Can A Church Survive When Faced With Too Much Change?

WASHINGTON GREEN — Three-time Tony award winning actor George Grizzard will head a cast of five Litchfield County actors in an informal reading of a new play, In Good Faith, by the Roxbury playwright Joe Godfrey.

The other four distinguished actors are Tony-award winner Lenka Peterson, Jack Gilpin, Paul Doherty and Joe Scalzo.

The reading is open to the public and will be presented on Sunday, May 22, at 4 pm, at Washington’s First Congregational Church. There is no charge, but attendees may make a contribution to the church.

In the play, St Bernards Episcopal Church, a magnificent century-old edifice in midtown Manhattan, is facing challenges: a dwindling congregation, extensive repairs to the structure, and an uncertain future.

Hoping to bring new vigor to the church and instill vitality into a fundraising campaign, the governing body (or vestry) searches for and hires the energetic and dynamic Atlantan, the Reverend Randall Brainerd.

What Rev Brainerd brings to St Bernards, however, surprises and shocks most of the vestry, causing them to wonder if they’ve made a huge mistake. Battle lines are drawn, heels are dug in, motives and consciences are examined.

In Good Faith addresses issues of leadership, values, class, honesty, jealousy, real estate, and ultimately, what is faith truly based upon?

By the end of the play, it is up to the congregation to decide how and if St Bernards will survive.

The First Congregational Church is at 6 Kirby Road, just off Route 47 on the green. The church office can be reached by calling 860-868-0569.