The Watch Hill Chapel Newsletter

Transcription

1 The Watch Hill Chapel Newsletter W SUMMER 2015 Welcome and Update elcome to the Watch Hill Chapel s 140th summer season! Our season begins on Sunday, June 21st and continues with weekly services until the traditional closing service on Sunday, September 13th. Our annual newsletter has brief biographies of each of the accomplished ministers who will be preaching this summer on the insert. As always, there is a complete calendar listing of the services on the back page of this publication. We have the good fortune of having The Reverend Donald R. Frampton returning to preach on August 30th and leading Bible study on September 1st and 3rd as well. We are also happy to be welcoming four new ministers to the Chapel this summer: The Reverend David W. Good of Old Lyme, Connecticut; The Right Reverend W. Nicholas Knisely of Providence, Rhode Island; The Reverend Dr. Marlayna Schmidt of Winchester, Massachusetts; and The Reverend Dr. Thomas F. Pike of. Father Kenneth J. Suibielski will continue to celebrate Roman Catholic Mass at 8:30 am on Sundays beginning June 28th and continuing through September 6th. The Chapel would like to thank Father Ken for his willingness to offer Mass in the Chapel, continuing a tradition of holding Roman Catholic Mass in the Watch Hill Chapel for over 90 years. In addition to our thirteen Sunday morning services, the chapel will host three evening services all beginning at 5:00 pm. On June 28th, The Reverend Dr. Alfred Tisdale will lead a Choral Evensong accompanied by the vocal quartet of The Watch Hill Chapel and guest instrumentalists. On July 12th and August 9th will be our two hymn sings. We hope that you will be able to join us for these Sunday evening services. Thanks to a very generous bequest from a former Trustee, the late Reginald H. Fullerton, Jr., shutters for the Chapel are being built and will be installed in July. This will restore the appearance of the Chapel to the pre - World War II period. They will be fully operational and able to be locked in the event of severe weather. During the offseason, the Chapel held its annual Thanksgiving Day service led by Dr. Hillary Bercovici. The congregation and Chapel contributed $26,900, an increase from last year s total, to four local charities: The Living Supplies Closet, The Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center, The Jonnycake Center, and the W.A.R.M. Shelter. As always, we are appreciative of the generosity of our community during the holiday season. On December 21st, the Chapel was happy to host the Ocean House s Christmas in Song concert again. Annual Meeting The Annual Meeting of the Watch Hill Chapel will take place on August 16th at 12:00 pm in the Undercroft. All are welcome and encouraged to attend to learn about the Chapel s work and receive Committee Heads Reports.

2 Announcements Reminder: Union Services begin at 10:30 am and refreshments will follow the services on the terrace. As usual Union Services begin Sunday, June 21st and end Sunday, September 13th. Catholic Mass will be celebrated beginning June 28th with the final service on September 6th. If you would like to host the refreshments one summer Sunday, please contact Beth Bean at or If you would like to donate the altar flowers for Catholic Mass and the Union Service, please contact Shelley Weier at or Please note that childcare is available during both services in the Undercroft. We are grateful to Virginia Daukas and Serena Bingham for providing this service. New this summer. We are delighted to offer Bible Study opportunities led by Reverend Donald R. Frampton on Tuesday, September 1st and Thursday, September 3rd from 10:00 am 11:30 am at 8 Sequan Road ( ). The Watch Hill Memorial Library and Improvement Society will host a Photography & Decorative Arts Show this summer from July 31st August 9th (12:00 pm - 4:00 pm daily) with a cocktail reception on July 31st at 5:30 pm. SSAT and SAT prep classes will be offered Monday, July 6th Friday, July 10th and Monday, August 3rd Friday, August 7th hosted by the 800 Method. The SSAT classes will be from 10:00 am 12:00 pm and the SAT classes will be from 3:00 pm 5:00 pm. Students can select to sign up for one or both sessions. To reserve a spot, visit During the Union Service, the Chapel will offer our Sunday Morning Program for Kids geared toward grade school children. Please encourage your children and grandchildren to attend! If you would like to use as your communication medium, please send your preferred address to the Chapel Secretary, Irene Cabot: watchhillchapel@cox.net Please join us at 5:00 pm on Sunday June 28th for Choral Evensong led by the Reverend Dr. Alfred Tisdale. Andrew Howell, the Chapel s Choirmaster and Director of Music, along with the vocal quartet of The Chapel and guest instrumentalists will provide a stimulating program. Refreshments will be served! Please join us at 5:00 pm on Sunday July 12th and Sunday, August 9th for our Hymn Sings. Refreshments will be served! Please support your community by attending the Blood Drive on Thursday, July 16th from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Every pint of blood can save up to three lives every pint does count! Parking for Chapel Services Plans are underway to install fencing and gates on our parking lot this summer. These will enable us, beginning in mid-august, to fix the traffic pattern in order to make it more efficient entering and exiting the lot. Necrology Chaplain B. Barnes Mary S.G. Bisbee Jason E. Brown Joan B. Gray James A. Heller Morris Lloyd, Jr. John W. Mazzola Frank E. Rutan III

