| |
St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church
|
|
Please welcome back The Reverend Vesta Kowalski who will be presiding at our service this Sunday.
Woody Osborne
Senior Warden
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Click Logo for May 12th Edition |
|
|
|
|
The Episcopal Church of the Province of New England
|
|
|
|
10 am: Holy Eucharist
Readings for Sixth Sunday in Easter
:
(Please see scripture Notes Below)
|
|
|
On the Calendar:
Saturday, May 20 - 9-12 noon Spring clean-up at church
Sunday, May 21 - 10am Holy Eucharist with The Rev. Vesta Kowalski
- 11:30 - Worship Committee Meeting with Vesta Kowalski
Monday, May 22 - 9:30-12pm Parenting and Children
- 11am Investment Group Meeting
- 4:30pm Centering Prayer/Silent Med
Tuesday, May 23 - 4pm Adult Ed
- 6:30pm Families First Program at St. Brendan's (See Below)
Wednesday, May 24 - 11:30-4pm Duplicate Bridge
- 4pm Choir Rehearsal
Thursday May 25 - 6:30pm Early Childhood Meeting (see below)
Friday, May 26 - 1-4pm Rug Hooking Group meets
Sunday, May 28 - 10am Holy Eucharist with The Rev. Charles Bradshaw
_______________________________________________________________________________
Message from the Senior Warden
In the little over two months until our annual meeting on July 30th, the Vestry's main goal is
to get ourselves in the best possible position for a transition to the new Vestry that will begin work in August. As planned, Edward Dufresne joined us at our meeting this past week. Father Dufresne has considerable experience working with congregations in transition or working their way beyond some sort of crisis. In the month ahead, he will be working with the Vestry to develop a preliminary outline of what we see as our principal challenges and ways to address them. Then, we are determined to involve the entire parish in these discussions, and to do so
at a time when our summer parishioners are present. We will have more details to report as
this unfolds.
Two areas of interest, obviously enough, are outreach and liturgy. With regard to outreach: Steve Hayward joined the last outreach committee meeting. He stressed the goal of "getting
the community to know St. Brendans" through an approach that is not "too scattered," and which focuses, to the extent possible, on "one defining task." Our work as a parish will include developing this focus. With regard to liturgy, Vesta Kowalski has agreed to explore how she might help contribute to the efforts of our worship committee. She will join the committee at
its meeting after the service this coming Sunday, when she will also be presiding.
All of this may be viewed in the context of our goal to establish a "priestly presence" on a
more settled basis by some time next year.
So, as they say . . . more to come. If you have any questions or thoughts you'd like to share
at this time, by all means, let me or any Vestry member know.
Woody Osborne
Senior Warden
____________________________________________________________________________
Spring Clean-Up Saturday May 20th
A call for volunteers for this Saturday's spring clean-up day from 9am to 12 noon! Needless to say, there is a long list and the more hands and volunteers who are able to help the better. We'll be cleaning windows, changing out storm windows to screens, sweeping and cleaning up outside stairways and entrances, as well as cleaning and removing clutter from the basement, raking grassy areas, cleaning up fallen branches and preparing outside grounds for plantings.
We'll get as much done as we can, and have a good time doing it!
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Peace and love,
Skip Greenlaw
Junior Warden
____________________________________________________________________
Families First to Speak at St. Brendan's
The Outreach Committee is sponsoring a forum about a program which is in the process of development in Ellsworth to provide skills to families with children so that they will be able
and confident to secure employment, have transportation and rent or own their own home.
This forum will take placed on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 from 6:30 to 8 PM in the parish hall.
Dawn Coffin, who is President of the Board of Directors of Families First will speak about their efforts to "break the cycle of homelessness by equipping families with children with skills they need to gain self-sufficiency". Dawn is a very interesting speaker, and the program that
Families First is developing is perhaps the best opportunity to give families a chance of
St. Brendan's made a contribution to their renovation fund in December 2016 for the home
they hope to purchase to house six families in their own apartment. We have invited the
public to attend. We hope that you will attend and welcome Dawn.
The Outreach Committee
______________________________________________________________________
Early Childhood Meeting
On Thursday May 25th at 6:30 PM, there will be a meeting in the parish hall of an Early Childhood exploratory committee to determine the feasibility of having an early childhood
and parenting program on the island or on the peninsula. There will be an op ed article in this week's Island Ad-Vantages, which describes in some detail the vision and need for such a program for our infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
This proposal is perhaps the most important change that we could adopt to ensure that all
our children have an equal opportunity to be successful in school and life. It has been reported that 40% of our children entering kindergarten in Maine are not properly prepared for school.
I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about this proposal to come and participate in the discussion.
Skip Greenlaw
______________________________________________________________________________
Seminar to be Offered on 'Finding Joy'
Edward Dufresne+ will lead a four-session seminar on the topic, "Finding Joy" at
St. Brendan the Navigator following worship on Sundays June 18, July 30, August 13,
and a Sunday still to be determined in September. The main text for discussion will be
The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, (Avery, New York, 2016). Topics will include: What Is Joy?, Joy and Suffering, Joy Comes with Perspective and Acceptance, Joy in Humility and Humor, The Joy in Forgiveness, Joy and Gratitude, Joy
and Generosity, Joy and Compassion, Joy in Being One with the World, and Joy in Being
One with God. Books for the seminar are available at the church for $23.
All are welcome.
