Author: Lou Ellen Gibson

April 26, 2024 – Parish Wide Survey

The Vestry has appointed a Nominating Committee to conduct a search for a new rector for Holy Family. The nominating committee will then recommend candidates to the Vestry. One of the major components of our search is to construct a Parish Profile that will be available to prospective candidates.

Your input as parishioners of Holy Family is vital to the success of our Parish Profile and ultimately to the success of selecting our new rector. A Church Assessment Tool (CAT) is an on-line survey that will be sent to parishioners within the next two weeks. There will also be paper copies available. We cannot stress enough how important it is for this survey to be completed in a timely manner and returned.

Next week you will receive a letter in the mail regarding the survey and the next week an email with the link to the CAT. Please do not discuss the survey or your answers with others as this may influence their answers. All answers are completely anonymous. The survey will tell us about your experiences
with, and priorities for, Holy Family. Over the next three Sundays, members of the nominating committee will be available after the Sunday services to answer any questions you may have.

Committee members are Steve Franzen, Martha Power, Scott Armentrout, Winship Durrett, Ric Sanchez, Cammie Cox, Allan DeNiro and Jeannine Krenson.

April 12, 2024 – Meeting with Search Consultant

  • Opening Announced
  • Bishop, Cannon to the Ordinary, and Consultant
  • Search Readiness Assessment
  • Nominating Committee Appointed

Rector Search Update! On Tuesday, April 9 the Vestry and Nominating Committee met with our search consultant Fr. Scott Kidd, Rector at the Church of the Resurrection in Sautee, Georgia, to more clearly define future roles and responsibilities for the search process. The Nominating Committee is now focused on the requirements to administer the Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT) parish wide survey and to create a parish profile for interested Rector candidates. As a reminder, the members of the Nominating Committee are Steve Franzen, Co-Chair, Martha Power, Co-Chair, Scott Armentrout, Cammie Cox, Allan DeNiro, Winship Durrett, Jeannine Krenson, and Ric Sanchez. We welcome your feedback and your questions! Phil Anderson, Senior Warden

April 5, 2024 Rector Search Begins

  • Opening Announced
  • Bishop, Cannon to the Ordinary, and Consultant
  • Search Readiness Assessment
  • Nominating Committee Appointed

The Diocese of Atlanta Leadership Transition Flowchart reflects the major steps to be accomplished in sequence to call our new Rector. Periodic reference will be made to this flow chart to measure the progress by the Vestry and the Nominating Committee. Currently we have called Bill Harkins to be our Interim Priest in Charge; met with the Diocese Canon to the Ordinary, Alicia Schuster Weltner; called our search process consultant the Rev. Scott Kidd from the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Sautee, GA; completed the Search Readiness Assessment; and appointed the Nominating Committee. The next major step is the administration of a parish survey using a Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT) provided by Holy Cow Consultants. The CAT is a customizable assessment instrument that:

  •  Measures the level of satisfaction and energy in the congregation.
  •  Identifies the critical success factors for improving organizational climate.
  •  Pinpoints the strengths of your congregation’s culture.
  •  Discovers where members would like to go in the future.
  •  Gauges readiness for change.
  •  Uncovers potential resources you may be missing.

Prepares us for a search for your next Rector.

Completion of the CAT survey will be essential for our future parish life and the success of our search for a new Rector. I look forward to reporting future progress and welcome your questions! Phil Anderson, Senior Warden

Beth and Wayne Glowka

Wayne and Beth Glowka

Beth and Wayne Glowka have been married for three years and retired for two. Beth retired from business, and Wayne, from academics. They both enjoy hiking. Beth regularly participates in water aerobics; Wayne is a devoted double-bogey golfer. Since retirement, Beth has been sewing, gardening, and making stained-glass ornaments. She has organized two different book clubs. Wayne has performed bluegrass music at various events, written a handful of novels and plays, and started reading classic works in their original languages.Between them, Beth and Wayne have four children and five grandchildren. They live at Lake Arrowhead.

