With great joy, we share here that the SsAM Vestry has called
The Reverend Patrick Burke
to serve as the new Rector of the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew (SsAM).
Click here to see the announcement and welcome.
WHOM WE SOUGHT
We hoped for a rector who:
• is visionary, and is a community collaborator and leader especially in the areas of social justice, with an understanding of urban settings and the inner city.
• is committed to diversity and inclusion. SsAM was created as an intentionally diverse parish, and parishioners place a high value on the inclusion of all people.
• is welcoming, with the gift of inviting and incorporating new members, who has excellent pastoral care skills and is a caring listener.
• is creative, a motivator, an inspirational and knowledgeable preacher, spiritually nurturing, and who has a sense of humor.
• is a strong administrator, who works collaboratively and innovatively to understand and expand ways to fully live into SsAM’s Mission and Vision and our Guiding Principles.
PARISH PROFILE
Click here to download a copy of our Parish Profile in PDF format.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
FINANCIAL INFORMATION: To learn more about SsAM’s finances, please click here to see our most recent Annual Report.
ABOUT OUR RECTOR SEARCH PROCESS
A Partnership.
We encourage each other to trust in the Holy Spirit, and trust in those responsible for the process of calling a new rector — a partnership with the SsAM congregation, Bishop Brown, the Diocese of Delaware staff, and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Church in Delaware. The Rev. Canon Martha Kirkpatrick serves as our diocesan Transition Officer. Click here to read an extract from her sermon at SsAM in January, 2022.
Consultant For Transition: Diane B. Pollard
Diane B. Pollard has joined our transition work as consultant, in partnership with Bishop Brown. Diane is an experienced consultant from New York City who serves on the Finance Committee of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. She brings a great deal of work experience at the national church level and with parishes in transition.
SsAM’s Prayer in a Time of Transition
God of love, in this interim time, we pray for our parish family. Grant us genuine self-reflection, patient discernment, and daring faith. May we be imaginative about our future, open in our search and, in all things, knit together in one body through Jesus Christ. Amen.”
A Rector Search Committee was appointed in August, 2022.
On August 18, 2022, the Vestry was pleased to announce the names of those who will serve on our Rector Search Committee. Many members were nominated to serve, but only seven could be appointed.
Those appointed are shown in the photo above, taken when they were commissioned and mask mandates were still in place. Left to right are: Sherry Goodill (Chair), Joshua Martin, Ernestine Brock-Walker, Carey Corbin (Vestry member), Tom Angell, Christina Brennan Lee (Vestry member), and William Young (Vice Chair).
Reports of the Rector Search Committee
Click here to see the recent reports from the Rector Search Committee.
