Garden Club Memorial Sunday, a tradition since 1936 at Union Chapel in the Grove, features the Rev. Jill Vogt of the Moravian Church of Herrnhut, Germany as guest speaker.
Vogt will preach on the subject, “I’ll Meet You in the Garden.” Chapel Organist Linda Betjeman and Daniel Gladstone, violin, provide music for the interdenominational service on Sunday, August 7 at 10:30 AM.
This is the chapel’s 86th year honoring the Garden Club. The service is chaired by Barbara Hayes. Co-President Suzanne Louer will read the Scripture and Co-President Joan Buonocore will arrange flowers for the altar.
The Garden Club of Shelter Island aims “to stimulate the knowledge and love of horticulture, gardening and flower arranging. It is dedicated to promoting interest in wayside plantings and home gardens and to protect and enhance the natural beauty of Shelter Island, its roadsides, and shorelines.”
About the Rev. Jill Vogt
Though Vogt lives in Germany with her family, she tries to spend part of the summer here.
“She has Shelter Island in her blood,” Union Chapel Chairman Jay Sterling says. Vogt was raised in Longmeadow, MA, and spent her summers at the family cottage on Summerfield Place. The structure is one of the original camp meeting houses and has been in her family for over 100 years.
An avid sailor, Vogt and her brother spent much of their time here on the water with the Shelter Island Yacht Club Junior Sailing Program.
Vogt was a Congregationalist — now the United Church of Christ, where she was ordained. While attending seminary, she did an unpaid internship at Union Chapel. She earned a BA at Denison University, a Master of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, and a Doctor of Ministry at Acadia Divinity School in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
Her research included writing and sharing spiritual autobiographies to encourage people to talk about faith.
Vogt also attended the Graduate School of Ecumenism at the Ecumenical Institute of Bosse in Geneva, where she met her husband, Peter. They serve as co-pastors of the Moravian Church in Herrnhut, Germany, the birthplace of the Moravian Church. She is part of the pastoral care team at the Zinzendorf Moravian High School and represents the Moravian Church on the German Council of Churches.
They have two children, Anna and Christian. Anna received her Master’s degree in Art Therapy and works for the Red Cross in Hamburg, helping to settle Ukrainian refugees in temporary housing. Christian is a rising senior at St. Michael’s College and an officer in the student-run volunteer fire department.
A sesquicentennial and a tricentennial
While Union Chapel celebrates its 150th anniversary this summer, Herrnhut, Germany celebrates the 300th anniversary of its founding.
“We’ve had so much fun, so many visitors, and so many chances to get to know our neighbors better,” Vogt said of the celebrations, which “not only look back but try to look forward as well. Thinking about where we have been helps us to see where we can go.”
Moravian refugees founded Herrnhut, seeking religious freedom. Now, the community is hosting about 100 Ukrainian refugees, she said, providing “a wonderful opportunity for the town to come together and practice hospitality.”
A reception, sponsored by the Garden Club, follows the service.
The commemorative book, “All Are Welcome:150 years of Shelter Island’s Union Chapel in the Grove,” by Carrie Cooperider, is available after the service or anytime at Finley’s Fiction.
JoAnn Kirkland assists the Trustees of Union Chapel in the Grove. To learn more about the nonprofit and the historic chapel, visit the organization’s website, www.unionchapelinthegrove.org/.
