The Reverend Robert Zemke, 54, has spent most of his life straddling the line between acting and ministry. READ
Tag: Religion
The following is The Suffolk Times’ annual listing of holiday services hosted by local churches. READ
Southold Police found a duffel bag filled with dead cats on an Orient beach Thursday evening, according to a press release. (more…)
Tom Gahan calls everyone to attention during Saturday’s celebrations in Mattituck. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
Mattituck Presbyterian Church celebrated its 300th anniversary on Saturday with a party on and around its church grounds. The bash included tours of the church and the cemetery, presentations by local dignitaries and plenty of games for children.
The event also featured live music and a farmers and artisans market.
Celebrations continue with a concert Saturday evening at the church and conclude with Sunday’s services.
Click here to find out more about the celebration.
Scroll below for more photos by Katharine Schroeder.
Face painter Susan Brewster works on Annelise Durkin, 10, of Mattituck.
Tony Raynor, 3, of Mattituck enjoying a game of hopscotch.
County lawmaker Al Krupski with one of many proclamations handed out during the event.
Old meets new as Meghan Cavanaugh of Hampton Bays takes photos at the party.
The Mattituck Presbyterian Church is turning 300.
The church, which is located at the corner of Main Road and Old Sound Avenue, recently unveiled the official logo designed to commemorate the church’s anniversary in 2015. (more…)
Friday was the start of the man’s three-day journey. (Credit: Carrie Miller)
Did you notice a man carrying a cross down Main Road Friday morning?
The man, who identified himself only as Donald, started his morning at Mattituck Presbyterian Church where he had spent the night in preparation of what will be a three-day journey on foot — carrying a three-foot tall cross weighing in about five pounds — throughout his trip, he said during a brief interview on the Main Road sidewalk by in Aquebogue. (more…)
Southold United Methodist Church (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
After holding services in its Main Road sanctuary for 220 years, Southold United Methodist Church will close for good by month’s end as part of a plan to consolidate the Southold and Cutchogue congregations. (more…)
GRANT PARPAN PHOTO | Deacon Jeff Sykes and altar boy Chris Massey of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Mattituck bless a horse Sunday.
It’s not every day you go to church with three horses, two donkeys, a guinea pig, several cats and a few dozen dogs. And that’s what people love about the Blessing of the Animal ceremonies held at area churches each October.
“It’s the most fun we have all year,” said Deacon Jeff Sykes of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Mattituck. “It’s particularly great out here. Other places, you’ll see some house pets. Here we have horses and donkeys, too.”
The Mattituck ceremony was one of several blessings held on the North Fork this weekend, along with events at Old Steeple Community Church in Aquebogue and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Greenport.
CYNDI MURRAY PHOTO | Rabbi Gadi Capela inside Congregation Tifereth Israel in Greenport.
When rain threatened to wash out Greenport’s Arbor Day celebration on Thursday, Rabbi Gadi Capela opened the doors of Congregation Tifereth Israel synagogue on Fourth Street to shelter the ceremony.
Born and raised in Israel and educated in New York City, Rabbi Capela said the community has been equally welcoming to him since moving to Greenport in March to begin his new job as the synagogue’s rabbi. He has already made fast friends with community members and local religious leaders.
“We don’t just work together, we enjoy lunches and we’ve formed personal relationships with each other,” he said. “Part of what attracted me here is how beautifully everything is kept. I thought if they keep care of the trees like this they must take good care of people, too.”
Rabbi Capela’s road to a life in religion was not a typical one.
Raised in a Jewish Orthodox family in Israel, he came to the United States at age 22 after spending four years in the Israeli Army, three of which were mandated. He signed on for an additional year to complete his officer training, he said.
Continued education initially drew Rabbi Capela to the United States. He studied at Yeshiva University in New York City and went on to become a successful banker at a mid-sized Manhattan firm, but he never lost sight of his faith.
He decided to pursue his master’s degree at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and began teaching Hebrew scripture, in particular the Book of Genesis, at Our Lady of the Island Catholic shrine in Manorville.
It was there where he met Ellen Harbes, a parishioner St. Agnes R.C. Church in Greenport. As his graduation from the seminary drew closer, Ms. Harbes encouraged Rabbi Capela to seek employment at Greenport’s Congregation Tifereth Israel. “Even before I started I had a recommendation from the Catholic church,” he said.
Still, Rabbi Capela said he struggled with leaving the corporate world.
“I loved my job; I wasn’t sure that I actually wanted to do congregational work,” he said. “A turning point came when I was at the office and thinking about studying, but when I was studying I didn’t think about the office. I was hesitant, but when I found Greenport it was a match.”
In March, Rabbi Capela replaced Rabbi Myron Fenster, who had come out of retirement to serve the synagogue as an interim rabbi.
“It took them five years to find a rabbi and there was a match on both ends,” Rabbi Capela said. “I didn’t want to be in a big synagogue and be very official, I wanted a one-on-one relationship with people and that’s what I’m getting here.”
Congregation Tifereth Israel was built in 1903 by a group of enterprising Jewish vendors seeking new markets. They arrived in Greenport by way of the railroad and purchased the lot on Fourth Street for $1,430. The building has been expanded several times, however the primary 20-by-30-foot sanctuary remains mostly unchanged from the founders’ original design. In 2006 the sanctuary was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The synagogue has traditionally welcomed those of every faith for social events and religious education classes. Rabbi Capela said he looks forward to honoring that history.
“Interfaith to me is one of the cornerstones of being a rabbi,” he said. “It is not just for the Jewish community, it’s really about being embracing and being embraced by the general community. In scripture, God says ‘My house is a house of prayer for everybody,’ and that’s what I want to create.”
KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | William Sockey, Our Lady of Fatima’s official custodian, brought the statue to St. Agnes R.C. Church in Greenport on Sunday.
The Our Lady of Fatima staue, hand carved from wood and blessed in 1952, made its way to churches across the region last weekend.
William Sockey, the statue’s official custodian, brought it to St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church in Riverhead last Friday and St. Agnes R.C. Church in Greenport on Sunday. Mr. Sockey, who lives in Venus, Pa., visited a total of 23 Long Island churches last week.
Worshipers brought rosaries and other religious items to be placed under the robes of the statue.
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