Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the process for selecting an Associate?
Once an Associate announces his or her departure, the Rector begins the process of selecting a replacement. The canons of the Episcopal Church give rectors full authority and responsibility to choose an associate with only the approval of their bishops. Both Diocesan Bishop Eugene Sutton and Suffragan Bishop John Rabb wholeheartedly support Amy’s choice.

2. How did Amy’s process differ from this?
Although the selection of an associate was Amy's alone to make, transparency and trust are vitally important to her. She asked the Senior Warden to appoint a committee of parishioners to meet with her and be a ‘sounding board’ as part of her evaluation and decision-making process. They were not a search committee; they did not identify candidates or approve Amy’s selection. They did meet several times, talk at length with Amy, ask hard questions, meet with Joe, and then wholeheartedly provide to the Vestry their strong endorsement of her selection.

3. Did Amy talk to our Bishops before she made this decision?
Amy talked with Bishop Miller who was her ‘boss’ at her previous church in Milwaukee where she was Rector and Joe was Associate. In an email to our committee, Bishop Miller commented:

“If any two people can work together, Amy and Joe can. You have two good clergy there. They are good about having boundaries, I wouldn’t worry about that. My advice to your parish is to remember that they are two different people. Often people see couples as one, and that’s not the case. Take good care of them—they are good people.”

Amy also had early discussions with both Bishop Rabb and Bishop Sutton, both of whom gave her their enthusiastic blessing.

4. What does a Rector look for in an Associate?
Rectors must have someone they can trust implicitly and work with in harmony to serve and lead their congregations. It is quite usual for rectors to choose someone with whom they have worked before or whom they know from some other interaction in a diocese or in the larger Church.

5. Did Amy consider other candidates prior to selecting Joe?
Amy looked at many clergy in the Diocese of Maryland as well as some from outside. She did not feel that any of them were a good fit for St. Anne’s.

6. Why is Joe willing to step back from a Rector position to become Associate Rector?
Joe is excited to be working for a really good Rector who he loves and trusts! He believes his skills are better used as a teacher, scholar and in pastoral care rather than with buildings and budgets which are priorities for any Rector.

7. How do Amy and Joe know this will work?
Because they have done it before! They worked together for four years at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with Amy as Rector and Joe as her Associate. Joe says “Amy is a joy to work for and we complement each other’s skills.”

8. What excites Joe about coming to St. Anne’s?
He is excited about developing a curriculum for adults and creating at St. Anne’s a center of educational excellence for the Diocese. He believes in a cradle to grave approach for Episcopalians and looks forward to helping to develop that.

9. Is it unusual for a husband and wife to work together at the same church?
There are many couples throughout the Episcopal Church who work together. Within the Diocese of Maryland, there are several clergy couples serving separate parishes. Amy and Joe would be one of two couples in which both husband and wife serve the same parish. Of the five largest parishes in our diocese, four of the rectors (three women and one man) are also married to clergy.

10. How does St. Anne’s benefit?

• We have an unusually high caliber of priest coming as Associate.
  
• We are likely to retain Amy as Rector for longer because of their double commitment to this Parish.
  
• There are two priests in the Diocese of Maryland with PhDs in theology; we now have both of them!
  
• Joe is an award-winning preacher who may develop a Distinguished Preaching Series similar to the one he built at Emmanuel.
  
• Amy says, “Because Joe and I have experience working together as associate and rector, I am confident that our professional working relationship will benefit St. Anne’s greatly.”
  
• Selecting someone in whom Amy has complete trust will shorten the transition time and flatten the learning curve.
  
• The selection of Joe saves St. Anne’s the expense of a nationwide search, relocation expenses, and additional health insurance costs.
  
• Having this caliber of Rector and Associate allows us to consider adding a curate as a third member of the clerical staff.

11. What is the John Hines Preaching Award that Joe received?
Joe is the recipient of the 2010 John Hines Preaching Award, given by Virginia Theological Seminary. This is the Oscar of preaching! It is given annually to the outstanding preaching entry “where prophetic voice is central within the sermon.” All Bishops, Priests, Deacons and Laity of the Episcopal Church in America are eligible. Click on (include link) to read the full text of the sermon.

12. What else has Joe done?
He is stepping down as Rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Baltimore. He is also Affiliate Professor of Theology at Loyola University in Baltimore. He holds a Ph. D. in Theology from Marquette University (in Systematic Theology and Ethics), an M. Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He has been ordained for six years, and spent the first two years of his ordained ministry at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukee, WI as Associate Rector. Before ordination, Joe was a full-time professor of theology at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. Please see (link) to read Joe Pagano’s complete resume.

13. What are Joe’s particular skills?
He connects and communicates well with people of all ages. He has excellent skills in preaching, teaching, and pastoral care and he helped to build Emmanuel Church’s adult education program and outreach program.

14. What are Joe’s hobbies?
He loves to golf, hike and fish and he and Amy share a passion for running and hiking. As a former third baseman, he would love to put together a St. Anne’s softball team! At Princeton Day School he was captain of the soccer team, MVP, and First Team All-State.

15. How will working together affect Amy and Joe’s marriage?
Amy and Joe are candid about how the health of their marriage is a priority in their lives and they both understand that they need to have outside interests and time away. They will also have very separate jobs within the parish but they do believe that working in the same parish community will create less stress in their lives and an even greater commitment to their calling.

16. How will Joe and Amy get time off together or separately?
They will arrange for supply clergy who will help provide back -up during their shared day off and while they are on vacation. For example, St. Anne’s is currently blessed by the ministry of the Rev. Richardson (Dick) Libby who currently assists on Sunday morning as a volunteer and will serve as clergy back-up during the summer. Restoring St. Anne’s to a three-priest parish is becoming more of a possibility with growing numbers at the three services, a recovering economy, and a shorter learning curve with Joe. Adding another priest or a curate would create a little “us” time for Amy and Joe.

17. If Amy leaves, won’t we lose Joe as well?
Yes, of course, but that’s usually what happens anyway. It is quite common to have both an Interim Rector and an Interim Associate. Many new Rectors hire new Associates.

18. Enough questions! When will Joe start?
Joe will start with St. Anne’s on September 1st to create a two-month transition period before Gid retires on November 1st.