News & Events in the Episcopal Diocese of Maine |
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Volume 24, Number 10
May 19, 2022
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Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont bishops to assist each other's dioceses |
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Episcopalians from across Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire participated via Zoom at Maine’s Spring Training event on May 14. The bishops of the three dioceses had the opportunity to discuss their collaboration and announced that they will serve as assisting bishops in each other’s dioceses as part of an effort to increase collaboration in the region.
Starting in September, Maine Bishop Thomas J. Brown, New Hampshire Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld and Vermont Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown, in addition to serving as diocesan bishops and ecclesiastical authorities in their respective dioceses, each will be able to preach, teach, and provide sacramental rites in the other dioceses.
Read the full joint letter in which they shared this announcement here.
Read more in the Episcopal News Service here.
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Celebrate ordinations at the Cathedral on June 18 |
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By the Grace of God and with the consent of the people, The Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Brown, Tenth Bishop of Maine, will ordain Carlisle Blind, George Cooper, and Heather Sylvester to the diaconate on Saturday, June 18 at 10:00 am at the Cathedral Church of Saint Luke, 143 State Street, Portland. Reception immediately following the service. Clergy red stoles; lay are invited to wear red.
Download the invitation here. All are welcome! |
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Celebrate the end of summer at Camp Bishopswood |
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Families and households throughout Maine are invited to celebrate the end of summer together at Camp Bishopswood. Spend a night or two cabin or tent camping while you swim, boat, hike, rest, and worship on scenic Lake Megunticook. All meals included.
There will be free diocese-wide programming during the day on Saturday, August 27 including worship. Come for the day or stay for the weekend!
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News From Our Congregations |
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Sharon Hobson of "One Less Worry" (pictured here with the Rev. Peter Jenks) joined St. John Baptist, Thomaston to share information about the project, a grassroots organization that provides feminine hygiene products and toilet paper to people in Knox County, Maine through shelters, schools and food pantries. St. John's was able to raise $800 for the program along with many items to be distributed. Learn more about the program here.
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Join St. George's, Sanford on Friday, June 3 at 6:45 pm for a P ride Candlelight Procession and Prayer Service at Gateway Park. This service will include both lament and rejoicing as everyone holds space for all that it is to be LGBTQ+ identified in today's world. For more information, contact Rev. Lauren Kay. |
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Bishop Brown spent time with the children of St. Paul's, Brunswick during his recent visitation. |
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This past Friday, Good Shepherd, Rangeley hosted a “Concert of Caring in honor of the people of Ukraine”, an evening of moving music organized by the Rangeley Ringers Ecumenical Bell Choir. Outside, the Fire Department’s ladder truck raised the flags of Ukraine and the USA over the church entrance, while inside area students covered the church walls with their artwork, which concert-goers could take home for a donation. The event raised over $1,000 for World Central Kitchen. |
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Two Wiscasset congregations, St. Philip's Episcopal Church and First Congregational Church, are hiring a part-time, shared Office Administrator/Bookkeeper to support their work and ministries. The position, which will begin as soon as a suitable candidate is found, will require 15-20 hours per week. A job description can be found here. For more information, please email Rev. Dr. Amy Lignitz-Harken. |
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St. Alban's (885 Shore Rd) in Cape Elizabeth will present a Celtic Ensemble Concert on Wednesday, June 8, St. Columba Eventide, at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 at the door.
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The Presiding Bishop released the pastoral statement below on the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York:
"My heart is heavy with the news that a white supremacist gunman took the lives of 10 children of God in Buffalo on Saturday. I grew up walking distance from the scene of this hateful crime, and my friends and I used to ride our bikes around the neighborhood. Buffalo’s Black community raised and formed me. I grieve with the city and people I love. The loss of any human life is tragic, but there was deep racial hatred driving this shooting, and we have got to turn from the deadly path our nation has walked for much too long. Bigotry-based violence—any bigotry at all—against our siblings who are people of color, Jewish, Sikh, Asian, trans, or any other group, is fundamentally wrong. As baptized followers of Jesus of Nazareth, we are called to uphold and protect the dignity of every human child of God, and to actively uproot the white supremacy and racism deep in the heart of our shared life.
Please join me in prayer for the shattered families in Buffalo. Please also join me in expressing profound gratitude for the intervention by Buffalo police that likely saved many other lives. Even amid tragedy, even when manifestations of evil threaten to overwhelm, let us hold fast to the good. It is the only way that leads to life."
