News & Events in the Episcopal Diocese of Maine |
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Volume 24, Number 18
September 15, 2022
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Discuss the intersection of racism and Christianity with our Racial Justice Council |
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The Racial Justice Council of the Diocese of Maine would like to invite you to two online opportunities to talk and learn about the intersection of racism and Christianity.
First, The Maine Council of Churches and The BTS Center are hosting an exciting online conversation with noted author and theologian Carter Heyward about her book, The Seven Deadly Sins of White Christian Nationalism: A Call To Action on September 21 from 4-5:30 PM. The event is free. Learn more and register here.
Second, the Racial Justice Council would like to invite you to an online debrief of that presentation specifically for folks in the Diocese of Maine exactly one week after the event on September 28 from 4-5:30 PM. We hope you'll bring a snack or some dinner and join us in sharing what we've learned, what we still wonder, and where we feel the Spirit moving us next. Please register for the debrief conversation here. (Please note you will need to register separately for each event.) Questions? Contact Emily Keniston, staff liaison for the Racial Justice Council.
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The 203rd Annual Convention of the Diocese of Maine |
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The 203rd Convention of the Diocese of Maine will convene online on Saturday, October 22. Clergy and delegates who are voting will register to meet on Zoom. (Registration opens tomorrow!) The meeting will be livestreamed on YouTube for everyone to watch.
Bishop Brown invites us to prepare for Convention
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Tomorrow is the last day to submit a resolution |
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The deadline for submitting a resolution for diocesan convention using the form here is tomorrow, September 16. Who can submit a resolution? You! Resolutions can be submitted by parishioners in good standing, convention delegates, parishes, interim bodies, justice councils, and the Bishop. Resolutions call on the Convention to take specific legislative action, such as amending the Canons, creating/funding/starting a particular initiative, or enacting specific policies and procedures.
To view past convention resolutions and resolution-related resources, take a look here on our website.
You will also want to save the date for a public hearing and resolutions forum later this month! This will be a time to discuss, debate, and refine the resolutions that will be presented at diocesan convention. Join us Thursday, September 29th at 7pm. Zoom information to be available soon.
Please be in touch with Committee Chair, Marge Kilkelly, with any questions. |
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Nomination deadline extended until September 23 |
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Consider whether you may be called to serve in any one of the open leadership positions listed below. Click here and scroll down to learn more about each position.
Treasurer (1-year term)
Secretary (1-year term)
Disciplinary Board - Lay (2-year term)
Standing Committee - Clergy (3-year term)
Standing Committee - Lay (3-year term)
General Convention Deputation (four clergy, four lay to serve at GC 2024)
Provincial Conference Clerical Deputy (2-year term)
Diocesan Council Lay Representative (one from each of the six diocesan areas)
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It's not too late to sign up for the 2022 Virtual Choir! |
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Sign up and be a part of a World Premiere performance! The Rev. Victoria Sirota, a recently retired priest and professionally trained musician now living in Searsmont, Maine has written a wonderful new hymn text for our convention. It is being sung to the tune Darwall's 148th (Ye Holy Angels Bright), and we will soon make available a hymn page size version for churches in the Diocese of Maine to use on the Sunday after Convention, or any other Sunday they wish.
Here's a teaser of the first stanza -
O wondrous souls of light, we meet on sacred ground
to thank our God for gifts of sight and thoughts profound:
for Maine's deep woods,
for coast and streams and star-filled dreams, for all that's good.
