What’s happening at St. Paul’s 4-23
 What’s Happening at St. Paul’s |
Thank you for your engaged and faithful responses to the recent survey the Future Planning Committee co-chairs Paul Womer and Pat Ryan sent out. The Wardens, staff, and Future Planning Committee have been touring the outdoor sites of St. Paul’s to assess the best place to set up our monthly outdoor in-person worship. We settled on the memorial garden and have agreed to keep the CDC precautions of mask-wearing and distancing knowing that the infection rate is still very unstable in Maine despite the ongoing vaccinations. In our “touring” of our grounds, we excitedly considered erecting a large canopy in order to offer monthly worship, “raise or shine” and for its use during the week for other groups. But first, we needed to assess your interest in worshiping in-person outdoors by sending you a survey. In just two days since the survey’s release, the response was large and swift. We have now received 66 responses and much feedback. Thank you. Please do respond if you haven’t already. We need to hear from as many parishioners as possible. Our Junior Warden Jan DeBlieu researched local tent and canopy vendors to learn the cost of erecting a canopy large enough for a crowd of worship properly distanced. She presented the costs to the Vestry last night at our April meeting. Because of the abundant generosity of your pledges and giving, we are able to fund this outdoor “roof” with open sides for worship and all our activities starting at the end of May and going through October. Thank you all. The Vestry resolution to fund the rental of a canopy for five months in the memorial garden was to spend up to $8500 and it was unanimous. Thank you. Your opinion is very important and that’s why we shared this survey with you. It was probably clear without your responses that we crave and long for in-person gatherings these 14 months into the pandemic. But it’s been great to see the results and read your comments. You accept that you may bring your own bread and we consecrate it in Eucharist as a group, but won’t come to the altar for the blessing and distribution of it. We will have wafers in separate containers available for the ushers to distribute as people arrive if you don’t have bread. The bishop supports this kind of Eucharist, but only in “one kind.” That means there won’t be wine or juice. We will still hold to strict CDC guidelines of mask-wearing, distancing, and hand sanitizing/washing. If you’ve followed the daily infection rate in Maine, you will quickly learn that the infection rate has frequent surges and that it still is unstable. Precautions are still recommended and we are following them. At the same time, I am grateful to you for your continued deep faith, patience, and engagement in our mission to the glory of God and the welfare of our community. It has been remarkable. As I shared with the 9:30 Sunday Zoom Family Worship Group on Sunday, my personal prayer is in thanksgiving for the joy and meaning you have given me in my ministry at St. Paul’s. Thank you. In faith, hope and love, Carolyn + SURVEY RESULTS HERE (as of 4/23/21) “Would you come to an outdoor Eucharist service beneath a canopy in the Memorial Garden? Masking requirements and distancing will be in place. We will also be offering a digital live feed of the service.” Yes 44 (66.7%) No 8 (12.1%) Undecided 12 (18.2%) “Would you be willing to bring your own bread to be used in communion? (We will not be able to safely distribute communion wafers or allow sharing of bread outside of family groups.)” Yes 50 (75.8%) No 9 (13.6%) “If a small number of people from the choir were singing (perhaps four, all masked and distanced), would that prevent you from coming because of safety concerns?” I would attend 54 (81.8%) I would not attend 5 (7.6%) Sunday, April 25 The Fourth Sunday of Easter Join us as we celebrate Jesus as The Good Shepherd.  9:30 a.m. Family Worship Rev. Katie Holicky, 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 ReadingsActs 4:5-12 1 John 3:16-24 John 10:11-18 Psalm 23 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 Email Scams are on the uptick. Please note that neither the rector, any member of staff, or fellow parishioner will ask you for gift cards (or similar items), nor will we ask you if you’re ‘free now’ via email. Please don’t reply to these messages! If you want to check with the sender to confirm, contact them by phone or using an email address you know to be theirs. They are scams and these addresses should be reported to Google or your email provider. To report to Google, you may visit https://support.google.com/mail/contact/abuse. After reporting, block the sender from your account. 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. Upcoming Events and Services • Wednesday, May 5 at 7 p.m. – All Parish Hymn Sing on Zoom • Sunday, May 9 at 10:30 a.m. – Pre-recorded Diocesan Spiritual Eucharist on YouTube and Facebook • Pentecost Sunday, May 23 at 10:30 a.m. – In-person Outdoor Worship under a canopy in the Memorial Garden The Rev. Carolyn Eklund will be on vacation from April 26– May 10. For pastoral emergencies, please call Rev. Katie Holicky. 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/ Future Planning Study Survey The Future Planning Committee sent an email out this week with a brief survey. We appreciate your feedback to assist us as we explore the possibility of having outdoor Eucharist worship monthly starting in May. Please respond by Friday, April 30 by clicking here. Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program 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. An anonymous client summed up their importance simply saying, “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). Prayer Requests Pray for St. Paul’s in Ft. Fairfield and for Trinity in Lewiston. Pray for our Episcopal and Anglican churches around the world. Pray for Anderson, Andrew, Cedric, Jason, Michael, Richard, and all in the military. Pray for those who have died remembering especially Pat Johnson, neighbor of Carol Martin, and Michael Frimpter, first cousin of Michael McCabe. 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 |
