Rev. Janet Stoddard feels that religion can be both serious and fun. It is this type of attitude she hopes to bring to her new role as pastor of the Chilmark Community Church.

“Faith is joyful and fun,” she said, during an interview at the church earlier this month. “It is serious, deep and real, but it doesn’t always have to be serious, deep and real.” 

Reverend Stoddard became head pastor this winter, taking over from interim minister Rev. Charlotte Wright, who was the pastor for two years, during a time of change. The Chilmark Community Church broke away from the United Methodist Church in 2024 and has since become an independent church. 

A native of Connecticut, Reverend Stoddard had only been to the Vineyard once before taking the job. She arrived on the Island with her dog Toby, and preached her first sermon on March 2.  

Rev. Janet Stoddard with her faithful pal Toby. — Ray Ewing

This Sunday she will lead two Easter services: a sunrise gathering at Menemsha Beach that begins at 5:45 a.m. and a church service starting at 9 a.m. 

Reverend Stoddard grew up on a small farm raising steers in Newington, Conn. She spent time in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Mexico, mainly for school, but always found her way back to Connecticut.  

But no matter where she lived, the church was a constant in her life.

“I’ve always gone to church,” she said. “My faith has always been part of my life and who I am.” 

She worked as a chaplain at the Hospital for Special Care for 23 years while simultaneously working as a campus minister at Central Connecticut State University. Beginning in 2020, she became head pastor at Elmwood Community Church in West Hartford while continuing to work at the hospital. 

While working both jobs simultaneously, Reverend Stoddard realized she preferred being a pastor. 

“The hospital is a very heavy place to work because it’s strokes, spinal cord injury, brain injury, people who have life altering situations that they may never recover from,” she said. “That got to be difficult for me.” 

Ultimately, the Elmwood Community Church closed, but her time there was inspiring. 

“That experience with the people [at Elmwood], I just loved them so much, and they loved me and I thought, I want to do this again.” 

Reverend Stoddard is still in the process of settling in but is embracing her new home. 

“Sundays are the best part, because I get to see a lot of people and talk to people,” she said. “Tuesday pizza nights are open to the whole community and those are also fun, because I get to see people.” 

In her free time, Reverend Stoddard and her dog Toby have enjoyed walking on the various trails on the Island. She clocked in 23 miles one week earlier this month. 

“People have been showing me some of the trails and I’ve loved that,” she said. “The other day, I looked away for two minutes, and he was across the street chasing the wild turkeys.”

Maintaining an ongoing dialogue with her congregation and the community is essential, she said.

“My purpose in life is to empower all people to know that they are God’s love embodied,” she said. “If we saw ourselves and each other that way, we’d live in a very different world than we do. In the church here and my home church, people actually make it very easy to see that.” 

She wants everyone to know that they are welcome at the Chilmark Community Church. 

“They say they are an old church doing new things and that’s really wonderful,” she said. “I’m hoping that people come and check us out.”