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Entries categorized as ‘religion’

Farewell And Godspeed, Reverend Danner

January 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Rev. John Danner is leaving Saugatuck Congregational Church.

Today a couple of hundred congregants, family and friends celebrated his ministry as senior pastor.  With music, remembrances, laughter and tears, he was thanked profusely for his 8 years of service.

The Sunday Thanksgiving Service included meditation, reflection and recognition of an ending.  A special luncheon offered final goodbyes, along with a skit by the high school youth group, and songs from the youth and adult choirs.

Moderator Michael Hendricks noted the changes brought by Rev. Danner — who began his Saugatuck ministry on Monday, September 10, 2001:

Eight years ago, we had no Vision Statement; we were not an Open and Affirming Church; we were not a Stephens Ministry; there was no Wednesday healing service, taize service, serenity service or youth service; the senior pastor did not teach the confirmation class; there was no annual youth or junior high mission trip; there were no Advent or Lenten quiet days; there was no men’s retreat.

Rev. Danner and is wife are moving to Florida.  He will be senior pastor of the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ — and closer to his grandchildren.

Rev. John Danner (left), his wife Linda, and family, friends and congregants.

Categories: People · religion
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This Rabbi Walks Into A Comedy Club…

January 11, 2010 · 1 Comment

Grossinger’s is closed.  “Seinfeld” is off the air.

But the Conservative Synagogue is about to showcase Jewish comedians, from the days of vaudeville and radio through today’s movies and stand-up.

Alan Katz

At 7 p.m. next Sunday (January 17), Weston resident Alan Katz will conduct a “virtual” tour of Jewish comedy.  The event is called “Shtick at the Shul.”  Oy.

Katz is a 5-time Emmy-nominated comedy writer for TV series, including Rosie O’Donnell and Tony Danza;  the Grammy and Tony Awards, and numerous cable programs.  He has written primetime specials, game shows and articles for the New York Times and Daily News, and is the author of more than 25 children’s books, including “Take Me Out of the Bathtub.”

Katz will talk about George Burns, Lenny Bruce and Adam Sandler.

You want more names?  So come to the event.

(Dessert and coffee will be served.  RSVP by January 13 to obtain a parking spot:  call 203-454-4673 or email lzisfein@gmail.com.)

Categories: Entertainment · People · religion
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Holiday Helpings

November 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The holidays sneak up on us, just like tailgaters on I-95.  One moment you’re cruising along, chatting happily on your cellphone and doing a steady 80 to keep up with traffic.  Suddenly there’s some d-bag in your rearview mirror, making a menacing face and looking ready to drive right through you,  if only he could.

Christmas and Hanukkah are like that too.  Before we know it they’ll be on our butts, flashing their lights and insisting we yield to their onslaught.

Which is why Thanksgiving is such a nice holiday.  It’s a bit stressful, sure, but not overwhelming.  If Thanksgiving were a driver on 95 it would be the woman who wants to pass but keeps a polite distance, giving you enough time to pull over before she zooms on by.

But Thanksgiving is making its move already.  Before it gets too close, let’s look at a couple of things we can do to make it work well for everyone:  our family, friends and fellow Westporters, as well as ourselves.

Saugatuck Congregational Church

Saugatuck Congregational Church

For the 39th year in a row, the Saugatuck Congregational Church hosts a community Thanksgiving feast.  They offer a similar meal on Christmas Day.

The celebrations are open to everyone in the area:  the homeless, those who are alone, anyone who wants to share a meal with others.

All of the food — turkey, stuffing, vegetables, desserts — is contributed by local merchants and donors, or purchased by the church’s Mission Board.

Cooking and serving is done entirely by volunteers.  There is even live entertainment (also donated).

All unopened and unused food is donated to nearby food pantries.

And the Saugatuck Church delivers holiday meals to homebound people.

To make a food donation, a financial contribution, or volunteer to help with the event (on Thanksgiving or Christmas, or before) — or to let the church know of homebound folks — call Randy Christophersen at 203-952-7115, or the Saugatuck Church at 203-227-1261.  The email is church@saugatuckchurch.org.

In addition, the Department of Human Services is sponsoring its annual Holiday Giving Program for Westport residents.  In the current economic climate, neighbors helping neighbors is more important than ever.

