…is an Episcopal priest, activist, and ceramic artist living in Sandwich, MA on Cape Cod. She served the church for 17 years before retiring from parish ministry to pursue racial justice and political advocacy work shortly after the 2016 election of Donald Trump. It was then that she discovered the potential of narrative pottery to touch hearts and open minds.
Margot is an Artist-in-Residence at the Meetinghouse Clay Centerin Cataumet, MA and a member of Cape Cod Potters. Forming wheel-thrown pottery in porcelain and using its surface as a canvas for story-telling has become an extension of both her spiritual practice and social justice work: Throwing porcelain forms on a potter’s wheel is a spiritual discipline for her inner recovering perfectionist; painting those forms with drawings and words is a subversive way to amplify stories she feels compelled to tell.
Margot’s passion for racial justice was ignited by the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. Since then, she’s been driven by the conviction that dismantling racism and white supremacy in herself and others is her lifelong vocation and by far the most important work she can do as a follower of Jesus, She tries to live into this vocation by immersing herself in the work of BIPOC writers, listening deeply to BIPOC voices, working with an anti-racism coach, and leaning into the challenge of de-centering her own and others’ white-centered, white supremicist, perspectives. With much “fear and trembling” given the enormity of the task, Margot tries to teach her fellow white people how systemic racism is built into the DNA of this country, about the historic roots of contemporary white supremacy, about the inherent privileges of whiteness, and about the devastating impact of this collective sin on God’s dream for all of God’s people.
In 2021, after a racial incident in her local community, Margot co-founded a non-profit to advocate for under-represented and historically marginalized members of the Sandwich, MA community, to educate community members, and to collaborate with local schools, businesses, faith communities and town government in addressing discrimination, bias, bullying, and hate. (www.sandwichforall.com),
Margot’s spirituality is deeply rooted in the Anglican tradtion, the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the Ignatian exercises. Her pastoral ministry has been enormously influenced by the sage mentorship of the Rev. Dr. Frank Wade. Her narrative pottery has been especially influenced by the materials, methods, and patient encouragement of her teacher,Seth Rainville. And she is profoundly aware that were it not for the 12-steps of Alcoholic Anonymous and a couple of incredible sponsors, she’d either be shriveled up alone somewhere with a drink in one hand, a joint in the other, and a cigarette burning in the ashtray— or she’d be dead. Really.
Margot’s work has been shown at the Falmouth Art Center, the Cape Cod Museum of Art, the Meetinghouse Clay Center, and Highfield Hall & Gardens. She is an elected member of the Sandwich Democratic Town Committee, does volunteer work for political candidates, and is a Member Emeritus of the Upper Cape Women’s Coalition. She has been an active participant in 12-step recovery since she gave up alcohol and “recreational” drugs (ha!) in 1994, and she continues to serve the Episcopal church as a substitute priest, guest preacher, Spiritual Director, and small group facilitator.
Margot has been married to Don Critchfield, a retired producer for NBC News, since 1987. They have an adult daughter who lives in Los Angeles, and a Bernedoodle named Brumley who takes care of them in her absence.
