Written by The Rev. Tuesday Rupp, Rector of St. Paul’s Church, Woodbury

John 1:37b-41

[Jesus’s first] two followers said, “Jesus, where are you staying?”

Jesus answered, “Come with me and you will see.” So the two men went with Jesus. They saw the place where Jesus was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was then about four o’clock.

These two men followed Jesus after they heard about him from John. One of the men was Andrew. He was Simon Peter’s brother. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon. He said to Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)

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5) NEW FRIENDS

There are no phones allowed at Camp Washington. Everyone sleeps in cabins, and everyone shares bathrooms and showers. Everyone will sweat and get dirty; everyone will smell like sunscreen and bug spray; everyone will be new to some aspect of camp life. What a gift. On Sunday night, a lot of kid conversation consisted of TikTok catch phrases; by Friday morning, I heard kids humming songs and chants from the week, talking with excitement about games and activities, giving detailed descriptions of bead crafts, or comparing their favorite meals. New friends had inside jokes to share, with nary a “skibbidy” to be heard.

At Camp, “new friend” is a broad category. Here’s a short list of places that our campers and counselors come from: Our campers and counselors hail from various places, such as Turkey, Jamaica, Honduras, Hungary, all over New England, and other parts of Connecticut, which can feel like a completely different country to a child. Kids, counselors, and staff shine across the spectrum of race, gender, neurodiversity, skills, interests, and faith. For Episcopalian kids, this was a way to connect with each other and their shared faith, making this one of the largest and most vibrant youth programs in our diocese. While participating in activities in small groups, creating skits, singing camp songs, over meals, and even during daily prayers, the kids formed bonds that could last a lifetime during cabin time and cookouts. It’s worth noting that, for our week, one very special Episcopalian was on hand to lead us in a rousing version of the classic camp song, “Goin’ on a Lion Hunt” (thanks, Bishop Jeff). 

4) BEN’S FOOD

Yelp rating for meals at Camp Washington: 5/5 stars for kid food. This is hands-down the best kid-friendly food you will ever eat, and there is something for everyone. Food is abundant and delicious, and fresh salads and ripe fruit are available daily. Ben’s secret recipes are the subject of much speculation and debate, but the main ingredient is certainly love.

We also received our nourishment in other ways. The customs of mealtime are a key part of what makes Camp Washington special. This is one area where I observed a significant difference between the campers on Sunday night and those on Friday morning. We expect everyone to take turns in serving, carrying, setting up, and cleaning up. Family-style meals mean that everyone at the table has to pay attention to the needs of others. Everyone engages in conversation and connection three times a day, free from distractions such as screens. Three times a day, we came away from mealtime satisfied.

3) BULLSEYES

This week at camp, I knew of two kids who shot bullseyes (one of them was the youngest camper that week)! Amazing! I witnessed campers creating artwork that they could proudly display at home, enhancing their swimming skills, baking cookies with Ben (refer to point #4), experimenting with dance and art classes, and experiencing canoeing for the first time. One camper shared with me that conquering her fear of heights during the ropes course was the highlight of her week. Bullseye!

These are the kinds of successes that happen when the reward is fun. People who love, celebrate, and embrace you for who you are, and who encourage and support trying out new things, can foster these kinds of successes.

2) THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE

After a week of creating, refining, making costumes, practicing dance steps, song lyrics, or impressions of counselors, this is Camp Washington’s night to shine. Campers, counselors, and staff cheered each other on through two hours of skits, songs, dance routines, amazing feats of flexibility, more skits, group dance numbers, instrumental solos, one very memorable singer, still more skits, and a rousing group finale. Perhaps the abundant snacks and cotton candy cones helped the audience stay attentive. I like to think it was a sense that every person on stage was a friend, and we always cheer our friends on.

One performance particularly stood out to me: a counselor-in-training, torn between a deep desire to share a song and crippling stage fright. Last summer’s attempt to get on stage ended in tears. This year, after several halting starts and stops, sharing and self-expression triumphed over fear. The sung and danced rendition of the song was brilliant. The cheering and applause were deafening. My heart exploded with joy and wonder. Bullseyes truly come in many and varied forms.

1) BELONGING AND BECOMING

I have heard that it takes something like 11 contiguous hours with the same people to form a group. I don’t know if that number is “true” or not, but the idea is clear: spending lots of time with the same people is required for that alchemical transformation that transforms a bunch of individuals into a group. Summer camp has the potential to do that; you’ve got the time and the togetherness. The question is, what kind of group are you going to form?