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Episcopal Peace Fellowship of Maine encourages each parish in the Diocese of Maine to join in National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend June 3-5 to show our support for prevention of gun violence. Every year on the first Friday in June, members of the movement against gun violence come together to honor survivors of gun violence and to demand a future free from this crisis. Learn more about the movement here and EPF's work on gun violence prevention here. |
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Canon for Communications Katie Clark was recently at the Episcopal Communicators Conference in Savannah, Georgia, where she presented a workshop on content marketing. While there, Katie was elected to the Episcopal Communicators board of directors on which she will serve for the next year. |
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Roy Smoot of our Committee on Indian Relations offers a way for us to advocate for HR 5444, the "Truth & Healing Commission on Indian Boarding Schools in the U.S." Act which is being reviewed in our Congressional House Natural Resource Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples in Washington D.C. right now. Subcommittee members have requested written testimony letters supporting HR 5444. Submit these letters electronically before May 26 to HNRCDocs@mail.house.gov to be read by subcommittee members and entered into their permanent records.
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Advocates encourage Mainers to destigmatize abortion
Nearly 1 in 4 women have an abortion. Many took to social media last week to share their stories. Rev. Anne Fowler is an Episcopal priest and a mother and one of many women sharing their abortion stories in an effort to normalize the procedure.
Read more
www.mainepublic.org
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Wisdom for facing hubris, our most stubborn human problem
by Rev. Alfred M. Niese, Jr. People having great power who lose sight of the distinction between self-esteem and hubris can cause incalculable harm. The Ukrainians' response to the Russian invasion reveals hubris in human nature...
Read more
www.pressherald.com
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We grieve for all those lost to gun violence. We pray for their loved ones, first responders, and all survivors. |
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We offer prayers of thanksgiving for the Rev. Cn. Sara D'Angio White for organizing Spring Training 2022, for the three bishops (Bishop Thomas J. Brown, New Hampshire Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld, Vermont Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown), and for all who presented workshops and attended on Saturday. |
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Pray for healing and recuperation of Ken Martin (husband of Canon Barbara Martin), who had successful cardiac bypass surgery on May 6. |
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Let us pray for those confirmed and received at Regional Confirmation at St. Mark's, Waterville on May 7. |
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Recording of "Saying 'Peace, Peace' When There is No Peace" available |
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Maine Council of Churches gathered people from all over the state for a two-hour interactive gathering with keynote address by Dustin Ward, a young Black pastor and DEI educator who was raised in Presque Isle, followed by sharing and strategy sessions for action. The session was recorded and can be viewed here with the hope that it helps reframe our collective civil discourse work with anti-racism as a priority. |
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St. Paul's Sacred Ground Program expands inter-faith circles |
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St. Paul’s, Brunswick now has six all-community Sacred Ground groups up and running. These circles welcome participants from many different backgrounds into deep interfaith dialogue about race and racism. Based on the high level of interest from the community, additional circles are being convened this summer and fall. In this next round of outreach, St. Paul’s will continue to convene interfaith circles and will also collaborate with area organizations (houses of worship, retirement communities, etc.) to form circles that meet the needs of specific groups within the community. If you are interested in learning more about this expansion of the Sacred Ground program, please contact our program coordinator, visit our website, or watch this brief video.
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Registration open for Province of New England Conference |
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The Episcopal Province of New England will host its annual Conference online on June 7 from 6-8:30 p.m. with a business session of the Conference on June 8 from 7-8:30 p.m.
Together we will worship, prepare for the 2022 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, collaborate on the ministries of the Province, and elect a new provincial lay representative to the Executive Council of General Convention.
This gathering is open to all Episcopalians in New England. We are especially delighted to welcome the elected Deputies to General Convention from the seven dioceses of the Province to gather with us in preparation for this summer's 80th General Convention.
To learn more and to register, click here.
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episcopalmaine.org
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Save these dates below! For the full events calendar, click here.
MAY
24 Town Hall: Diocese-wide Meeting
25 Communications Workshop: Church Websites
JUNE
12 Celebration of New Ministry with St. Bartholomew's Yarmouth and Amanda Gerken-Nelson
15 Communications Workshop: Social Media Basics for Churches
18 Ordinations, Cathedral Church of Saint Luke
18 Pride Parade, Portland
21 Retired Clergy Gathering with the Bishop, St. Mark’s in Waterville
22 Retired Clergy Gathering with the Bishop, Loring House and Emmanuel Chapel
22 Celebration of New Ministry with St. Alban’s in Cape Elizabeth and Joshua Hill
25 Pride Parade, Bangor
29 Quiet Day for the Deacon Community, Loring House and Emmanuel Chapel
JULY
8-11 General Convention
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