Hello! I’m Craig Reynolds (the one on the left), in my second year as your Co-Warden. My wife Christine and I landed at St. Stephen’s over 20 years ago after moving to the Berkshires with our two then-young sons. I am a cradle Episcopalian, Chris and I were married in the Episcopal Church, and our two children were baptized at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Northampton, MA. So when we landed in Lee late in the last century we, unsurprisingly, went searching for an Episcopal church.
It took a few visits to a few different churches, but when we finally made our way to St. Stephen’s, we knew we had found our spiritual home. (Ask me sometime about our first visit to St. Stephen’s and I’ll tell you the story of how Claudia Curry and Sue Smith, among others, made us feel SO welcome!)
Our sons – Josh and Matt – are now 28 and 24 respectively and we’ve added a now 10-year-old terrier/retriever rescue pooch to the clan. Many of you also know that my mother, Joan Morrow, lives with us in an apartment we added to our home back in the early 2000s. Chris’ parents – Janice and Peter Furcinite – live about a quarter-mile down the road from us.
Over the years, I’ve served on Vestry, as a LEM (remember those?), website coordinator, St. Stephen’s Table volunteer, with the Healing Prayers ministry, on the Stewardship Committee, and on various profile and search committees.
I’ve been a marketing manager for a small publishing firm for more years than I care to count. Chris and I take our dog Belton for a hike every morning, often ending up at a large but seldom-used gravel operation down the street from us. It’s like Disney World for dogs. And here’s something very few people know about me: last year Spotify shared that I was in the top 3% of global listeners to Taylor Swift. Who knew?!
I’m a member of St. Stephen’s because it’s been my experience that our faith community embodies the sentiment of that classic hymn… “they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” We’re fortunate, blessed even, to have a magnificent building, a generous endowment, and a deep, rich liturgical and musical heritage. But to paraphrase St. Paul, without love, we have nothing. Here’s to love.