Hampton Congregational Church celebrated the last day of Reverend Virginia (Jinny) Smanik’s pastoral leadership with a release ceremony and a farewell brunch outside the church on June 13, 2021. Fourteen years earlier, Jinny had heard God’s call to a ministry of faith formation when she was serving as a Director of Christian Education at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Knowing she needed to learn more, Jinny headed off to Hartford Seminary and then transferred to Yale Divinity School to finish her work. She was installed as pastor at HCC in June 2014. Reach, love, weave: these words mark the story of Jinny’s ministry.
Reach.
Jinny sought to widen HCC’s reach and make visible the good works within the church. Reach is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as follows: “to have an effect on” or “to arrive”. Not stated but important is knowledge of the starting point, as it informs one of both the nature or place from which you begin and the direction you choose. Jinny skillfully sought to understand both and made a practice of asking questions. During Jinny’s tenure, HCC clarified its mission — “Welcoming, Seeking, Serving”— and did widen its reach. With the support of a gifted administrative assistant (a newly created position), communications improved with the creation of a newsletter and an expanded digital presence — the HCC website, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Outreach grew through a digital worship presence and with new feeding ministries. Significant upgrades were made to the church, including the installation of an elevator, the repair and repainting of the steeple, WiFi, a computer serving as the church’s archival memory, and many other building repairs.
Jinny took extra care to reach people. On Easter morning, I found a small loaf of bread on my doorstep. It was from a larger batch that Jinny made for the congregation, which had been delivered to many doorsteps for communion on Zoom during Covid. It would remind us of our connection, despite our separation. This was one of many handmade spiritual tokens she gave to us: quiet invitations for contemplation and reminders for space and spiritual practice in real time. Church member Debby Barton said, “I was especially touched by her efforts during the pandemic to have various supportive materials delivered, and to personally visit as many of us as she could.”
Jinny worked to grow our thinking about ourselves, our connection to each other and to communities near and far, especially those different from our own. In the vignettes of her sermons, she explored and celebrated the under-recognized and marginalized. I appreciated her voice, passionate and empathetic, a vibrant advocate for equity. Jinny created a faith formation class for adults built on that spirit. Church member and participant Bonnie Cardwell said, “(It) focused on building connections and community. The topics chosen were geared to make participants uncomfortable. She provided a process and a language to disagree with civility.”
Jinny believed in the power of people’s stories and made time for them. Michelle Mlyniec, an HCC member, shared, “One thing that I especially loved about Pastor Jinny’s leadership was that she initiated a practice of starting every Board or Committee meeting with an opportunity for those gathered to share a moment when they have felt God’s presence or Spirit in their lives. This practice not only re-centered us on the important purpose behind the work we had to do, but also provided a way to strengthen our ties. By hearing about one another’s joys and struggles, we were a more faith-filled and better-connected church community, and I deeply appreciate this experience.”
Love.
1 Corinthians 16:14 reads, “Let all that you do be done in love.” Jinny believed that kids developed and kept their faith more fully in the community of the whole church rather than apart. On Sunday mornings, during the children’s sermon, Jinny invited the youngest of our congregation to sit with her on the altar steps as she often held a picture book in her lap and read a story. Jinny knew kids. She made them feel good. She respected their intellect and celebrated their zest. In truth, we were all drawn into the huddle. Those stories invited us to see love within and the power of its (our) potential.
Jinny traveled often and sometimes far to be present for people and to provide comfort when it mattered the most. Referring to his late wife, Morris Burr shared, “The two of them were very good friends and Arlene got a lot of comfort from Jinny that last year.” With corresponding affection, Jinny crafted sermons. Jinny paired scripture with our present time and lyrically wove history, literature, and song into story. Her distinctive honesty and laughter called us to remember the reality of God’s presence (love) in the ordinary.
Weave.
To weave is “to make something by intertwining” (Merriam-Webster). Jinny, a quilter, is well acquainted with the art of joining pieces, and she did this naturally in her ministry. Weave is also the way the warp and weft yarns are interlaced. The art in the weave lies in the choices. Jinny’s unique artistry enlivened the rituals of our faith community, in everchanging compositions that included imaginative altarscapes, contemplative worship, prayer stations, and liturgical dance. I remember the feeling as I sat in the sanctuary, listening to the sermon, as colored forms moved above me. The names written upon them, some unfamiliar, others I recognized from across the aisle, brought me deeper into thinking.
Jinny knew when to pull “the stitches” out and re-invent. Bonnie Cardwell said, “In our music worship as in so many other ways, Jinny advocated for mixing it up. We sang familiar and new and challenging songs. These added color and diversity to an already dynamic service, and I enjoyed stretching to learn them.”
During many sermons, Jinny shared that, in her sewing room, she held space for listening and dreaming. In dreams, there are more colors and meandering lines. In dreams, the beginning fibers of tomorrow emerge. HCC member Greg Stillman’s words speak to the harvest of dreams. “Jinny’s ministry was a huge blessing for HCC and she took us to places we couldn’t have imagined ourselves going.”
At the heart of many accomplishments is the support and sacrifice of family. HCC acknowledges the support of the entire Smanik family throughout Jinny’s tenure. Deserving of special recognition are Jinny’s daughter Meg Walker and Jinny’s husband Bob Smanik. Integral to the youth ministry, both Meg and Bob met with youth on selected Sundays for faith formation. Meg served on the Board of Faith Formation, the Board of Mission and Outreach, and played a pivotal role as head of operations for Sunday worship on Zoom and Facebook. As a youth leader, Meg played a central role in fundraising, mission trips, and as a soup kitchen volunteer. Bob served a key role as co-chair of the Uplift capital campaign which funded the steeple restoration and new elevator, was chair of the Stewardship Committee, served on the Board of Trustees and helped at HCC’s numerous community dinners. HCC also recognizes the talent and generosity of Jinny’s daughter Rev. Kate Smanik and daughter-in-law Rev. Kate Kozinski for leading worship on occasion.
Emily Dickinson’s poem “I dwell in Possibility” captures the spirit of the dreamer. Dickinson’s title especially makes me think of Jinny and of her parting nudge that we see ourselves as dreamers too. Sew. Stop. Restart. When I asked Jinny about her next steps, she said “I’m curious about where God will invite me to serve next, and I’ll be listening for that call.”
Melissa Telford
I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
More numerous of Windows –
Superior – for Doors –
Of Chambers as the Cedars –
Impregnable of eye –
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky –
Of Visitors – the fairest –
For Occupation – This –
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise –
-Emily Dickinson