What’s happening at St. Paul’s 4-16
 What’s Happening at St. Paul’s |
Christ is risen. Alleluia! What a joy it is to be a part of the St. Paul’s body of Christ and to observe our holiest seasons with you. In faith, charity, and beauty, you have offered up praise to God for the abundance God has showered on our faith community. The celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the dead continues for 50 days until the Day of Pentecost when the faithful observe the joy of Christ sending his Spirit to us. Christ’s Spirit inspires us and gives us courage even today. Thank you all for being present for all our celebrations even in a pandemic! Thanks to our leaders, clergy and staff for giving so much of yourselves to make a holy and joyful Season of Lent and now Easter. Currently, a group of our staff, leaders, clergy, Wardens, and members of the St. Paul’s Future Planning Committee are planning monthly outdoor in-person Holy Eucharist once a month beginning on Pentecost Sunday, May 23. I’m feeling joyful that we can plan these monthly services for the next five months. While being cautious about the current increases in coronavirus cases in Maine and in much of the rest of the country, the people of St. Paul’s are faithfully taking advantage of being vaccinated. I report to you the good news that on Tuesday of last week, I’m fully vaccinated! For the first time in months, I have been hugged by other vaccinated parishioners! Alleluia! Those of us who are planning for in-person worship outdoors are being cautious yet listening to your longings to be together in worship. It is my hope that some time in mid to late fall, we might be able to offer limited in-door, in-person worship. But the unpredictability of coronavirus infectious and the vaccination rates for our younger parishioners will be factors in these plans. I applaud you for the patience you have given the leaders, clergy, and staff of St. Paul’s. The Jerusalem Bible translation of the Letter of James chapter 1 verse 4 gives us the definition of Christian patience, “…patience too is to have its practical results so that you will become fully developed, complete, with nothing missing.” Wow! Patience is something really positive in our lives of faith! I invite you to ask questions and share your thoughts on worship as we continue to assess the situation and start to plan for providing more open worship. Please do contact those who are on the front lines of planning: the Rector, Assistant Rector the Rev. Katie Holicky, Senior Warden Cliff Ruprecht, Junior Warden Jan DeBlieu, Co-Chairs of the Future Planning Committee Pat Ryan and Paul Womer. In faith, hope, and love, Alleluia! Carolyn+= Sunday, April 18 The Third Sunday of Easter  9:30 a.m. Family Worship Revs. Carolyn Eklund and Mary Lee Wile, along with musician Susan Brown will lead us in a time of song, prayer, story, and sharing with our friends! Here is the link for the Zoom gathering. Click here for the 9:30 Family Worship Booklet  10:30 a.m. Spiritual Eucharist Click on the links below: To watch for the Worship Booklet for the St. Paul’s Announcements Readings Acts 3:12-19 1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48 Psalm 4 Lectionary Page  Explore the Sermon over coffee on Zoom Sunday, 11:30 am Join in for a facilitated virtual gathering to check in with each other and explore the morning’s sermon. Click here to join. Parish Announcements Daily Morning Prayer and Compline — Join us every morning and evening on St. Paul’s Facebook Live for Morning Prayer and Compline, 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The Rev. Katie Holicky will be on vacation from April 12– April 21. For pastoral emergencies, please call the Rev. Carolyn Eklund. Coffee Cans Needed The Lay Pastoral Visitors bring altar flowers to parishioners who are home-bound, in nursing facilities, or the hospital. They have always covered empty coffee cans that you folks have saved for them, which were perfect for flower arrangements. At this time LVP are in need of more! If you have any that you wouldn’t mind saving for us, please call or email the church office (stpauls@stpaulsmaine.org) with your name and number, and one of the LPV can arrange a convenient time to meet you at church to drop them off. St. Paul’s Ministry Meetings Moving Outside As the weather improves, meetings are starting up again in the Memorial Garden. Here are some upcoming dates to note: • Earth Care ministry group will meet in person on Sunday, April 25 at 1:00 pm in the Memorial Garden. • Sharing and Caring will meet Wednesday, May, 5 at 11:00 in the Memorial Garden, with May 12 as a rain date. • Lay Pastoral Visitors will meet Wednesday, May 19 at 12:30 in the Memorial Garden. Sacred Ground Have you been