Old South Church

Welcoming a 21st Senior Minister

Congregational Meeting

June 25, 2023

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Maren Batalden, on behalf of the Search Committee

A prayer attributed to Oscar Romero

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit bring wholeness. No program accomplishes the church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

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This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water the seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something and to do it well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

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The Search Committee

Jonathan Aleshire

Maren Batalden

June Cooper

Anne Dearing

Erin Hull

Bill Matson

Rory Razon

Allen Gifford

Quinn Grant

Tracy Keene

Jake Maliel

Stefanie Pietras

Phil Stern

Deb Washington

OSC Senior Minister Search Committee Covenant

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As members of the OSC Senior Minister Search Committee, we commit to:

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• Engaging this process as a spiritual journey, listening actively for the voice of the Holy Spirit, trusting God’s presence with us, asserting our deep faith in God’s guidance, believing even in the possibility that the work of this committee might nourish us

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• Offering radical welcome and hospitality to one another, listening with generosity and respect, nurturing relational trust, cultivating curiosity about our differences, seeking and offering forgiveness when necessary

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• Giving the gift of our time to attend meetings and to engage in work between meetings and to continue with the process until we have called a new minister; receiving the gift of time from one another with respect

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• Honoring the sacred trust of the congregation, the conference and ministerial candidates and maintaining – even within our own families – confidentiality about our discussions and any details regarding individuals who engage with our process

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• Acknowledging openly and navigating any potential conflicts of interest we might bring to the discussion of any particular candidate

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• Determining at every meeting what we will share about our deliberations with members of the congregation

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• Challenging implicit and explicit bias within ourselves and embedded within our processes that might limit our ability to discern God’s voice speaking to us across boundaries of race and class and gender and geography and other categories of social construction

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• Inviting conflict, questioning assumptions, attending to our blind spots, listening for what is not being said, transitioning when necessary from advocacy to inquiry, turning to wonder

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• Engaging fully in our conversations, being attentive about when to move forward and when to move back, knowing that ultimately, we must all join in full support of the candidate we recommend

Our process and timeline

*In partnership with OSC staff

Our framework for evaluation

Our strategy for outreach

• Current OSC ministerial staff and pastor members of the congregation
• All living OSC former senior ministers, associate ministers, and seminarians
• UCC Board of Ministers, national networks and interest groups of pastoral leaders within the UCC
• Ten covenantal partners of the national UCC
• American Baptist USA and American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts
• Presbyterian Synod of Boston
• Collegiate Churches of New York (network of large progressive Christian churches)

• Applicants for the associate minister job search that produced Anthony Livolsi and John Edgerton
• Still Speaking Daily Devotional writing group
• Affiliates of the Chautauqua Institution
• Deans and faculty of several progressive seminaries, with a focus on people of color in leadership positions
• Individual pastors, teachers, writers known to members of the Search Committee and suggested by the congregation

Our applicant pool

50 individuals submitted letters of interest and ministerial profiles

• 34 male and 16 female
• From 20 different states across the country and one from Canada
• Representing several mainline Protestant denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Reformed, Covenant)
• At least 13 identifying as people of color, though information on race and ethnicity not formally collected
• At least 5 identifying as members of the LGBTQ community, though information on sexual orientation and gender identity not formally collected

13 were invited to participate in an initial virtual interview

• 10 male and 3 female, 4 identifying as people of color, 4 identifying as members of the LGBTQ community

4 were invited to participate in an in-person interview experience

• 3 male and 1 female, 1 identifying as a person of color

Immersive experience with three finalists

John Edgerton

From his cover letter:

To be clear, I will do anything I can to help. You asked me to write a reference—done and done. You asked to use some of my old profile documents, not a problem. You asked for names of pastors who should apply, how about a dozen? I will do whatever I can to serve Old South, including take a big deep breath, shoo away the butterflies in my stomach and put my name forward to be considered as your next Senior Minister. I’ll do whatever I can to help because I care deeply about what comes next. I want so much for Old South be able to build on Nancy’s pastorate, honoring the legacy of your forebears and seeking no glory but that of outdoing one another in showing zeal for the Lord. I can see in my heart what that could be. I would love the chance to sit down with you and talk and pray and discern whether my dream for Old South is the same as yours and—most crucially—the same as God’s.

