Union Chapel in the Grove is throwing open its doors, welcoming everyone to another summer season.
The Chapel will host an interdenominational Homecoming/Heights Memorial service on Sunday, June 18, at 10:30 AM.
In keeping with the homecoming theme, Rabbi Dan Geffen of Temple Adas Israel, Sag Harbor, will preach about “Lessons From the (Longer Than Expected) Journey Home.” This much-loved rabbi said he “can’t wait for June 18 and for the privilege of batting in the leadoff spot this summer.”
As the Chapel’s antique bell tolls, John Kenney, chairman of the Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation board, will read the names of Heights members and Chapel trustees who have passed away since last June: Thomas Brennan, Robert Haines, Betty Jones, David Klenawicus, Bobby Langbein, Gene Luntey, Richard O’Connell, Grace Pellicano, and Olive Reich.
Basically Baroque returns to provide the music for the indoor service. An outdoor reception will follow, catered by STARS CAFÉ.
About Rabbi Dan Geffen
Geffen was born and raised in New York City, where he attended the AJ Heschel and Fieldston schools. He earned an undergraduate degree in history and master’s degrees in Hebrew Literature and Jewish Education.
He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in May 2014 and became the rabbi of Temple Adas Israel that same year. Before assuming his position there, he was the Rabbinic Intern for Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains and Jewish Home Lifecare of Manhattan.
Rabbi Dan lives in Sag Harbor with his wife, Lu, who is Temple Adas Israel’s director of community engagement, and their children, Eva and Emet.
Asked for the best advice he’s ever received, Geffen offered this great piece of wisdom from Shimon Ben Zoma, a rabbi of the 1st and 2nd centuries CE:
Who is wise? One who learns from all;
Who is heroic? One who conquers their impulse;
Who is rich? One who is happy with their lot;
Who is honored? One who honors Creation.
About Basically Baroque
Jean Hendrickson and Bill Packard on flute and cellist Jeannie Woelker make up the Basically Baroque trio performing at Sunday’s homecoming service.
Hendrickson teaches ESL at Stony Brook University, studied with Katherine Borst Jones at Oberlin College, and the French flute school with Linda Chesis.
Packard studied flute at the Eastern Suffolk School of Music with Jan Benson, Linda Wetherill, and Luann Peskanov.
Woelker, a teacher with 20 years of experience, studied music at the Boston Conservatory of Music, CW Post College, and Stony Brook University. She also performs with The Cottage Trio, Suono Duo, and the Hidden City Orchestra.
Packard and Woelker co-founded Basically Baroque in 1994 with Arthur Swan and Virginia Jones.
Coming up at Union Chapel in the Grove
Coming up at Union Chapel in the Grove, Bill Gordh will lead the always-popular Family Service on Sunday, June 25, at 10:30 AM. This year’s theme is “The Water of Life.”
Children of all ages, families, and young-at-hearts are welcome to the service that features stories, songs, parables, Bible readings, and a special song, “Drink From the Spring,” that Gordh wrote for the event.
Please get in touch with us at unionchapelinthegrove@gmail.com if you’d like to participate in any of our summer services. Everyone is welcome to read or help!
Our commemorative book, “All Are Welcome:150 years of Shelter Island’s Union Chapel in the Grove,” by Carrie Cooperider, is available at Finley’s Fiction.