At Camp Washington, I encountered a culture that values both self-expression and community equally. A sense of belonging to the whole intertwines with the process of becoming (remembering?) who you are. There isn’t enough of that in the world, in church, or in our daily lives. But for one magical week, there was belonging and abundance. Maybe it’s like a little glimpse into the kingdom of God. I hope so. 

But don’t take my word for it—come and see for yourself!

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The Rev. Tuesday Rupp, Rector of St. Paul’s Church in Woodbury, served for the first time as a chaplain for children’s camp at Camp Washington, and is really excited about coming back for Summer 2025!

Written by The Very Rev. Miguelina Howell, Cathedral Dean

I am excited to share with you the highlights of my experience at the 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church, a gathering that was both inspiring and deeply enriching.

As you know, our Church has traditionally gathered every triennium to set the priorities in our participation in God’s mission, to approve the triennial budget, to engage in legislations that set the tone for the work of the wider church staff and for Episcopalians from around the globe to worship and join in fellowship together.

During the week, someone asked me what the highlight of General Convention for me was. The first thing that came to mind was Worship. Then, later in the evening, I paused to reflect on my experience of the past 10 days at what I call a big Episcopal family reunion.

The Worship Team and volunteers worked for four months to prepare for this gathering, a task that has usually been assigned for a three-year period of preparation. The challenge was to provide a worship as diverse as possible while keeping simplicity. God was praised! The music, the diversity of languages, and most of all the joy of the gathered community was a gift to many.

In addition to Worship, a meaningful highlight was an evening function. The Wider Church Staff hosted a Reception for Bishops and the HOB Staff to honor Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. The entire evening was delightful. The greatest impact for me was a moving tribute offered by the Rt. Rev. Michael Hunn, who served for many years with Bishop Curry. Bishop Hunn’s words were a testament of the kind, empowering, and caring leader Bishop Curry has been throughout his episcopacy. 

The Diocese of Kentucky did a remarkable job as hosts! Their Bishop, volunteers, Diocesan Staff, Cathedral Dean and Staff showed so much care. I am particularly thankful to Bishop White and his team for all the support we received in accommodating worship needs.

From a legislative standpoint, there were several highlights for me, most of them reflective of a changing church in a changing world, being the gift of adaptive leadership and collaboration the underline force:

• A historic milestone was reached as Navajoland was recognized as a missionary diocese, granting them, among other things, the authority to elect their own bishop. This marks a significant step forward in empowering local leadership and honoring the unique cultural and spiritual heritage of the Navajo people. My heart smiled and rejoiced hearing their Deputation sing Amazing Grace in their mother tongue.
• The way the bishops managed and interacted in relation to resolutions about the crisis in the Middle East was a testament to their mutual respect and desire to find common ground without compromising their beliefs. This ongoing dialogue is crucial, and the commitment to articulate their shared values and responses was evident throughout their discussions. This is hard and holy work.  
• I was also moved by the engagement of our newest bishops in the legislative process within the House of Bishops. Their passion, clarity, and spirit of collaboration set a hopeful tone for their collective work and common mission.
• In another significant development, the Convention approved the merger of the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan, after nearly five years of experimentation and collaboration, officially merged into one: The Diocese of the Great Lakes. Both dioceses are familiar to me through colleagues from the wider church or through leaders who have been involved in missionary work in the Dominican Republic. It was a joy to see their hard work and openness to the Spirit culminate in what is indeed a new and strong beginning.
• Additionally, three dioceses in Wisconsin received approval for their merger request, reuniting as the Diocese of Wisconsin. This decision reflects a commitment to fostering stronger, more cohesive communities within our church.    

Other dioceses are in conversation and collaboration about the possibility of merging. This is happening at a time when we have elected a Presiding Bishop who is clear about the need for adaptive leadership and structural changes. The Presiding Bishop-Elect was a member of the Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church in which he contributed largely to the vision reflected on the final report.  

On a more personal note, let me share that my first experience at a General Convention was in 1997, when I attended as Provincial Youth Coordinator, serving as one of the chaperons for the Official Youth Presence. At this Convention, I saw clergy and lay leaders from the 1997 Official Youth Presence serving this week as deputies. Words can’t express the joy and pride my heart felt seeing them serving God in this manner.

Finally, as one of the Chaplains to the House of Bishops, along with my chaplain colleagues, I had the honor of leading Bishops in prayer during the election of the 28^th Presiding Bishop. We led a moment of prayer, silence, and readings. The election happened in closed doors at Christ Church Cathedral, Louisville. The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe was elected on the first ballot. 

Right before the election, the chaplains tried to guess how many ballots the election would take. We prepared worship for four ballots. We agreed that the chaplain who guessed correctly would get free ice cream. Clearly, none of us got ice cream for free!  

