St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church
Our Mission: "To Love, Praise, Welcome and Serve" 
              
                                  
              
     The  Navigator    
   

Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 23, 2018
      





                      

   Please welcome back The Rev. Lev Sherman who will preside  
   at our service this Sunday.   
 
 
 
 
                              + 
 
  
 
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All are Welcome!

     
Sunday, December 23, 2018
 


10:00 am  Holy Eucharist 
 
  
(Please see scripture notes below)
 
  
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The Mission of St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church is to l ove, praise, welcome, and serve:
 
· t o love one another as Christ loves us,
· to praise God in all things,
· to welcome and affirm all persons,
· to serve the needs of one another and of those on the island, the peninsula, and throughout the world.
   




                                                                                        
                                           


                                   
On the Calendar:
                                 
     
Sunday, December 23         - 10am Holy Eucharist with The Rev. Lev Sherman
 
Monday, December 24          - 4:30pm  Christmas Eve Meditation/ Silent Prayer                                              
        Sunday, December 30         - 10am Service at the Nursing Home - See below for                                                    more information
    
 
 
    Click here to visit the   Events Page Calendar  on the website for  
  up-to-date information.  
 


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Solstice 2018
 
             
The fuzzy green light of Comet 46P/Wirtanen
 
is in the sky, although it's been
 
        covered by clouds or
 
eclipsed by candlelit dinners
 
blazing hearths, and mostly
 
the bright Before-the-Yule moon
 
 
In the ether of space
 
between Orion's Belt and our earth's loyal satellite
 
we know that what we can't see is there
 
 
We look for the Christmas comet
 
anyway
 
 
Green darkness, extended from the evergreen forest-
 
itself an amalgam of yellow sun and blue sky-
 
fills our footsteps
 
and ice crystals light a bright turquoise path
 
 
 
The world is painted with a blue and silver palette
 
up to the very edge of  the shore
 
where ripples of water bring the moon close
 
dispersing our inner darkness
 
 
 
                                                                                          -     Ann van Buren   -  
 
 
 
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LOCATION CHANGE for our December 30th Service:
 
On Sunday, December 30th our 10a.m. worship service will take place at the Island Nursing Home.    Since that date happens to be our turn in the rotation of local churches leading Sunday services, the Worship and Music Ministry decided we would move our morning worship to the Nursing Home.  We will celebrate the birth of Christ with a Lessons and Carols service.   Please join us as we extend "tidings of comfort and joy" to the residents and staff at the Nursing Home.    

     
 
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A Christmas Message from Bishop Lane:
 
 
Bp Lane  
 
 
  Click the image above to play the video.
 
 
   ________________________________________________
 
 
    A Christmas Message from Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry
 
 
 
 
    Click the image above to play the video    
 
  
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Meditation - Silent Prayer - Centering Prayer on Christmas Eve:

 Christmas Eve and each Monday at 4:30 there an opportunity for Silent Prayer at St. Brendan's. Everyone is welcome and no experience is needed. If you would like to learn more about Centering Prayer the link below to Contemplative Outreach offers two short videos on the benefits of Centering Prayer and how to do it.  A description of methods of meditation by James Finley is also available below. 
                                 

 

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St. Brendan's purchased Thanksgiving baskets with turkeys and all the fixings for 25 of Linda Shepard's families with whom she works. We repeated this outreach for Christmas.
 
We also donated boxes of Thanksgiving food for 20 families who have children enrolled in the day care program at HOME in Orland. Some other social service agency in Bangor donated 50 turkeys to HOME. For Christmas, we donated 20 boxes of food which included a ham to these same families.
 
Leslie MacDonald Rice and a group of island residents made hot Thanksgiving meals for 90 island residents. This group provided hot meals to some of our friends to whom we have provided holiday meals in the past. We are providing 4 holiday food boxes for our friends for their Christmas celebration.
 
Lis Ingoldsby created and printed greeting cards from St. Brendan's for each food box for both holidays. Thank you, Lis.
 
We thank GOD that we have the resources to provide a helping hand to those who have less than we do and that we care enough to help out our brothers and sisters.
 
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NEEDED
 
I have a friend who does an unbelievable amount of work supporting those among us who experience poverty. She lives in Sedgwick, and recently, she gave her winter jacket to another woman who had no winter coat. Now, she has no winter coat. If anyone has an extra large woman's used winter coat that you don't need or can spare, please bring it to church on Sunday or contact Skip Greenlaw. Th ank you.
 