His resume

Education

• St. John’s College, Sante Fe NM

BA in Liberal Arts, 2004

• University of Chicago, Chicago IL

Masters in Divinity, 2009

• Formal training in community organizing from the Industrial Areas Foundation

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Experience

• Plymouth Congregational Church, Mpls MN, Pastoral Resident, 2009-2011
• Old South Church, Boston MA

Associate Minister, 2012-2019

• First United Church of Oak Park, Oak Park IL

Lead Pastor, 2019- current

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On faith and worship

Preaching has always been a passion of mine. I love the scriptures and find them full of richness and mystery. It is my love of Scripture that informs my faith in a God who is loving and powerful, who embraces LGBTQ people and comforts the grieving, whose heart breaks at wrongdoing and calls the sinner tenderly to return to paths of life. (from John’s ministerial profile)

John is one of the two or three most engaging, thoughtful, and compelling preachers that I am aware of in his generation. His sermons are theologically adept, Biblically sound, and pastorally sensitive. (James Gertmenian, retired Senior Minister from Plymouth Congregational Church in Mpls)

I believe that serving at Old South, one must balance well-loved traditions and always listening and moving to the still speaking God. I saw this in John's general approach to the service. He consistently pointed us to listen for stories that we may have not heard, or may have collectively neglected. I see this as an embodied practice of bringing the margins to the center: a practice that Christ himself was committed to and a hallmark of progressive Christianity. (OSC Staff member)

John’s Friday night Bible study centered on a passage from Nehemiah in which the prophet inspects the integrity of the walls of the city. John asked three questions: Where are your personal walls sturdy and well-built and where are they in need of repair? And the walls at Old South? And in the city of Boston? The conversation was intimate, provocative, profound.

John’s closing service of Word and Sacrament was tender and meaningful. It is awkward, he said, to lead worship as a part of a job interview; don’t let the worship, he said, be about me and my performance. He preached wisely on a passage from Acts in which the disciples were casting lots to choose a new disciple stressing that the Spirit’s work at Old South is bigger than the pastor.

As a committee, we felt deeply ministered to by John during our time together – inspired, awakened, opened, affirmed, connected

On building community

John's natural warmth of heart has sometimes been lost behind the power of his intellect and the strength of his personality. I sense, however, that as he is moving through mid-life, that warmer heart is emerging more and more. (James Gertmenian, retired Senior Minister from Plymouth Congregational Church in Mpls)

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John is very easy to talk to and of course already has deep connections with many of our members already. He has a casualness about him that makes him very approachable and non-intimidating. I think his aptitude at building partnerships will help grow and diversify the congregation. (OSC Staff)

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First United Church of Oak Park grew 5% per year during the three years of John’s tenure as lead pastor, during the COVID pandemic. New members at Oak Park are more ethnically and culturally diverse.

After spending the weekend with John, committee members felt deeply and authentically connected to one another. We believe the sense of connection was enabled not only by John’s familiarity but also by his willingness to make himself vulnerable.

It was abundantly clear during the interview process that John loves Old South – individual people at Old South about whom he cares deeply and the community as a whole.

On leadership

This past Lenten period was so significant for John’s growth from an exceptionally competent young pastor into the tested and proven national and even international leader he has become. If I had been writing this reference a year ago, I would have stated that “Rev. John Edgerton is one of the most promising young leaders in our church.” Today, I must write that “Rev. John Edgerton is a prominent leader in our church.” (Susan Thistlethwaite, author and former President of the Chicago Theological Seminary)

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John is a self-reflective leader, one who is clear about his power and privilege. I have watched him use that power to open doors for others and create space for their voices to be heard and for power to be shared. He operates with a humility that is not self-deprecating, but one that makes a way for others (OSC Staff)

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John was able to tell compelling, self-reflective stories about leadership in his role managing staff at his church in Oak Park that demonstrated his capacity to listen carefully to diverse perspectives and make difficult decisions.