wondering about how you might learn more about the history of racism in our nation and how you might consider your own call to anti-racism learning and formation? Have you been wondering about joining a Sacred Ground Circle? This Spring St. Paul’s will begin a second round of Sacred Ground Circles! If you are interested in joining please email Rev. Katie Holicky (katieholicky@stpaulsmaine.org). For more information on Sacred Ground visit https://www.episcopalchurch.org/sacred-ground/ Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program Last week I offered two examples of how MCHPP helps in different ways. This week’s focus is on some of their future plans as they continue to provide for their clients. MCHPP is endeavoring to find a larger space in order to make their operation more efficient. It will enable them to provide for the increase in demand for their services during this continuing pandemic. Last year they served over 64,000 meals, an increase of 56% over 2019, They have expanded their mobile food pantries that go to Lisbon and Harpswell. During 2019, those mobile food pantries were visited over 2,500 times—an increase of 127%. Use of the Brunswick food pantry increased 12% over 2019. MCHPP is still providing food to school-age children during the hybrid schedule they are under. This is a comment from an anonymous client: “If this place wasn’t here, a lot of people would be going without any food”. We do not know when the pandemic will end. What we do know is that the need to provide for the food insecure will continue long after it does. Please consider contributing to MCHPP so that they can continue their vital mission. Their address is MCHPP, 12 Tenney Way, Brunswick, ME 04011. Thank you, Bill Edman. Faith in Maine – A Podcast of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine Listen to the latest episode of the Way of Love series podcast on http://faithinmaine.org/. The Faith in Maine podcast can be found on any platform where podcasts are found, including iTunes, Spotify, Pocket Casts and more. The Faith in Maine podcast and this latest episode is now also accessible by telephone! The permanent phone number is: 207-223-6402. Feel free to give a call and listen. While the phone number stays the same, the podcasts you hear will update when we release new podcasts. You can also subscribe so that you don’t miss any episodes! World Too Beautiful – An Online Contemplative Gathering First & Third Wednesdays of Each Month @ 5:45 pm World Too Beautiful, a collaboration between St. Luke’s Cathedral and the Diocese of Maine, is a twice-monthly musical and meditative gathering that focuses on beauty, interconnection, harmony, mutual encouragement, and healing. Bring a candle to light during our prayer time. For more information and the Zoom link visit https://www.episcopalmaine.org/ministry/world-too-beautiful Camp Bishopswood Located in the beautiful woods of mid-coast Maine, Bishopswood is an Episcopal coed overnight camp affordable and open to all youths ages 6-16. The camp is open again and accepting registrations now at https://www.bishopswood.org/. Scholarships are available through St. Paul’s. Please email the office if you are interested (stpauls@stpaulsmaine.org). Earth Day is Thursday, April 22nd “A Prayer for the Earth” Pope Francis – from his encyclical on climate justice, Laudato Si All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists. Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one. O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light. We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace. Prayer Requests Pray for St. David’s in Kennebunk. Pray for the reverent care of all creation as we approach Earth Day. Pray for Anderson, Andrew, Cedric, Jason, Michael, Richard, and all in the military. Pray for those who have died, remembering especially Charlie Speer, a childhood friend of the rector. We pray for: Christy, Ryan & family, Ray, John, David, Judi, Nick, Bob, Kathy, Skip, the Blackburn family, Willow, Ann, Jim, Lollie, James, Dave, Caroline, Jeffrey, Carol, Roger W, Harlan, Shirley, Rob, Rick+, and Elizabeth Jennifer, John, Reeve, Victor, Travis & family, Ben, Diane, Nate, Priscilla, Garrett, Elliot, Marcia, Lynn, Bill, Bob, Paul, Sue, Nan, Clare, Cameron, Barbara, Christy, Michael, Ryan, and Jacob, Jen, and all essential workers Matthew, Herb, Gair, baby Thomas, Jason, Annie, Terry, Mark, Donelda, Sudie, Pat, Marie, Michael, Debbie, Carol, Ron, Hope, Therese, Lois, Bob, Virginia, Sally, Steve, Luke, Catarina, Richelle, Darah, and Chick Call or email the parish office if you would like a name to be placed on the prayer list. The names will be removed after three months unless otherwise notified. Click here for this week’s calendar |
