Senior Warden's Address from the Annual Meeting 2.22.2026

from Vicki

How do we measure the state of the church? Financially? the Diocese might say so. How many attendees and communions? The Parochial Report to the Episcopal Church might say so.  A few weeks ago, at a Vestry meeting, I shared a passage from a book I was reading where the author asked the question, is church a noun or a verb? And she went on to say the word church comes from the Greek, Ecclesia meaning the called-out ones. The called-out ones. So, here we are sitting inside the noun (these four walls) when we are being called to go out, because to be church means to be a force for good in the community.

So, my warden’s report this year will not list all the ministries and activities we have done throughout the year. But I will list some from last year that have responded to the darkness - where there is a war on empathy, a return to empire. A battle against Loving your neighbor happening in the streets. And we have to decide which master we will serve. And in a time such as this as the book of Esther might suggest, I wonder how we can sit here quietly when our government is the very antithesis of our church. How is God calling us to respond? How have we been and how can we be that force for good in our little corner of Connecticut? What message are we here sending to the community?

Here is the letter from a couple in Sandy Hook who got our message, and sent in a 500 dollar check to let us know.  

Dear Friends, We would like to thank you for your ever present messages of hope and love shared throughout the year on your various outdoor signs. It sounds like such a small thing, yet as we pass by regularly on our way, these inspirations have made a difference in our lives and minds. While we don’t seek a new church or congregation, we would like to share our thanks in a more practical manner with the hope to pay it forward in some small way. Thanks for all you do. Message received.

In Peter’s letters to the early churches, he warns of false prophets and exhorts us “like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.” Living stones, holy priesthood.

In January of 2025, in contrast to the Racist, White supremacist movement taking over the country, we gathered remotely to read the Letter from Birmingham Jail as we do each year- 12 folks from this town, across the state, and even out of state let the words of Dr. King penetrate and soften our hearts. We opened our Concerts on the Hill with a Juneteenth celebration that partnered with the Easton’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force while the federal government tries to erase DEI. We acknowledged our sinful past by dedicating a memorial to those who had been enslaved by former clergy and laity of this parish.  We lamented. We served the one master. Living stones.

Even though our Black Lives Matter sign was stolen along with our Easton Pride signs again, we replaced the hate and responded with resolve and love. We worshipped with the folks at St. John’s Bridgeport for Good Friday and Pentecost, Black church, white church, country church, city church because all are one in Christ Jesus. In the fall, we hosted a screening of Sugarcane, a documentary about the abuses in Indigenous Boarding Schools by government-sponsored religious institutions and in May we honored Red Dress Day, to highlight the missing and murdered Indigenous Women.

While the values of this administration diminished the dignity of those with gender fluidity, we showed up at the Town Hall’s Pride Flag raising to support the LGBTQ community while our Pride Concert capped off the month and showed our flags to the world while the government removes others. But I hope to see more of us out at the flag raising this year. Living stones.

When the government cut Snap Benefits, all kinds of safety network programs for the poor, you Christ Church contributed $3000 in gift cards. Those living stones were called out to cook and serve the needy at Nourish Bridgeport and contributed diapers, and cans of corn and our Souper Bowl collection to the immigrant families without asking if they were documented or not.

After two years of being without a Priest in Charge, the Vestry found and called Reverend Katy, to help us to ask what is God calling us to be, to do in times such as these and maybe to rein in your senior warden.

When we invited folks to sing Christmas carols around a tree, to contribute to the children of the Cheyenne River Episcopal Mission, we offered to the world another non-commercial way to celebrate Christmas, to remember the birth of the one who came to show us God’s way: to reject the values of empire, greed, power, and division. We showed the world the fire that Christ puts in our hearts.

Author Anne Lamott tells a story about a great war horse who came upon a sparrow lying upside down in a street with his feet up in the air. The horse said, what on earth are you doing? And the sparrow said, I am trying to hold back the darkness. The horse laughed and said, good luck with that but the sparrow said, one does what one can. One foot in front of the other.

And yes, in a time such as this, we do what we can. Like the witness of the Buddhist monks walking for peace from Texas to DC, we put one foot in front of the other and lead with love.   And for our Lenten journey, let’s vow to do more.  MLK wrote: “The church must be reminded that it is not the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral and spiritual authority.”  And I have no interest in an irrelevant social club! My friends, we can stand up against a government that wields power and violence against the weak. We are not powerless. We can make calls, we can write emails, we can vote. What a Lent this will be!  And while some might say that I am being too political, I offer this quote from Episcopal theologian Kelly Brown Douglas, “While the church is not called to partisan politics, it is unmistakenly called to be partisan for the values of God: justice, love, dignity, freedom, and the sacred worth of every human being.” No matter your political party, you can see that in God’s eyes, this administration is not acting justly. They have lost their moral compass. Now, they are waging a full-scale war against God’s creation, motivated by greed.  Like old Pharoah, Herod, and Caesar, they demand loyalty to their personal empires and not to the values of God.

In the back there are postcards to write to elected officials, already stamped. There is a sheet with mailing addresses. It also explains how to make phone calls to elected officials. Can you spare 5 minutes to write a post card today pleading for the just treatment of immigrants; or encouraging care for our fragile planet? Can you make a 2-minute phone call to urge that DHS not house people in warehouses never meant for human habitation? Can you ask Congress to restore USAID since several studies have estimated that 750,000 people have died since it was shut down.  Can you plead for healthcare for the most vulnerable? You saw on video the execution of 2 American citizens and felt sadness I’m sure, but what you didn’t see was the 32 people who died in ICE custody last year from guard violence, lack of medical care, and suicide with names like Jesus, Hasan Ali, Kai Yin. And more have died this year. You saw the boy in the bunny hat, but hundreds of children have been separated from their families that you didn’t see and children who don’t attend school for fear of ICE. Yes, my dear living stones, you are being called out to stand against injustice in a time such as this, always with love and hope. And as Rabbi Tarfon wrote in the Talmud, you are not required to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. And I am unapologetically encouraging you to do so as living stones. We can do what we can to hold back the darkness with one foot in front of the other. There are groups out demonstrating, delivering groceries to undocumented families who are afraid to go out and you can donate to the groceries; groups filming ICE to document unfair treatment. You can support them. You can advocate for them without taking the risks that they are. You can pray that our government has a conversion to compassion.  You can be partisan for the values of God because you are a holy priesthood. Like our gospel reminds us, Worship the Lord, your God and serve only him.

So, when someone asks you how your church is doing, don’t bemoan our small numbers or aging septic system.  Jesus never said build buildings. He said go tell them what you see and what you hear. So, tell your friends when they ask, that we are living stones, called out to do church, to be the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tell them that we choose empathy over empire, generosity over greed, light over darkness; tell them that even if these walls crumble, we are Ecclesia, the called-out ones, sealed as Christ’s own forever. Our church is a verb. These stones will live and are being called out to stand against the values of the world in a time such as this, to hold back the darkness with one foot in front of the other always with love and hope. Tell them we are an embassy of the Kingdom of God, not an irrelevant social club. And that, my dear ones, is the state of Christ’s Church in 2026.