministry Support and Transition Minister for the Diocese of Long Island). Your input will be vital to the development of our Parish profile, and we want to ensure that as many members of the St. Ann’s community as possible contribute to the process. Here are two ways that you can provide your input. First, in the next couple of weeks we plan to make available on the St. Ann's website in the Rector Search Updates section an electronic survey about St. Ann's, its future, and the qualities of our new Rector. (Paper copies of the survey will also be available for those without easy access to a computer.) In addition, the search committee and the Canon for Transition Ministry will lead a Forum (Summit) on the search process on Sunday, April 7, at 11:30 a.m. The Summit should last between 3 and 4 hours. Lunch will be provided at the start of the meeting. Throughout this process, we will provide updates via email and in the weekly bulletin insert, as well as on the "Rector Search" page of the St. Ann's website. We welcome your prayers, engagement, support, and questions. Yours sincerely, Susan Knoepffler, Chair Rich Acierno, Peg Flanagan, Jackie Gandolfo, Don Hester and Gerry Pagels |
Prayer for the Search Committee:
Almighty God, giver of every good gift; Look graciously on St. Ann's and so hear the prayers of the parish family as we look to you for guidance in our search for a new Rector. We pray that you will lead us a faithful pastor, who will care for us and equip us for ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Committee Members
Susan Knoepffler, Chair Rich Acierno Peg Flanagan Jackie Gandolfo Don Hester Gerry Pagels |