Search Committee News

Welcome to Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, Texas. We are glad you are visiting our website and hope you will check out our Parish Profile. We are prayerfully seeking the right person to serve as our next Dean, so if you find the portrayal in this website interesting, we are interested in hearing from you.

Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest church in the city of Houston, but we are far from old fashioned. Our worship is traditional, but our outlook is modern. We believe the primary message of the Gospel is love and that justice is love in action.  We try to live that belief in reaching out to each other and to our homeless neighbors. We are looking for a visionary leader who will inspire, support, and encourage us in our efforts.

We are the Cathedral church of the Diocese of Texas, but we are also Christ Church Parish and the Dean of the Cathedral serves as Rector of the Parish. In the pages of our profile you will find pictures and details that we think will give you a glimpse of who we are and what we do. There is also a detailed description of the attributes we believe are important in our next Dean.

If what we are seeking resonates with your understanding of ministry, and if your experience has developed your skills to work with a diverse and very involved congregation, we invite and encourage you to consider Christ Church Cathedral. Please send a letter describing your interest and experience and your resume or Ministry Portfolio to:

Kay Pieringer, Search Committee Chair
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Avenue
Houston, Texas 77002

We also welcome submissions, sample sermons, nominations, comments, and feedback at this secure email address for the committee chair: kpieringer@christchurchcathedral.org

We wish you God’s peace in your spiritual journey, wherever it takes you.

Kay Pieringer
Chair, Search Committee
Christ Church Cathedral, Houston
713-825-9577
kpieringer@christchurchcathedral.org

Michael Bullington        John Cater        Linnet Deily        Patrick Hayes        Frances Kittrell        Jim Murdaugh        Charlie Prioleau        Risher Randall, Jr.        Flo Ray        Wick Rowland        Bess Wareing        Andy Vickery, Senior Warden, ex officio

We hope that you will take a few minutes to look at the new Cathedral Profile. Creating the profile was a cheerfully undertaken labor of love and a very rewarding study of our church. We began by looking at profiles from other churches and at the 1998 profile from the search that brought Dean Reynolds to the Cathedral. The results of the Parish Survey combined with work from the Vestry Retreat brought us to the six Guiding Principles around which the profile is structured. Your responses from the Town Meetings supplied ideas that were crucial to our descriptions of the history and character of the Cathedral. From the beginning we knew we wanted to include lots of photographs to show not only the beauty of our church but also the vibrancy of our community, and thanks to many talented photographers in our church, we had a lot from which to choose.

As we worked to describe our church, we were ever more grateful for the gifts and ministries of all our members and we tried to communicate that appreciation on every page. Whether you look over the pages casually or read the text carefully, we hope you will enjoy it as much as we do. It is our prayer that, like us, you will find your ties to the Cathedral strengthened and your appreciation for our community enhanced.

— Flo Ray

Download the Parish Profile (PDF, 5.38MB)

On Sunday, March 25, 2012, parishioners were invited by the Search Committee and Vestry to participate in small group discussions to share ideas regarding the search for a new Dean. Twelve groups assembled in various places throughout the church, each led by a member of the Search Committee and assisted by a Vestry member. The same four questions were presented to each group and recorded on paper. Results were then gathered and compiled by question.

This was not a particularly scientific process or analysis. Rather it was an informal way to invite and consider feedback and input from the community at large. Approximately 170 people participated in randomly assigned groups which ranged in number from twelve to sixteen.

We are a diverse community on many levels and answers to the questions reflected a variety of views and perspectives. It would be impossible to represent every thoughtful response here as there were so many, however a number of themes rose clearly to the fore. The following summaries attempt to capture ideas that garnered the greatest consensus:

1. What can we tell a prospective new Dean about who we are at the Cathedral that will make the person want to accept our call?

We want the new Dean to know that we are an inclusive and accepting community and that we are diverse in terms of geography, lifestyle and intellectual leanings. We want the Dean to know we are proud of our history, we honor our traditions and we value being an urban church in a large and vibrant city. We also want the new Dean to know that we are eager to participate and are open to new ideas. It is especially important that the new Dean appreciates and supports the central role music plays in the life of the Cathedral. We believe two compelling reasons for the new Dean to come to Christ Church Cathedral are the strength of the Cathedral family and an opportunity to take his or her place in our long history of outstanding preaching.

2. Is there something new or some things we have not gotten around to doing yet that we want the new Dean to address?

Interestingly this question had the fewest responses and the least overlap across groups. However, a couple of points came through. We see a general need to grow the membership of the Cathedral with particular attention to young adults and young families of all kinds. There is a desire to see greater support and integration of single people as well. In smaller numbers there were suggestions to work more effectively with older congregants and there was some interest expressed in offering an alternative service of some kind.

