We Need Your Voice!
Take the Survey Here:
The survey is now closed. Thank you for your input in helping us tell the story of who we are, what we value, and what we believe is most important as we consider a new Dean and Rector.
Update From The Search Committee
Release: October 1, 2019
Over the past few weeks, the dedicated members of the Search Committee have been hard at work determining and undertaking the first important steps in the search process for our new Dean. In addition to meeting bimonthly and researching, our Search Committee members have spent much time in thought and prayer. We are grateful for their commitment and efforts to date and in the coming months. During the Dean’s Forum on October 13 we will share more updates in person and answer the questions that you have.
The Search Committee is pleased to share the following updates:
Transition Survey- Opens October 11!
The beginning of this transition provides a wonderful opportunity to gather important information and input from the heart of Christ Church Cathedral – the members that make up our parish. To that end, the Committee is collaborating with a firm that works with churches nationwide to commission a survey for our members. The Survey Sub-Committee has curated a list of questions to most closely meet the needs of our unique congregation and current situation.
This survey will allow us to gather valuable information about our congregation, including who we are, our core values, our personal experiences within the church and, of course, the issues that we believe are most important to consider when selecting our new rector.
We strongly encourage every member of Christ Church Cathedral to take part in this survey, as it is the strong belief of the entire Search Committee that every voice should be heard during this process.
Holy Conversations- Join us November 10, November 17 and December 8!
These important communications within our congregation will help to guide the entire search process, ensuring that every voice is heard as we move through this transition and beyond as a strong and loving congregation. The Holy Conversations will be held in three separate sessions, in both English and Spanish, facilitated by members of the Search Committee who have received special training in this matter. Join us after the 10am or 1pm service on November 10, November 17 and December 8!
We encourage each and every member of the parish to be a part of these sessions, and share your thoughts and experiences prayerfully and with an open heart.
Our Church Profile
The creation of a Church Profile is one of the most important parts of the early search process, as it will provide potential applicants who are discerning with comprehensive information concerning all aspects of Christ Church Cathedral. This will be a multi-dimensional document, providing facts and figures, imagery and ideology, history and heart. It will allow discerning leaders who seek to join us to know the heart of Christ Church Cathedral, as we will seek to know theirs.
The information and feedback obtained through the successful completion of both the Holy Conversations and the Transition Survey will be necessary to the completion of an accurate, inspirational and compelling Church Profile.
As always, the involvement of the congregation is both welcomed and encouraged. Please contact SearchCommittee@cccindy.org with any questions or concerns.
Next Steps
As we complete the first phase of the search process, we will keep you updated. We will share updates monthly, and more frequently as we continue through the process.
JOIN US SUNDAY, JANUARY 12
Click here to see our January Update slides.
Join us in the Parish Hall on Sunday, January 12 at 11:30am or 2:30pm as we share the results of the Holy Conversations and Parish Survey. A critical part of the search process is to develop a profile of who we are, what we value, and what we are seeking in a new Dean and Rector. We had over 300 attendees during our Holy Conversations- six roundtable conversations led by Reverend Kristin White, Canon to the Ordinary. In addition to our in-person conversations, we offered an online survey, the Congregational Assessment Tool by HolyCow! Consulting. We had 134 respondents to the survey, offering great insight and quantitative data on a variety of metrics.
During our time together on January 12, we will provide each attendee with a summary of the information collected. If you are unable to attend, but would like to see a summary of the results, please contact us at searchcommittee@cccindy.org.
Our Next Steps…
We are finalizing our Parish Profile, one of the most important parts of the early search process. The Parish Profile provides potential applicants who are discerning with comprehensive information concerning all aspects of Christ Church Cathedral. This will be a multi-dimensional document, providing facts and figures, imagery and ideology, history and heart. It will allow discerning leaders who seek to join us to know the heart of Christ Church Cathedral, as we will seek to know theirs.
