Rhode van Gessel is a proud supporter of St. John’s. She provided a special gratitude reflection for the 2026 Faithful. Grateful. Generous stewardship campaign at the 8:00 a.m. service on Sunday, October 12th.
Learn why St. John’s continues to be a place of deep faith, enduring grace, and meaningful service — a community that transforms lives within our parish and beyond.
My husband, Rick Weiner, and Sky, our four-year-old son, and I moved to Essex in 1996.
Our first home was just around the corner on Collins Lane. I was self-employed as a graphic designer, and Rick, who had just left the music industry, was working as a commercial and residential real estate broker out of the old Mitchell Agency next door- before it became a residence. Everything a small family needed from coffee to toys was available right around the corner. When we purchased 20 Main Street, directly across the street, in 2002.
I felt I won the village lottery.
The very first Sunday I attended St John’s, I briefly worried I would miss my vibrant Hartford inner-city
church, Trinity Episcopal, where I was confirmed…But, I had HOPE. Yes, behind the pulpit there she was – HOPE ADAMS, my good friend and former Rector at Trinity. She had left Hartford to become the first female Pastor here at St John’s….I actually walked through those doors and found Hope and community.
Time moved on, Hope and Bill retired, Sky left for college, we moved down the street, and I felt adrift.
One day, I walked over to St. John’s and had a great conversation with our Deacon, Mary Lloyd Brainerd. I learned she and a couple of other women from here were prayer partners and program facilitators to the women incarcerated at the York Correctional Facility in Niantic, CT. Connecticut’s only prison for women. This was all through a small independent non-profit called A Sacred Place. Mary Lloyd signed me up, and 16 years later, I cannot do justice within this little speech – how much this ministry has impacted and changed the lives of the women at York…
And, as a bonus, it deeply impacted and changed my life.
The women who choose to go through our programs have one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country.
The last record shows Connecticut having a prisoner return rate of 44%. Meaning out of 100 who complete their sentences, 44 will end up returning.
Our Sacred Place Graduates have a return rate of ….11% ….it is one of our largest realized goals.
And, partly, because YOUR faithful and generous donations have provided the ways and means for our incarcerated women to learn and believe they can make better choices… in, …and eventually out, of prison, where then they are able to create stronger families – safer communities.
We who volunteer at York thank God for the yearly gift St. John’s provides for educational material for our GED, college, and spiritual counseling courses; you’ve knitted infant blankets, hats, and provided baby supplies for babies born to women who arrive pregnant … and re-entry clothing for the women leaving prison with nothing to wear but what they came in with. Seriously, after 2 or 30 years of incarceration, their initial entry clothes no longer fit …nor are they fit to wear.
Your ongoing donations change lives and provide grace and hope for a group of women most would rather forget existed.
Belonging to a community that cares and shares is important to me. This is a great place to discover both grace and a way to make a difference. St John’s has been my spiritual home for almost 30 years.
It is only through amazing grace that I am able to live in Essex…having entered the US with my family as a Dutch Indonesian refugee in 1961. That year, 35,000 of us were allowed into the US through a special act of Congress. We were given resident alien status and sponsored by a small church in MA, much like St. John’s.
They welcomed us with a furnished apartment and a job for my dad.
Having been a recipient of God’s extraordinary grace, I am especially grateful for all of you who quietly and responsively give to meet the needs of our community and beyond.
So from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your faithful commitment to the words of the Gospel.
I was naked and you clothed me,
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you came to me…. (Matthew 25:36-40)
…and I can add I was a refugee, and you accepted me.
Thank you.