From the RectorDear Parishioners and Friends, After a wonderful vacation in Italy, it is great to be back home. It is amazing to see the effect of all the rain on the vegetable garden--it has become quite the jungle! I am very grateful to Bishop Cate Waynick, Fr. Nate Lee, and of course Fr. Ed for taking the services while I was away. Thanks also to Lili for managing the whirlwind of activity and to the Clarkes for looking after our girls. Speaking of activity, you may have noticed the scaffolding along the southern facade of the church. Good things are happening! After a long and rocky road, work has begun on repointing and repairing the stonework, which has suffered from the ravages of time. Workers are skillfully cheselling away loose joints and artfully filling in the cracks with new mortar which matches the original in color and composition. We are very pleased with our new contractor, and look forward to a continuing relationship with them, because, as we know, with historic buildings the work never ends. I am also personally very happy with the work of local Tuxedo craftsman Chris Potouridis, who restored seven windows and frames both beautifully and functionally on the eastern facade of the rectory, thanks to a generous gift from Jane Garofano. We talk a lot about stewardship in light of annual fundraising (which is vitally important!) but it also extends to care of our built environment (the church and rectory). We received these gifts from previous generations, who gave generously by bringing on architects and artists such as Richard Howland Hunt, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and John LaFarge to name a few. Now it is our turn to see that we hand them on to succeeding generations, I hope in even better condition than we found them. Thank you to all of you who, in our time, help to build God's Temple in this place. Blessings, Fr. Rick
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