These highlights represent just a fraction of the transformative experiences and decisions that took place at the convention. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this significant event and look forward to how these developments will shape our journey together as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Now, I get ready to start sabbatical and depart Kentucky with a thankful heart and great anticipation for the many possibilities of a future unknown but held in God’s hands.

This piece was also published through Christ Church Cathedral’s media channels.

Written by the Rev. Matt Handi, First ECCT Alternate to The General Convention

I was sitting in the airport in Austin in November of last year watching the livestream of ECCT’s Annual Convention. I had put my name forward to serve as a deputy to The General Convention and watched as my name was called to serve as Second Alternate. Soon after, I learned that I would serve as First Alternate when a member of the deputation resigned.
Now, Alternates are not allowed to vote but they are on stand-by in case one of the full Deputies need to come off the floor. As an Alternate, too, I am able to sit in the bullpen consisting of other diocesan Alternates, guests, and visitors to watch the business of the church move by motions and votes. I am so in awe and impressed with the passion we all carry down here at GC81 for this church we love and are called to serve.

And there were perks to this trip as well. The Deputation was invited by the Union of Black Episcopalians to a gala this past Friday night to celebrate Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s retirement. And this was a gala in the truest sense as people were dressed to the nines, the fabrics so many wore were a living quilt of color and awe, an homage to culture, a celebration of strength and independence.

The escalator was an A-list event in itself. There was Kelly Brown Douglas just steps (literally; it was an escalator). Stephanie Spellers rode the same path. I was a agog. These women having meant so much to me in my formation; I still read Radical Welcome just to remind me that through the simple act of welcoming, we are breaking down barriers between each other, becoming closer to each other, and fulfilling that greatest commandment by loving each other.

I shared an elevator that night too with Presiding Bishop Curry. I was pushing a luggage cart at the time while wearing my clericals and I joked about having a second job. He smiled at my not very funny joke and we got into a conversation about the difficulty of pushing luggage carts. There is a metaphor there I am sure, but I’ll just say it was quite an evening. It is as if my Facebook page of Episcopal celebrities came to life and I had to hold myself back from geeking out and telling complete strangers that I loved them.

The next day was work. Work for this Alternate meant that I was to begin planning for the week, scoping out places to eat, communicating with fellow Deputies about lunch choices, ordering food from grocery stores, and setting up the hospitality suite. We all communicated by the texting app called WhatsApp. And by the end of The General Convention we probably should have called it LunchApp, because I was sending out a lot (A LOT) of texts about lunch orders and lunch menus and lunch order updates. It kept me busy.

On Saturday afternoon into evening, I visited the Thomas Merton memorial where Br. Merton had a vision, a revelation that he loved all people, that he could see in them God’s light, sunshine emanating from all of those he encountered on the corner of 4th and Walnut (Now West Muhmmed Ali Blvd). And I imagined the same and I wondered if any of those who passed by this spot were loved in such a way and, if they were told this, would they believe it. It can be sometimes hard to believe that we emit the light Merton perceived. I am convinced we do, but can you believe that you do?

I left the memorial to get dinner at an Ethiopian spot down the road and watched as other convention attendees trickled in. Bishops, priests, deacons, laity, every order seemed to be represented. A group from Africa, two priests and bishop walked in. I saw them pray over their food, their hands held above their injera and Doro Wat; they went to a holy place to thank God for holy things.

By Sunday, we were in the swing of things: Morning Eucharist; lunch ordered by the deputies via LunchApp; a meeting in the Hospitality Suite amongst the deputation and so on. This was our routine. Those who could escape the floor would head to the suite each day for fellowship, conversation, and debriefs. And I also found time to sit on the floor to observe every now and again.

Tuesday was Friday night event planning day. I had to follow up on phone calls I made to various event facilities who might host the ECCT contingent for the Friday night wrap up and celebration. One place sounded promising, and I visited another place just in case. That turned out to be a good idea as the first option fell through.

While traveling via one of those stand-up electric scooters from event place to event place, a woman on the corner of Market Street and 2nd waved me down. She shouted from the sidewalk, “Are you a pastor?”

“I am,” I replied.

“Can you come bless me?”

“I can,” I said and navigated three lanes over to meet her on the sidewalk. She spoke from a place of pain and sadness, her voice rose as tears brimmed but would not fall. She asked me to pray for Lawrence. She asked me to pray for Dominque who has been in a vegetative state for two years.

