As you probably know, Father Stephen is retiring on Sunday 1 May – please put the date in your diary as there will be a lunchtime event after the 10.30am service to thank him for all he has done for Hampstead Parish Church and the wider community over the last 15 years. He will be a hard act to follow.
As we look to build on Father Stephen’s achievements, we have turned our attention to planning the process for appointing his successor, in particular through the preparation of a Parish Profile (the prospectus that potential candidates for the role of Vicar will receive).
As we do so, we have spent time recently listening to the views of members of the Church at a series of consultation meetings at which we posed a number of questions:
What defines Hampstead Parish Church and what do you value?
What do we do well, and what could we do better?
What are the attributes or qualities we should look for in our next Vicar?
Thank you to everyone who has already participated in this process.
If you were unable to attend one of the consultation meetings but have views to share, we would love to hear from you. Please do speak to one of us at church or email us at: [email protected].
Over the next few weeks we will be developing the draft Parish Profile for presentation to the Parochial Church Council and, in turn, the Bishop of Edmonton and representatives of the Board of Patronage (although the formal process of searching for Father Stephen’s successor, under the applicable regulations, can only get underway properly in May following his retirement).
In the meantime we are already taking active steps to prepare for the interregnum and to ensure that, as far as possible, it is ‘business as usual’. In this task we are fortunate to be able to call upon the support of Diana Young (who will be remaining with us in the new role of Interim Priest until February 2017), Jan Rushton (our Associate Priest), and Handley Stevens and Andrew Penny (our two Readers), as well as from the members of the PCC, other volunteers, and our staff team.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers.
Angela Gardner Jon Siddall
Churchwardens
Have your say about our net Vicar
Angela Gardner and Jon Siddall