The Eagle - April 2007

The Reverend Michael Tessman embarks on his interim ministry with us on November 1; his first Sunday with us will be Sunday, November 4. Following the 10:00 service, please join the vestry in the parish hall at a festive coffee hour to welcome Father Tessman.

Christopher Boshears, Mary Schinke, Wardens Joan Beattie, Rebecca Bent, William Davidson, Russ Elgin, Holly Flor, J. Winston Fowlkes, Lisa Gorrivan, Lisa Guida, Liz O’Connor, David Poole, Alexander Shrady, VestryAnn M. Burton, Parish Archivist Mary Hawkins Sachs, Editor, The Eagle

A million thanks to each and every one of you who made the St. John’s Bazaar a huge success once again! Although the numbers were not all in as of press time, we have recorded a record number of guests and amount of “stuff”! Special thanks to those of you who cooked, cleaned, polished, and catalogued everything, along with the countless others who donated their time and talents. We will send out a special announcement to the parish once we have added everything up. —Chris Boshears and Susan Magee

Sales are starting, stores are open late, and many of us are gearing up to spend more money than we actually have—in a holiday season deeply rooted in religion. The program explores the turmoil many of us experience around money in our day-to-day lives and ways we might find to work toward a moral and practical balance for ourselves and for the next generation. Features Nathan Dungan, a financial educator and president of Share-Save-Spend, an organization that helps people develop healthy financial habits.

Sunday

8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist with homily

10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist with sermon, choir, and hymns; child care provided Family Sunday once a month

5:00 p.m. Choral Evensong once a month

Wednesday

12:00 p.m. Noonday Prayer and Holy Eucharist

Thursday

8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer (except November 1 and Thanksgiving Day)

Friday

5:00 p.m. Vespers (except November 2)

The Youth Group will sponsor the annual Raking Leaves for Sarah McLean on Sunday, November 11. Meet at St. John’s at 2:00 p.m. and take gloves and a rake. Sarah will provide hot chocolate. Rain date is November 18. All ages—adults and children—are welcome! The more rakes, the merrier. And the quicker. Please let Caroline Sorell (sorell@aol.com) or Camille Gillespie (beakyg@aol.com) know you’ll participate.

Christian education through the Church School is vital to the mission of St. John’s. The children, of course, are the future—the future of our church and of our society. Our goal is for the children to learn essential Christian values, make good friends, understand the seasons and the holidays of the church year, and make church fun with happy memories.

year in and year out, is surely an inspiration to the children and to the rest of the congregation. They are Dixie DeLuca, Philip Gorrivan, Robert Guida, John Long, Susan Long, Tom O’Connor, and Jeanne Reid.

However, we have a shortage of teachers; we have lost several, and we have had to move to providing Church School on two Sundays a month rather than three. We also have few families with children actively involved. Most of our families with children are in the area only on the weekends, and in most cases they are not here every weekend.

Altar Guild: Through the kindness of the Reverend Roger White, the Altar Guild has been able to borrow a green chasuble and stole for the clergy, so they need not feel underdressed for church. Green vestments and hangings are used for most of the year, which is why the hangings are looking so faded and our own green chasuble and stole wore out. If Bob Ficks had not had his own set, we would have had to have a new set made for him. It is only a matter of time before we will have to obtain new green hangings and vestments. That will be a project for the Altar Guild in 2008. —Ann M. Burton

Loaves and Fishes: Our next turn is Friday, November 16. Please, please, please consider cooking a large dish of food; you can freeze it in the church’s freezer. Loaves and Fishes, a soup kitchen in New Milford started some years ago, serves a late lunch every afternoon. St. John’s is committed to provide and serve food once a month. To sign up to help, or to find out further information, contact David Poole (dpoole8964@charter.net). —David Poole

Other ongoing committees, busy behind the scenes: Buildings and Grounds, Steve Morris; Flowers, Wallace Gray; Outreach, Russ Elgin; Parish Life, Liz O’Connor; Stewardship, Mary Schinke

10:00 a.m. Featheridge, needlepoint: Mary Schinke (860) 355-8609

Wednesday

7:30 p.m. Came to Believe

Friday

9:15 a.m. Kundalini yoga: Ann Novak (860) 868-9529

Saturday

9:00 a.m. Nia movement: www.fogct.com

The wardens have asked me to be editor of the Eagle, and I am delighted to do so. In time, I plan to make further changes in format, including shifting to a self-mailer. Please help me report—in general, and for the People section (page 6) in particular. Please send news for submission to me at marysachs@gmail.com. Thanks! —Mary Sachs

One of the anomalies of church musicianry, at least insofar as newsletter copy is concerned, is that just at the time of year when activity in the choir room is at its most feverish there seems to be so little to write. The reason is that most of what we do during October and November is what can only be described as behind the scenes work— everything potential, nothing yet quite actual.

