Coffee Hour At The Commons

Today’s guest is Kathryn Slattery, better known as Kitty, who is a longtime contributing editor of Guideposts, a monthly publication with short, inspirational and Christian faith-filled stories. It was founded by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in 1945. Today as a nonprofit with the same name it offers a wider array of resources.    365 Bible Answers for Curious Kids is Kitty’s latest book, published last fall, and we focus on that in today’s podcast. She’s also written several other books for children, in addition to a memoir, a book on Christian faith in emotional healing, other books of stories. She’s been a contributing author to other books, and has ghostwritten cover stories for Guideposts by a number of celebrities. And she’s written for other magazines.   And up until last fall, she lived in New Canaan - where she used to teach Sunday School at St. Mark’s - but she now lives in New Hampshire. So, this is our first podcast with a remote guest, and her energy and enthusiasm carried well across the miles!   365

Today's podcast was recorded in Plantsville, Connecticut, at the annual meeting of the Episcopal Church Women. Becca Stevens, founder of Thistle Farms, was the guest speaker. They have a fabulous website and extensive social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. Check them out (and shop for great stuff and to support their work): https://thistlefarms.org/  Before her presentation, ECCT's Bishop Laura Ahrens delivered a sermon at a celebration of the Eucharist. We decided to package the sermon and the talk together. The sermon comes first and is about 13 minutes) followed by Becca's talk, about 30 minutes, including some great music. Bishop Laura's sermon was taken from the Gospel passage about "abiding in God's love." She began by sharing an experience while out on a run in New Haven: She she met a homeless man who recognized her as a runner, and shared some of his karate moves with her. The way he recognized and affirmed her ("you're a runner!) reminded her of how Jesus se

Our guests today are the Rev. Canon David Cannon (Canon Cannon), vicar emeritus of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Poquetanuck (aka Preston) and the Rev. Ron Kolinowski, a former vicar of St. James, Poquetanuck now priest in charge at St. Peter’s, Hebron.    David shares his memories and his reflections on two Native American tribes that live there and operate huge casinos: Foxwoods Resort Casino, established by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and first opened in 1992, and the Mohegan Sun, established by the Mohegan Tribe, and first opened in 1996. They were bound by the same contract with the State of Connecticut, but had different histories and approaches   David Cannon was born in 1937 and this year will celebrate the 55th year of his ordination.  In 2013 a local newspaper did a feature on Fr. Cannon. The writer described how the '60s shaped David as a young man; how he, with his wife, Ann-etta, remained active in the community, particularly in education; and how he spent nearly all of his ministr

In honor of Mother’s Day, which is coming up on May 13 this year, we have four moms with us and all  of them are priests who are serving at different Episcopal churches in Connecticut.   We wanted to know, how do they combine being a woman priest and being a mom? It’s easy to say you’re going to have good, strong boundaries between the personal and the professional, but it’s harder to actually do that. And then there’s the matter of judgment: Potentially the whole congregation where they’re serving might feel entitled to judge their child-rearing ability, and their child or children, by what they see or don’t see on Sunday mornings when mom is at work.     Then we had a side question: Do they want everyone to call them, “Mother” ? (which is listed in the current online version of “Rules of Address” from the Church Pension Group, although they do recommend asking for preferences ... ) Or just their children?    There are special challenges and blessings of their unique role.   Today’s guests include:    The Re

Duo Dickinson is an architect who lives in Madison, Connecticut. He’s a graduate of Cornell and has had his own architectural practice since 1987. (His website is here, and includes his full resume, projects, writings, contact info, etc.) Duo is licensed in 10 states, has received more than 30 awards and honors; he is a book author and contributing writer or editor to many publications and journals; he teaches and he serves on design juries; he is a popular guest, host, or co-host of broadcasts including radio and podcasts; and he has worked for years with various non profits including religious institutions. He is also an active and involved member of Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green in New Haven. In the wider Episcopal Church in Connecticut, he serves on its governing Mission Council, its property committee, and on the task force overseeing the Annual Convention resolution, “Assessing our resources for God’s Mission,” which is currently engaging in a needs assessment. In the even wider faith communit

Jane Hale grew up in the northeast corner of Connecticut - aka the “Quiet Corner.” It’s still her home base, where she lives and works.    And where she’s learned about the power of stories.    Jane attended Christ Episcopal Church in Pomfret, which sponsored her for ordination to the priesthood and supported her during that long process. She was ordained in 2016.    Then Jane, who has a bright smile, easy laugh, lots of energy, and a willingness to think creatively, took on not one but two jobs; one of those a brand-new, yet-to-be-fully-defined, somewhat create-as-you-go deal.    The job she started first is part-time missional priest in charge for the historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, which dates to the late 1700s. She’s there on most Sundays to preach and preside at the Eucharist, and during the week, to offer ordained leadership as possible within the agreed-upon hours.    Her other job is a “tri-town missional curate.” (“Curate” is a churchy word for a person invested in the “cure of souls.”