The information and feedback obtained through both the Holy Conversations and the congregational survey will be a major component of the completion of an accurate, inspirational and compelling ParishProfile.
FEBRUARY UPDATE
During our discussion in the Parish Hall for our February updates, we shared information on the interview process. Thank you to all who attended and lent their voices to our fruitful conversation on which questions are the most important for us to ask our applicants.
Click here to see the February Update slides.
OUR PARISH PROFILE IS LIVE!
Thank you all for your prayers, blessings, and contributions to the Parish Profile. Our Parish Profile includes facts and figures, imagery and ideology, history and heart. We sought to communicate our commitment to widening the circle of God’s embrace with heart and voice. See the Parish Profile here.
For best results, hover over the center and click “full screen”.
MAY SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATES
In the absence of being able to meet in person to share our updates, we have prepared a video for you to share where we are in the search process and where we are going. As always, reach out with questions!
JUNE SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATES
Friends in Christ,
We miss seeing you in person! Our Search Committee is prayerful and we find comfort in the fact that God already knows who our next Dean and Rector will be. Our role now is to listen to what God reveals to us through this process.
We wanted to update you on our planned timeline for the remainder of our search process, knowing that we are holding this timeline loosely as we all continue to navigate an ever-changing landscape.
Now-Mid July
The Search Committee will be busy reviewing all candidate documents, including Office of Transition Ministry (OTM) Portfolios, essay question responses, and sermons.
End of July
We will invite selected candidates for a virtual interview. All candidates will receive communication from the Search Committee.
August- Virtual Interviews
We will hold virtual interviews during the month of August. During this time our Search Committee will also revisit the important data and information we gathered during our Parish Profile process to ensure that the voices of our fellow parishioners remain at the forefront of our hearts and minds.
September
We will invite our finalists to Indianapolis for a two-day site visit. During this time we will conduct an in-person interview and the finalists will each meet with Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows.
End of September/Early October
At this point our Search Committee will go into retreat to complete our final phase of prayerful, thoughtful, and intentional discernment. Lord willing, in partnership with the Bishop and Vestry, we will extend and offer to our New Dean and Rector.
While we are excited and eager to meet the next Dean and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral, we also recognize that mutual discernment does not always fit neatly into a timeline- especially in the midst of a pandemic. We will adjust our plans accordingly based on our spiritual and health needs.
JULY & AUGUST SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATES
Our search process continues to march on! We have begun our first two rounds of interviews and are continuing to analyze the sermons of our candidates. During each round, we narrow the field of our candidates by looking at how they fit with the qualities we seek in a new Dean and Rector. We use prayer, discussion, and a process of consensus to make our selections for each round. We have found that every conversation we have with a candidate leads us to learning more about ourselves as a congregation and who we are as beloved children of God.
We invite you to continue praying with us our congregational prayer:
Almighty and ever-loving God, who continually surrounds and fills us, you are active and alive in our Cathedral and city. We give thanks that you are with us always. We rejoice that you promise that each of us can make a difference. You call us to know and support each other and to know and experience you together, and we pray for a leader to be part of that life. You call our Cathedral to be a beacon of diversity, learning, fellowship, service and joy, and we pray for a person to nurture this dream.
Be with all clergy, both those in discernment as well as all who have led our Cathedral in the past, and with the staff who support them. Guide us to a shepherd to feed the spiritual hunger of all who enter our doors and to inspire us to be Christ-like so that we can better serve all in your Son’s name.
Grant the search committee perception, faithfulness and joy, so that they may hear your voice in all deliberations. Give us all courage to respond and act as you lead us. Come Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus, we pray. AMEN
UPDATES FROM THE SEARCH COMMITTEE
Friends in Christ-
We miss seeing you in person! Our Search Committee is prayerful and we find comfort in the fact that God already knows who our next Dean and Rector will be. Our role now is to listen to what God reveals to us through this process.
