News & Events in the Episcopal Diocese of Maine |
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Volume 23, Number 24
December 23, 2021
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Enjoy a sermon from Bishop Brown |
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Sneak peak! Enjoy this sermon for the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, preached by Bishop Thomas Brown, for the Sunday, December 26 online diocese-wide worship service. Read the transcript here.
Bishop Brown will be preaching on Christmas Day at the Cathedral of St. Luke at 10:00 am. This service, both in person and livestreamed here , will welcome Christmas morning with carols!
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Join us for diocese-wide worship this Sunday |
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Join us for a full diocese-wide service on December 26! It will include wonderful Christmas music and participation from across Maine.
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Register now for Maine Youth Ice Fishing on January 15 |
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Sign up now for the Maine Youth Ice Fishing Trip on Saturday, January 15! All youth are invited to join in ice fishing, led by world-renowned fly fisherman Macauley Lord, and joined by special guest Bishop Brown. Feel free to invite a friend! And interested parents are invited to register, as well. No prior experience needed, and no equipment needed outside of warm clothing! We'll be fishing near Brunswick. Click here to register. (*Space is limited to 20 people at a time, so register soon to get your preferred time slot of 11 AM to 1 PM or 1 PM to 3 PM. Storm date is 2/5.)
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- The Rev. Cn. Michael Ambler, Canon to the Ordinary, is leaving on sabbatical for the first four months of 2022. He will study the Lao language to help him support the work of clearing unexploded ordnance in Laos that is still littering the ground 50 years after the Vietnam War. Read more about his mission and goal in Michael's note to the diocese here. If you need something for which you would otherwise call Michael and you're not sure whom to turn to, either Barbara Martin or Terry Reimer, or any other staff member, will be happy to help direct you.
- There’s an exciting development in our commitment to shared services across the dioceses of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Katie Clark, Director of Communications, has expanded her role and now also serves as Director of Communications for the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire. The work is similar to what she is already doing for Maine: evaluate the communications resources of the diocese, direct communications strategies (website, social media, communications management, media relations), and support the communications needs of the churches.
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News From Our Congregations |
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St. Bartholomew's, Yarmouth has called the Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson to be their next priest. Amanda is a Lutheran minister, ordained in 2015. After serving as Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in East Hartford, Connecticut, Amanda has spent the last four and a half years as the Executive Director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, a nonprofit organization that advocates for and supports LGBTQIA+ leaders in the Lutheran Church. Please join us in welcoming Amanda who begins in January! |
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St. Ann's, Windham hosted a joyous Regional Confirmation service on December 12. Photos courtesy of Emily Keniston.
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Here's a look at safe (and very cute!) Christmas Pageants happening at Christ Church, Gardiner and St. Alban's, Cape Elizabeth. |
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The Rev. George Sheats of St. Michael's, Auburn gave a blessing to the crowd gathered to distribute wreaths throughout Veterans' Memorial Park on December 18. Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, coordinated wreath-laying ceremonies are held at Arlington National Cemetery, and more than 2,500 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad. |
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Saint Mary’s, Falmouth is joining faith communities and non profit organizations from across Maine in responding to pressing needs of the new arrivals to Greater Portland. Maine will resettle up to 225 evacuated Afghan refugees by March of 2022. Critical needs are for interpreters, housing and/or mentoring and warm clothing. Saint Mary's is encouraging their parishioners to participate in the Adopt an Immigrant Family Program of the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition and donations of Hannaford gift cards and winter clothing.
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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry tells us in his Christmas Message 2021, “The Christmas stories are reminders that this Jesus came to show us how to love as God loves. And one of the ways we love as God loves is to help those who are refugees, those who seek asylum from political tyranny, poverty, famine, or other hardship... The Christian vocation as Jesus taught us is to love as God loves. And in the name of these refugees, let us help all refugees." |
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Overlooking The Gulf Of Maine, St. Ann's by the Sea
No matter how happy you are or how calm you feel, it's always nice to take some time away to clear your head. There are so many beautiful places to find peace in Kennebunkport that choosing one is enough to induce a fair amount of stress! But...
Read more
www.onlyinyourstate.com
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Video: 60 seconds buzzing over downtown Lewiston
The Trinity Episcopal Church is transferring ownership of their building to the Trinity Jubilee Center, which has rented the Church's undercroft for 30 years. The staff are working with the church to convert their space into a performing arts...
Read more
www.sunjournal.com
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The Committee on Indian Relations urges the diocese to take action to support sovereignty for Wabanaki Tribes here in Maine. LD 1626 will come before the Maine Legislature in 2022.
The 2021 Diocesan Convention adopted a resolution denoting the formal support of our diocese for this bill, "An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act", which you can read in full here. It presents ways of improving and clarifying the status of federally-recognized tribes relative to the State of Maine and the 1980 Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act.
Here's what you can do:
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Learn more by visiting the committee’s webpage for resources
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Go to the “Take Action” page at Wabanaki Alliance to learn ways to let our support be known
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The diocesan staff wishes you a Merry Christmas! Please note that Loring House will be closed and the diocesan staff will be away from their desks Friday, December 24 through Sunday, January 2. |
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A Christmas Prayer
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Loving Father,
Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.
Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.
May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.
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We pray for those who have been devastated by the tornadoes in the central US. Episcopal Relief & Development is in contact with the affected dioceses and stands ready to assist in the coming days and weeks. Donations to the US Disaster Fund will support Episcopal Relief & Development and its partners as they respond. |
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Let us pray for The Rev. Kit Wang. Kit has been appointed to the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of a Presiding Bishop by the President of the House of Deputies and Presiding Bishop. He will serve as one of 20 members charged with developing and managing a process for soliciting and identifying qualified nominees for the office of Presiding Bishop. View the committee roster here.
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Worship online with the National Cathedral this season |
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Explore the meaning of Christmas and find the spirit within. The worship team of the Washington National Cathedral invites you to feel God’s unconditional love by joining them to celebrate Emmanuel, God with us, this Christmas season. Find services here.
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What's on Maine Faith Formation's January calendar? |
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Click here or on the image below to download the January Faith Formation calendar. The pdf has clickable links! Please share this resource widely.
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Celebrate Epiphany online with The Episcopal Church |
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Join Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Washington Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the Rev. Glenna Huber, and other local and national leaders for a livestreamed celebration of Epiphany, the season of light, from the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C.
During a worship service featuring a diversity of voices from across the church, Bishop Curry will invite Episcopalians to commit afresh to looking, acting, and loving like Jesus—in our communities and in our nation.
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