The other hymn uses Beethoven's great Hymn to Joy (Joyful, joyful, we adore thee) with a text written by John Core in 2006 - All creation danced in answer when God's voice first touched the air. Register here to be a part of this exciting singing! |
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Swords to Plowshares demonstration coming to Maine |
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Grace Episcopal Church in Bath (1100 Washington St) will be hosting "Swords to Plowshares: Transforming Guns into Garden Tools" on Saturday, September 24 from 1-3 pm. This demonstration from Bishop Jim Curry of Swords to Plowshares Northeast will feature hands-on participation at forge and anvil, creating gardening tools and jewelry from guns that have been previously surrendered. (Please note: this event is NOT the time or place to turn in guns.) Learn more about the organization here. Download an event flier here. |
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News From Our Congregations |
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Laundy Love, a ministry of Trinity Episcopal Church of Portland volunteers under the direction of Deacon Heather Sylvester, pays for washing and drying costs for all customers at Wash Tub II on Forest Avenue one Wednesday of the month. They had a great turnout of neighbors and friends last week! |
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Backpacks were blessed the Rev. Joshua Hill, Rector, at St. Alban's in Cape Elizabeth to kick off the school year. |
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St. James Old Town is looking for a high school student or someone older to take care of the children on Sunday mornings. The compensation is generous. Please email Senior Warden Cass Wright or call 207-475-6830. |
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Bishop Brown joined St. Ann's in Windham for Homecoming Sunday. It was a day full of enthusiasm, faith, a bounce house and flu shots. Pictures below! |
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Deacon Sudie Blanchard of St. George's, York Harbor is featured in the August issue of Diakoneo from the Association for Episcopal Deacons. She writes about her experience helping families fleeing Afghanistan. Read the article here. |
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The Episcopal Church in Connecticut is saying farewell to Bishop Ian Douglas, who will retire as bishop diocesan on October 15th following nearly 13 years of ministry. The photograph includes Bishop Brown and several other New England bishops at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, the site of one of two farewell events. Bishop Douglas is in the center. |
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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry made this statement upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, "Today we mourn the passing and celebrate the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II. My prayers for peace go out for her, for her loved ones, and for all those who knew and loved her throughout the world. Her resilience, her dignity, and her model of quiet faith and piety have been—and will continue to be—an example for so many. May she rest in peace and rise in glory." |
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The Contemplative Outreach of Maine Chapter invites all to a Welcoming Prayer Day with the Rev. Bill Sheehan, OMI on October 1, 2022 at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Kennebunk from 9-3pm.Bill was a colleague and close friend of the Rev. Thomas Keating at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass Colorado. He recently gave an Intensive Centering Prayer retreat at Marie Joseph Retreat House in Biddeford. Bill will speak about the method of the Welcoming Prayer and lead a twenty minute Centering Prayer session. Please see the flyer for registration details. |
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The Portland Press Herald's Maine Voices Live will speak with Dr. Susana Hancock, a transdisciplinary Arctic climate researcher and parishioner of St. Bartholomew's in Yarmouth, on September 20th at 7pm. Register to join the discussion here. |
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Congratulations to the Rev. Shirley Bowen who finished her ministry at Seeds of Hope in Biddeford in July. In retirement, Shirley and Peter will remain in their home in Biddeford, and Shirley will continue in a consulting role with Seeds of Hope until early next year. |
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Please remember in prayer the Rev. Cn. Nancy Platt who died Tuesday, September 14 in Florida. Read Nancy's obituary here. A service will be held for Nancy at the Cathedral of St. Luke (143 State Street) Portland on Saturday, September 24 at 10:00 am. May God receive her into the arms of his mercy. |
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Episcopal Peace Fellowship - Maine Chapter wishes to share a prayer written by a long-time member, Dick Bamforth, in September of 2009 which they still use to close meetings.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, you come to us in peace and we proclaim you as our Savior.
From the ways we contradict your mission with our response, SAVE US JESUS.
From apathy and arm-chair activism, SAVE US JESUS.
From our tendency to forget what we have learned, SAVE US JESUS.
From our willingness to demonize those who are different, SAVE US JESUS.
From the temptation to glamorize war and from the foolishness of calling it a way to peace, SAVE US JESUS.
From allowing our children to see guns as toys, SAVE US JESUS.
From our blindness to other people’s cultures and from our resistance to learn their languages, SAVE US JESUS.
From the irony of exchanging your peace in the church even as we become the largest arms dealers in the world, SAVE US JESUS.
From our failure to create a culture of peace in our hearts, at home, and abroad, SAVE US JESUS.
Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior, have mercy on us all, sinners that we are, SAVE US JESUS.
Amen.
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We pray for Christian Education teachers and students everywhere as they start a new program year. |
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Save these dates below! For the full events calendar, click here.
SEPTEMBER
16 Resolutions Due
16 Diocesan Convention Registration Opens
23 Nominations Due
27 Clergy Day with the Bishop, Christ Church Gardiner
27 Town Hall at 7pm: Intro to Convention / Area Caucus for Diocesan Council
29 Forum on Resolutions at 7pm
OCTOBER
4 Town Hall at 7pm: Budget, Rules of Order, Resolutions
11Town Hall at 7pm: Resolutions, Consent Calendar
18 Town Hall at 7pm: Pre-Convention
19 Diocesan Convention Registration Deadline
22 Diocesan Convention
25 Town Hall at 7pm: Convention Debrief
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