3 Visiting Ministers June 21 through July 19, 2015 June 21: The Reverend David W. Good Minister Emeritus The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme Old Lyme, Connecticut Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, David grew up in the United Methodist Church, and studied philosophy and English literature in college. Choosing the ministry as a profession, David went to Yale Divinity School and in his last year switched denominations to the UCC (Congregational). Since graduation, David served as the Senior Minister of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, CT for 37 years until his retirement in Now, he devotes his time as a volunteer for the Tree of Life ministry that was established by the Old Lyme church under his leadership. Under David s leadership, the Old Lyme church established a number of cross-cultural partnerships, including the Storefront School in Harlem, NY, Koinonia Farm where he chaired the Board of Directors, the Crosby Scholarship Fund for Haiti, the Green Grass community on the Cheyenne River (Lakota) Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Central Methodist Mission in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a 12-year partnership with the community of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem in Palestine. David is married to Corinne Good of Liverpool, England, and when not building fences for his dog, Annie, he likes to play tennis. June 28: The Reverend John A. Zahl Priest Associate Grace Episcopal Church Charleston, South Carolina The Reverend John Zahl serves as Priest Associate at Grace Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. He grew up in New York City, and attended seminary at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford (UK). He is the author of Sermons of Grace and Grace in Addiction. John is a regular contributor to Mockingbird Ministries (mbird.com), and is an avid film buff. He comes to us with his wife, Deirdre, and three-year-old daughter, Daphne. July 5: The Reverend John E. Barclay First Presbyterian Church Glens Falls, New York The Reverend Mr. John E. Barclay,, First Presbyterian Church in Glens Falls, New York, is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Princeton Theological Seminary. Reverend Barclay is a native of Kentucky, and has served as Senior in Glens Falls since He is married to Andrea Winter-Barclay and has two daughters, one son and one grandson. July 12: The Reverend Dr. Leonora Tubbs Tisdale Clement-Muehl Professor of Homiletics Yale Divinity School New Haven, Connecticut The Reverend Dr. Leonora (Nora) Tubbs Tisdale joined the Yale University Divinity School faculty in 2006 as the Clement-Muehl Professor of Homiletics. Her research and teaching interests include: prophetic preaching, women and preaching, and congregational studies and preaching. A native of North Carolina, Dr. Tisdale attended Queens College in Charlotte, North Carolina, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A. in Religion), Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (D. Min.), and Princeton Theological Seminary (Ph.D.). Nora has been married for 40 years to the Reverend Dr. Alfred Tisdale, Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Stonington, CT. The Tisdales have two children, Leonora and William, and two granddaughters, Madeline and Brynleigh. July 19: The Right Reverend W. Nicholas Knisely Bishop Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island Bishop Knisely was elected to be the 13th Bishop of Rhode Island in June of 2012, and was ordained Bishop on November 17th, Bishop Knisely was born and raised in Pennsylvania and met his wife Karen while they were both students at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. Later, as a graduate student at the University of Delaware, he decided to leave behind his studies of Physics and Astronomy and was sent to Yale/Berkeley Divinity School to study for the priesthood. He completed his Masters of Divinity and was ordained to the diaconate in Delaware in 1991, then to the priesthood in In 2013 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity, also from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. Bishop Knisely is active nationally in communications and technology ministry, science and faith conversations, and reconciliation work. He is frequently asked to give lectures and presentations on his writings in the area of the reconciliation of Faith and Science. Recently the Diocese of Rhode Island committed itself to working toward the creation of The National Center for Reconciliation based at the Cathedral of St. John in Providence. He has authored three books: Lent is not Rocket Science and Entangled States and The Journey to Easter. He is working with others on a fourth book about how the church of the twenty first century can find new ways to fund its ministry. Bishop Knisely is an active blogger and posts on his personal blog at

