The Northwest Michigan Episcopal Curacy Partnership (Posted 3/17/21)

As the church evolves into the 21st century we are presented with unprecedented challenges that require most clergy to have skills and experiences that would have been the realm of specialists and development experts just a few years ago. Yet there are fewer and fewer opportunities available for new priests that intentionally develop and foster these new skills in the context of a full-time call. At the same time, smaller churches everywhere that have been used to the traditional full-time rector model are looking for new ways to resource clergy for their communities.

Here in northwest Michigan, we are preparing to address both of these concerns by building an innovative curacy program. The mission of the “Northwest Michigan Episcopal Curacy Partnership” is to give newly ordained clergy the chance to spend three years in a full-time call where their time is split between two congregations that are partnering to create a sustainable position and a healthy and fruitful early career experience.

Serving as priest-in-charge of St. Paul's, Elk Rapids, a family-sized congregation in need of revitalization, our new curate will experience vocational life as the sole/executive clergy of a church, while also working at Grace, Traverse City, a program-sized parish as an associate priest for outreach and mission with significant supervisory and volunteer management responsibilities across a range of outreach programs.

While the portfolio is broad, great care has and will continue to be taken to ensure a reasonable work/life balance, provide helpful and engaged supervision, and offer excellent professional development opportunities beyond the parish context.

We covet your prayers as we embark on this partnership that invests in the future of the church, and, if you know of anyone who is preparing to be ordained, or who has only been ordained for a short period of time, who has a heart for outreach and congregational development, please pass along this information.

Those wishing to apply are asked to submit a cover letter, resume, and a copy of OTM Portfolio to the Rev. Jim Perra at [email protected] by April 9, 2021.

Job description on ENS board - https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/jobs/curate-associate- priest-in-charge/

Webpage/Brochure - http://bit.ly/wmicuracy