Soon, her tears grew brave and dared to fall. Her bus was soon to arrive, a half block away, she asked that I pray with her. We prayed for her sons. Her Lawrence. And her Dominique. I held her hand. Her bus arrived. She held on until the light turned green: her in the bus and me on the sidewalk. She let go. “I ask you too, please pray for Lawrence. Please pray for Dominique…” She rode off on a bus that would take her to the hospital. Or home. Or work, I know not where. I rode off on my scooter.

Wondering.

And so it was these past few days: Lunch and LunchApp; planning and replanning; walking the Exhibition Hall and spending some time on the floor watching the proceedings proceed. It has been an absolute gift and joy to serve this diocese, to serve you, in whatever capacity I could.

I left Thursday morning because I had a wedding to celebrate Friday afternoon. It was meaningful to celebrate this couple’s love and their continuing relationship as it transitions into a different kind of relationship with a new set of ups and downs and negotiations and renegotiations. New love celebrated. Continuing love renewed. Old love rekindled. A wonderful celebration.

And after all, isn’t that what we’ve been celebrating this past week here in Louisville?

Written by Sarah Louise Woodford, Canon for Communications & Media

After Wednesday’s morning session, the Reverend Rowena Kemp, one of ECCT’s deputies, met Stacey Kohl and I off the House of Deputies’ floor and introduced us to members of the deputation from Navajoland, who the day before took the next step towards becoming a Missionary Diocese. Once the House of Bishops votes to concur, Navajoland will gain seat, voice, and vote at The General Convention. Even more important for those who call Navajoland home, they will finally be able to call their own bishop, instead of having one assigned to them from the outside. With me on camera, and Stacey filming, we learned more about these amazing deputies and their work, as well as their ancestors, who engaged in the work before them.

The Episcopal Church in Connecticut also has a connection to Navajoland. The Reverend H. Baxter Liebler (1889-1982) was a Connecticut priest who worked closely with the Diné of Navajoland (this is preferred to the term Navajo). Before moving west, he founded St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church in Old Greenwich, CT.

Written by Sarah Louise Woodford, Canon for Communications & Media

The Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky, was filled on Tuesday with deputies, bishops, and visitors clad in tie-dyed t-shirts, and in ECCT’s deputation’s case, a cheery green with Camp Washington’s logo on the front and STAFF prominently printed on the back in white letters. Tuesday was Camp Day, and many deputations wore shirts to show support for their diocesan camps.

As ECCT’s deputation worshipped, listened and voted on resolutions, stopped for lunch or an afternoon coffee break, the green shirts from ECCT’s Camp Washington were always present. Sometimes just as one person and sometimes in clusters of twos or threes, and even on the floor, after the nominees for Presiding Bishop were presented in a joint session, a solid block of green at the Connecticut table. A table that included all of our deputies, the Right Reverend Jeffrey W. Mello, the Right Reverend Doctor Laura Ahrens, and the Right Reverend Ian Douglas, Ph.D.

At the Province 1 luncheon, the Reverend Canon Lee Crawford, Ph.D. shared a moving story about her experiences at Camp Washington in the early 1970s and how this special place in our diocese helped to form her, not only as a person of faith, but also as someone who was called to the priesthood, even before women were ordained.

What a great witness, both past and present, of how camp is an important place that forms us and brings us not only closer to God, but also closer to hearing God’s call for our lives.

Written by Marta S. Rivera Monclova, M.Div., Ph.D.

What do you do when God calls you to something that doesn’t exist yet? Build it! Well, easier said than done. None of Haven’s members set out to found something new, but each of us—Marta (an English Ph.D., candidate for Holy Orders, and expert in grief), Gregory (an ex-computer programmer and jaded cradle Episcopalian), and Sean (a composer, artist, and former monk) – has been drawn into a life of dedicated service to God in community. As we each spent time in established religious orders, we found that the particular pattern of life we sought didn’t exist in the Church yet. By grace, we also found one another and discovered that what we could not do alone, we could do together. So we have embraced the joyous risk of sharing conversion of life together in love and trust. This conversion has led us in surprising directions and uncovered unexpected gifts. As we each grow into our individual call from God, the community grows stronger; and the strength of the community supports each member in our healing, growth, and ministry.

Our vision is to empower one another “to seek Christ with our whole selves and to serve our neighbors with all our gifts.” We take the Victorian Anglican sisterhoods, the Beguines, and Carmelite friars as our models; all pioneers who also sought to build dedicated lives in the context of their time. We also have as models the many present-day religious orders in the Episcopal Church. Many of these are primarily “contemplative” communities, whose work is internal and often includes a ministry of hospitality. Haven is a primarily “active” community, meaning that we balance our pattern of prayer and household life with significant ministry commitments outside the house—these currently include administrative work at Christ Church Cathedral, chaplaincy at A Place of Grace food pantry, pastoral and liturgical assistance at Seabury Life Community, and parish commitments at Grace Church in Hartford and St. James’s Church in West Hartford.

