Thursday, December 31, 2020

weekly email from St. Andrew & St. John

Events and News
from the Parish of
St. Andrew & St. John

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Worship Schedule

St. John the Divine

315 Main Street, Southwest Harbor
244-3229

 
January 3, 2021
St. Saviour's Parish
The Rev. John Burton

8:00 a.m.


Link: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-fGpm4_aFoi0mNvMiXhSwg  



Links to other churches:
Cathedral of St. Luke is  https://zoom.us/j/6894391895
(website is stlukesportland.org for info)
National Cathedral in Washington DC is https://cathedral.org/worship/service-archive/
(website is cathedral.org) 

St. John the Divine's sanctuary is open for meditation.
Please sign in and wear a mask.

If you need help or need to talk with someone, please call
Gen MacKenzie, 244-7313
Ted Fletcher, 266-8415

 

 

SACRED GROUND: A FILM-BASED 
DIALOGUE SERIES ON RACE & FAITH
 

  • Stewardship 2021Winter/Spring study group on racism, racial healing, racial justice and reconciliation
  • Part of the Episcopal Church Becoming Beloved Community initiative
  • Documentary film and text-based learning with small group discussion twice monthly
  • Open to the MDI Episcopal community (registration for the entire series is required)
 Sacred Ground is an Episcopal-developed series of gatherings that are "part of the Becoming Beloved Community initiative of The Episcopal Church, a long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. ...This is a race dialogue series designed for these times. It is an attempt to be responsive to the profound challenges that currently exist in our society. It is focused on the challenges that swirl around issues of race and racism, as well as the difficult but respectful and transformative dialogue we need to have with each other about them. It invites participants to walk back through history in order to peel away the layers that brought us to today, and to do so in a personal way, reflecting on family histories and stories, as well as important narratives that shape the collective American story. It holds the vision of beloved community as a guiding star – where all people are honored and protected and nurtured as beloved children of God, where we weep at one another's pain and seek one another's flourishing." (Quotes are from the Episcopal Church Sacred Ground website at: https://episcopalchurch.org/sacred-ground/ )
 
More information from the Episcopal Church about this program is available on the web at: https://episcopalchurch.org/sacred-ground/participant-preparation-guide .
 
Gail Leiser and Jayne Ashworth will facilitate the study for the MDI Episcopal community. Specific details (dates, time commitment, materials to be used, etc.) about the local program can be found on the MDI Episcopal website at at http://mdi-episcopal.org/blog2/2020/11/22/mdi-episcopal-sacred-ground-winter-spring-2021 / . We encourage you to visit this site as you consider your participation in the MDI Sacred Ground program.

This study is part of a journey that requires an openness and willingness to examine our histories, our current lives, and how structural racism affects everything we know, including our faith. We hope that you will prayerfully consider making a commitment to joining us. If you have questions or are interested in becoming a part of the circle for Sacred Ground here on MDI, please contact Jayne Ashworth (jayne.ashworth@gmail.com , (207) 244-5985) or Gail Leiser (gail.leiser@gmail.com , (207) 288-9083). 
Should you need financial assistance for obtaining the books needed for the study, please contact Rev. Stephen Muncie: stephenmuncie@mac.com
We look forward to hearing from you. 
Jayne and Gail
 

St. John's Calendar

The full St. John's Calendar can be viewed <HERE>

 

 

 

At St. John's
Keep in your prayers this week:

Peppy Seavey, Ted Bromage, Jean Storace, Spencer Ervin, Geoff Schuller, Bill Krueger, Doris McCorison, Gail Leland, Jeremy Harkins, Michael Shook, Joyce and Jim Risser, Loretta Schmidt, Theresa Mitchell, David Douglass,  Fred & Dollis Sprague, Sara Winchenbach, Ray & Susan McDonald, Richard Ramsdell, Dorothy & Jim Clunan, Bill and Barbara Loveland.
 
Give thanks for the life of Peter Loizeaux who died December 24th. Keep his sisters (Peggy Engel and Sonia Loizeaux) in your prayers.
 

Remember to check out our website for MUSIC:  www.saintsmdi.org

Thanks to Stephen Sampson, Jayne Ashworth and Michael Shook, you may enjoy some piano music on the St. Andrew & St. John website.  On the menu on the left-hand side of the home page there is now a link titled 'Music,' and clicking on that link brings you to recordings of piano pieces by Stephen Sampson. 
 

Westside Food Pantry

Dear friends,
I hope that everyone had a safe and happy Christmas!  And now onward to 2021.  When I reflect back one year ago, I am sure that I had every expectation that 2020 would be a normal distribution season.  What will 2021 bring to our work?
 
