Harvest Sunday at Union Chapel

Union Chapel in the Grove hosts Harvest Sunday on Aug. 23, celebrating Sylvester Manor Educational Farm.

Rev. Galen Guengerich will preach about “Let It Find You.” Inspired by the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible and the poetry of Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Mary Oliver, Rev. Galen said he will explore “how focused attention on the natural world creates experiences of meaning, purpose, and joy.”

Music will be provided by Trustees, staff and friends of Sylvester Manor. This year, the Harvest Sunday Chorus will sing “May Your Roots Grow Deep” by H. Murrow.

About Sylvester Manor

Sylvester Manor was originally a Native American hunting, fishing, and farming ground. From 1652 to 2006, it was home to 11 generations of its original European settler family. The Sylvester family acquired the property to be a provisioning plantation for the family’s sugar interests in Barbados. Enslaved Africans and their descendants worked the property, along with indentured Native Americans.

The Manor became smaller, with portions given or sold away from the family; the 235-acre core contains remnants of its earliest days, including an Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground and memorial to Quakers who were given refuge.

Now a nonprofit educational farm, the Manor teaches young farmers about sustainable agriculture, while providing fresh produce for the Island community.

About Rev. Galen

Rev. Galen has led Union Chapel’s Harvest Sunday for many years, designing a program especially for the service. Educated at Franklin and Marshall College (BA), Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv) and the University of Chicago (PhD), he served All Souls Unitarian Church on the Upper East Side for more than 30 years. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in Israel and is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Serving on the board of trustees of Sylvester Manor, he lives on Shelter Island with his wife, Holly Atkinson, M.D.

Join us for Harvest Sunday on August 23 at 10:30 a.m. outdoors in our shady grove for our second-to-last service of the summer. Please bring a chair. In case of rain, the service will move indoors. A reception, catered by Stars Café, will follow the service.

Next week: Our Closing Service, on Aug. 30, will be Poetry Sunday, celebrating America’s 250th birthday. Music will be performed by Island Folk.