Message from Peebles Harrison, search committee chair:
Dear Members of St. Andrews,
It is with great pleasure that I inform you that our Vestry has unanimously and enthusiastically called Nathan Finnin to be our next Rector.
Nathan grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. He attended UNC at Chapel Hill, where he graduated with distinction in philosophy and political science. He then went on to graduate divinity school at Yale University. Most recently, Nathan has served as an associate rector at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greensboro. Nathan and his wife Kaitlin have two boys, Beckett, age 5, and Oliver, 10 months. An open letter from Nathan, a video message from him and his family, and one of his recent sermons can be found below.
We anticipate that Nathan will be starting with us in late June.
I want to thank Jocelyn Coverdale, Angela Preston, Bob Sanders, Cola Vaughan, Linda DeFrancisco, Bruce Nolin, Teresa Osborne, and Nancy Silver for all of their time and effort in this endeavor. This search went longer than any of us expected, but they never wavered in their resolve to see this through. I also want to thank all of you for your patience and support. When we had to make the difficult decision not to call a rector after the second search, a constant refrain from search committee members was how many of you were saying we should take our time and not feel the need to rush the process. As you will see when you meet Nathan, no finer advice could have been given.
As I told David and Emily when I apprised them of the search committee’s decision, I simply could not be more excited about the future of our church under Nathan’s guidance.
Peebles (Search committee chair)
Letter from Fr. Nathan Finnan
Dear Parishioners of St. Andrews By-the-Sea,
I am overjoyed to be writing to you as your new Rector! Over the past month, my wife Kaitlin and I have had the opportunity to meet members of the Search Committee and Vestry and have also been able to get to know the Outer Banks a bit better. Throughout the process I have felt the love and care that I believe is embodied in your community and continue to feel a strong sense of the God’s Spirit guiding us together. It is with great pleasure and humility that I accept this call to St. Andrews By-the-Sea.
From what I have heard and witnessed, St. Andrews By-the-Sea is a parish that is extremely devoted not only to serving each other within the church walls, but as evidenced by programs like Ruthie’s Community Kitchen and “Room in the Inn,” is also actively engaged in serving those out in the community. I am excited about the opportunity to continue to explore liturgies that engage people of all ages and backgrounds, and I look forward to my own family and I participating and finding ways to enrich programs for children, youth, and families. I very much look forward to learning more about the various ministries you are already engaged in, as well as journeying with you as we discern together the amazing plans that God has for us. And, I look forward to finding some youth who can teach me to surf.
The challenge in the meantime will be staying in the present moment. For me and my family, that will mean packing up, saying goodbye to a folks at Holy Trinity Church in Greensboro, and to friends who have become like family to us. For you, that might mean appreciating the ways you all have supported one another not only during this long interim period, but during this unprecedented pandemic that we are all navigating. I want to especially thank Peebles Harrison, Teresa Osborne, and the entire search committee for the hard work they have done since you first began this process, and, selfishly, for waiting until I came along to call a new rector. I do believe the spirit is alive and well in this and I look forward to our life together.
Kaitlin, Beckett, Oliver and I are excited to be joining the St. Andrews By-the-Sea family and to settle in our new hometown.
Faithfully,
Nathan Finnin