In addition to the usual weekly musical fare, the choir and I continue to be hard at work learning the large amount of music required for the services of Advent Lessons and Carols (December 9 at 5:00 p.m.) and Christmas Eve.

On top of which, the Saint John’s Chorale, which includes many of our choir members, is feverishly preparing its annual Christmas Candlelight Concert (December 14 at 8:00 p.m. and December 16 at 4:00 p.m.), this year to include Britten’s masterpiece Rejoice in the Lamb; Telemann’s charming Missa Brevis, based upon the old German carol Ein Kindelein so löbelich (A Child Most Praiseworthy); five sacred anthems by Copland; and a set of Christmas songs and carols.

But as far as snappy article writing is concerned, I do realize that merely to read that a group of musicians is busy rehearsing is about as interesting as being told that a group of chefs is busy cooking. One would rather have the meal. Never mind. Come December all will be revealed.

In a far more newsy vein, I should like to draw your attention to two events coming along this month: On Sunday, November 4, at 5:00 p.m., the choir and Father Tessman will sing Choral Evensong in observance of the Feast of All Saints. The evening canticles will be the very gentle and beautiful setting in F Major by George Dyson, and the anthem will be the stirring O King Most Glorious by Healey Willan.

Then, on Sunday, November 18, at 4:00 p.m., the Saint John’s Concert Series will present Fanfare Consort, an ensemble specializing in Baroque and pre-Baroque repertoire played on instruments of the period. These amazingly talented artists bring the music of that age to life in a way that makes it seem as fresh and vital as if it had been written yesterday. They will be joined by a very special guest soloist, Robert Crowe, the internationally renowned male soprano. Allow me to quote from Mr. Crowe’s biography:

Robert Crowe, described by the New York Times as “a male soprano of staggering gifts,” is a member of perhaps the world’s smallest vocal category. Mr. Crowe has sung on many opera stages in the United States and in Europe: Goffredo in Handel’s Rinaldo at the Bayerische Staatsoper, and the title role in Scarlatti’s Massimo Puppieno with the Theatro Massimo in Palermo. Mr. Crowe has also performed numerous extended solo works written for the soprano voice, among them: Handel’s “Laudate Pueri Domini” and “Ah! Che pur troppo è vero,” Haydn’s “Arianna a Naxos,” and Mozart’s “Exsultate Jubilate.”

And behold, here’s another anomaly. Having said at the outset that I had nothing much to say, I’ve just managed to produce one of the longest Eagle articles I’ve ever written. Go figure. All my best wishes. —Richard Busch

Linnea Morris started her studies at Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pa., this fall. There she sings in the college choir and plays flute in the college band. At St. John’s, she sang with the Choristers and then the Senior Choir; she was a member of the Youth Group and participated in one of their trips to help people in West Virginia.

Elaine Ryan has published Color Your Life: How to Design Your Home with Colors from Your Heart. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007. Entirely of the spirit, it speaks to the reader about the link between our interior selves and the interior design of our homes. It includes her Color Bars system, introduced in an earlier book of hers. See www.elaineryan.com.

Sally and “Woody” Woodroofe have joined our flock from St. Gabriel’s in Marion, Mass., where Woody (baptized Robert) was priest for thirteen years and Sally was an active community volunteer. Before that, they were in Butler, Pa., in the same roles; they are now retired. They have two grown daughters, Louise and Molly, both of whom live in Washington, D.C. Sally has long associations with our town even by Washington standards: she and Woody live in the Cogswell house at the foot of Baldwin Hill in New Preston. Major Cogswell was one of Sally’s forebears, and the family has occupied the house for 251 years.

Last year the Phoenix Singers of Suffolk, U.K., based in Framlingham, commissioned Richard Busch to compose A Suffolk Portrait. He wrote it for chorus and piano; its texts are poems on Suffolk-related themes written by various Suffolk poets, mostly from the nineteenth century; its performance time is about thirty minutes. On June 30, Richard and Jerry Wetmore, his partner, attended its premier performance in Framlingham. Audience, chorus, and composer were all immensely pleased—hoorahs all ’round.

