Parish Selection Committee Announcement
September 13, 2020

The Parish Selection Committee (PSC) is delighted to announce that, on the committee’s unanimous and enthusiastic recommendation, Bishop Jenny Andison has appointed The Rev. Nathan J.A. Humphrey as the eighth Rector of St. Thomas’s.  
 
In his cover letter to the Bishop, Fr. Humphrey wrote that he was open to entering into a dialogue with us because “in his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul lists the ‘discernment of spirits’ amongst the chief gifts of the Holy Spirit (cf. I Cor. 12:10). From very early on, this gift has played a central role in my life. Discernment entails a willingness to listen for God’s call, whatever it might be and however remote it might seem at the time (to me or to others).”

COVID has made many things seem remote and impossible – not least finding the person God is calling to lead St. Thomas’s. The PSC has, from the very beginning, grounded its work in prayerful trust in the Holy Spirit working among us, and in humble discernment, and we are thankful for God’s abundant grace in showing us the way to Fr. Humphrey and him to us. There were many applicants who expressed interest to the Bishop in exploring a call to St. Thomas’s based on our extensive parish family discernment, as expressed in our Parish Profile.  
  
We interviewed our top choices from a short list of candidates that Bishop Andison gave us, men and women from around the US and Canada. The committee asked the candidates to provide written submissions to questions about their theology, approach to parish life, formative theological influences, ecclesiology, pastoral care, stewardship and leadership approaches, evangelization, and Christian formation, and to respond to various case studies. We also asked them to provide examples of preaching and chanting. We then interviewed each candidate via Zoom on two separate occasions, using a series of questions and case scenarios developed from the priorities identified by the parish. Each member of the committee independently scored every element of the candidate’s application and together arrived at a recommendation. 

Fr. Humphrey was the top-rated candidate for all members of the committee. He surpassed our selection criteria as outlined in the Parish Profile (person of prayer, respectful of and deeply inhabiting our Anglo-Catholic tradition, able leader, appreciation of liturgical music and the liturgy in general, commitment to community outreach, strong preacher, pastoral qualities and skill). His track record of parish growth and of guiding successful capital campaigns also made him an ideal fit for this season of our parish’s life.
 
Following graduation from the Yale Divinity School in 1997, Fr. Humphrey spent some years as a lay chaplain to an Episcopal day school before being ordained in 2001, served as a curate for four years in Maryland, and for eight years was a member of the ministry team at St. Paul’s, K Street, in Washington, DC, one of the great bastions of Anglo-Catholicism in the United States, including two six-month terms as priest-in-charge. He was then recruited by the Bishop of Rhode Island as Vicar of the Zabriskie Memorial Church of Saint John the Evangelist in Newport, to restore it to long-term sustainability. When he first arrived in 2013, the average Sunday attendance was below 25, but by 2016 the growth was so significant that the church had regained parish status, and Fr. Humphrey was installed as Rector. He has been there for seven years. With a reflective and prayerful approach to leadership, a keen gift of discernment, and a dynamic theology of stewardship, Fr. Humphrey reanimated St. John’s by, among other things, founding a choir school program for boys and girls. In our interviews, he showed himself to be an excellent communicator, wise and diplomatic, skilled at building teams, open and honest, and in possession of a winsome sense of humour. Fr. Humphrey is married to Anne Stone, a communications consultant, and they have two children – Margaret, 13, and Andrew, 11. Fr. Humphrey and his family will be living in the rectory. However, due to complications around Covid-19 and arrangements concerning his children’s education, Fr. Humphrey will not be able to join us until July 2021. We are very grateful that Fr. David Brinton has graciously agreed to remain as our Priest-in-Charge until Fr. Humphrey’s arrival.
 
We are especially grateful to Bishop Andison, who supported and empowered us generously to do our work. Her own discernment in preparing the short list of applicants was pitch-perfect. She proved herself to be sensitively attuned to the unique charisms of St. Thomas’s and genuinely invested in nurturing them. She inspired us to surrender to the spacious love that God has for this place, to see our important role in the wider church, and not to fear current challenges. 
 
The committee is also grateful for the inspiring and prayerful leadership that Alice Degan, our past chair, provided to the committee, the able support of Susan Graham Walker, our diocesan facilitator, the design talents of Willem Hart, the work of all who contributed to the Parish Profile, Julia Armstrong’s assistance with communications, and the administrative support provided by Christine Cover.
 
Finally, we owe a great debt of thanks to Fr. David Brinton, Fr. Chris D’Angelo, and Deacon James Shire for their leadership of the parish and assistance to the committee, and to you, the parish, for your input and support during the selection process.
 
We invite you to meet and begin to get to know Fr. Humphrey at a special Zoom-based coffee hour hosted by the PSC this Wednesday, September 16, at 7:00 p.m. Both Fr. Humphrey and Bishop Andison will be in attendance. An email invitation will be sent to all parishioners and friends of the parish.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

 Parish Selection Committee
Anna Kennedy, Bob Kennedy, Patricia Kennedy, Jessica Nee (Chair), Michael Rowland, Andrew Smith, Lorne Swan