Worship Schedule St. John the Divine 315 Main Street, Southwest Harbor
244-3229
December 13, Advent 3
Church of Our Father
The Rev. Dr. Regina Christianson
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 | |
Exciting News! A new priest has been called to join us on M.D.I. Please welcome The Reverend Holly Hoffmann as our new Priest in Charge, elect, at Church of Our Father, St. Andrew & St. John, and St. Saviour's.  The Rev Hoffmann comes to us from St. Alban's in Cape Elizabeth, ME where she is currently the Associate Rector at St. Alban's and also Executive Director of St. Elizabeth's Jubilee Center. The priesthood is a second career for her. Prior to entering seminary, she was a high school English teacher and Associate Dean of Academics at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. She attended Yale Divinity School and was ordained in 2018. Following several months of work, the search committees of St. Andrew/St. John, Church of Our Father and St. Saviour chose The Rev Hoffmann. We all felt that the Spirit was guiding us in our discernment as she was selected on a first vote by all three unique and diverse search committees. (A truly amazing event!) The Vestries of St. Saviour's, St. Andrew's and St John's and Church of Our Father, along with their congregation, all approved the calling of the Rev Hoffmann. Following this approval, Bishop Brown was notified and gave his "joyful consent" to our calling her as our priest. If you are interested, attached below are links to some of her sermons. Link to a sermon at St Alban's May 3, 2020: Holly Hoffman Sermon, St. Albans Episcopal Church, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, May 3, 2020 - YouTube Link to the service Mother Hoffman did for the search committee: https://youtu.be/KsXiUtxtvig | |
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 | |
CHRISTMAS EVE and CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICES
Christmas Eve online service will be Lessons and Carols.
Christmas Day Communion Service: If you wish to receive communion please notify Michele Daley, church administrator, by December 15, 2020. If homebound, please request that communion be brought to you.
Consecrated bread will be distributed December 25, 2020 11 AM-12PM at St. John. A table will be set up at the church door. Someone will be present to safely oversee distribution. A printed prayer guide will be given out to guide individuals for reception at home. The guide is based on Communion in Special Circumstances from the Book of Common Prayer.
For those who are housebound, communion will be left at your door at an agreed upon time during Christmas week. | |
St. John's Calendar The full St. John's Calendar can be viewed <HERE>. | |
At St. John's
Keep in your prayers this week: Scott Hatcher, 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, Beth Pfeiffer, Dorothy & Jim Clunan, Bill and Barbara Loveland.
We give thanks for the life of Claire Gammon McMullan who died this week. Keep her family and friends 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,
30 degree windy cold challenged our window distribution on Sunday, but everyone rose to the occasion and our work was accomplished. Fortunately, we did not have snow to go along with the cold. To date approximately 30 neighbors have requested their vouchers by mail. This is a service we are offering this season to keep our elderly and disabled neighbors safe--not only from the virus, but also retrieving vouchers in the inclement weather outdoors. We also distributed our traditional extra Christmas voucher in keeping with the holiday season. And, as always, many thanks go to you who made this distribution possible, not only in preparing the voucher packages, but especially in staffing the distribution.
In other news, a "donation button" has been installed on the Pantry webpage. Click on the button and you are able to make a credit card or PayPal donation to the Pantry. Last week, we received our first recurring donation via the button--$200 per month. Also, I am putting the final touches on the application package for Southwest Harbor Town Funding which is due December 11.
We are well into the season and thanks to your faithfulness we are able to do our work on behalf of our neighbors.
All my best,
Dean
The next distribution will be Sunday, December 20 from 12:00-2:00 at St. John's.
We invite you to visit the new page for the Westside Food Pantry! On this facebook page 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 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. A "resource for exhausted churches" has been launched by a group of clergy to help parishes to deal with the impact of COVID-19 during Advent. AdventOnline.faith is a set of resources to be used each day by individuals and clergy arranged in five topics: music, scripture, tradition, art, and literature. Read more about its creation here in Church Times. Find more Advent resources and Advent offerings from churches in Maine here. Episcopal Relief & Development offers this new digital prayer tool to help grow our worldwide community of prayer. Prayers shared will come from The Book of Common Prayer, and a variety of sources. When you use this tool to pray, click on the "Amen" button at the end to be able to share the prayer with your friends and family on social media Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada have joined together to offer the following Advent message: " Churches Beyond Borders - Advent Call to Address Racism and White Supremacy." | |
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:
6) Lincoln Millstein has put together a Quietside newsletter -- very interesting: theqsjournal.com
| | | |