As we grow in our ability to offer formation, community, and support to people who are called to this life of service, we will be able to undertake more and more ministries of support in the Church. Our goal is not so much to start new ministries as to establish a new (or rediscover an old) model for dedicated ministers in the Church and the world: a corps of people who can support, work, advise, and show up wherever their gifts are needed. We are building a community that does this work as the first priority in their lives, within Haven as a body of support. We seek to build an endowment so that we have the flexibility to increase work in areas which have deep and pressing needs but are underfunded or unfunded.

One of our core principles is that dedication to God is the most important thing, and our work, our practices, and our community life all flow from that dedication and must be measured against it. This means that we strive to welcome people with widely varying experiences and needs, recognizing that our experiences, needs, and identities—for example, ethnicity, disability, neurotype, and gender—must be fully and actively welcomed into the community. One of the blessings of community is the ability to grow deeply in understanding and mutual support, valuing belonging over uniformity and charity over rule. This life is marked by the challenges that define the life-long call to surrender all that is within ourselves to the healing, life-giving touch of God’s grace revealed in relationships shared among people with whom one would not have otherwise chosen to live. It is a life ordered around the promise to abide in relationship with those same people regardless of whatever blessings or hardships variously arise within the fabric of that shared space. This is not easy! But it bears much spiritual fruit.

Haven itself is not yet a recognized religious order—in order to be recognized by the Episcopal Church orders must have six professed members, which, for a residential community that grows slowly and organically, might take a decade or more. The Anglican tradition has always maintained a “grassroots” approach to new communities, allowing them to take root in their own time. Haven was recognized by ECCT in 2023 as an Intentional Episcopal Community, which allows us to participate in the life and governance of our diocese as we grow.

One path that members of Haven may take is to make the traditional vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience. Our name for this vowed expression of Haven is the Order of the Body of Christ—a namesake with triple resonance: Jesus’ earthly body, the Eucharist, and the Church. Other members of Haven may choose to have different goals or a different relationship with the vows. At the center of Haven is lifting up the gifts of those we live with and those we meet, that we communicate in bonds of charity and mutual love, and that our lives are dedicated to God.  

Please pray with and for us! On May 30 (Corpus Christi), Marta and Gregory will be clothed as novices, thereby establishing the Order of the Body of Christ and renewing their commitment to Haven. The service will be at 6:00pm at Grace Episcopal Church, 55 New Park Ave., Hartford and is open to the public. RSVP for in person attendance or get the streaming link at havenreligious.org/rsvp.

Written by the Rev. Margie Baker, Associate Rector at St. John’s (West Hartford).

A few Mondays ago, I joined thousands of other runners at the starting line of the Boston Marathon. It wasn’t my first Boston (it was my fourth), but I was underprepared and poorly rested. I was nervous about the heat and sun.

The race began and my legs settled into just under goal pace. My breathing felt relaxed, I wasn’t overdressed, and my music was on point.

This lasted for approximately seven miles, but then the sun and heat began to do their work. There’s no shade on the course and, despite a hat, sunglasses, and SPF 50, I felt myself baking.

Around mile nine I shed my first tears. If you’ve never cried while running, trust me: it’s not fun.

I was crying not in pain but in frustration: frustration at my body, at my lack of training, at how much money I spent to be here, at the difficult choice to keep going at the pace I desired or slow down and have a lackluster, still possibly disastrous race.

I texted my wife: “Feel like absolute crap. I think I’m gonna quit.”

I stopped at the medical tent around mile ten for ice and shade. I was done.

Running has been there for me since college as a place to find control in a sometimes out-of-control world. Running calms my mind and taxes my body. There have been seasons of my life when I’ve prayed on the run, although these days I’m more likely to listen to a podcast or a playlist.

I love the discipline of training for a race. I’ve run more marathons than I can count, and just about every one of them has been a challenge. I learn things about myself on the run. I work through problems.

I do not believe that everything happens for a reason. But I do believe, strongly, that God can redeem anything. So, in no particular order, here’s what that redemption has looked like and what I hope it’ll look like in the future.

