Greetings from The Chapel,
Easter has arrived, and it feels like spring might be in the air.
We pray that mother nature does not send another blizzard or Nor’easter to the already bruised and battered shores of Outer Cape Cod. As our year-round friends will attest, it’s been a mighty hard winter. In the words of our beloved and recently deceased Jack Smith, “If spring is on the way, then it had better damn well do something to prove it.”
Emily and I took up winter residence at Playa Azul in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. It’s a small beach town on the northeast coast. In addition to exploring the island—rich with history, beaches, mountains, rainforest, cities, food, and culture—we’ve been testing out the snowbird concept and found that as much as we miss our family and friends in Cleveland, we don’t miss winter weather. Moreover, residing two floors up from the chapel warden Martha Wilson has been a blessing in so many ways, including the easy ability to plan the chapel’s 2022 summer season.
So here’s the early scope of summer. The chapel season will begin on Sunday, June 19 and end on Sunday, September 11. The Smiths will return with musical instruments in hand, and we’ve lined up a wonderful group of guest preachers and speakers. As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, the Chapel of St. James the Fisherman will heed the wisdom of the Psalmist and once again “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” with praying, singing, preaching, teaching, sharing, and community building.
We are lining up some special events, including a Summer Solstice concert with the Outer Cape Chorale, a midsummer’s evening with opera singer Peter Kendall Clark, and a cheese tasting with Susan Sherrill Axelrod, editor of Culture: The Word on Cheese. On July 9, we will bid farewell and celebrate the life and ministry of our former priest-in-charge Jack Smith. We also are planning a few congregational gatherings which will be announced in weekly summer newsletters and the soon-to-be-launched new website www.stjameschapelwellfleet.org.
When we gather at the Chapel this summer, we will celebrate and reflect God’s work in our lives and the world around us. We will remember those we love and see no longer. We will enjoy the gift of God’s creation, the blessing of Sabbath, the joy of community, and the abundance of food and drink. We will also maintain the Chapel’s tradition of offering fifty percent of our annual giving to area non-profits who bring their own energy, generosity, and hope twelve months of the year to a place we care so much about and the people who live here year-round.
Please join us this Spring in making a gift to sustain the ministry of The Chapel and its witness to the goodness of God and the good work being done among God’s people in Wellfleet. And then, join us this summer for worship in a simple building with a simple table on a beautiful hillside on a spit of land sticking out into the sea.
Gratefully,
Tracey Lind, Priest-in-Charge
Martha Wilson, Senior Warden