Greetings and Salutations!
I begin with a declaration: I have not left my apartment today. I haven't even made it out of sweatpants, although I did change out of my pajamas around 4pm, when I took a shower. It is in the 30's outside, and I just can't be asked to leave the house.
It's been an intense few days, and I am only now really beginning to feel like I've recovered from my spring break. Here's an all-too-brief recap of what went down:
I loved Richmond. I think I liked it even better in retrospect, after having a chance to digest the experience. As you read previously, I was rather charmed with the town itself. Very pretty! Mildly racist! (As soon as you point out the Civil War guys on statues, people ask you if you saw the Arthur Ashe statue. I did not walk far enough north to find the Arthur Ashe statue; all I saw were white guys on horses.) Also the church I interviewed at, St. Ed's for the purposes of this blog, is incredibly active, well-resourced, and generally fun. The head pastor guy there is a total goofball, which appeals to me. They're looking for someone to run their missions programs, which I can totally do. I left really feeling like I could work there. Moving to Richmond would be scary and isolated at first, but it is full of hipsters and fun stuff.
I had a better time at the second church in Philadelphia. This church is way old, and we'll call it Holy Old Trinity (or, HOT). HOT is in center city, and is now adapting to the fun, arty community around. Having recently rennovated their parish hall (churches as old at HOT basically have to have a second building, because their worship spaces, by reason of age and zoning, end up being bathroom-free impossible-to-add-on-to stand-alones), they now have a little theater up in there. They also recently hired a guy from my school's music program, who is trained in African drumming and world music, so things are about to get fun up in their choir loft.
I also had a good time with the rector there. I would be following another full-time assistant, who left in the middle of last summer to head her own church. Everyone says very lovely things about her, but they include words like "quiet" and "introspective." I have already developed a good enough relationship with the rector at HOT to be like, "You know that's not me, right? I am also a big personality." To which the rector said "I know; that's one of the things that I like about out."
What it seems to come down to is this: what kind of me do I want to be? Do I want to be middle-class and buttoned-up at St. Ed's? I could fit in there as a scrubbed-clean version of myself. Or do I want to be funky and... theater-y at HOT? I think to many people who are not me this is a pretty easy question. I don't seem like someone who wants to wear a suit to work, do I? But... maybe I am.
In either case, no one has actually offered me a job yet, so this may all be premature.
Finally, the Diocese of Chicago came through with a job they want me to apply for. In Barrington, Illinois. Where is Barrington, you might ask, if you were me about a week ago? Effing far away from everything, is the answer to that question. It sounds like it could be a good job, but do I really want to move to Barrington? How politely can I tell my bishop that I don't really want to apply to the one job he wants me to apply to? Do I still want to apply to this job, just because I'm scared no one else will hire me?
This fear/anxiety combo is exhausting. Someone just needs to man up and hire me. (THEY'RE ALL WHITE MEN, I CAN SAY THAT.) Someone else needs to write four move papers and take a huge final before they can go to Cape Cod. That second person is me. The first one ... who knows.
On Tuesday, I go down to Dunn Loring, VA, which is allegedly a 25-minute Metro ride from downtown DC, to do what I hope is my last travel interview. By then I hope I will be able to come up with a goofy and barely plausible code name for that parish.
It's been an intense few days, and I am only now really beginning to feel like I've recovered from my spring break. Here's an all-too-brief recap of what went down:
I loved Richmond. I think I liked it even better in retrospect, after having a chance to digest the experience. As you read previously, I was rather charmed with the town itself. Very pretty! Mildly racist! (As soon as you point out the Civil War guys on statues, people ask you if you saw the Arthur Ashe statue. I did not walk far enough north to find the Arthur Ashe statue; all I saw were white guys on horses.) Also the church I interviewed at, St. Ed's for the purposes of this blog, is incredibly active, well-resourced, and generally fun. The head pastor guy there is a total goofball, which appeals to me. They're looking for someone to run their missions programs, which I can totally do. I left really feeling like I could work there. Moving to Richmond would be scary and isolated at first, but it is full of hipsters and fun stuff.
I had a better time at the second church in Philadelphia. This church is way old, and we'll call it Holy Old Trinity (or, HOT). HOT is in center city, and is now adapting to the fun, arty community around. Having recently rennovated their parish hall (churches as old at HOT basically have to have a second building, because their worship spaces, by reason of age and zoning, end up being bathroom-free impossible-to-add-on-to stand-alones), they now have a little theater up in there. They also recently hired a guy from my school's music program, who is trained in African drumming and world music, so things are about to get fun up in their choir loft.
I also had a good time with the rector there. I would be following another full-time assistant, who left in the middle of last summer to head her own church. Everyone says very lovely things about her, but they include words like "quiet" and "introspective." I have already developed a good enough relationship with the rector at HOT to be like, "You know that's not me, right? I am also a big personality." To which the rector said "I know; that's one of the things that I like about out."
What it seems to come down to is this: what kind of me do I want to be? Do I want to be middle-class and buttoned-up at St. Ed's? I could fit in there as a scrubbed-clean version of myself. Or do I want to be funky and... theater-y at HOT? I think to many people who are not me this is a pretty easy question. I don't seem like someone who wants to wear a suit to work, do I? But... maybe I am.
In either case, no one has actually offered me a job yet, so this may all be premature.
Finally, the Diocese of Chicago came through with a job they want me to apply for. In Barrington, Illinois. Where is Barrington, you might ask, if you were me about a week ago? Effing far away from everything, is the answer to that question. It sounds like it could be a good job, but do I really want to move to Barrington? How politely can I tell my bishop that I don't really want to apply to the one job he wants me to apply to? Do I still want to apply to this job, just because I'm scared no one else will hire me?
This fear/anxiety combo is exhausting. Someone just needs to man up and hire me. (THEY'RE ALL WHITE MEN, I CAN SAY THAT.) Someone else needs to write four move papers and take a huge final before they can go to Cape Cod. That second person is me. The first one ... who knows.
On Tuesday, I go down to Dunn Loring, VA, which is allegedly a 25-minute Metro ride from downtown DC, to do what I hope is my last travel interview. By then I hope I will be able to come up with a goofy and barely plausible code name for that parish.
posted by HighlySelective at 3:01 PM
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