• It’s good that I quit. I was angry at myself, but I was also too hot. Me stopping this race before I was actually sick is a sign that I’m learning to trust my own decision making. And friends, when we trust ourselves to make decisions that go against our ego, we can be pretty sure that God is cheering us on.
• My friends and family (a) are amazing and (b) do not love me when or because I succeed. Logically this isn’t news to me, but oh how often do I conflate my desire to accomplish something with others’ ability to love and value me. That’s not how it works, y’all. We love one another because of our inherent worth and dignity as God’s children, not because of what we accomplish. When I feel that sort of love, it reminds me that love itself is a gift from God. “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:7, 11).
• As the Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us, there really is a season for everything, and in this season of my life I’ve been doing too much. Would I have learned that lesson if the weather hadn’t been too much for me? Probably not. Do I want to revisit my idea about things happening (or not) for a reason? Definitely not. But the seasons of our lives are real, and serious, and we ignore the rhythms of our lives at our own peril. We are finite creatures, and we cannot do it all. I am often praised for my energy and drive. Perhaps in this season God would rather I learn that “in returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15b).
• We are not our actions. (Say it again, and again, and again). We are made of dirt and divine breath, utterly mundane and yet filled with the Holy Spirit. We, like Peter, will absolutely fall short, and in much more serious places than a footrace. We will try and fail. To be human is to fail, at least some of the time. When I feel like a failure, I give that feeling to Jesus, knowing that he’s seen worse failures than mine and will not leave me where I am.

So, friends, a few Mondays ago I had a bad race. Since then I’ve meditated on the mundane and the divine. How could I have trained better? What can I do differently next time? Have I conflated my progress and my worth?

May we balance seasons of work and seasons of rest. May we forgive ourselves and one another, and above all may we know ourselves to be loved, completely and inexhaustibly, by the God who made us and saves us and will not abandon us.

Artwork by: Robin Hammeal-Urban
Poetry (Haiku’s) by: Caela Collins

Written and voiced by the Reverend Doctor Linda Spiers, convener of the Holy Landers Ministry Network and supply priest currently at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Wallingford.

We all have an invitation to enter Holy Week with the whole of ourselves—body, mind, soul, and heart—as if being on a pilgrimage. To borrow words from the staff of St. George’s College, Jerusalem, the difference between being a tourist and being a pilgrim is “a tourist is one who passes through the land while a pilgrim is one who is open to having the land pass through her/him/them.” I believe we’re invited to let Jesus’ last days pass through us.

I carry in my heart blessings of being in our Holy Land multiple times with two powerful Holy Week experiences—walking Jesus’ Palm Sunday triumphal entry into Jerusalem and walking the Stations of the Cross in the Old City of Jerusalem. My Holy Land pilgrimages have not been during Holy Week, and yet these experiences have made it feel such. Along that Palm Sunday road is a stop at a small Mount of Olives church called Dominus Flevit that overlooks the Old City. According to Luke 19:41-42, Jesus wept over the city and said, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” I imagine that Jesus continues to weep for Jerusalem and for all of Israel/Palestine’s living stones, the people who suffer from inexplicable tragedy now. The living stones cry out to us from afar and break open hearts. My heart aches and is broken with the humanitarian crisis that unfolds day by day.

Stations of the Cross are in the hustle and bustle of the Old City and are often walked early on a Friday morning. Amidst our prayers and singing at each station are the noises of carts rolling through the cobble stone streets, people swiftly moving and paying little attention to our devotions. I wonder if today’s noises are from guns or bombs or war planes overhead or children and other innocents crying out for food and water and shelter. Gaza is not within physical hearing distance and yet it is within heart hearing distance.

More than ever our continued prayers throughout Holy Week are needed, just as if we were pilgrims in the land. Prayers work, and prayers lead us to action and discovery of how our body, mind, soul and heart might respond. How will we make a difference in our own small way during this Holy Week to recognize the things that make for peace and remember the peace to which Jesus calls us?

I believe we’re invited to let Jesus’ last days pass through us, and our Holy Week liturgies open us to that possibility. May we each find that way of a pilgrim. May our pilgrimage through Holy Week lead us there with eyes open.

Greg Farr, Diocesan Archivist

It all started when our Diocesan Archivist, Greg Farr, found a Letter of Patent & Diocesan shield from 1924 in the ECCT archive. The piece needed preservation/conservation and Greg has written a three-part blog examining the process. Today is the final installment. Thank you for reading!