__________________________________________________________________
Outreach Committee Report
The Outreach Committee met on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at church. Members present included Richard Paget, Mickey Jacoba, Jackie Wilson, Martha Dane, The Rev. Stephen Hayward and
Skip Greenlaw. Other members present included Sidney Peck, Jo Jacob, Linda Shepard, and Woody Osborne.
Sidney Peck indicated that she would like to become a member of the Outreach Team.
We received wonderful report from Linda Shepard about her "Parents Are Leaders" group of children and parents which meets in the parish hall from 9:30 to noon on Mondays. Since Woody wrote such a glowing report about our conversation with Linda in last week's Navigator, there is no need to repeat it here. Linda welcomes anyone from the congregation or community who would like to help out on Monday mornings.
Jo reported on the evolving Windowdressers project which is scheduled to begin constructing "inside storm windows" in the parish hall on or about September 14th. Window measurements have to be completed by June 30.
Steve Hayward has agreed to work with the Outreach Committee to share his background and experience with outreach. Steve provoked a very interesting discussion about what outreach means to St. Brendan's and whether there was any defining characteristic. He offered an opinion, given our small congregation, that outreach cannot be too scattered. Is there one defining task, one mission? What is our call to the community? There was a good discussion which followed, and we all agreed that this topic was worthy of continued discussion and reflection. If anyone in the congregation has some thoughts about what our mission might be, please share your suggestions with a member of the Outreach Committee.
The Outreach Committee
|
Scripture Notes for the Sixth Sunday in Easter
As we continue the Great Fifty Days of celebrating our redemption through the death and
resurrection of Jesus, today's Gospel reading continues Jesus' words on the night before he
died. The sign of our love of him is to follow his commandments and, above all, to love one
another as he loves us. He promises not to leave his people alone but will send to them
the
Holy Spirit, the source of our unity with God and of Jesus' revelation of himself to us.
Today's reading from the Acts of the Apostles finds Paul preaching not to Jews and Greek
converts to Judaism (as he usually did), but to the Greek philosophers in Athens. He proclaims
that their unknown god is the God of the entire universe and the creator of all things. This God
has been made known in the dying and rising of Jesus.
Peter's epistle about baptism continues in our second reading calling on all the baptized to understand the difficulties of living in this world as our own sharing in the dying and rising of Jesus.
Our sharing in his redemptive death and in his resurrection was not completed in baptism;
it was only begun. We are to live out that passage from death to life with his living presence through the Holy Spirit in our daily living.
From
The Rite Light: Reflections on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of the Church Year.
Copyright © 2009 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated, New York.
|
In Our Prayers
We pray for those on our prayer list suffering and recovering from illnesses, especially Jan Place, William, Fred, Pat Stoneburner, Holly, Carolyn Angel, Colin MacNaught, Jim White, Shannon Cormier, Nancy Stearns, Daniel Harriman, Ingrid Bengis, Mary Adams, Diane, John, Tom, Connery, Andy Nagle, Paul Burton, Jennifer Hulsey and her family Byron, Ben, and Clair. We pray, also, for those who love and care for them.
We pray for those struggling with addiction and mental illness.
We pray for all those receiving care through Neighbor Care and for all the residents of the Island Nursing Home, the Northern Bay Residential Facility, and their families.
We pray for the dying, and those who have died. We remember also those who mourn.
We pray for the victims of gun violence-in our cities and towns, in our schools, in our places of worship, and in our homes.
We pray for the victims of the violence of armed conflicts around the world. We pray for those made refugees by the violence of armed conflicts. We pray for the victims of terrorist attacks everywhere.
We pray for all who suffer the effects of domestic violence and the violence of bullying in our schools.
We pray for all peacemakers, and all those who work for justice.
We pray for all those serving in the armed forces of our country, remembering, especially, Craig, Chris, and Graham.
We pray for all who govern, and we pray for the concerns of our local community, remembering, especially, our children, our young people, and
our isolated elderly.
We pray for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury; Suheil, Bishop of Jerusalem; Michael, our Presiding Bishop; Steve, our Bishop; for the members of our vestry; and for all our members, whose ministries are varied and far-reaching.
In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer,
we pray for the congregations of
St. Andrew's, Millinocket and St. Barnabas', Rumford. For our Muslim sisters and brothers as they enter the month of Ramadan on May 26.
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for
On the Island and Peninsula, we pray for
Eggemoggin Baptist, Sedgwick.
Note: If you know of someone you'd like to have added to this payer list,
please contact Anne Burton at 367-2266, aburton522@gmail.com.
_____________________________________________________________
Icon of St. Brendan by Siri Beckman
Lord, I will trust you.
Help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways and break new ground with you.
Christ of the mysteries, I trust you to be stronger than each storm
within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know that my times are in your hand.
Tune my spirit to the music of heaven, and somehow, make my obedience count for you.
-Prayer attributed to St. Brendan
|
Contact Information
St. Brendan the Navigator
627 North Deer Isle Road
Telephone: 207-348-6240
E-mail: office@stbrendans-me.org
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 305, Deer Isle, ME 04627
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 12-5pm
Emergency Contacts:
Woody Osborne, Senior Warden
Tel: 207-348-5274
E-mail: wosborne482@gmail.com
Skip Greenlaw, Junior Warden
Tel: 207-460-1260
E-mail: skipg@midmaine.com
For Pastoral Care:
Anne Burton
Tel: 207-367-2266
E-mail: aburton522@gmail.com
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