4 Visiting Ministers July 26 through August 16, 2015 July 26: The Reverend Dr. Marlayna Schmidt Interim First Congregational Church Winchester, Massachusetts Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt is currently serving as Interim of First Congregational Church in Winchester, MA. Ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1991, Marlayna has spent the last 24 years serving churches in Massachusetts and Maine. The past 13 years, she has focused exclusively on interim ministry, as she feels a strong call to help congregations survive and thrive through times of transition. Marlayna has a B.A. from Colby College, an M.Div. from Boston University, and a D.Min. (in Preaching) from Chicago Theological Seminary. Marlayna enjoys reading and writing sermons, novels and short stories. She and her husband, Rev. Paul Nickerson, enjoy watersports, taking funny pictures of the dog, eating Italian food and listening to NPR (though not necessarily at the same time). Marlayna has two adult stepsons and one adopted dog. August 2: The Reverend Andrew C. Mead, OBE, DD Rector Emeritus Saint Thomas Church The Reverend Andrew Craig Mead, OBE, DD, was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1971 and was an assistant parish priest in England, Connecticut and Boston. From 1978 he was a parish rector in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, for seven years; in Boston for eleven years; and from 1996 to 2014, when he retired and was named Rector Emeritus by the Wardens and Vestry, at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City. After a public school education, he received his B.A. From DePauw University in Indiana, his B.D. (M.Div.) from Yale University Divinity School, and his M.Litt. from Oxford University in England. He and his wife, Nancy, live in Narragansett, Rhode Island. They have a daughter, Emma; a son, Matthew, who is also an Episcopal priest and rector; and four grandchildren. August 9: The Reverend Dr. D. Stuart Dunnan Headmaster Saint James School Hagerstown, Maryland Appointed Headmaster of Saint James School in June of 1992, The Reverend Dr. D. Stuart Dunnan has presided over a remarkable revival of this historic Episcopal boarding school in Western Maryland. A teacher and chaplain at both the school and university levels before he came to Saint James, he is one of the few Episcopal priests still serving as head of a secondary school in the United States. Father Dunnan graduated from Harvard University in 1981, where he earned both bachelor and masters degrees in history. After earning his BA in theology from Oxford in 1985, he returned for one year at General Seminary in New York City and then another year at Harvard School as Assistant Chaplain, where he was ordained to the priesthood in the school s chapel. Stuart returned to Oxford and in 1991 earned a D. Phil in English Reformation Theology, writing his doctoral dissertation on the Preaching of Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester. Father Dunnan was the Chaplain and a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford before coming to St. James. August 16: The Reverend Hillary R. Bercovici, Ph.D. Senior Fellow Trinity Institute for Spiritual Formation- Greenwich, Connecticut Dr. Hillary R. Bercovici is a life-long summer resident of Watch Hill. An Episcopal priest, he has been in parish ministry since Dr. Bercovici was born and raised in Manhattan, where he worked after college as a NYC-EMS Paramedic in Harlem and the South Bronx, before entering seminary and graduate school. Holding an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Psychology & Theology, Dr. Bercovici also maintains a part-time practice of pastoral psychotherapy.

