The Parish of
St. Mary and St. Jude
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My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,"Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song." (Psalm 100:1) The First Sunday in May we had a grand Celebration at the Guild House. We followed the injunction of the Psalm appointed for the day and sang joyfully. This Service marked a transition in the life of the Parish of St Mary and St Jude. It was a time of varied and mixed emotions. For some, this space had been as important in their lives as St Mary’s-by-the-Sea, or St. Jude’s has been for others. The Guild House had been for them, (as the prayer for the day said so well) a place where God was always near, where comfort and wisdom were found, where they were supported and strengthened, and where they rejoiced and gave thanks and were made one with Christ. They had worshiped here, sung, played, studied, and celebrated the transitions of life here. For them there was sadness mixed with the joy of the day as we gave thanks for the life lived and shared in this space. Others of those there had never set foot inside the building before Sunday. They came for the same reason we go to the funeral of someone we’ve never met when they are the family member of a friend or co-worker. They came to support and encourage, to just BE there, and to glimpse a bit of the life that had been shared there. This was yet one more example of death and resurrection in the day to day cycle of our lives. To say farewell to a space where we have lived much of our lives is not really that much different from saying farewell to a family member or friend. It is in the saying a faithful farewell and really letting go that we can experience the joy of the resurrection and move ahead in our lives. The sharing of stories was, and is, an essential part of that process. It is in sharing those stories that we can come to realize what is truly important. The life lived in that space stays with us no matter what happens to the space. We learn once again that "The Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting and his faithfulness endures from age to age" (Psalm 100:4). In addition to all that this day has to say to us about the life cycle and the way we grieve (or don't) and celebrate, this day got me thinking about our worship spaces and the parts they play in our lives as a community and as individuals. As a community we will have some more decisions to make about how we use our physical spaces. What are we to do about St. Mary's-by-the-Sea to make it safe and secure for the next 100 years? This ruminating led me to a question. Who are we? The answer is both simple and complex. We are a very diverse community of peoples with varied needs, desires, hopes and dreams. It will take us some time to define these more specifically and come to a common vision. One thing we know is that we are ONE parish with THREE worship spaces and an office. Each of us has a preference for where we most like to worship. Many of us have never been inside at least one of these spaces. As the Search Committee pursues with us the question of who are we and where do we want to be as a community let us share freely those stories which help us to understand one another and trust in God's faithfulness as we seek the answers. I have begun to refer to the winter chapel and office space as The Parish Center. The phones will be answered "St Mary and St Jude." These are small changes that I believe will help us to remember that we are all one parish, though many parts. I also invite you this summer to worship at least once in one of the buildings you don't usually go to. The Vestry members and Search Committee Members have already committed themselves to do this so you may see some unfamiliar faces. I look forward to meeting those of you who will begin arriving soon and sharing your stories as well. In Christ's Joy, Frances + Fibber McGee’s Closet Somewhere in your attic or storage area is a valuable photo. Somewhere in your mind is a valuable memory. This is a request to rummage through the "closet" (open the door carefully) and see if you can help us remember our history. Perhaps an old photo of your wedding day at St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea,or a memory of the way the building used to look in the "old days." Think back; dig deep. Send whatever you can dredge up to the Parish Office. It will be recorded, treasured, gratefully received and returned upon request. Thank you. www.maryjude.org At the request of the Search Committee, the Parish is putting up a web site. It will be ready as soon as we have a few final photos. The current thinking is that it would be more helpful to the search for a new rector to have information about the Parish readily available to any and all who might be interested than to belabor, ad infinitum, text and design. So what you will see, perhaps by the time you read this, is simple, clear, dignified, not all-inclusive, and not what we may eventually end up with. Call it a work in progress. We encourage you to visit the site (www.maryjude.org), use the interactive e-mail to comment on it, use the "getting involved" page to let us know of your interests, needs, and your willingness to volunteer, and use the "links" page to access the national Episcopal Church’s web site, the Diocese of Maine’s web site, and others. VESTRY NOTES: Busy on the business of the Church In the words of The Episcopal Church Foundation in their Vestry Resource Guide, vestry members are "servants called to leadership." The vestry, within the context of the church, manages the church’s money, cares for facilities, works with people, plans for the future, and collects and disseminates information, among other duties. Following is a report on the work in which your "servants" are presently engaged. STEWARDSHIP. A critical aspect of both our individual and corporate Christian lives is stewardship of time, of talent, and of treasure. And speaking of treasures, you will remember that the vestry commissioned a building condition report on St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea that indicated serious structural deterioration and recommended restoration Work estimated to cost upward of $4 million. The vestry has undertaken a review of this report by an independent preservation