Donations make the holidays brighter for hundreds of local children, families and seniors.  Donors can do anything from helping fill the gift choices of a small child, to sponsoring an entire family.  Gift cards for food, gas and discount department stores are particularly appreciated.  And (tax-deductible) monetary contributions allow Human Services staff to fulfill last-minute requests.

To donate to the Holiday Giving Program, call 203-341-1069, or email humansrv@westportct.gov.

Categories: Westport life · religion
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A Piece Of The Westport Pie

October 31, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The past year notwithstanding, much of Westport is pretty well off.

But of course not everyone shares the same slice of the pie.

Which is why, as Thanksgiving looms, the Conservative Synagogue and Homes With Hope team up to “Share the Pie.”

The annual effort works like this:

Great Cakes provides apple, pecan and pumpkin pies.  Garelick and Herbs/Thyme for Kosher donate kosher/pareve apple and pumpkin pies.  All sell for $20 each.

Proceeds help Homes With Hope (formerly Interfaith Housing) provide permanent affordable housing, casework and support services, emergency shelter, food, meals, and life skills training.  The money also enables the Conservative Synagogue to fund outreach programs.

Individuals and families order pies.  So do local businesses; they give them to their employees as thanks, while at the same time aiding a great cause.  Last year, 1200 pies were order.

Beat that!

(Deadline is 5 p.m. Nov. 17 for kosher pies, noon Nov. 20 for all others.  Order forms are available at the Conservative Synagogue website or at www.sharethepie.net;  the synagogue office at 30 Hillspoint Rd.; by mail at Share the Pie, c/o TCS, 30 Hillspoint Rd., Westport CT 06880; by fax at 203-454-8888, or by phone at 203-454-4673; please include a MasterCard or Visa number and expiration date.  Pies can be picked up on Tues., Nov. 24, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the synagogue parking lot.  Corporate orders of 10 pies or more will be delivered to offices, upon request.  For more information, call 203-454-4673.)
Westport's Share the Pie

Suzanne Haber, co-chair of Share the Pie; her daughter Victoria, and Great Cakes owner Rick Dickinson generously share pies.

Categories: Local business · Organizations · religion
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Challah Shame

September 20, 2009 · 5 Comments

challahAs Rosh Hashanah approached, a local baker was besieged by customers asking for challah.  Because he can produce only a few loaves of the traditional bread at a time, he limited them to folks who called in orders ahead of time.

One customer did not like the policy.  Why, she demanded, could she not have someone else’s challah?

The woman at the counter patiently explained the policy, and the reasoning behind it.

“You’re a challah Nazi!” the customer spat back.

On one hand, that’s an almost comic overreaction.

On the other — considering the holiday — it shows an embarrassing ignorance of history.  Or perhaps a willful misuse of it.  Either way, the customer never apologized.

Perhaps that’s something she might think about a week from tomorrow.  It’s Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement.

Categories: Westport life · religion
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On Tuesday The Rabbi Got Profiled

September 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Rabbie Margaret Moers Wenig (Photo by Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times)

Rabbie Margaret Moers Wenig (Photo by Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times)

Today’s New York Times profiles Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig.

The Westport native — known in her Staples days as Maggie — is best known for her 1990 sermon “God Is a Woman and She is Growing Older”; for being one of the 1st and most prominent lesbian rabbis, and as a popular instructor at Hebrew Union College.

Among her observations this morning: 

  • Becoming a rabbi:  “My grandparents wanted my father to be a doctor, so he became a lawyer.  He wanted me to be a lawyer, so I became a rabbi.”
  • Favorite part of being a rabbi:  “Delivering a good sermon.  I’m a sermon junkie.”
  • Worst sermon:  “After Bitburg, when President Reagan visited the German cemetery, my congregants assumed I would address it.  I didn’t think it needed my commentary.  That night they wiped the floor with me.  It was the times they tore me to shreds that were the best.  Those are the bst lessons a preacher can get.”

(To read the entire interview, click here.)

Categories: People · religion
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Shalom Softball

August 20, 2009 · Leave a Comment

A 3-team softball league doesn’t sound like much.

Then again, not just anyone can play.  You have to go to temple.

Sandy Koufax does not play in Westport's Sunday synagogue softball league. But, like the local players, he is a Jewish athlete.

