The Rev. Jill Vogt is guest preacher at the next interdenominational service at Union Chapel in the Grove where she’ll speak about “The Good Life.”
Guest musicians are The Cottage Trio. All are welcome to the service on Sunday, August 15 at 10:30 AM in the historic chapel.
About Jill Vogt
Vogt was raised in Longmeadow, MA and spent her summers as a kid on Shelter Island at the family cottage on Summerfield Place near North Ferry. She is daughter of the late Jackie and Fred Staples, whose house was one of the original camp meeting houses and has been in the family for over 100 years.
Jill and her brother were avid sailors and spent much of their time on the water with the Junior Sailing Program. Because of her Shelter Island background and her sailing experience, she is regularly sought by the Yacht Club to speak at the club’s memorial service at Union Chapel in July.
Due to scheduling problems and the pandemic, she has not made that service for the past couple of years. Chairman Jay Sterling said, “Jill truly has Shelter Island in her blood.”
Vogt was raised as a Congregationalist — now the United Church of Christ — where she was ordained. While she was going to seminary, she did an unpaid internship at Union Chapel.
She has a BA from Denison University, a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, and a Doctor of Ministry from Acadia Divinity School in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Her research included writing and sharing spiritual autobiographies to encourage people to talk about faith.
A Moravian connection
She also attended the Graduate School of Ecumenism at the Ecumenical Institute of Bosse in Geneva, Switzerland, 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.
When asked how her church survived the pandemic, she said they learned to be flexible, to think outside the box, and come up with new ways to connect with each other and the community.
“We found the joy of hiking and discovered the beauty of our area through weekly hikes and mountain climbing,” she said, about herself and her husband, and their children, Anna and Christian.
The Moravian Church is one of the oldest Protestant churches in the world. It originated in ancient Bohemia and Moravia, which is the present-day Czech Republic.
According to the church website, even though the Moravians played an important role in colonial America, there are only about 60,000 members in the United States, much less than the rest of the world. Interestingly, Staten Island was settled by Moravians.
Members of the church place a strong focus on missionary work: “Moravians saw their distinct calling as bringing the good news of God’s infinite love to the poorest and most despised people of the world.”
Music for the service
Music for the service will be performed by chapel organist Linda Betjeman and The Cottage Trio. The trio consists of Anne-Marie Chubet (violin), Jeannie Woelker (cello), and James Chubet (keyboard).
Next week: Union Chapel celebrates Poetry Sunday featuring the work of poet Amanda Gorman, read and discussed by Emma Martinez, Shelter Island High School Class of 2021.