The earlier two installments of this 3-part blog series told the stories of the rediscovery of one of the most unique artifacts preserved within the ECCT Archives and the unfolding process of manuscript conservation employed to restore the 1924 patent letter for ECCT’s Coat of Arms to its original condition. As was shared, this patent letter, written on animal membrane vellum and adorned with inked cursive script and illumined heraldic images, had become dried and cockled over the past century due to fluctuating changes in temperature and humidity. Fortunately, after testing the pigments and media of the artifact to ensure that the item could endure the restorative process of re-humidification and tensioning, CT document conservator Jean Baldwin was able to appropriately flatten the vellum letter and prepare this archival object for ongoing long-term preservation. As was also previously mentioned, following this two-and-a-half-month period of patient “paper” conservation, the final “sealing” of the letter in its new enclosure was foreseen as the most complex part of the project, since the vellum letter needed to be fastened in its new frame in the same environment it had been flattened and re-tensioned in to prevent any subsequent distortion of this mutable material. So, equipped with templated matte fittings and a wooden museum-quality shadow-box frame, Collinsville art framer Kristen Stevens met Jean at her Roxbury workshop to carry out the final steps in this conservation process. Kristen had located a dark walnut wood frame with a simple Tudor-style design carved around its perimeter that seemed to perfectly match and highlight the character of this historical artifact. Finally, after determining that it would be necessary to remount the appended gold-plated cannisters with their lids securely closed, so as to prevent any additional wicking of moisture from the embossed red wax resin contained within each, Jean and Kristen were able to set the piece in its present frame and to let me know that the final product was ready for its transport back to The Commons, the home of ECCT’s diocesan offices and archive repository in Meriden, CT.

The full significance and history of this patent letter and the diocesan Coat of Arms that this letter confers, of course, extends far beyond the scope of what might be shared here in this blog format. My hope, accordingly, is that this artifact, along with its archival conservation, will continue to invite further reflection and conversation related to Episcopalian identity and the insights this archival record may convey concerning our own diocesan history as the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. In this vein, for instance, I have found it fascinating to learn about the various ways the diocesan Coat of Arms, as a unique form of ecclesiastical heraldry, is customarily utilized by Christian religious organizations and clergy. Differing notably from other types of heraldry to indicate rank or military order, ecclesiastical heraldry is primarily used to represent the identity and authority of religious institutions, perhaps appearing in stained glass windows, on lecterns and tapestries, or in embroidered clergy vestments. A large representation of ECCT’s Coat of Arms sits above the Bishop’s chair [cathedra] in Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, and a small engraved representation of the same image sits at the base of the Bishop’s insignia ring used to create an embossed wax seal that authenticates official certificates – such as when our own diocesan bishop, The Right Reverend Jeffrey W. Mello, officially witnesses, by written record and signature, the ordination of other diocesan bishops or the appointment of ordained clergy in our own diocese. Beyond their many possible uses for historical branding, coats of arms are also symbolically evocative in themselves, often conveying, through the best practices of heraldry, a contextual understanding of the organization or individual(s) to which it pertains.

The traditional description of the elemental design of ECCT’s Coat of Arms is as follows:

Azure, a saltire argent, in chief two swords saltirewise proper, blades upward; on an inescutcheon sable in fess point, a key and a crosier in saltire or, on a chief of the second, three grapevines proper.

As Robert Symonds reports in his 1926 publication, Ecclesiastical Shields for the Interior of Churches, “azure, a saltire argent,” represents Scotland. Symonds further explains, “St. Andrew, the Apostle, for whom the saltire is named, after much journeying came to Patras in Achaia and converted the wife of the Pro-Consul. Her husband, becoming enraged at this, crucified the Apostle on a diagonal cross or

Saltire.” We also hear of other design features in the above description, such as the “key” and the “crosier” forming another ‘saltire’ or cross; the “inescutcheon” and the “chief”; and “grapevines” – with each representation possessing a particular significance within the area of the “shield” in ECCT’s Coat of Arms. When considering the image as a whole, which is useful for appreciating the presence of a bishop’s mitre set at the top of the shield and that there is a smaller shield placed strategically within the larger or encompassing shield, one comes to recognize that, with the specific placement of images and the chosen colors of the images, these elements are designed and arranged in such a way to articulate a dynamic, relational context of history. Gradually, the heraldic creativity developed in this diocesan symbol comes into impressive view!