Sandy Koufax does not play in Westport's Sunday synagogue softball league. But, like the local players, he is a Jewish athlete.

When Alan Phillips got an email invitation to join the Conservative Synagogue’s squad, the Westporter was excited.  As a kid, he’d loved baseball.

But suddenly he thought:  I haven’t played in 25 years.

Then, he told himself:  We play other synagogues.  How tough can it be?

The Sunday league is “a blast,” Alan says.  “It’s a lot of fun, and we form great bonds.  Our synagogue is blessed to be part of this.”

It’s not about winning, Alan says.  (Usually this means a team isn’t winning.  I didn’t ask.)

“If 15 people show up, 15 play,” he says.  “Some of them probably weren’t very good when they were younger.  But all of them take their turn in the field.”  The batting order is based on who shows up when.  Oy.

In addition to the Conservative Synagogue, the league includes Beth El and  Shalom, both in Norwalk.  Games are played behind Westport’s King’s Highway School.

“There’s no reason Temple Israel shouldn’t have a team,” Alan says.  “And Beit Chaverim” — Westport’s orthodox synagogue — “that would be great.”

As for his own team, Alan — a former synagogue president — says, “Rabbi Wiederhorn is a pretty good outfielder/hitter.”

The team’s key equipment, Alan says, is not a bat, ball and glove.  Instead, it’s “Motrin, ice packs and Ace bandages.”  Teammates Ed Smolka and Larry Kleinman both went down in the 1st game this year.  Both are better now, he reports.

Alan says he’s heard the jokes:  Do they run the bases from 3rd to 1st?  Are the snacks meat, dairy or pareve?

Very funny.  He prefers to talk about last Sunday’s game.

The Conservative Synagogue won a 17-12 thriller against Beth-El, avenging an earlier loss.  Due to vacations — the rabbi/outfielder/pretty good hitter was in Israel, among other things — Alan’s team started the game without a catcher or 1st baseman.  Heeding the biblical word about sharing, Beth-El lent players for those positions.

Injuries hobbled the Conservative Synagogue.  By the end, they had to recruit a member’s 11-year-old son.  He got a few hits, and did a fine job in center field.

In true Sunday league style, the boy had to borrow spikes to play.  He arrived in sandals.

Hey, Jesus did too.

Categories: Sports · religion
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Paul Baumann Presses The President

July 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The email came Tuesday, June 30.

“Apologies for the late notice,” the  National Security Council press aide wrote.  But could Paul Baumann meet with President Obama a few days later, prior to his meeting with the pope in Rome?

Baumann said he’d rearrange his schedule.  No apology necessary.

Paul Baumann

Paul Baumann

The 1969 Staples graduate — now editor of Commonweal, the nation’s leading lay Catholic opinion journal — had no idea what to expect.  Arriving at the West Wing of the White House last Thursday, he found 7 other religion journalists.  Each would ask 1 question.  They divided topics, to cover as much ground as possible.

After they were ushered into the Roosevelt Room, next to the Oval Office, the president entered. He greeted each person with a handshake, then sat at the middle of the conference table directly across from Baumann.

The intimate meeting lasted 45 minutes.  During his turn Baumann — a star soccer player at Staples and Wesleyan University — asked how he could get an invitation to play basketball with the president.  Obama laughed, and said Reggie Love — his assistant who won a national championship at Duke — would have to check out Baumann’s game.

Turning serious, Baumann asked about a group of pro-life and abortion rights activists that the administration has brought together to find common ground.  Obama reiterated the key points of his Notre Dame commencement speech, saying that despite one level of “irreducible difference,” both sides can work together to reduce the number of abortions.

Baumann found the president to be “friendly, responsive, articulate, thoughtful, and eager to put people at ease.  He was very comfortable talking about Catholic stuff, and very sincere when talking about religion generally. Aside from abortion and a few other issues, he ’speaks Catholic’ well, especially when discussing social justice teachings.”

Baumann — who has a master of the arts of religion degree from Yale — adds:  “He is quite aware that he has become something of a proxy figure, as either a villain or a hero, in the long-running battle between so-called liberal and so-called conservative Catholics.”

And, says Baumann, “I’d be happy to return to the Roosevelt Room any time.  On even shorter notice.”

Categories: People · Politics · religion
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