Pastoral Vote of Affirmation
This is a special moment to engage with a church community where every voice, every idea, concern, and perspective is valued and actively included in shaping our shared life together. We invite you to prayerfully reflect on Rev. Celie Katovitch, who has been presented to our community as a pastoral candidate.
Registered parishioners may cast their one vote between September 21 – October 1, 2025, by placing a paper ballot in the ballot box at the top of the stairs, or you may vote electronically. Paper ballots will be available at both entrances of the church. To vote online, click here. If the primary link has reached capacity, please use one of these alternate links: link2, link3, or link4.
Letter of Introduction from Rev. Celie Katovitch
Dear Friends,
I feel so happy and lucky to be writing to you today! My name is Rev. Celie Katovitch, and it is my privilege to be your Search Committee’s pastoral finalist for Mary Magdalene Church.
I am blessed to know some of you already from having shared Mass together from time to time over the years; if we haven’t yet had a chance to meet, I look forward to that very soon!
My heart has resonated with this community for a long time: from the deep spirituality so evident here, to the warmth of the genuinely loving atmosphere. I am both delighted and humbled to be asked to walk with you as a shepherd and partner in service over the years to come.
Here is one of my favorite encapsulations of ministry:
“The future of the church is dependent wholly upon great congregations, whether large or small, and effective ministers. The strangest feature of their relationship is that they create one another.” - Rev. Jack Mendelshon
I have been a parish minister for over 10 years, and have served congregations in Cleveland, Ohio and here in Rochester. (I am originally from Syracuse, so it has been a great blessing to be able to be “home” in upstate New York!) I hold dual standing with Roman Catholic Women Priests (an inclusive Catholic sister-organization to the ECC) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (the faith in which I grew up). My first call was as the pastor to First Universalist Church downtown. I am happy that during our time together the church grew stronger and also grew in radical hospitality to the poor and to its neighborhood. For the past four years I have been an Associate Pastor and parish priest at Spiritus Christi Church.
Before being ordained, I received my M.Div from Harvard Divinity School. While there, I served as a hospital chaplain and on the staff of a homeless shelter alongside my seminary studies.
I love our Catholic faith for its sacramental imagination, missional heart, beauty, and depth. My theology is centered on a radical, inclusive Jesus, and a kind and loving God.
Outside of church, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, contemplative walking, and learning the guitar. It is a joy to dedicate my life to the priesthood: to spend my days helping people lead lives of meaning, mercy, altruism, love, and attention to this world that so shimmers with holiness.
Rev. Celie Katovitch
Pastoral Search Overview
Our current pastor, Rev. Lori Vail, officially began her service to Mary Magdalene Church as our Associate Pastor in January 2021. In the spring of 2022, she answered the community’s call to become our full-time pastor. At that time, Rev. Lori shared with the Board of Trustees her intention to serve full-time for two to three years. Her covenant with Mary Magdalene Church ends on August 31, 2025.
The Mary Magdalene community is ready to embrace our next chapter by seeking and welcoming a new pastor. To that end, the Board of Trustees established a Pastoral Search committee to act on behalf of the community to develop and execute the process for seeking our new pastor. Candidates for the committee were nominated by the community and selected by the Board. Members include Donna Ecker, Jim Kerg, Jim Bridges, Lori Cunliffe, Pat Domaratz, and Tammy Drollettte.
Because the Mary Magdalene Community will make the final decision for their new pastor, the Search Committee has sought input from the community to understand their wishes. This included a facilitated a ‘Listening Session’ where the community came together in a forum to discuss. (See below.) The community’s guidance has colored the work of the committee in developing the process and criteria for success. Communication between the committee and the community is ongoing through the selection process.
A call for the new pastor has been posted in the community, in national periodicals, at seminaries, and social media outlets. We plan to interview candidates during the spring and summer. Ideally, we would like the new pastor to start at the beginning of the Liturgical year, on or about December 1, 2025. An interim pastor will serve from September 1 until December 1.
We are committed to a careful and deliberate search for the right person to lead our community—a community that thrives on love, inclusion, and service.
