Union Chapel within the Grove will host Camp Quinipet Sunday on July 18 at 10:30 a.m. Religious Life Coordinator Remy Styers will talk about “Inexperienced Pastures and Not So Calm Waters” and members of the camp workers will function readers and carry out a music or two.
Remy can be joined by the Candy Island Dulcimers, underneath the tutelage of Chapel Organist Linda Betjeman. The ever-changing group of Islanders play the Appalachian Mountain dulcimer.
Union Chapel and Camp Quinipet share related historic roots, each starting as Methodist camps. In line with the upcoming ebook by Carrie Cooperider, “All Are Welcome: 150 Years of Shelter Island’s Union Chapel within the Grove: 1872-2022,” the identify “Quinipet refers back to the 5 outstanding boulders on the grounds. Chiseled into them are the phrases Braveness, Honesty, Humility, Religion and Love, 5 tenets of Christian comport cited by Reverend Dr. Theodore C. Bobilin in his speech for the dedication of the location as a Methodist coaching middle in 1947. It has since operated as a spiritual middle for schooling, conferences and retreats and as a camp, its earliest function.”
Union Chapel Chairman Jay Sterling stated Dr. Bobilin was instrumental in getting the United Methodist Church to buy the present Camp Quinipet website in 1947, which had beforehand been a boys camp. He was additionally the resident minister of Union Chapel, which was interdenominational. Dr. Bobilin discovered that the boys camp was on the market and urged the United Methodist Church to purchase it.
“The connection between the present Camp Quinipet and Union Chapel is strictly by means of Dr. Bobilin,” Jay defined. “The Methodists had nothing to do with the governance of Union Chapel after 1900, and actually, ‘deserted’ Shelter Island within the early Eighteen Nineties. Dr. Bobilin was a retired Methodist minister residing on the East Finish and a summer season gig at Union Chapel labored effectively for him.”
Whereas Camp Quinipet is utilized by many alternative denominations and non-religious teams, the camp is run and operated by the United Methodist Church. Quinipet’s Government Director Brook Bradley is an worker of the United Methodist Church. Folks usually assume Union Chapel is Methodist, however aside from its first 10 years of existence, it has all the time been interdenominational.
When requested concerning the classes realized through the pandemic, Quinipet Religious Coordinator and visitor preacher Remy Styers talked about appreciating the time spent alone. “You be taught a lot about your self and what you need. You don’t have to fret about others’ impression of you.” Remy spoke of the fantastic thing about having the chance to replicate on private relationships, in addition to a relationship with God. Remy sports activities a tattoo that reads “There’s a mild that by no means goes out,” a robust sentiment. “I imagine that within the silence, aloneness and darkness, God’s mild by no means goes out. God’s presence fills these empty quiet locations.”
Hailing from North Carolina, Remy obtained a bachelor’s diploma in psychology from Appalachian State College and is at present a third-year Masters of Divinity scholar at Vanderbilt Divinity Faculty in Nashville, licensed for ordination on the elder tract within the Western North Carolina Convention of the United Methodist Church, and hopes to do a residency as a hospital chaplain. Remy likes to hike, lie within the hammock and cook dinner Asian meals.
Since Camp Quinipet’s religious coordinator comes from Appalachia, it’s becoming that the musicians are taking part in Appalachian Mountain dulcimers. Candy Island Dulcimers was fashioned within the spring of 2020 by director Linda Betjeman who taught 10 prepared volunteers to play the mountain dulcimer, a uniquely American people instrument. The phrase “dulcimer” means “candy tones.” Most group classes befell on Crescent Seashore, following a potluck picnic lasting till sundown.
The ensemble’s eclectic repertoire ranges from conventional Appalachian-Ozark Mountain songs, British Isles ballads, Irish tunes, cowboy songs, conventional people songs, spirituals, Gospel, even the Beatles. They’re all the time in search of new members, hoping to go for the Guinness E-book of World Information for probably the most dulcimer gamers per capita. Their venues embody the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, entrance porches, backyards, seashores and now, Union Chapel.
Be a part of us at Union Chapel within the Grove on July 18 at 10:30 a.m. for Camp Quinipet Sunday.
Subsequent week: Shelter Island Volunteer Sunday with Fr. Charles McCarron of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and Jim Preston of the Shelter Island Ambulance Basis.