Celeste and Jeff Cedarholm

While not totally new to Holy Family, Celeste and Jeff Cedarholm became members versus visitors when they moved full-time to their home in Big Canoe in July, 2021, after being weekenders for 17 years. They both hail from Gadsden, AL and met when they were in the same homeroom at Gadsden High. Jeff went on to Washington and Lee, class of ‘74 and Celeste graduated from Hollins ‘74. Jeff ran a family business involved in custom fabrication for the paper industry worldwide.  Celeste taught music at the Episcopal Day School and gave private piano lessons. After 25 years, Jeff sold the company to pursue his passion of investing and wealth management and merged with a fellow CFP to form Longview Financial, based in Huntsville, AL. He retired in January 2022. They both enjoy reading, entertaining, hiking, world travel, and spending time with family. They have 2 daughters, one in Huntsville, AL and one in Jacksonville, FL and 4 grandchildren. Moving to the North GA mountains, they say, is the best thing they’ve ever done.

Chuck and Loran Davis

Starting in Georgia 35 years ago, we lived around the country until our last move coming full circle from Bellevue WA to find our new home in Big Canoe in March 2023.  Loran is in Interior Design / Project Manager and Chuck works for PACCAR, parent company for Peterbilt and Kenworth commercial trucks. We have two boys, one in Lawrenceville GA and the other in Durham NC.  We enjoy the outdoors, gardening, cycling, kayaking and RV travel with our German Shepard, “Ada”.

Alvin and Cammie Cox

Cammie and Alvin Cox moved to this area in mid-July 2022. They appreciate the very warm welcome they’ve received from everyone at Holy Family, including at a Wonderful Wednesday less than a week after they arrived!  Cammie had lived in Louisville, Kentucky almost her entire life and Alvin for 50 years, so this was a major move. Cammie’s favorite leisure activity is walking and Alvin enjoys riding motorcycles. Cammie retired in late May of 2021 after decades of working in two fields: education and journalism.  Alvin has been a self-employed architect for nearly his entire career and is still working part-time as a consultant. They have two grown children, a son in Florida and a daughter in Idaho, as well as two elementary age granddaughters, also in Idaho.

Ren and Linda McDearis

Ren and Linda McDearis recently became members of our congregation. Ren is an executive with Georgia Power Company and is nearing retirement with forty years of service.  Linda retired a few years ago from Home Depot corporate where she was administrator for the Vice President of Legal Affairs.  Ren and Linda have two children – Nicholas and Katelin.  They have three grandchildren – Zoey, Blaire and Daniel.  Both Ren and Linda enjoy a variety of activities – hiking, travelling and spending time with their family.  Ren is a member of the choir and both are very grateful to be members of this church.

Bill and Vicky Harkins

Bill Harkins is in his 23rd year of teaching pastoral theology and counseling in the various graduate programs at Columbia Theological Seminary, where he co-directs the Th.D. program in pastoral psychotherapy shared with Emory and the Interdenominational Theological Center. He served for 18 years as Priest Associate at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip. Bill practices psychotherapy and marriage and family therapy at the Cathedral Counseling Center in Atlanta. He joined the faculty of Episcopal CREDO, a wellness program for clergy, as Psychological Health faculty in 2012. He has also served as faculty on CPG Planning for Wellness and ECF Boot Camp conferences for clergy. Bill was appointed in 2015 by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefforts-Schori to the ECUSA Commission on Impairment and Leadership. He enjoys consulting with parishes, businesses, and institutions experiencing conflict and transition. Bill is an Approved Supervisor in AAMFT, a Diplomate in AAPC, and an ACPE Approved Psychotherapist and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy Trainer. He holds degrees from Rhodes College (B.A.) and Vanderbilt University (M.Div., Ph.D.) Bill is married (40 years) to Dr. Vicky Harkins, an advanced practice nurse leader, professor and healthcare administrator. They have two sons, Justin (38) an environmental litigation attorney who is a partner with Crowley & Fleck Law Firm, LLC in Billings, Montana, and Andrew (35) a second-year resident in Internal Medicine/Oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine. Twin grandchildren, Alice and Jack, were born in Billings, Montana in March 2017, and a granddaughter, Sophia, born in Atlanta on Christmas Eve 2018. Bill is the veteran of 45 consecutive Peachtree Road Races, and completed the Asheville Marathon, his 11th, in March of 2015. He enjoys trail running and other forms of outdoor recreation, writing, and spending time with family.