“Two swords saltirewise” represent the Bishopric of London who had original jurisdiction over the Colonial Church in America, and the key and crozier within the inescutcheon’s black (sable) background represents Bishop Samuel Seabury’s Arms or Seal. An “inescutcheon in fess point” refers to a smaller shield centered within a shield, and, in this case, it is Bishop Seabury’s armorial shield that also appears printed atop the letterhead of many of Seabury’s earliest ecclesiastical correspondences. At the top of the inescutcheon, on the rectangle area called a chief, are three colonial vines on a ground of gold. These vines are at once meant to emulate those found in the state seal of Connecticut, symbolically representing our state’s colonial history and its agricultural abundance, and to give representation to Gospel references to Christ as identified as “the vine” (John 15). The religious symbolism runs deep in this area of the shield, moreover, with the three vines and the three bunches of grapes representing the Trinity, the four grape leaves on each vine representing the four gospels (while also totaling across the chief to the number 12, representing the number of Jesus’ apostles), and the leaves and grapes together, along with the number of each bunch of grapes totaling to seven, resonating with a number of Biblical motifs including the Seven Sacred Symbols of Mosiac Law, the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, the Seven Words of Christ upon the Cross and the Seventh Day of Rest after the Creation, etc. Moving again to the background of the image, there is, of course, the pastoral staff or crosier of the Bishop and a key (symbolizing the keys of the kingdom of heaven, metaphorically given to St. Peter by Jesus (Matthew16:19)) that together represent the ministerial charge bestowed to a Bishop in the Anglican Church. Finally, the charge of the episcopate is the adorning red/gold mitre associated with the Bishopric of Aberdeen and Orkney, ECCT’s sister diocese. The mitre, in this instance, is a copy of the one painted on the roof of St. Machar’s Cathedral in Aberdeen in 1520.

Again, there is much to explore historically as well as much to discuss presently about the elements of this diocesan symbol, ECCT’s Coat of Arms, and their given historic significance. This patent letter, signifying the Episcopal Church in Connecticut as being the first Bishopric in United States of America to receive a Patent of Arms, and, so, being recognized as the oldest see in the world in the Anglican Communion outside the British Isles by Heraldry College of Arms, also holds its own historic place in this story. It seems relevant to celebrate its centennial anniversary and  to continue to courageously reckon with ECCT’s past, present, and future.

In this addendum, please see the content of the letter conveyed February 15, 1924; received in U.S., March 27, 1924.

Patent of Arms :

To ALL AND SINGULAR to whom these Presents shall come, Sir Henry Farnham Burke, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Garter Principal King of Arms, William Alexander Lindsay, Esquire, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, One of his Majesty’s Counsel, learned in the Law, Clarenceux King of Arms, and Gordon Ambrose de Lisle Lee, Esquire, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Norroy King of Arms, Send Greetings:

WHEREAS the Right Reverend Chauncey Bunce Brewster, Bishop of Connecticut, Doctor of Divinity of Trinity College, Hartford, Yale University of New Haven and Wesleyan University of Middletown, all in the State of Connecticut and United States of America, hath represented unto Edmund Bernard Viscount Fitz Alan of Derwent, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, One of His Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council and Deputy to the Most Noble Bernard Marmaduke, Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal and Hereditary Marshal of England, that the DIOCECE OF CONNECTICUT had its origin in Colonial times, the parishes of which it was formed having been under the jurisdiction of the Bishops of London, that the Bishops of the said Diocese of Connecticut, since the Right Reverend Samuel Seabury, Doctor of Divinity, first Bishop of Connecticut, have derived their Orders from the Archbishops of Canterbury: That it being desired that certain Armorial Devices, adopted and used by the Bishops of Connecticut to commemorate their original connection of the said See with the English Church, should be recorded and registered in the College of Arms, he therefore requested (on behalf of the Officials of the said Diocese of Connecticut) the favour of His Lordship’s Warrant for our assigning and registering the said Arms by Letters Patent, to be borne and used by him and his successors Bishops of the said Diocese of Connecticut on Seals, Shields, or otherwise according to the Laws of Arms: AND F0RASMUCH as His Lordship did by Warrant under his hand and the Seal of the Earl Marshal bearing date the Sixth day of February instant authorize and direct Us to assign and register such Armorial Ensigns accordingly: KNOW YE THEREFORE that We the said Garter Clarenceux and Norroy in pursuance of the aforesaid Warrant and by virtue of the Letters Patent of Our several Offices to each of Us respectively granted do by these presents assign and register the Arms following for the DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT, that is to say: Azure a Saltire Argent in chief two Swords points upward saltirewise of the second pomets and hilts Or on an Inescutcheon Sable a Key and a Pastoral Staff in saltire of the third and on a Chief also of the third three Grape Vines fructed and issuing from Mounds proper to be borne and used by the said Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut and by his successors on Seals Shields or otherwise according to the Laws of Arms:

 IN WITNESS whereof We the said Garter Clarenceux and Norroy Kings of Arms have to these Presents subscribed Our names and affixed the Seals of Our several Offices this Fifteenth day of February in the Fourteenth year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Fifth by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith &c. and in the year of Our Lord One thousand nine hundred and twenty four.