Dean Nathan LeRud Announces Departure as Dean

Dear Friends,

For fifteen years, I have joyfully served this congregation: as assistant to the dean and youth minister, as a Godly Play teacher and choir member, as Canon for Spiritual Formation, Acting Dean, and finally as your third dean. Serving in this role for the past decade has been an honor and a privilege. There is no better job in the Episcopal Church.

This letter serves as notification that I intend to step down as Trinity’s dean effective the 29th of December, 2024. That Sunday will be my final Sunday at Trinity.

I don’t know yet how the next chapter of my life will unfold. I’m not seeking another full-time position in the church at this time. The last year has been challenging in many ways, and I need to take time to rest and reflect on where and how I’m being called to use my gifts. Trinity has taught me just about everything I know about ministry and relationships – my relationship with this community is the longest relationship of my adult life – and I need to take some time to rediscover who I am apart from this community before I can know how I’m being called to move forward.

I’m so grateful to Greg Harris and Chris Maloney, Trinity's Senior and Junior Wardens, who have been constant and unflagging in their support and encouragement. I believe Trinity is ready to take some exciting new steps forward under new leadership, and I look forward to cheering you on from afar. I’m going to miss you – and I know that this is the right time for me to step away.

Trinity will remain in my prayers as you discern God’s will for your future. I love you very much, and am so thankful for the opportunity you have given me to serve as your pastor & priest. It has been the privilege of a lifetime.

With deep gratitude and love,

The Very Rev’d Nathan LeRud

Dean, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

Frequently Asked Questions

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A Note from Senior Warden Greg Harris

Dear Trinity family,

Nathan LeRud’s 15-year ministry at Trinity has been a blessing. His celebration of the Eucharist enchanted us. His sermons inspired and provoked us. His incisive intelligence displayed in classes and meetings taught us. While we have to let the man depart, the gifts he shared will remain.

The Church provides well-earned wisdom to guide us through this transition. We should expect to pass through three general phases to complete the process:

1. Letting go of what has been familiar. We may experience grief, sorrow, and anxiety that we will pray and work our way through.

2. Enter a phase full of potential. We will encounter new opportunities for growth, leadership and service. We will have to wait for answers to questions we want resolved.

3. Welcome. We will seek, then we will find. We will call a new leader, and it will soon seem as if the new dean has always been here.

These general concepts of letting go, potential, and welcome will be implemented through specific steps. First, we will say good-bye to Nathan. Then, we will hire an interim dean.

A vestry-appointed group of volunteers will create a parish profile. This profile will make the case for why the best priests in the Episcopal Church should apply for our job opening. A search committee will evaluate applicants and forward finalists to the cathedral chapter (comprised of the vestry and four representatives from the diocese), who will elect the fourth dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.

The exact timing is yet to be determined, but I expect that an Interim Dean will be elected on January 28, two days after the Annual Meeting. The call of a new dean will begin after the interim is on board. The diocese suggests we should expect to take around 15 months to complete the search, but it may be longer for a parish of our size and complexity. In February, I will distribute a plan with a schedule that will allow us to efficiently and deliberately complete our search.

This is our church. Trinity will become what we make of it in the weeks and months ahead. I invite you to remain engaged and supportive. Find ways to show up and pitch in. Practice patience and kindness.

And most importantly, continue to be the vital, stable, loving community we have always been – and will continue to be as we make our way toward what comes next.

Gratefully,

Greg Harris

Senior Warden