We wanted to update you on our planned timeline for the remainder of our search process, knowing that we are holding this timeline loosely as we all continue to navigate an ever-changing landscape.
NOW-MID JULY
The Search Committee will be busy reviewing all candidate documents, including Office of Transition Ministry (OTM) Portfolios, essay question responses, and sermons.
END OF JULY
We will invite selected candidates for a virtual interview. All candidates will receive communication from the Search Committee.
AUGUST
Virtual Interviews
We will hold virtual interviews during the month of August. During this time our Search Committee will also revisit the important data and information we gathered during our Parish Profile process to ensure that the voices of our fellow parishioners remain at the forefront of our hearts and minds.
SEPTEMBER
We will invite our finalists to Indianapolis for a two-day site visit. During this time we will conduct an in-person interview and the finalists will each meet with Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows.
END OF SEPTEMBER/EARLY OCTOBER
At this point our Search Committee will go into retreat to complete our final phase of prayerful, thoughtful, and intentional discernment. Lord willing, in partnership with the Bishop and Vestry, we will extend and offer to our New Dean and Rector.
While we are excited and eager to meet the next Dean and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral, we also recognize that mutual discernment does not always fit neatly into a timeline- especially in the midst of a pandemic. We will adjust our plans accordingly based on our spiritual and health needs.
September Update
As we approach the culmination of our process, we share these updates and invite you to continue to pray with us and for us and the candidates, one of whom we will invite to become your new Dean and Rector.
The Search Committee will enter our Discernment Retreat at 9 am on Saturday, September 26. During the retreat, we will center our hearts on the Parish Profile and the results from our Holy Conversations and HolyCow! Survey. We will keep the 13 qualities we seek in a Dean and Rector top of mind as we enter discernment. If you would like to remind yourself of the content of these materials, you can find them here. Parish Profile
In the days before the retreat, we had the pleasure of meeting with all finalists in person. All finalists participated in an on-site visit that included an interview, dinner, walking tour of downtown, tour of the Cathedral, and meeting with Bishop Jennifer.
(Please know that we held our dinner and interview outdoors, socially-distanced, and we thank the Lord for the pleasant weather we were able to enjoy.)
Our hearts are full. We feel blessed that we had the opportunity to spend the past week in conversation with highly qualified priests, lifting up the blessings, challenges, hopes and dreams of Christ Church Cathedral.
A New Chapter at Christ Church Cathedral
Join us in welcoming
The Rev. Dr. Gray Lesesne
as Dean & Rector
“The way that the Cathedral serves as a leader within our community directly affects the quality of life that my family, friends, neighbors, and I experience here on a daily basis.”
In January, 2021, we will welcome The Reverend Dr. Gray Lesesne as our next Dean and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral Indianapolis. As Dean, Gray will lead the Cathedral into a new phase of our life together.
While we have benefited from Gray’s ministry in the past as our Canon and Senior Associate (2008-2015), this call is so much more than a reunion, as much has happened along the way. Gray’s presence and commitment to God’s work in the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis has grown even deeper and more expansive. His unique experience of planting a new ministry, Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in nearby Brownsburg, has added a dimension of experience to the gifts we knew, and has brought with it many relationships that intertwine and intersect with the ministries of the Cathedral and the Diocese in meaningful ways.
This particular perspective of knowing us from within and without, combined with personal and professional qualities that fulfill the 13 aspects of leadership we identified as our priorities for choosing a Dean & Rector, make us confident that God has blessed us with the person we need as we look forward to a future together. In his words, Gray is ready to “lead with you in making an even more profound impact on our city, a place that we all love and call home.”
Gray with husband Ethan
Thank you, from your Search Committee
We’re so grateful to have been your ambassadors in this process. As a reminder, here is a brief recap of our journey, which we have taken joyfully, solemnly, and with a sense of great responsibility to you, the congregation, and with a constant invitation to the Holy Spirit to guide us in our work on your behalf.
