St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church
Blue Hill ~ Maine
March 5, 2020
|
"Remember that Lent and Ash Wednesday are not just about putting away the bad things. Lent is about creating good things and helping the poor and the needy, being kind to people and much more." -- Jacob Winters
|
|
Sunday Worship Service
10 am
Coffee Hour
***
*remember to sign the list for individual get-togethers with Fr. Brent
|
"Caring Cards"
will meet on Friday, March 13.
Come, have this time together!
If you know of anyone who would like to receive a card from St. Francis, please call Sarah Everdell or Judy Rountree. Thank you all for this very successful ministry and especially all of you who are gathering to write!
|
The Salt Bowl
-a Lenten Tradition at St. Francis Church
You are welcome to bury your messages of prayers, concerns of any kind.
The Salt Bowl is available on Sundays and any weekday morning, Tues-Friday.
These messages are never read and will become the fuel for the Easter Vigil Fire.
Many members of the community take advantage of this opportunity to have a quiet moment in the church. Everyone is welcome.
|
We Pray for:
Art
Kaylee Bland
Craig
Holly Colt
Ellen Day
Edward Dufresne
Diane Dumond
Brinley Hall
Dorine Harris
Kira Hartley
Keagan
Alix Kirkpatrick
JoAnn Krestan
Jason and Owen Mc Farland
Bill Petry
Diana Robson
Dennis Robertson
Ronan
Carla Rosensweig
Ed Rosensweig
Maren Rosborough
Sarah Semler
Sophie
Cathy Smith
Donny Smith
Marshall Smith
Peter Smith
Gloria Smith
Fred and Nancy Stine
Brenda Swazey
Brad West
Martha York
Those with March Birthdays
Julie Boardman
Mary Boyd
Libby Buck
Ambrose Chung
Suzanne Decrow
Sally Falck
Steve Hayward
Fred Heilner
Prudy Heilner
Ed Manuel
Pam Peters
Maren Rosborough
Peter Smith
Colleen Spangler
Hannah Maeve Was
Jillian Weed
Gerald Wheeler
Those in the Armed Services
Abigail
James Crowe III
Andy Dittmer
Brian Haley
Sean Haley
Douglas Hamilton
Kyler Hall
Peter McGuyer
Kyle Carino Mings
Eric Partridge
Henry Shepley
We Pray for the Soul of
Gretchen Lane
and comfort for The Rt. Rev. Stephen Lane and their family
And for the family of
Ron Lesko,
father of Dr. Lisa Lesko
|
Heather Ford and Mary Hartley
conducted a beautiful Prayer Service on the Sunday following Rev. Steve's final service as Interim Rector and before Fr. Brent's first service.
St Francis is wonderfully gifted with such talent and dedication. Many parishioners expressed their appreciation to Heather and Mary.
|
|
St. Francis by the Sea welcomes the Rev. Dr. Brent Was
|
From our new Rector:
Lenten Blessings to you all!
First off, thank you! As I tried to express at our Mardis Gras and on Sunday, my family and I are so grateful for your incredibly warm and hospitable welcome. We are just about settled in and are rapidly falling in love with this place. The housewarming gift was deeply appreciated and will help us make one of our outbuildings into a place for guests to stay and for me to write. Thank you!
I will be writing a little column for each eClare, sometimes about parish news and happenings, sometimes about spiritual matters, sometimes just to share a poem. Today is practical: to offer greetings and thanks and to let you know how to get in touch with me.
In an emergency, I am always available by voice or text at 207.412.8807 (where we are on Cape Rosier has fine cell reception). My email is
bwas@riseup.net
. My hours are Sunday through Thursday, with Thursday as my writing day. I believe a priest has an important role in the larger community, so I may not always be in the building, but I am working somewhere. I am reachable at the above number, Barbara will know where I am, and I am always available for meeting by appointment.
I am so glad to be here and look forward to getting to you.
See you soon.
In Christ,
Brent +
(I happily answer to Brent, or if a title is useful for you, Fr. Brent.)
|
Windy and Fr. Brent Was
and their daughters
Hannah Maeve and Brigid
|
|
 |
St Francis Church is in good hands...literally!
|
|
|
|
From Ray Yardy, Chair, Buildings and Grounds
Following the annual meeting Senior Warden Milissa LaLonde and the vestry instituted a Building and Grounds committee to assist the Junior Warden when one is appointed. The committee consists of 6 hardworking volunteers with myself as chair. The first order of business was to recruit a Sexton to carry out the routine maintenance around the St Francis campus. The committee recommended, and the vestry appointed, Dick Doane and he is already busy keeping up with the maintenance. If you find something that needs fixing please write it on a slip of paper together with your name and leave on Barbara’s desk who will pass it on to Dick.
The committee is now working on developing a 10 year maintenance plan for St Francis so that the vestry can get an outlook on future maintenance costs. We are reviewing everything from the painting of the spire to the drains and sewers, from tuning of the organ to reviewing all the lights (over 300 bulbs). When this is complete and accepted by the vestry it will be published to the parish.
Talking of lights, have you noticed the change in the cove lights in the Nave and the new placement of the switches ? With generous support from Lorna and Carlton Russell the cove lights were changed from fluorescents to LEDs so that they could be dimmed and also reduce our carbon footprint. The switches were moved into the alcove to the left of the organ, so that the lights can be dimmed without disturbing the church service, leaving just one 3-way switch by the door nearest the sacristy so as to enable some lights as soon as one enters the Nave.
If you have suggestions or input for the committee you can send it directly to me at
yardy@me.com
or write it down and leave it with Barbara who will forward it.
|
|
|
|
P
ictured left...Dick Doane and his grandogs
We have a perfect Sexton!
Thank you, Dick!
To quote Nancy,
"He is known best for the person who keeps everything running."
|
|
An Important Note from Fr. Brent:
At a the clergy retreat I attended the past three days, we spoke about the church response to the coronavirus. Here is a link to the Diocesan guidance:
Diocese of Maine Coronavirus Response
I will be speaking with the vestry about our specific response, but here are a couple of notes:
- If you feel unwell, stay home! We are happy to bring communion to you after church.
- Wash your hands frequently, and well.
- If you don’t want to shake hands at the peace, don’t! (And don’t have your feelings hurt if someone doesn’t).
- We will suspend the practice of intinction (dipping the bread into the wine). According to the Canadian Ministry of Health at the time of the SARS outbreak, there have been no known cases (ever) of diseases being passed by a shared communion cup. Hands, though, can be effective vectors, so we will follow the diocesan suggestion about suspending the practice of intinction. If you do not care to drink from the cup, no worries, our Eucharistic theology is clear that receiving Communion in one kind (bread OR wine), counts! Just bread (or just wine) is sufficient to the sacrament.
|
|
Links to Websites of
Special Interest:
From our church office: We have a St. Francis Facebook Page. Link below... "LIKE" our page and keep up to date on all the news and happenings!!!
NAMI Maine
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
