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While attending Yale Divinity School, Vetter met his future wife, the Rev. Sarah Hare Vetter, who is now pastor of the Diamond Hill United Methodist Church. They live in Cos Cob with their dog. Vetter enjoys playing tennis and lacrosse, studying history, and being involved in social concerns.
"It is exciting to be involved in a ministry with the youth where you can participate in social events, and also work side-by-side on a Habitat house in Bridgeport," said Vetter. "Our youth have made a major commitment to the Youth United Habitat build, and that is very significant to me."
Paramount in social concerns for Vetter is understandably the issues related to Africa.
"Of the 30,000 children who die each day from preventable causes, the majority of those are from Africa," said Vetter. He would like to see the church develop a greater relationship with the developing world.
"It would be great to enhance our long-term relationship with the House of Jacob, and through that develop a deeper relationship with a community in Haiti," said Vetter. He believes having a strong relationship with a faith community in Haiti would help us to explore our fears. "When you have an opportunity to travel to a location, to share in their lives, to develop a better understanding of a people's situation," said Vetter, "you can better appreciate Jesus' teaching that perfect love casts out fear."
Vetter is looking forward to working with the youth this April on their Habitat Mission project. "Seeing what happens when you 'step off the porch,' go out to see the world outside of your own yard," is very exhilarating to Vetter. "These experiences are what grows organizations like Koininia Farms." (The founder of Habitat for Humanity got his inspiration from his time at the community of Koininia.) "People can grow together to build a remarkable new community."
Vetter is impressed with the church's commitment to Heifer Project International. He knows one of Heifer's initiatives involves water resources around the world. He knows that if people in Africa had clean water available, it could prevent the deaths of many of the children who die there each day. H hopes to have the congregation be more involved in this aspect of Heifer.
Vetter likes that the church provides multi-faceted ways to be involved in the community. On Sunday, March 13, Vetter is looking forward to participating in the Orange Congregational Church's celebration of its bicentennial. There will be a special worship service that Sunday to recognize the event, and many will be in period costume, including Vetter.
"The thing about ministry is that you get to use different skills, but fundamentally it is a job that deals in relationships," said Vetter. "The best thing about being a minister is sitting down with people, getting to know what they want to do, what their faith is calling them to do. Ministry is a privilege - to be invited into people's lives at the moments of absolute joy and absolute sorrow, to be there when they marry, when they baptize their children, when they are anxious, when they suffer loss. It is an enormous responsibility, but an extraordinary privilege."
It seems it is also an extraordinary privilege for the people of Orange to be a part of Todd Vetter's journey.
