November 29, 2016
Announcing a New Priest for St. Philip’s
The Vestry is pleased to announce the call of The Reverend Eric Williams to St. Philip’s! Fr. Eric will begin his ministry with us on January 9th and will lead his first service January 15th as Priest In Charge. We would like to give our most sincere thanks to the hard work of the search committee for their careful and thoughtful discernment during this process and to our Interim Rector Mother Cynthia, who provided patience and guidance during this period. Also, we would like to thank the many individuals who worked tirelessly on our history, Holy Conversations, and the Parish Profile which provided a realistic view of our needs and strengths.
Throughout the interview process, the search committee was consistently struck by the parallels between Fr. Eric’s strengths and the needs of St. Philip’s. Not only did he seem a perfect fit for our parish on paper, but in the first interview Fr. Eric expressed feeling a “tug” toward St. Philip’s. Prior to reading our profile he had no immediate plan to leave his current position at the Whitaker Institute. During the first interview and interviews to follow, his passion and empathetic nature was apparent and his positive energy was unmatched.
In our Parish Profile we expressed interest in the revitalization of our ministries and nurturing relationships within the parish. Fr. Eric has been blessed with the gift of intuition and emotional intelligence. He likes to “lead from the side”, encouraging ideas and nurturing the individual spiritual gifts that will push St. Philip’s forward. He says his job is to “see God’s spirit in ideas”. He likes transparency when working toward goals and has expressed new ways to invite the surrounding community to the parish while welcoming diversity.
A native of Los Angeles, the Rev. Eric Williams received his B.A. in History from Williams College in 1986 and his M.Div. from the General Theological Seminary in 1992. A priest for 24 years, he has served congregations in Western Massachusetts, Western New York and Michigan. Most recently, Fr. Eric has served the Diocese of Michigan as Director of the Whitaker Institute, the adult formation arm of the diocese, a position he has held since July 2014. He is married to the Very Rev. Susan Anslow Williams, Rector of St. Stephen’s in Troy and Dean of the Oakland Deanery. They have two daughters, Margaret (18) and Emily (15). For recreation, he enjoys singing, jogging, bicycling and skiing and is addicted to crossword puzzles.
Father Eric has just returned from leading a trip to the Holy Lands where he recorded a short message to all of us at St. Philip’s which is available below.
We hope you will join us on January 15th to welcome him.
Vestry
St. Philip’s, Rochester
November 29, 2016
A Message from Fr. Eric Williams
Dear Philippians,
I am so grateful and honored to be called as your next priest. When I received the official notice, I was in the Holy Land, leading a diocesan pilgrimage of 34 people to the sites most closely associated with Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. It was a wonderful and powerful experience and I can’t imagine a more amazing place to accept a call to this new ministry. I prayed for you all in those places and for God to bless this new chapter in our lives.
I am thankful, as I know you are, for the ministry of your interim rector, the Rev. Cynthia Garman. I am very grateful also to your vestry and search committee for their hard work and dedication during this process. In every interview and question I heard deep love for God and for this parish and their desire to see St. Philip’s grow and flourish. We all know that the Church today faces many challenges and St. Philip’s is no exception, but with the kind of faith and love I encountered, I believe we have everything we need to face those challenges.
Advent is the season of expectation in which we prepare not only to celebrate the birth of Jesus 2,000 years ago, but also for his coming in glory. I will be praying for you during this season and eagerly anticipating the beginning of our ministry together in January. As I mentioned to the Search Committee and Vestry, one of my very first goals will be to meet as many of you as I can. I will be posting times when I can visit you at home or for coffee. For me ministry is all about building stronger relationships with God, with each other and with the community around us and I am eager to get started.
In the meantime, I wish you all a blessed Advent and a joyous Christmas and I look forward to meeting you very soon.
Faithfully,
Eric Williams
Video Message from Fr. Eric Williams
Please click here to view a video message from Fr. Eric Williams.