specialist and an analysis of alternatives open to the parish. More information will be forthcoming, and more input from members of the congregation will be solicited before a course of action is determined. On the Seal Harbor front, St. Jude’s needs some repair work on its shingling and foundation. This is scheduled to begin in early fall 2001. If you’ve been attending church this winter or reading the Bar Harbor Times, you know that the vestry recently made the decision to secularize and sell the Guild House Chapel. For the past several years the building has been unoccupied and unused by either parish or community. The bittersweet service to secularize the church took place on May 6th with the reading of Bishop Knudsen's Proclamation of Deconsecration, after which the keys were symbolically handed over to its new owner, Michael Phillips of Atlanta, Georgia. On May 15th, when the sale was finalized, the Guild House officially became a private residence. Proceeds of the sale will be added to the endowment for the benefit of St. Jude’s. FINANCIAL. The vestry has undertaken a review of the parish’s traditional accounting, auditing, financial reporting, and internal control systems with an eye toward conforming them to current practices and procedures followed by the Episcopal Church and the diocese. The result, it is hoped, will be to make the parish’s financial picture more understandable to those who have fiduciary responsibility. PERSONNEL. The vestry is cooperating with the Search Committee to help discern the calling of a new rector. (See Search Committee article that follows) We continue to build a relationship of mutual understanding and trust between interim rector and vestry. We are in the process of replacing Barbara Steele, the parish’s former administrative assistant. And we are still looking for organists for both St. Mary’s and St. Jude’s for July. MINISTRY. The vestry has agreed to continue the Mutual Study of Ministry (MSM) program begun last year. This program is a way of asking ourselves what God is calling our church to do, and is the first step in creating a long-range plan for ministry. The vestry hopes to meet with the Search Committee this summer to develop some MSM questions of ourselves. We will be conducting additional confidential interviews with willing members of the congregation, and hope that if you are called for an interview you can make yourself available. Opening a dialog about our expectations for church life can lead to a rich sharing of perspectives and desires. If you would like to be more involved in the various ministries of your church, the Altar Guild, Episcopal Church Women, and our Friendly Visitors outreach program are all eager for volunteers. COMMUNICATION. The vestry is working diligently to be better communicators among ourselves and to the parish at large. We have instituted a vestry e-mail hotline and expanded the content and frequency of the Harbor Chart. We are updating our mailing lists, compiling a parish directory, and are in the final stages of building a web site. Looking ahead, we hope to publish a manual containing complete information about the parish, our mission and ministries, participation and volunteer opportunities, and a wealth of information that has heretofore been communicated only by word of mouth and may have bypassed important members of our church community (i.e., we are all important!). So, that’s what your vestry is up to. There’s a lot on the plate now and a lot more to come. We pray that you will be patient with your servant leaders, recognizing that we may often lag behind you in thinking or in action on issues that require both. Please communicate with us should this be the case. We are mindful of the words of the general who commented as his troops disappeared over the horizon: "I must hasten after them, for I am their leader." Marcia Savage, Junior Warden Charlie Tyson, Clerk of the Vestry SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATE I think you will be pleased with your Search Committee to identify a new rector. Not at all homogeneous, thankfully, the members represent a broad spectrum of our parishioners and have enormous respect for each other's opinions. They are dedicated, prayerful, and self reliant. Most importantly they recognize the need to utilize the voice of the parish in making their selection. The committee attended a very frugal, Diocese-mandated dinner with the vestry and an overnight retreat at the Seawall Motel on April 6th and 7th. This has been followed by meetings on April 24th and May 8th during which a very brief, user friendly, focused questionnaire was developed. This will be mailed with a self addressed and stamped envelope in June, and it is anticipated that everyone (each member of the household) will take the 5 or 10 minutes required to fill it out thoughtfully and return it promptly. It is quite different from the instrument used in 1996; there is much less emphasis on demographics and more interest in what skills and experiences you are seeking in a new minister. Additionally the committee plans a series of small dinner groups at the homes of its members and a few general meetings in the parish hall to elicit comments about our current status and future direction. We will also integrate our activities with individual Mutual Study of Ministry interviews to be undertaken by the vestry during the next four months. Please mark your calendars for the morning of June 10th. The Search Committee will host a breakfast in the parish hall between the 8:30 and 10:30 services for the purpose of making the committee members available to you to hear, in a completely unstructured environment, your individual concerns about the search and the parish in general. The committee consists of Mark Bucklin, James Clunan, Ellen Kappes, Lydia Lyman, Sydney Rockefeller, Sheila Smallidge, Lynda Tyson, and myself. Sheila and Lynda are co-chairs; it is my privilege to be the liaison between the vestry and the committee, and to provide you with an update in each publication of the Harbor Chart. Please keep our efforts in your prayers. Michael Dennis, M.D. Vestry, Parish of St. Mary and St. Jude |
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The Parish of St. Mary and St. Jude
P.O. Box 105, Northeast Harbor, Maine 04662 Tel: 207/276-5588 Fax: 207/276-3220