Ship of Fools: A Ministry Transition

Thread: A Ministry Transition Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Nunc Dimittis (# 848) on :

Hypothetically, if an Anglican priest in Australia was interested in working in The Episcopal Church or the Anglican Church of Canada, how would they go about pursuing that interest?

Who would they need to contact?

How hard would it be to get a full time ministry position?

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :

I'd have thought it would depend on where exactly you want to go: there are dioceses in Canada that are in dire need of priests, but possibly not in areas you'd think of (Central Newfoundland springs to mind).

The Anglican Church of Canada web-site has a link to Job Listings (right-hand side of page under "resources") which might be of help.

Good luck! [Smile]

Also, immigration can be a serious headache in Canada - when my husband's job (he's a cathedral organist) took us here we found that every time we got over one obstacle, they'd put up another one*, and it took us seven years to get Permanent Residence.

* Our case was particularly bad because a local bloke thought the job should have been his by right, and tried to scupper our application - you may not have that kind of trouble.

Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :

You might also consider missions dioceses in the near and far North.

Posted by Oscar the Grouch (# 1916) on :

(Coming clean....)

I have recently moved from the UK to Canada and taken up a parish post here, so may have some help to give.

First of all, I would say - narrow down where you want to look. Even thinking just about Canada, it's a bloody big place! Are you looking at Quebec, or the East Coast, or Toronto, or British Columbia...?? If you haven't visited the areas, I would say do so. When I was looking at a move, I knew that I was interested in BC and (possibly) parts of Ontario. I had been to those places and knew a little about what life (and ministry) might be like.

Especially be aware of what the climate is like. In many places, you have to expect severe winters and you need to know that you can cope with that.

Secondly, send an email to the dioceses concerned, introducing yourself and explaining that you are thinking of moving to the area and applying for positions. In my case, I contacted three dioceses. One simply pointed me to the diocesan website and told me to check on the vacancies advertised there and apply if I saw something of interest.

In the second diocese, I ended up having a skype chat with a bishop out of which emerged a couple of possibilities. I looked seriously at one but realised that I was more drawn to another diocese and area, so withdrew. But it was certainly worthwhile contacting the diocese and talking to the bishop.

In the third diocese, I already had contacts. But the key moment was when the bishop (who knew I was interested in coming to the diocese) phoned me up to ask me to look at a particular post - which is the job I now have.

So make a few enquiries.

From my experience, there are certainly a number of places where priests are in high demand!

In terms of gaining entry - it isn't actually a problem in Canada (although I cannot comment about the USA). If you have a Letter of Appointment from the bishop, as clergy you will be given a work permit - as will your spouse. Our initial permit lasts for 12 months and we will have to renew it - but I understand that this is common.

One word of caution. When we arrived, we had the misfortune to be just behind a plane load of people from Manila who were all applying for work permits to work for Tim Hortons. So we ended up standing in Immigration for some three hours before we were seen. If possible - time your entry into the country at a less busy time! Another clergy who came to Canada from the UK last year told me that he arrived early on a Saturday morning and was through Immigration in under 30 minutes.

There's lots more I could add. We're still finding our feet and learning about the things we hadn't even considered before leaving the UK - like medical matters and so on. We've also had huge challenges with getting our money from the UK to Canada (problems at the UK end rather than in Canada, but still immensely frustrating).

I would say "Go for it!" In some ways, I'm already wishing we had made this move years ago. I'm hoping that we will be here for a long long time.

[ 12. March 2014, 16:24: Message edited by: Oscar the Grouch ]

Posted by maleveque (# 132) on :

In the Episcopal Church, you start with what was once known as the Clergy Deployment Office, but is now the Office for Transition Ministry.
There are specific visas for church workers in the US. I expect this office would know how to sort that out.
I have one Aussie friend who is the rector of a church here. PM me if you'd like me to put you in touch with her.
- Anne L.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

I am not an immigration lawyer, but (for the US) if the diocese you'd be going to is in need of clergy and you've been ordained at least three years, they should have no trouble getting you an R1 visa. Where by "no trouble" I mean, it will cost a pretty penny and involve an incredible number of interviews and forms, but at the end of labyrinthine process, a visa should pop out the other end.

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