I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been enjoying the irises in bloom over the last couple of weeks. They’re tall and colorful and they smell like candy – what’s not to love? Since I’m not an iris fanatic, however, I tend to forget about them until they bloom. They spend the winter months as little brown bulbs, hidden beneath the dirt, biding their time until spring. When the soil starts to warm, they send out little green shoots that push their way up to the surface, busily working, unnoticed, while we are admiring the crocuses and snowdrops. For a few more weeks, they look like leggy green weeds, and they’re lucky I’m not a more zealous gardener, because I would probably pull a few of them up by mistake. Eventually, though, all their hard work pays off when they open up their glorious blossoms and celebrate with some cross-pollination. (If any of this isn’t quite accurate, I apologize. I’m a librarian, not a botanist.)
If our rector search were an iris, it would be in the leggy weed phase. The long winter is over and we are working our little hearts out to grow some flowers, but there just isn’t much to look at yet. We recently finished the away visits to our semi-finalists, and then last week we gathered as a committee to discern our next steps. At this point, we have spent quite a bit of time getting to know our candidates. They are an amazing bunch of people, and letting go of any of them is extremely difficult. However, after much intense discussion and prayer, we have identified a set of finalists and are working to schedule their visits. Each visit will last two days, and will include a meeting with the Bishop, a formal interview with the search committee, and a meet-and-greet with the Vestry. We are hoping to schedule the visits for June, but the timing is entirely dependent on the calendars of the people involved, so we don’t know yet exactly when we will wrap up this next phase. Just know that we are pushing towards the sun, a little more every day, and keep us in your prayers.
Melanie Schlosser