3. What brought you to the Cathedral and what keeps you here?

This question inspired many touching and personal responses. Answers again covered a wide range, and each story is moving and informative in its own right. That said, many of us zeroed in on five important factors that drew us here and compel us to stay: a feeling of being welcomed and accepted regardless of differences, outstanding preaching, glorious music in a beautiful setting, and the quality of our liturgical worship.

4. Are there Cathedral stories we should tell prospects that define us and validate who we want to continue to be?

This final question led to much laughter, reminiscence and a good deal of head-scratching while trying to remember specific story details. Space limitations prohibit including them all here but be assured they’ve been recorded and will be employed with care and good humor!

Lastly, each and every group endorsed the Town Meeting format as a useful model and time well spent. Many suggested we consider using it in the future for other topics. All group leaders reported lively and thoughtful exchange, even when there were disparate opinions, further evidence of our community’s common values of diversity and acceptance.

Thanks to all who participated and to those of you now taking the time to review these results.

Prayerfully submitted,
Bess Wareing

Dear Friends,

The call of a new Dean is a critical event in the life of our Cathedral. It is a time to seriously consider our future and the qualifications we most value in the person who will be next Dean of Christ Church Cathedral.

The process of searching for the new Dean provides an important opportunity for our congregation to share in the task of assessing who we are and our hopes and dreams for the future. To assist in this task, the Search Committee has created an online survey which we invite you to complete. The survey not only asks direct questions about the kind of pastoral leader you would like the new Dean to be, but it also includes broader questions regarding the Cathedral’s current ministry and your own involvement.

Your responses to the survey are completely anonymous. We need your candor and honest views. The survey can be completed in as few as seven minutes, but should take no longer than fifteen minutes.

The deadline for submission of the survey is midnight, Monday, March 26, 2012. A summary of the survey results will be posted on the Cathedral website.

In addition, the Search Committee invites you to participate in “town meeting” conversations with the members of the committee on Sunday, March 25, during the 10 o’clock education hour. We will all meet in the Great Hall and then disperse to small groups.

Please click on the link below to begin the survey. Thank you for your prayers and your support.

God’s peace,

Kay

Kay Pieringer

Chair, Search Committee

kpieringer@christchurchcathedral.org

Survey Link: http://www.esurveyspro.com/s/186408/ChristChurchCathedral_Survey

Loving God, as your Son Jesus once called disciples to make them fishers of men, so now we ask you to bless the ministry of our Search Committee as they seek to discern your will for the calling of a new Dean to the Cathedral.

Lord Jesus, send us a priest who, like you, comes to be among us as one who serves; help us to call a faithful pastor, missionary, teacher, and leader who by word and example will inspire and guide your Church.

May the Holy Spirit guide and sustain us in our search. Amen.

We are pleased to introduce the members of the search committee for a new dean:

• Mike Bullington
• John Cater
• Linnet Deily
• Patrick Hayes
• Frances Kittrell
• Jim Murdaugh
• Kay Pieringer, chair
• Charlie Prioleau
• Risher Randall, Jr.
• Flo Ray
• Wick Rowland
• Bess Wareing
• Andy Vickery, senior warden, ex officio

We are so grateful to each of you for your thoughtful participation in recommending your fellow parishioners for service on the search committee for a new dean! 

You recommended exactly 130 different individuals for our consideration.

We are indeed blessed to be part of a community which includes an abundance of intelligent, caring and committed people.

The most difficult part of our job (so far) was to narrow down the list of potential members to just twelve.

Thank you for your confidence in God’s guidance reflected in our decisions.  We ask for your continued prayers for each member of the search committee as we strive to ascertain God’s will in the calling of a new dean for the Cathedral that we all love so much.

God’s peace,
Kay and Jim

Kay Pieringer, search committee chair
Jim Murdaugh, former senior warden

The vestry has approved the appointment of Kay Pieringer as chair of a search committee to call a new dean for Christ Church Cathedral. The committee, which will likely include 9–12 people, will be formed soon. We heartily solicit your recommendations for committee membership — as well as your thoughts and prayers. Suggestion boxes will be available through January 29 in the Cathedral bell porch, in the Great Hall, and at the reception desk in the Latham Building. Please feel free also to contact Kay Pieringer or Senior Warden Jim Murdaugh directly with any recommendations or suggestions you have.