Transition Update! – The St. John’s Search Committee has taken input from parishioner surveys and completed the first two steps in the search process – the parish profile and the Office of Transition Ministry (OTM) portfolio! The Vestry has approved the use of both documents. The parish profile is posted prominently at https://stjohnsithaca.org and the more detailed OTM portfolio has been submitted to The Rev. Canon Megan Castellan, Canon to the Ordinary for Formation and Mission Development, for entry into the Office of Transition Ministry database.

A metaphor often used to describe the relationship between a rector and a parish is marriage; a parish profile and OTM portfolio would then be like an online dating profile.

At the diocesan level, Canon Megan enters our OTM portfolio into the national database, our Diocese advertises the position nationally, and rector candidates examine our OTM portfolio first, and then our parish profile before sending their applications to Canon Megan. She then goes through them and passes a vetted list on to the Search Committee, which then reads through candidate documentation, selects a subset for a first interview (via Zoom), then winnows the list down to a manageable number for a second interview. After the second round of interviews, the Search Committee will submit its consensus recommendation to the Vestry for its consideration.

With this timeline, we are hopeful that the Vestry could issue a call to our next rector as early as this autumn!

Summer Choir Practice in the church on Sundays at 9:00 am to sing at the 10:00 am service.  All are welcome! No previous singing experience required!


Laundry Love  is doing more laundry than ever before!  If you would like to help out, and do someone’s laundry, let the office know.

  • Laundry Love needs extra tote/grocery bags so guests can carry their things home in comfort! If you have spare grocery/tote bags (those fabric-ish ones you pay 5 cents for are perfect) bring them by the church!
  • The Dignity Pantry provides hygiene items, socks, underwear, and other necessities to our guests who come to Loaves and Fishes and Laundry Love. The Dignity Pantry is running low on detergent, diapers, shampoo, toothpaste, and other hygiene necessities.