He moved into the national spotlight with a Lenten series at Oak Park on “fasting from whiteness” that required incredible courage and equanimity. Through that work, he has emerged as a pastor’s pastor, providing individual support to other pastors taking a prophetic stance and facing reactionary threats of violence. He has been tapped to lead this support work more formally through the national UCC.

In reflecting on leadership lessons about the fasting from whiteness Lenten series, he reflected on the importance of asking for help and saying thank you and the power of collaboration – within his pastoral team, within the congregation, with the community, and within local interfaith networks.

As a search committee, we were impressed that John is a humble, servant leader; one who leads from behind, without ego. We see John embracing what legendary community organizer and Kennedy School professor Marshall Ganz says: leadership is about accepting responsibility for enabling others to achieve shared purpose in the face of uncertainty.

On social justice

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He has faced incredible challenges with courage and resolve and he has chosen to take on big projects in the name of justice and liberation. It is rare to find a minister with so much creative energy, intelligence, know-how, and ambition; ambition, not for himself and his own advancement, but for his congregations and for the church as a whole. He really believes that the world can be better, and he really acts to make it so. (Vince Amlin, author and Senior Pastor at Bethany UCC in Chicago)

After a morning immersion on Mass & Cass, John was asked to reflect on the role of the church in the problems he had observed. His answer was crisp and comprehensive; he spoke about aligning financial giving, opportunities for direct service and relational engagement for congregational members, and collaborative advocacy.

John has bold, creative, specific ideas for ways that Old South Church might engage the work of racial reparations – an endeavor he sees as a sacred obligation for us.

John knows and loves Old South, respects and understands our history. He is ready to meet us where we are and challenge us to take bold action for justice in the city. His existing relationships – within the congregation, within the community, and with local elected officials – will allow him to get started immediately.

When he learned of the GBIO rally for affordable housing tomorrow night, he changed his travel plans so that – if he is called to the Senior Minister position at Old South – he could participate.

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On demographics

John is a straight, white, cis-gendered man in a long line of straight, white, cis-gendered male leaders at Old South, broken only by Nancy Taylor. Many (on the Search Committee as well as the congregation) were hoping our 21st Senior Minister might be a person of color or a member of the LGBTQ community.

We committed ourselves to recruiting the most diverse pool of candidates that we could and to prioritizing diversity in our choices about which candidates we would interview and which candidates we would meet in person. We interrogated ourselves at every turn about implicit and explicit bias. We listened to each other, we disagreed, we held discomfort. But we remained committed in our discernment to the work of identifying the candidate – independent of race, gender identity, or sexual orientation – we felt God was calling to serve Old South as our 21st Senior Minister.

John knows who he is and what his privilege means. He knows when to speak and is not afraid to do so, but more importantly, he knows when not to speak and when to let others step forward.

We continue to believe that representation matters and recommend that every time we have an opportunity to expand or reconfigure our pastoral team, we hold ourselves accountable to diversifying our congregational leadership.

On John’s history at Old South

• Our historian reassures us that John is not the first former associate minister to be called to the Senior Minister role
• We know John only as an Associate and not as a Senior Minister.
• John has changed since he left us, we have changed, the world has changed. We will need to engage each other with grace, openness to a sense of possibility, and faith in what we might be able to do together.

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Our recommendation

The fourteen members of the Search Committee recognize that neither John Edgerton nor Old South is perfect. We are confident, however, in the process that produced our candidate and unified in our belief that God is ready to use us and John’s collaborative leadership to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly into the next chapter of our life together in this church and in this city. We recommend that the congregation call John Marlow Edgerton to serve as the 21st Senior Minister of Old South.

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