Transition and Discernment

After 32 years of leadership, the Rev. Peter Jenks retired from St John's on September 30, 2024. In January 2025, the Rev. Van Bankston joined our parish as interim rector for a term of approximately a year as we work through the following process of transition and discernment:

Discernment Committee

In November and December the vestry will nominate two members plus an additional four other members of the church to a Discernment Committee.
In January the Vestry will appoint and charge the Discernment Committee.
Over the course of January through April the appointed committee will complete the discernment process.

Search for a Rector

May-August: Position shared with the Transition & Deployment Officer at the dioceses and will be posted.
September-November: Candidates will come through the Transition & Deployment Officer and two to three will be interviewed by the committee via Zoom.
November: One candidate will be invited to meet the committee, interview in-person, and tour the parish.
December: The committee makes its recommendation of one finalist to the vestry, or falls back as far as needed in the process to "call" another candidate.
The vestry will discuss the candidate with the bishop and Transition & Deployment Officer accept that candidate or send the issue back to the committee for further work.

The Discernment Committee

The Discernment Committee of Saint John Baptist was appointed by the Vestry and has begun our work. Our Charge is solidly based upon the model provided by the Diocese of Maine through its Transition and Deployment Officer. The Discernment Committee has entered a prayerful discernment process in accordance with diocesan policies. Members are responsible for the process of discerning the priest who will bring the gifts and skills best suited to serve the needs of the congregation of Saint John Baptist in Thomaston, Maine. This process will involve prayer, the preparation of the congregation’s invitation materials, the review of written applications, participation in interviews, possibly travel to visit candidates’ home congregations, and lots of meeting time to discuss, evaluate, and make decisions.

Under the guidance of the Committee Chairman, Jan Gaudio, each meeting will begin with the Transition Prayer developed by the parish and found in each service bulletin during the period of Transition at St John’s.

“Lead and guide us in our discernment for a new priest. The people of St. John Baptist are bound together in love and obedience to your will. Keep our hearts and minds open to your guiding spirit. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.”

Our objective is to work with the congregation to prayerfully select one candidate to be presented to the Vestry. It is the Vestry who will elect and call the Rector or priest in charge.

Members of the Discernment Committee

Tony Garratt-Reed

A lifelong Anglican/Episcopalian. I am drawn to the denomination by the emphasis on personal discernment and responsibility, for its inclusivity, and for its tolerance of different interpretations of the Scriptures. I served on the Vestry, and was on the search committee at St Lukes in MA. After Carolyn and I were married at St. Luke's, we moved to Reading, MA, where we were members of the Church of the Good Shepherd for more than 20 years. I served on the Vestry for a couple terms. Carolyn and I summered in St. George and for many years we attended the Ridge Baptist Church in Martinsville. In 2001 we moved to St. John's as our regular summer place of worship. I retired in 2008, we moved to St. George and became full-time members. I’ve served one term on the Vestry and was responsible for the installation of the hearing loop in the building.

Nancy Baker

Tony Garratt-Reed

Originally from Texas, I moved from the Washington DC area to Thomaston in 2008. I’m an artist, exhibiting work locally, created a mural for downtown Thomaston and mentor students at the middle school. Following an accident in my family I worked with members of Congress and advocacy groups for the passage of federal legislation to promote drowning prevention, The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act and is a member of a national group, Families United Against Drowning. I have served on the board of Herring Gut Learning Center, the advisory board of the Langlais Art Preserve, and the Thomaston Green committee. I’m a relatively new member of the St. John Baptist community and currently serving on the Altar Guild. I have five children, a daughter and son-in-law, three grandchildren, more dogs than I have arms and a passion for hiking long distances.

Bruce Hoekstra

Tony Garratt-Reed

Bruce Hoekstra

I’m a physician at the Maine Health Specialty Skin Clinic in Rockport. I grew up in northern New Jersey (as did my wife Sandra). After completing medical training in New York, I practiced in Texas for over 30 years before moving to Maine in 2017. It was at that time I became Episcopalian, having previously attended Christian Reformed Union (protestant interdenominational), American Baptist, Southern Baptist, Presbyterian USA, Independent Bible, and United Methodist churches. I have three rambunctious Irish Jack Russel terriers, three wonderful (somewhat rambunctious) grandchildren, and two adult children, a son and a daughter, who live with their spouses in Prague and Dallas. I inherited 11 generations of New England taciturnity from my Massachusetts father and a modicum of stubbornness from his Frisian Dutch mother.

Willy Ulbrich

Ruth Anne Hohfeld

Bruce Hoekstra

I began attending St. Johns intermittently with my mother when I moved back to Maine in 2007 and was drawn further to the church through Peter when my mother got sick. My husband is not a church-goer, but the kids and I have been attending since my mom's death in 2010 (Robert is 15 and Vivian--we attend the 10am service). During the pandemic Tony Antolini and Gail Ladd and I formed the recorder group that plays once a month during the 10am service. I work part time as a reading tutor at the Ashwood school and manage the family farm that I grew up on, raising sheep.

Ruth Anne Hohfeld

I grew up in the Episcopal church in New Jersey, then took a break while I lived in California. I moved to Maine with my family in 2001 and started attending St John’s in 2005. During my time at St John’s, I have participated on the vestry for two terms, spent five years studying with EFM, and volunteered on the reception committee. I currently live in Rockland and work at Pendleton Yacht Yard on Islesboro. I also volunteer with the international student exchange program, AFS.

Jan Gaudio

Ruth Anne Hohfeld

This is our home and I retired to South Thomaston in 2012 after 34 years in the Navy and six with an international nonprofit charity. We’ve been at St Johns since then. Christy is a lifelong Episcopalian and I joined the faith when we were married. The welcome of St Johns and Peter are what kept us here and active. I serve on the Vestry and Christy was the volunteer administrator for 8 years. We have three children and twelve grandchildren; some are in the area and we love living in Maine.