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The annual Interim Ministry Network (IMN) Conference also serves as the venue of TMEC’s annual meeting of members present at the Conference. This year’s meeting took place in Pittsburgh on the afternoon of 2 June.
Following prayer and reports, TMEC President Molly Dale Smith explained the change in name of our organization to Transitional Ministries in the Episcopal Church, and she introduced the website, www.tmec-online.org, updated and revamped by TMEC Board member Alan Mead.
She explained that various TMEC Board members have been in discussions with the Church Pension Group about various issues of interest to TMEC, such as clergy funding during prolonged gaps in interim deployment. CPG could apparently assist in coordinating, though not funding, a scheme or program to fill such gaps. CPG also expressed interest in the IMN’s Professional Transition Specialist (PTS) program.
The TMEC Board has been working on a number of goals and issues over the past year. These include:
- Increased communications, improved website and e-news, courses on transitional ministry, such as at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and the publication of a book of essays on transitional ministry;
- Improved networking, especially with diocesan deployment officers, other judicatory officials, and the like. Many of these individuals have been added to our e-mailing lists over the past year;
- Better internal organization and stability, including by-law development and dialogue with CPG and others.
The following were elected to the TMEC Board:
- One-Year Term: Gary Goldacke
- Three-Year Terms: John Stonesifer
Fred Miller
Alan Mead
Open Conversation included issues such as:
- Issues facing the upcoming General Convention, including changes to Title Four (Clergy Discipline) and mandatory health plans
- Similarities between Fresh Start and IMN training materials;
- Levels of awareness among bishops and judicatory staffs about the value of transitional ministry in various diocesan and parish settings;
- Communications between outgoing interim clergy and incoming rector;
- The costs associated with doing transitional ministry;
- The qualities of successful interim clergy.
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