About three years ago the Episcopal Church in Connecticut decided to "reimagine" the way it was organized and governed so it could be better at encouraging people in churches to work together and to support their participation in God's mission.     Part of what it did was to re-organize into six geographic Regions, and then it hired six three-quarter-time missionaries, one for each of the six Regions, to help. Today’s episode is a conversation with three of these Region Missionaries about their work: the Rev. Rachel Thomas (Southeast Region), the Rev. Rachel Field (South Central Region), and Erin Flinn (North Central Region).    Rachel Thomas is originally from Georgia and originally from the Methodist Church. She's been ordained to the priesthood for 26 years - making her the elder, by age only, among the Region Missionaries. She's has served at camps and conference centers, in college campus ministries, and at parishes in Connecticut.    Rachel Field is from Maryland where she worked as a research biologist

Today’s episode took place at Camp Washington, a summer camp and year-round conference center that is part of ECCT, located in the northwest hills of Connecticut : “Coffee Hour To Go.” We listened in on some  spiritual meditations, and a Eucharist, on Tuesday in Holy Week, and recorded the teachings and the sermon.    Every year, the bishops, priests, and deacons come together on Tuesday in Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter Day) for rest, renewal, and retreat; to renew their ordination vows; and to replenish the oil in the small vials they use during the year for spiritual anointing.    Leading this year’s meditations were Mark and Lisa Kudolowski, wilderness guides and retreat leaders, who had led the 40-day pilgrimage down the Connecticut River last year.  Bishop Douglas was one of the participants in that pilgrimage.    Mark is an oblate of Saint Benedict, a wilderness guide, and a retreat leader. His work focuses on recovering the Christian contemplative tradition and on the role of nature as a pat

The Very Rev. Miguelina Howell is Dean of the Cathedral for the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, located in downtown Hartford. She was born and raised in the Dominican Republic where she was an active lay leader in the Episcopal Diocese of the D.R., planting two congregations, before being ordained. She has worked in youth and young adult ministry for her diocese, province, and for the Presiding Bishop. As a priest, she served at a camp and conference center in the D.R. before taking a call to a parish in New Jersey, and was soon recruited to come to Hartford in the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. She’s held many church-wide leadership positions and is currently a chaplain for the House of Bishops.    In today’s episode, she recounts her early years and her recruitment by Connecticut. She had a comfortable position at a parish in New Jersey, but ECCT persisted. She and her husband Daniel prayed over it and decided the Holy Spirit was indeed calling, and accepted as vicar. That was in 2013 and by 2015 she was

David Tolzmann, currently a resident of Connecticut, is the founder of the Labyrinth Company (R), which calls itself the "world's premiere meditation space creator" with over 5,000 completed.  In addition to being the founder of the company, and what they call its "chief geometer," David still personally manages the design and business aspects of the firm and employs a highly efficient and professional work crew. For those who want to do it themselves, the company has a "Paver Labyrinth Kit" which has been featured on cable television's DIY Network. Since some people get “labyrinths” mixed up with “mazes” David explains the basic difference: “You get lost in a maze: it usually has walls, it usually has dead-ends; and you find yourself in a labyrinth,” he said.  Labyrinths work like a left-brain jamming device, he explained. As you walk the pattern, your logical, rational, sequential left brain tries to figure out the complex labyrinth pattern and keep you on track, and it gets occupied. So your right brain

In February of this year, at the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and self-denial leading up to Easter, the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies of The Episcopal Church called the church to a Day of Prayer. It was “...devoted to meditating on the ways in which we in the church have failed to stand with women and other victims of abuse and harassment and to consider, as part of our Lenten disciplines, how we can redouble our work to be communities of safety that stand against the spiritual and physical violence of sexual exploitation and abuse.” In March, the President of the House of Deputies appointed a 47-member special committee to “draft legislation on sexual harassment and exploitation for this summer’s General Convention (business session of the church that can set churchwide policies and guidelines).” In this first episode of Coffee Hour at The Commons, Alli and Karin talk with Canon Robin Hammeal-Urban about that call to prayer, the special committee, the “#me

In this teaser Episode O: The First Pour, hosts Karin and Alli discuss how this podcast came to be, the significance behind the name "Coffee Hour at The Commons," and what their hopes are for the podcast. Learn a little bit more about your hosts, Karin and Alli, as well as their vision for this podcast.  You can find this episode and others on our website coffeehour.org. Be sure to like us on Facebook, and give us a follow on Instagram and Twitter.    In Christ and Coffee, Karin & Alli