Richard and Jerry then sped through the countryside for all of July: Richard joined our St. John’s friend Michael Bawtree for piano four hands performances in Framlingham, London, Oban, Glasgow, and Roscoff (Roscoff: on the coast of Brittany). The repertoire was the original sort they’ve presented at St. John’s, and from time to time their duo was augmented by another fine musician familiar to concertgoers at St. John’s: their good friend Simon Wall, tenor (who also sang the tenor solo in the Suffolk Portrait premier).

God willing, Catharine Randall will be ordained to the priesthood on November 10 at St. Francis Church, Albuquerque, N. M. Catharine is a special friend of St. John’s: she is married to Randy Balmer, and recently we saw her pinch-hit as crucifer one Sunday. She is a transitional deacon associated with St. Paul’s in Woodbury, where she will be an assisting priest following her ordination, and she is a member of the ecumenical healing Order of St. Luke; she studied for the priesthood at Yale Divinity School.

Catharine is head of the department of modern languages and literature at Fordham University, teaching especially French. A Calvin scholar, formerly she taught religion at Columbia, where she met Randy. She has published six books on religion; the most recent: Earthly Treasures: Material Culture and Metaphysics in Marguerite de Navarre. Purdue University Press, 2007. Catharine and Randy have three grown children: Chris, Andrew, and Sara.

We will mark our first Sunday together with a festive coffee hour hosted by the vestry to welcome Father Tessman and his wife, Carol. Please join us in the parish hall following the 10:00 service. To help Father Tessman get to know us all, we will have permanent name badges available. Please wear one!

Our assisting clergy have kept St. John’s going during the period between the departure of Father Ficks and the arrival of Father Tessman. On behalf of the entire parish, the vestry offers deep thanks to Rowan Greer, Randy Balmer, Susan McCone, and George Hall. Your gifts to and friendship with our parish are blessings beyond measure.

The search process began in September with a special parish meeting to elect a search committee and an all-parish meeting, led by a team from the diocese, in which we reviewed our parish history in a process called Telling Our Story.

The search committee began to work right away. One task the committee is working on is to develop a questionnaire that will be given to all parishioners to elicit everyone’s input. The responses will be used to guide our search and draft our Parish Profile.

The Parish Profile is a document that will be sent to candidates as an introduction to St. John’s. It is akin to a prospectus. It will contain demographic data; descriptions of our ministries, the Washington community, our history, our buildings and grounds, our finances, and our goals; and statements of what we seek in a rector.

While the search committee has the responsibility to conduct our search, all parishioners can play a role. We need to hear your hopes and dreams for St. John’s. We need to have you network and submit names of possible candidates. And we need your prayers and support.

Members of the search committee also need your understanding. While much of the search process is an open dialogue between parishioners and search committee members, once the committee begins to work with candidates, confidentiality is critical. Please understand that while committee members are pleased to hear from you, we are limited in what we can discuss. Through this column and announcements in church, we will keep the parish informed of our progress with as much information as we can provide without compromising the confidentiality of the process.

The American Episcopal Church has a process for parishes to follow in calling a new rector. The search process includes an opportunity for the entire parish to reflect on the past, assess who we are now, and envision what we are called to be in the future and what we need in a leader to move the parish forward in answering God’s call to us. We are required to go through the search process, and so it is important that everyone understand the program. The process can be summarized roughly as follows:

1. Rector Departs

2. Parish Elects Search committee.

3. Parish meets for Telling Our Story

4. Search committee develops parish questionnaire and begins to work on drafting a Parish Profile (currently in progress).

5. Search committee disseminates parish questionnaire and, as necessary, plans additional parish meetings.

6. Search committee completes Parish Profile.

7. Search committee submits a search request to the diocese. The request is entered in a national church computer database that matches potential candidate priests and parishes.

8. Diocese gives the search committee priest profiles based on database matches. Parishioners and friends of the parish submit names of potential candidates to the search committee.

9. Search committee reviews names of candidates from all sources and submits a list of names to the diocese for background checks and vetting by the bishop.

10. Bishop approves the list—as amended, if necessary.

11. Search committee reviews candidate profiles, conducts interviews, visits candidates in their current churches, evaluates and ranks candidates, and presents a short list to the vestry.

12. Vestry interviews short list candidates, negotiates a contract, and calls the new rector

If you have any questions about the search process, please feel free to contact any member of the search committee: Zemma White, Chair (zemma@zemmaart.com); Mary Schinke, Vice-Chair (mary@schinkelaw.com); Ann Hodgman, Secretary (ahodgman@earthlink.net)