Tuesday, August 18, 2026
The Chapel St. Chronicle
Welcome to the Chapel Street Chronicle, your weekly St. John’s digest.
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Sermon Series
"Persistence and Grace"
The Rev. Rob Stevens
This Sunday we were encouraged to be persistent, and to remain open to the interruptions in our life that many times lead to grace-filled encounters with the Holy. We also celebrated the Good News that we have a God that loves us enough to change Her mind from time to time. May we be so bold to be open to that kind of leadership and life.
MUSIC
"I'm Bound for the Promised Land," by Samuel Stennett. Featuring Olin Johannessen on guitar and vocals. Recorded live at St. John's on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, as part of the 2026 Summer Music Sessions.
What MINISTRIES WoULD YOU LIKE TO BE PART OF?
As part of our recent Mission, Vision & Values work, we asked you which areas of parish life you would most enjoy participating in or exploring in the years ahead. The response was joyful — and encouraging. Your answers revealed an extraordinary range of gifts, interests, hopes, and untapped potential within St. John’s. There’s just one small problem: the survey was anonymous, so we don’t know who raised their hand for what!
As we prepare to begin a new program year, we’d love to change that. If something on the survey sparked your interest — or if you have a gift, skill, or idea you’d like to explore — please let us know.
You don’t need to know exactly what you want to do. We’re simply gathering names and interests so we can begin connecting people with one another and with opportunities to participate in the life of St. John’s.
There is more possibility among us than we sometimes realize. Let’s see what happens when we begin connecting those possibilities with the people who make St. John’s what it is.
BISHOP SLATE ANNOUNCED
The Standing Committee of The Episcopal Church of NH joyfully announces a slate of three candidates for bishop!
Our candidates are:
The Rev. Ed Cardoza, Priest-in-Charge, Grace Church, Manchester, New Hampshire
The Rev. Fran Gardner-Smith, Rector, St. Thomas Church, McLean, Virginia
The Rev. Canon Dr. Kristofer Lindh-Payne, OSF, Canon to the Ordinary for Leadership, Diocese of Maryland
View candidate information here. And mark your calendars, there will be Meet and Greets in October where you can meet each candidate in person. Information about October Meet & Greets can be found here.
Vestry Member Spotlight
The Vestry is the elected lay leadership body of St. John’s, working alongside the clergy to help guide the life and ministry of the parish. Throughout the summer, The Chapel St. Chronicle will feature a different vestry member each week, giving the congregation an opportunity to get to know the people who serve in this important role through photos, stories, and a few fun facts.
Chuck Silva, Senior Warden
Chuck Silva
My name is Chuck, but I am often called names like “Chuckles,” “Chuckster,” “Chief,” “Hey Old Person” or even “Hey Einstein” which is why we all need name tags. People are dealing with their own stuff so I try not to take it personally, even when I’ve been to their house for dinner like five times.
Most days my cat Marlinspike and I spend drinking coffee and arguing about theology and politics. Sometimes I read him the WSJ op/ed page and post comments for him. After that we are usually pretty riled up, so we usually just walk around and then lie down for a bit.
I’ve never shared this before, but Meg and I have been coming to St. John’s since the late eighteenth century, albeit in earlier incarnations. (Some of me are buried in the graveyard and have marble monuments on the wall. It’s fun to guess which ones!) It’s much nicer now because we dress way more comfortably and you can sit wherever you want. Also, some of the earlier rectors would preach for hours and hours like you didn’t have anything else to do on Sunday (which was actually mostly true).
For years I would tell people my favorite book was Richmond Latimore’s translation of "The Iliad," but I have to admit that was a lie I told to impress people. My real favorite book is actually Proust’s "Á la recherche du temps perdu" in the original French.
My favorite thing about St. John’s is the community. I love it when people feel comfortable enough to let their hair down and share things with me about themselves, even if it’s mostly complaining about stuff I can’t do anything about, or sometimes even things I arguably could do something about but haven’t the slightest interest in following up on.
Did you know that Episcopalians invented deviled eggs? It’s pretty much why we left the Catholic Church. Although there are some lovely Catholic communities that I would be honored to belong to, the sad truth is that they just don’t value coffee hour the same way we do.
Poetry On The Hill
Join curator Sam DeFlitch on Wednesday, September 9 at 7PM for the second installment of Poetry On The Hill. This quarterly poetry series presents a featured poet reading on a specific theme, followed by a time of fellowship and light refreshments, then an opportunity to participate in a short guided poetry workshop led by our featured poet, concluding with an invitation to share out with the group.
In this next installment, we will welcome Seacoast-based poet and former Portsmouth Poet Laureate Kimberly Cloutier Green to beautiful Roberts Hall where she will present poems centered around the theme of "Breaking In, Breaking Out." This event is free and open to all, but passes are required.
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