Lynn Redgrave, renowned actor and a member of First Congregational UCC in Kent, Conn., died May 2 after a seven-year journey with breast cancer. She was 67.
"Lynn was loved by the whole community," said the Rev. Melinda Keck, pastor of First Congregational. "She always was here when she was in town. She just walked in and stole our hearts."
Redgrave joined the congregation not long after her breast cancer surgery in 2003. She was an active member of the church, serving on the Stewardship Committee and giving two benefit readings of her one-woman shows for the church: an early performance of "Nightingale," which ran on Broadway in 2009; and a reading of "Rachel and Juliet," about her mother, Rachel Kempson, playing the role of Juliet.
"People loved her for who she was," said Keck. "She was a gift and a blessing to us."
Redgrave stirred General Synod audiences in 2007 with the story of her "journey through cancerland," as she called it. Her talk intimately detailed the fear and loneliness she felt upon being diagnosed with breast cancer, and the role that First Congregational played in helping her through that journey.
"I had not been a church goer … I didn't come from a church-going family," she told the Synod audience. "I happened to hear from a friend of my son that there was a woman minister at the First Congregational Church of Kent. At the time, I knew nothing about the UCC, but in my vulnerable state, I felt that – a woman minister – I would feel safe there."
"I felt so lonely and so afraid, and I felt like a visitor. Then I walked into [the church], and Melinda said, 'This is the day the Lord has made,' and I immediately started crying!"
Redgrave's presentation at Synod was highlighted by photos documenting her journey through cancer surgery and treatment. The photos were taken by Redgrave's daughter, Annabel Clark, and are part of Redgrave and Clark's "Journal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery from Breast Cancer," released in 2004.
But Redgrave's 2007 presentation also showed her ever-present sense of humor.
Lynn Redgrave speaks to 2007 Synod goers at GS26 in Hartford, Conn.
"I go online when I go on tour, and I check out what UCC church I can reach and get to the matinee [on time] – because, like ministers, we actors usually do a matinee on Sundays. It's really kind of the same difference, you know?" she said to laughter from the house.
"The UCC, and what you believe in … gives me faith," she told the audience on a more serious note. "I said to someone the other night, 'If the UCC ran this country, we'd be ok. And I meant it.' "
She showed her love of the UCC in 2006, when she narrated a UCC documentary shown on ABC-TV. "Troubled Waters" told the story of the many places in the world that lack access to safe drinking water, and how faith teaches that water is a right given to all.
The Rev. Robert Chase, Founding Director of Intersections International in New York City, produced the documentary. He remembered picking up Redgrave for the location shoot. "I had to pick her up at her home in Kent to take her to the location in Westchester County, N.Y.," he said. "It was about a two-hour drive each way, and the time passed quickly. She was so easy to talk to -- really put you at ease right away. It was like we became friends in just those few hours. She was such a gentle presence."
Redgrave was the daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and the sister of Vanessa Redgrave and the late Corin Redgrave. Her niece, Natasha Richardson, died last year.
As part of a British acting dynasty, Redgrave studied at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, later working under Noel Coward and Sir Laurence Olivier as a member of the National Theatre. Her break came in the 1960s when she portrayed the freethinking title character in "Georgy Girl." She also received critical acclaim for such one-woman stage performances as "Shakespeare for My Father" and "Nightingale," about her grandmother, Beatrice Kempson. "Nightingale" was running in Hartford, Conn., during the UCC's 50th Anniversary General Synod in 2007.
Redgrave received Oscar nominations for "Georgy Girl" and "Gods and Monsters," and Tony nominations for "Mrs. Warren's Profession," "Shakespeare for My Father" and "The Constant Wife."
Redgrave loved the United Church of Christ, said Keck, and often told others about her church. During her 2007 General Synod address, Redgrave talked about all she had learned during her walk with breast cancer, and how much she valued the people she had met through her church and her cancer treatments.
Before ending her speech with a poignant reading of the Twenty-Third Psalm, she told the audience:
"Now I know that it's not how long I live, but how I live each moment. And how I reach out to others."
Lynn Redgrave is survived by her three children, six grandchildren, her sister Vanessa, four nieces and nephews, and countless friends and fans in the UCC and beyond.