5 Visiting Ministers August 23 through September 13, 2015 August 23: The Reverend Richard C. Allen Congregational Church in South Glastonbury, South Glastonbury, CT The Reverend Richard C. Allen graduated with a B.A. from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas in He earned his Masters of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School in Reverend Allen then served in the Peace Corps from in Malawi, Africa. Reverend Allen has served three parishes: a Lakota reservation in South Dakota, a dairy community in Wisconsin, and now in the bustling suburb of South Glastonbury, Connecticut. This year marks his 27th year in South Glastonbury at the Congressional Church. He remains a frequent visitor to Malawi. His experiences there are brought back to the local church ministry, where his passion is involving people of all ages in life-changing mission endeavors. August 30: The Reverend Donald R. Frampton, D. Min. Senior Minister St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church New Orleans, Louisiana Don Frampton has been Senior of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church in New Orleans for 21 years. An 1100 member congregation, St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian is a leader in outreach to the city sponsoring tutorial help for 2nd graders, a residential program for women who have been sexually exploited, and a free day camp for low-income children. In addition, since 2005 SCAPC has hosted over 6,000 volunteers from around the country through its Rebuilding Hope in New Orleans program. Don has served as Moderator of the Presbytery of South Louisiana, board member of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and currently sits on the Presbytery s Committee on Ministry as well as the Ethics Review Board for the city of New Orleans. He and Colleen, a Nurse Administrator at a local community clinic, have three grown children. September 6: The Reverend Terence L. Elsberry, M. Div. Rector St. Matthew s Church Bedford, New York The Reverend Terence (Terry) Elsberry has been Rector of St. Matthew s and St. Mary s churches in Bedford, New York, since September Before that, he served as Associate Rector at Christ Church in Greenwich, Connecticut ( ), and as Assistant Minister at St. John s, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., known as The Church of the Presidents ( ). His board memberships have included the Diocese of New York s Episcopal Charities, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Diocesan Budget Committee, the Diocesan Canons Committee, and the Chaplaincy Board for Northern Westchester Hospital. In December 2009, Terry received the annual Episcopal Diocese of New York Award for outstanding service to the diocese, for his dedication to hospitals and civic institutions, and for his service to Episcopal Charities. In 2011, he was a member of the Committee to Elect a new Episcopal Bishop of New York. Married to Nancy Olds Elsberry, he is the father of four daughters and has nine grandchildren. September 13: The Reverend Dr. Thomas F. Pike Rector, Retired Calvary St. George s Church Reverend Pike is the Rector Emeritus at the Parish of Calvary-St. George s, a parish he served as rector for thirty-seven years ( ). Reverend Pike earned his B.S. from the State University of New York, his M. Div and D.D. from the Berkely Divinity School at Yale, and his D. Min from the New York Theological Seminary. Within his community, Reverend Pike served as Chair of the Partnership for the Homeless in New York City from ; President of the Preservation League of New York State from ; and Commissioner of Landmarks for the City of New York from Evening Services Mark your calendars as there will be three evening services this summer at The Watch Hill Chapel all starting at 5:00pm. On June 28th will be the Choral Evensong led by the Reverend Dr. Alfred Tisdale. Andrew Howell, the Chapel s Choirmaster and Director of Music, along with the vocal quartet and guest instrumentalists will provide a stimulating program. On July 12th and August 9th will be our annual hymn sings. Refreshments will be served at the conclusion of all three services.

6 WATCH HILL CHAPEL Watch Hill, Rhode Island Organized 1875 Union Services, Sundays at 10:30 a.m. MINISTERS FOR THE 2015 SEASON June 21 The Reverend David W. Good Minister Emeritus The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme Old Lyme, Connecticut Aug. 2 The Reverend Andrew C. Mead, OBE, DD Rector Emeritus Saint Thomas Church June 28 July 5 The Reverend John A. Zahl Priest Associate Grace Episcopal Church Charleston, South Carolina Choral Evensong 5:00 pm The Reverend Dr. Alfred Tisdale The Reverend John E. Barclay First Presbyterian Church Glens Falls, New York Aug. 9 Aug. 16 The Reverend Dr. D. Stuart Dunnan Headmaster Saint James School Hagerstown, Maryland Hymn Sing 5:00 pm Communion The Reverend Hillary R. Bercovici, Ph.D. Senior Fellow Trinity Institute Greenwich, Connecticut July 12 July 19 July 26 The Reverend Dr. Nora Tubbs Tisdale Clement-Muehl Professor of Homiletics Yale Divinity School New Haven, Connecticut Hymn Sing 5:00 pm Communion The Right Reverend W. Nicholas Knisely Bishop Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island The Reverend Dr. Marlayna Schmidt Interim First Congregational Church Winchester, Massachusetts Aug. 23 Aug. 30 Sept. 6 Sept. 13 The Reverend Richard C. Allen, M. Div. The Congregational Church in South Glastonbury South Glastonbury, Connecticut The Reverend Donald R. Frampton, D. Min. Senior Minister St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church New Orleans, Louisiana The Reverend Terence L. Elsberry, M. Div. Rector St. Matthew s Church Bedford, New York The Reverend Dr. Thomas F. Pike Rector, Retired Calvary St. George s Church Roman Catholic Mass is celebrated each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. The Watch Hill Chapel Society P. O. Box 173, Westerly, RI