eClare

 

News from
 St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church 
Blue Hill ~ Maine
 
February 22, 2018    



        The Season of Lent Continues
 "The purpose of meditation is to stop thinking for a time, wait for the fog of thought to thin, and glimpse the spirit within." ---Deepak Chopra
(Photo with thanks to Joe Lendvai)

           
           

St. Francis By The Sea
(painting by Tim Thomas)

 
T he Calendar 

Sunday
Worship Service
10 AM
***
Thursday
5 PM Choir
***
All Church Gathering
"Quest for the Tenth Bishop of Maine"
-- after Coffee Hour
February 25th
(see right)



We pray for
Daniel 
Edward Dufresne 
Brinley Hall
Dorine Harris
Joseph
Kaden 
Jill
Jennifer Hulsey  
Corinne Pert
Cal Peters
Chris Ramsay
John Remick
Diana Robson
Linda Slaven
Jane Story
Lauri Vainio
Galen Vainio

 
Those in the Armed Services   
Andy Ditmer
Kyle Carino Mings
Brian Haley
Sean Haley
Peter McGuyer


Those with February Birthdays

Pam Barry
Diana Brown
Cheryl M. Coffin
Mary Crawford
Jim Denny
Mary Catherine Dunn
Giffy Full
Alexander Heilner
Edward Shoemaker
Joe Thompson
Peter Young



We pray for the repose of the souls  of  Dorothy Noble and John Hinckle

-and comfort for their families and friends.






St. Francis' traditional Salt Bowl is available now and throughout the Lenten Season. All are welcome any weekday morning (Tuesday-Friday) or after worship services on Sundays. Slips of paper are available for writing and burying in the salt. Thoughts and prayers are never read. The messages will eventually become the fuel for the Easter Vigil fire.

***  

From Rev. Claudia: "These messages are about releasing to God whatever it is that is burdening our hearts; and then in a flash of new light at the Easter Vigil, watching as the Holy Spirit transforms our pain."

 ***

 Friends and family are welcome to this well-received opportunity.



Here are St. Francis' current requests from the Blue Hill Food pantry: tooth paste and toothbrushes, mouthwash, dental floss- 

-and continual thanks for our commitment to the...





"Lent---
on the Lighter Side"

---a couple of funnies from you




 
Quest for the 10th Bishop of Maine

A Parish-wide Discussion
 this  Sunday, following Coffee Hour

---gathering additional information for the Bishop  Search process.


From Bishop Steve:
 "Serving as your bishop is the greatest joy of my life in the Church, and I look forward to continuing that service for the next two years. The work of following Jesus goes on even as we make preparations for our diocesan future,.."

*****

Quest for the 10th Bishop of Maine
 A Parish-wide Conversation
To: All people in the Diocese of Maine
From: Diocesan Discernment Committee  
 
In order to hear from as many people as possible in the 
Diocese of Maine, we invite you to take a short survey regarding our quest for the next Bishop of Maine. Your input will be very helpful to the Discernment Committee in articulating to prospective candidates who the people and 
congregations of the Diocese of Maine are and what type of person they are looking for to be their next Bishop.
If you have any comments beyond the survey form, please send those to:   discernmentcommittee@episcopalmaine.org.
 
Thank you for taking the time to do this. We will close the survey on February 28.
 

*Rev. Claudia is a member of the Discernment Committee for the "Quest of the Tenth Bishop of Maine." She encourages all of us to come, express our thoughts.

"Remember that Lent and Ash Wednesday are not just about putting away the bad things. It is about creating good things and helping the poor and the needy, being kind to people and much more."
- Jacob Winters
 

 

Outreach is updated, involved, with food insecurity in the school population:
 

Guest Speaker: Judi Hilliker, Board of Directors for Tree of Life (TOL):

Judi was welcomed to the February 8th Outreach Meeting. She updated the Outreach Committee regarding the progress of the newly established backpack program for Blue Hill Consolidated School (BHCS) and about the food donations to George Stevens Academy (GSA). Both of these programs are being managed by the Tree of Life. 

The GSA program is modeled on a successful food insecurity program established with the Harbor School two years ago. A box of healthy snacks is delivered weekly to GSA and stored in cabinets in the nurse's office. This food is available for all students. There is also food available for students to take home on weekends. 

The new free and reduced lunch program at GSA is still a work in progress. The BHCS backpack program is going well. Judi reported that school board member, Amy Houghton, will be the liaison to TOL. Amy has long been involved with food inequality issues within the community. 

Currently there are 26 BHCS students receiving weekend food consisting of 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 snacks. This is equivalent to what they receive with reduced meal status at school. The food is delivered to the school and teachers discreetly put the packets in students' backpacks during recess. 

 Funding for this program is coming from the Bectin Foundation ($5,000.00), The Odd
 Fellows Blue Hill Chapter ($1,000.00), and us ($388.00 remaining from our 2017 budget).

 It currently costs $50.00 - $70.00 a week to fund the BHCS program. The food comes from the Good Shepherd Food Bank and costs $0.16 /lb. TOL receives 10,000 lbs. every 2 weeks. Two thirds of the money generated to pay for this food comes from sales generated from the thrift shop (TurnStyle). The TurnStyle made $167,000.00 in 2017. 

At Tree of Life, the only paid positions are 2 people for cleaning, an accountant, and snowplowing; everyone else is a volunteer. 

 

Altar Guild help is needed. 
You have undoubtedly noticed the beautiful job our altar guild does to prepare for our Sunday and special services. It would be great to have more people participate, especially this time of the year. The training is quite straight forward. 

Prudy Heilner is available to train you, plus there is a wonderful book by Mary Semler to refer to. You can do this alone or several people can pair up as a "team." Whatever works best for you. 

For more information, please call Prudy at 207-266-1860, or email prudy.heilner@gmail.com. And of course, you can visit with her at church. Both men and women are encouraged to participate

 
       
 
From Sarah Everdell, facilitator

NAMI Maine is putting into place two programs in the Blue Hill Area.

The first is a Family Support Group every second Tuesday of the month from 6:30 to 8:00 at the Congregational Church, Blue Hill, and is for anyone who is has loved ones affected by mental illness. This will be an ongoing group led by trained facilitators.

The second program is 12 week education program called Family to Family also for family members who have loved ones struggling with mental illness.  This will begin April 5th and run to June 21st and will be held at St. Francis, and is focused on information, understanding, and developing coping strategies.

Please help pass the word about this two new offerings.  

Contact Sarah Everdell, 359-8562 with any questions. 

Links to Websites of
 Special Interest:



From our church office: W e now have a St. Francis Facebook Page!  Link below...   "LIKE" our page and keep up to date on all the news and happenings!!!