St. Peter’s church is committed to a transparent and inclusive transition process. We will ensure that everyone in the congregation is kept aware of how the search is progressing, and has a voice in the future of the church.
We’ll be updating this page regularly as the transition progresses.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please contact a member of the vestry directly, or email us at !
Transition Timeline
This page will be regularly updated as we progress through the process of finding our next rector. For previous updates, please click here – there you’ll find everything posted throughout this process in case you’ve missed anything!
Update – October 25, 2024 – Introducing Rev. Richard Towers!
The Vestry is delighted to announce the installation of the Rev. Richard Towers as Interim Priest at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. He will be on campus the week of November 11th and his first service will be Sunday November 17th. We are deeply grateful to the congregation for their support during this transition time and look forward to continuing to serve the congregation under Rev. Rich’s leadership. Please give Rev. Rich a warm St. Peter’s welcome when you see him in November and continue to lift him, and the Vestry, up in prayer as we move forward in our transition process.
About Father Rich
Father Rich has devoted 35 years to pastoral ministry and leadership focusing on children and young adults, including 20 years as a chaplain and senior administrator at six college preparatory schools in the U.S. and abroad. For the past 25 years, Rich has been an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church. He has also served as an administrator at an Episcopal seminary. He is proudest of being commissioned (at the young age of 41) as a Chaplain in the United States Navy. In his eight years of service, he was Squadron Chaplain in the 4th Marine Aircraft Group and, later, Force Chaplain for the United States Forces Korea. He most recently served as Interim Rector at the Church of the Good Shepherd on the Monterey Peninsula in Central California.
A native of the Rochester area, he attended Houghton College and Bexley Hall at Colgate Rochester Divinity School and was ordained at Christ Church, Rochester. With family and friends in the area, he looks forward to returning home. He is particularly excited about the work of St. Peter’s, a congregation with a deep missional identity and proud legacy of service in Geneva.
Formation of the Search Committee
The Vestry will be announcing the Search Committee members very soon – stay tuned!
Parish Information Gathering
We will also be kicking off the information-gathering phase of the process with a survey that you will soon be receiving from Holy Cow Consulting. Keep an eye out for more information about that in the near future!
Is your email address on the Parish Roster?
We need to make sure as many members of our church family participate in this process as possible–and if you’re reading this, that probably means you! If you are not receiving the weekly St. Peter’s Episcopal Church Weekly News from , PLEASE email Jessamyn at and let her know to add you to the Parish Roster. We need as many members of the church as possible to take this survey–it’s imperative that everyone’s voice sings in this choir!
If you have any issues with your email, or you don’t feel comfortable being completing an online survey for any reason, please call the church office anytime, email the vestry, or speak to a member of the vestry on Sunday.
And remember, if you have any questions about the process, ideas or suggestions, feel worried or uneasy, or simply wish to discuss the process, you can always reach your vestry with any questions at , or come and speak to any of us on Sunday. And as Reverend Virginia Tyler Smith said during her discussion today, additionally if you have any questions at all about this process, you can reach her at as well.
Thank you all for your dedication, engagement, and commitment to this process. We’re looking forward to the coming weeks and months with prayer, reflection, and joy!
What St. Peter’s Offers Our New Rector
A vibrant, engaged, and committed congregation–grateful for our history and excited to embrace the future
A church family that is warm, loving, and eager to welcome any and all into our fold
A robust parish operation, with a full-time priest and eight staff members
A peerless music program, from our four choirs to the St. Peter’s Community Arts Academy (with over 300 enrolled students currently)
A dedication to ministries that serve our community, including Neighbor’s Night, our Food Pantry, and more.
A beautiful location in Geneva, NY, in the heart of the Finger Lakes
Beautiful buildings and grounds in excellent shape, following a recent capital campaign that saw our church, parish hall, and adjacent SPCAA building completely renovated and refurbished to the highest standards
Solid financial standing, with a strong congregational dedication to pledging and a healthy endowment
What St. Peter’s Is Looking for in a Rector
Details to be provided in the fall, following our Parish self-study and information gathering phase.
Details to be provided upon finalization of the search committee members
St. Peter’s Transition FAQ
Q: We’ve known Father Adams was retiring for a while now... why aren’t we farther along in this process already?
A: This is something the vestry initially struggled with as well: we originally planned to start many of these activities over six months ago. However, in discussions with both Father Jim and the Diocesan leadership, we learned of the importance of taking this process step-by-step: and the first step is focusing on saying “farewell” to the departing rector.
While we are all excited about what the future holds for our church, it’s no secret that we’re all left with heavy hearts after saying goodbye to Father Jim and Sue: and it’s important that we’ve been able to focus on saying those goodbyes and process those feelings. It’s only after the departing rector has left that the search process can begin. Again, this was the counsel of the Diocese, Father Jim wholly supported it--and now having been through the farewell banquet and the final service with Jim and Sue, we can see it was the right decision.
Q: It seems like a long wait to not even start gathering information from the parish until the fall.
A: The vestry is anxious to begin the process as well--our initial plan was to begin the survey immediately after Father Jim and Sue headed off to LDBC. However, the deeper we dived into the process, the more problems we found. It is crucial that we’re able to get input from everyone in the congregation--we all need a voice in this process. And with summer vacations and travel plans, we found it would be difficult--if not impossible--reach everyone if we attempted this over the summer. Hence why we're going to begin the survey process in earnest in the fall.
Q: Why are we choosing to employ an interim rector rather than taking applications for the position of rector right now?
A: Our church is exceedingly active, and multiple programs use our buildings daily. We need an experienced priest to help keep all our ministries and programs up and running while we take needed steps to find a rector. The process to find a new rector will require surveying our congregation to help determine what we need and want in a rector. This will take time and careful consideration.
While we work through the steps, we need to provide our congregation and ministries with a full time leader and that requires more time, effort and skill than can be provided by supply clergy who perform religious services on Sundays.
Q: What can I do to help?
A: In the short term, start thinking about St. Peter’s! Start thinking about exactly what you love about this church, what is most important to you--and yes, think about anything you’d like to see changed or improved. As noted above, the next step in this process will be gathering information from everyone in the parish. So start thinking about what qualities you’d like to see in our next rector, and what you’d like from the next leader of our parish!
Q: Who should I talk to if I have questions?
A: Your vestry is available to answer any questions that come up during this period. It’s natural to feel uncertain about this process--this is something St. Peter’s hasn’t done in over four decades! We welcome any questions, concerns, or suggestions from anyone at any time. You can reach the vestry at .
Q: How long is the process expected to take? That is, how long until we have a new full-time rector at St. Peter’s?
A: This is a very difficult question to answer. The short answer is: we don’t know. The reality is that there are fewer rectors seeking new parishes right now than there were when Father Adams was a young priest. The reality of the situation is that it could take a full year or longer to find a full-time rector. We don’t want anyone to be scared by that answer--we may very well find our perfect rector much sooner than that. But it’s critical that we approach this process with the goal of finding the right rector.