Pastoral Search Team’s Listening Session on March 2, 2025
The Search Committee tasked with finding candidates for Mary Magdalene Church’s new Pastor held a Listening Session on March 2, 2025. Our church members are our decision makers. The Search Committee needed to hear the wants and needs of our members before even beginning to move forward in our search.
Four questions were asked and table discussions followed. The four questions were:
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What brought you here and what will a new pastor bring that will keep you here?
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What is your vision for the future of Mary Magdalene Church?
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What values are important to you in a new pastor?
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What skills would you like to see in a new pastor?
It will be impossible to convey the love shared during the discussions. We are a community that knows who we are and what we stand for. The following was compiled from the notes taken at each table:
At Mary Magdalene Church, we “embrace the best of the Catholic faith without antiquated and divisive dogma…. It feels like the community’s church.” We believe everyone is created in the image and likeness of God and with an innate goodness.
The overwhelming comments were about how welcoming, loving, accepting, and inclusive our church is in every way. We are nonjudgemental, nondiscriminatory, and nonracist. Everyone has a place at the Table and everyone is welcome to Communion no matter where we are on our faith journey. Inclusivity is intentional and practiced in every aspect of what we do; from who is welcome (absolutely everyone), to the inclusive language used, to the hospitality of the Eucharist…where all the hosts are gluten free. It is important to our members that the new pastor be a strong leader but one that won’t change who we are but enhance us. We are looking for a new pastor who challenges us but sees us for who we are - not what we are not. The world is scary right now. It would be important to have someone at the helm who can speak truth to power while keeping the flock grounded and hopeful.
Members wish for a future that continues our spirit of openness. We wish to be a community that welcomes everyone and attracts more families and children. We wish to be a safe place to worship for those marginalized and hurt by the community and/or other faith traditions. We want to continue our social justice work and outreach to the needs of our community and beyond. A large part of our community worships on-line and we wish to continue to find new and deeper ways to connect us all.
It is most important that our new pastor be welcoming, collaborative, and a person of high integrity. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance in this role. There must be a healthy balance between being available to the community and maintaining personal boundaries. It is important to practice self-care and to foster activities outside of ministry. Members are vibrant volunteers who wish to continue to contribute to their many ministries within the church. It is important that a new pastor honor that and not presume that they must do it all.
It is our desire to hire a pastor with a deep knowledge of scripture and offer effective homilies that relate to what is happening in the world and our lives. We would like to be preached to, not at. It is important that the new pastor be “big picture” focused and fit our diverse identity. It is important that he/she/they be a good communicator-both speaking and listening.
Please know this is just a brief synopsis of what was shared at our Pastoral Search Listening Session. The search team has read EVERY word written (and shared) and continues to take seriously our community’s needs. As we move forward in this process, we will be referring to them often. Thank you one and all!
The MMC Community is encouraged to send the Search Commitee suggestions, questions and general feedback by emailing us at pastoralseachteam.mmc@gmail.com, or by dropping us a note in the suggestion box located in the hallway near the library entrance.
Pastor Advertisement (the period to submit applications has now closed)
Mary Magdalene Church, an inclusive Church in the Catholic tradition, is seeking a full-time pastor. We are located in the village of East Rochester in Upstate New York. We are a small, yet steadily growing progressive community that values acceptance and welcome to ALL who come, taking seriously the call of Jesus to LOVE one another. We are a Eucharistic people with multiple service ministries. Mary Magdalene offers safe space and loving inclusion to every marginalized person, always sensitive to their needs. We have a vibrant in-person and on-line presence.
This community is seeking a collaborative leader with good communication, pastoral care and community-building skills, who is willing to serve the needs of an intensely diverse membership. The candidate should have a sound command of scripture and liturgy and be able to provide historical references with current relativity to the community. Good preaching skills and a willingness to share the pulpit with qualified others will be of importance to the community. A strong social justice background is helpful.
Please check out our website at https://www.marymagdalenechurch.org. If interested in further discussion please forward your resume or CV to the search committee at pastoralsearchteam.mmc@gmail.