 







 

 
 
Fourth Sunday In Advent: 
 
The theme of the Fourth Sunday of Advent is the role of the Virgin Mary in the events that brought about our salvation. A related theme is the Lord's human nature.

The first reading deals with the Messiah's human origins. He will come from the village of Bethlehem within the clan of Ephratha, the smallest and least significant of all the clans of the Tribe of Judah. The importance of this prophecy from the book of Micah is that with the Messiah, as with all people, greatness comes from God rather than from human sources.

It was as an obedient human being that Jesus made the willing offering of himself for our salvation, says the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. The salvation of humanity was accomplished within human life not apart from it.

Human nature has a real and definitive role to play, a role revealed in the story of Mary. Today's Gospel reading is the story of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Both Elizabeth and her unborn son rejoice in Mary's role.  Mary then praises God in the words used by the church at Evening Prayer, "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." God's blessing of Mary, the lowly servant, will be extended in the ministry of Christ to all, especially the poor and the lowly. In her acceptance and cooperation with God's will, Mary becomes the model for our response to God and the human agent of God's gift of the redeeming Christ to the world.

 
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
 
 
 
        
     Prayer for St Brendan's:  
 
     Almighty God, giver of every good gift:  Look graciously on the people of 
     St. Brendan's and guide our hearts and minds as we discern your will for our                 future. May our discernment transform our spirits and draw us closer to you.   
 
In Our Prayers

We pray for those on our prayer list in special need of our prayers: Roger Ingoldsby, Ralph and Sandy Drayer, James Budd, Joan and Bob GagnonMary Ann Shaw, Pam Neff, Michelle Price, Michael Dunn, Donna Hallen, Kevin Zorski, Jesse Zorski, Ben Elkington, Craig Harriman, Lindsey Bowker, Linda Shepard and family, Linda,  Rev. Edward Dufresne, Margaret Ann Crumlish, Reed and Micki Henderson, William Rice Sr., Gray Pierson , Ross Gagnon, Nancy Boothby, Reed and Micki Henderson, Elaine Graham, Pat & Tony Stoneburner, Kathy Gray, Holly Zack, Carolyn Angel, Nancy Stearns, Andrew Harriman, Tom Davenport, Marcia Scott, George A. Smith, Gladys Smith, Sam and Isobelle Hulsey, Jennifer Hulsey and her family Byron, Ben, and Clair, and Gary and Susie Silman. 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 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, Graham, and Caleb.

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  the congregation of St. Dunstan's, Ellsworth and For all Episcopalians engaged in The Way of Love and for Presiding Bishop Michael Curry
 
 
In the Anglican  Cycle of Prayer, we pray  for Kubwa - ( Abuja, Nigeria) The Rt Revd Duke Akamisoko
 
On the Island and Peninsula,  we pray  Galilean Gospel Temple, Stonington
 
 
 
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                                                 Icon of St. Brendan by Siri Beckman




Lord, we will trust you.

Help us to journey beyond the familiar and  into the unknown.  

Give us the faith to leave old ways and break new ground with you. 

Christ of the mysteries, we trust you to be stronger than each     storm within us.  

We will trust in the darkness and know that our times are in your hand.
  
Tune our spirit to the music of heaven, and somehow, make our   obedience count for you.   
                                                            

                                                                       -Prayer attributed to St. Brendan


 



Contact Information
  


St. Brendan the Navigator
627 North Deer Isle Road
Deer Isle, ME 04627


Telephone: 207-348-6240
E-mail: office@stbrendans-me.org

Mailing Address:  P.O. Box 305, Deer Isle, ME 04627 



Emergency Contacts:

Vestry Members:

Elisabeth Ingoldsby, Senior Warden
Tel: Home: 207-348-2586 / Cell: 207-266-4541
lisingo@msn.com

Josephine Jacob, Junior Warden         
Tel: 207-348-6997 / Cell: 207-664-4884
josephinejacob30 @gmail.com

Pete Dane-Treasurer 348-5245 
Barbara Kourajian-Clerk 326-9153 
Meg Graham 348-2639
Miriam Antich 972-849-7907
Tom van Buren 348-6471

Pastoral Care: 
Carolyn Mor   374-2179
Diane Greenlaw   460-7230 

Prayer List Requests:  mantichino@gmail.com