St. Thomas’ Church Parish Profile
We invite you to read our Parish Profile, completed in June 2006 as part of our search for a new rector.
Arriving early in July, John Rafter celebrated the beginning of his service. Parishioners filled the church with flowers and greenery and held a welcoming reception after the 10:30 a.m. service. On the afternoon of August 26, 2007, he was officially installed as rector at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church.
After nearly two years of looking for a new rector, the wardens and vestry of St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church decided on Sunday, May 13, to offer the job to Rafter.
Rafter and his wife, Michele, came to Camden from St. Matthew’s Church in Horseheads, N.Y. He has been the rector there for four years and, prior to that, worked at the Church of the Good Samaritan in Knoxville, Tenn.
Rafter and his wife are particularly excited about the call to Camden’s Episcopal Church because of their local connection. His father, John Wesley Rafter, was the pastor at Littlefield Memorial Baptist Church in Rockland in the 1980s.
The Rafters have been married for 32 years. Their daughter works for a grant foundation in Atlanta, Ga., while their son lives in Elmira, NY and is an interpreter for Japanese companies.
The Rev. Michael Rowe left the parish in July 2005 after a 13-year ministry, to serve in a church in Florida. The Rev. Dick Gilchrist served as interim rector until this point.
The Rafters will live in the apartment which has been created in the old rectory building, until they find a house. The church broke ground in the fall of 2006 on a project to expand its Sunday School and meeting room spaces into the rectory house, and also plans to relocate the church office into the renovated space.
The search for a new rector actually influenced this decision, when the church found out most priests choose not to live in rectories. Priests prefer to be provided with a housing allowance and to obtain their own housing. St. Thomas’ took this recommendation seriously in deciding to convert its rectory. A dedication of the new building, including office space, new classrooms, as well as the renovated apartment, took place September 14, celebrated by Bishop Chilton Knudson.
The accompanying prefatory note below was prepared in February, 2007 to update the profile.
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Prefatory Note, February 2007
This prefatory note is intended to update the parish profile, acknowledging God’s gifts of growth and change as we continue the discernment process.
During the search process of 2006, the candidate who accepted our call reconsidered, because he and his family hadn’t fully taken into account the impact of relocating. Our other finalists had accepted calls elsewhere. While we were initially disappointed, we have come to a clear and joyful sense that the Holy Spirit is present with us in this process. Far from expressing their discouragement, the congregation is now asking what each one can do to help work today towards the goals outlined in the parish profile. More than ever, we are connecting with God’s grace and coming together as a parish family.
The building and renovation plans you will see outlined in our profile have proceeded much as we had hoped, and we feel a certain sense of accomplishment that, from concept to completion, this has been undertaken during our interim period. Ground was broken for the new wing in late fall, and mild weather enabled us to get the foundation in by Epiphany. As of early February the roof is on, and the remodeling of the rectory is taking place to provide offices and meeting rooms downstairs and a rental apartment upstairs. We hope to have the building completed by July and to be making full use of the new facilities by the fall. A group of interested parishioners has begun meeting to plan for the expanded children’s ministries and outreach to youth made possible by the new wing.
We have also found ourselves embracing liturgical change and renewal since writing the profile. St. Thomas’ had previously used Rite I exclusively, but after an experimental period, Rite II has become a regular part of our worship, with Rite I at the early Sunday service and Rite II at the later service. We have begun use of an altar table, with the celebrant facing the congregation – a significant change for us. Parishioners’ responses have been quite positive, some even speaking up to say that in spite of their own initial opposition, they find no break in the sense of the holy they value at St. Thomas’. These developments have been accomplished, after prayerful discussion and careful parish-wide consultation, with the support of the majority of the parish and the guidance of our interim rector.
The interim minister of music introduced in the profile, Carlton Russell, was appointed to a regular position in another parish last October. We were blessed by the immediate arrival of our current interim, Jane Schroeder, who has continued the work Carlton began, of introducing us to a more joyous and more varied musical program. At the same time, she has started a children’s choir and initiated a series of weekday noon concerts in Lent by bringing in talented musicians from the surrounding area. Not to mention the fact that she rounded up a team (“The Sopranos of St. Thomas”) to enter the National Toboggan Championships held at the Camden Snow Bowl. Her enthusiasm has proved infectious for many of us.
Our earlier outreach efforts described in the profile have also expanded to include participation in and/or financial assistance to programs such as the Keep ME Warm (Keep Maine Warm) home winterization program; Coastal Hospice Volunteers; Meals on Wheels; two local food pantries; two local soup kitchens including a new lunch program at the Camden Congregational Church; the Mid-Coast Hospitality House, which provides temporary and emergency overnight shelter; and assistance to a number of individuals and families in need.
At the annual parish meeting in January, and at the vestry conference the following week there was a sense, as one member put it, that: “The parish has crossed a threshold, with the initiative coming from its members.” We look for a rector who is ready to embrace the work we have begun, and to point out to us the work we have not yet recognized.
St. Thomas’ Discernment Committee
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