Let's take a look at December 2020 first.  We continued to operate using the windows for voucher distribution and dealing with any errors in our records.  The only activity indoors is registration.  That was in a separate room with a plexiglass window between the registrar and new neighbor. Here are the December numbers:  $17,630 in regular vouchers and $5,000 in Christmas vouchers.  This was a 4% increase over last year's regular voucher total.  347 neighbors served: 266 adults, 81 children from 200 households.  We registered 2 new households with 4 members total. 
 
Our faithful donor base has been generous as well as faithful.  So many of the donations were increased this year.  I was pleasantly surprised by this development, and grateful. Also, the use of our online donation button at westsidefoodpantry.org has received very good use since it went into service in late November.  We have received new donations here--a welcome gain for 2020.  Finally, to close out 2020, I want to thank the four of you who diligently hand-write acknowledgement notes to our donors.  This is a crucial part of our operations.  Thank you Ellen Gilmore, Ann Benson, Leza Colquhoun, and Genieve Mackenzie for your keeping up with the incoming donations this season.
 
Now, to 2021.  The Pantry will open this Sunday, January 3, at Noon until 2 PM at St. John Church. The vouchers for January have been prepared thanks to Rita Redfield, Karen McFarland, Sandy Wilcox, and Carroll Fernald.  Also, thank you Laura Sweeney who is monthly preparing all of our voucher labels, as well as mailing out vouchers to the neighbors who qualify to receive them this way.  Approximately 35 neighbors who are over the age of 70 and/or disabled have requested mailed vouchers.
 
My wish is that we are able to continue our work as effectively and compassionately in the new year as we were able this past year.  With your strong support, our faithful donors, and as long as the need to help our neighbors presents itself, I trust that we will continue this work as we have in the past 30 years.  What a blessing and challenge this caring work affords us all!  Thank you.
 
My best wishes always,
Dean

We invite you to visit the facebook page for the Westside Food Pantry!  You will find periodic announcements and information about the Westside Food Pantry.  Please visit the page and like it. You can find it at: https://www.facebook.com/WestsideFoodPantry/

 

 

From the Diocese of Maine{Diocese of Maine}

As a Parish of the Diocese of Maine, we are part of a church family that extends from Kittery to Fort Kent, and connects us to the rest of the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.  We share ministry with our Bishop and with every worshiping community.
If you are not subscribed to the Diocesan twice monthly email newsletter, the DioLog, please click [here] to subscribe.  If you are subscribed, don't forget to open it and read it every time!  There is a lot going on in every corner of the Diocese, and you wouldn't want to miss anything.

 
 
 

MDI+ Episcopal Churches:

Confidential Prayer Chain: Unlike our published prayer lists, prayer requests that come into the Prayer Chain remain private to the prayer chain itself, which will pray devotedly for one week unless an updated request is made. If you'd like to know more about this or our Pastoral Care Team, please contact our office administrators.

St. Mary and St. Jude
The Rev. Stephen Muncie is conducting a Zoom Bible Study on Wednesday mornings at 10:30 a.m.  He is using the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation of the Bible but you may use any translation you have on hand. For direct dial or URL information for this meeting, click here.
 
Church of Our Father
Music and Chatter:  On each Wednesday at 5:30 pm there is a 30 minute program entitled "Music & Chatter".  The idea is to keep us all involved and up to date.  It can be seen on the MDI Episcopal You Tube channel. Click on the link below: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-fGpm4_aFoi0mNvMiXhSwg

 
 

Community:

A variety of ways exist on Mount Desert Island for people to offer to provide help or to receive help during the current pandemic.

 
Connecting with the people who are coordinating this effort may happen:
 
1)   Via a website - https://www.mdicr.org/  MDI Community Response
 
2)   Via FaceBook - search for the group: MDI Helpers:   Pandemic Mutual Aid
 
3)   Contact Jessica Stewart, one of the coordinators for the group
      home (207) 266-0919
      email jms733@cornell.edu
 
4)   https://www.mdislander.com/maine-news/resource-website-aims-to-help-mdi-community

5)  Also:  http://www.maine.gov/covid19/maine-helps


6)  Lincoln Millstein has put together a Quietside newsletter -- very interesting:  theqsjournal.com


 

 

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Stephen Byers Sampson, Music Director
Michele Daley, Parish Administrator (244-3229)
Sr. Warden, Gen MacKenzie (244-7313)
Jr. Warden, Ted Fletcher (244-5225)
The Church Office is open Monday and Thursday 8:30 - 2:30 (244-3229)
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St. Andrew & St. John Episcopal Church
315 Main Street
PO Box 767
Southwest Harbor, ME 04679

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