The Parish of
St. Mary and St. Jude
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A MESSAGE FROM THE RECTOR, DAVID J. LUCEY CORE PURPOSE AND CORE VALUES As is normally the case in Northeast Harbor the time between July 4th and Labor Day weekend is quite full. The parish is no different. There are services at both of our summer churches, there is the sunset service at Rosserne, there are Bible studies, there are weddings, baptisms and memorial services. This summer there was the added activity of the renovation of Saint Mary's by-the-Sea. It was gratifying to see people responding to our Senior Warden's call to service every Saturday in cleaning-up after each week's construction work was done, so that we might worship in our summer space every Sunday. I wish to thank Michael Dennis, all those workers, and the congregation for their help and forbearance during this time and activity. The "quiet time" is upon us on Mount Desert. But that doesn't really mean that there is nothing to do. Construction on Saint Mary's by-the Sea will continue until mid-November, fund raising for the next phase of that project will continue over the winter, and our annual reflections on what this parish is about will take place. This reflection is worked out in our annual budgeting process, our annual stewardship campaign, and our worship life in the Winter Chapel. As part of my participation in a church sponsored retreat for clergy called CREDO (Clergy Reflection, Education, Discernment Opportunity) I read a Harvard Business Review article on Core Purpose and Core Values of organizations. Although the article focuses on corporations like SONY, Hewlett-Packard, Ford, and Nike, the point of the article applies to parishes and denominational structures as well. Build on a core purpose of lasting worth and the enterprise is likely to endure and thrive. Invest in the wrong purpose, or one too narrowly defined, and you won't. The same insight applies to the core values developed to support this purpose. I have just finished reading Stanley Hauerwas' printed version of his 2001 Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology. The lectures are given annually. The lecturers are supposed to provide an argument related to discerning God based on the evidence of our natural world. The lectures are long and academic. Some are better than others. Hauerwas is a thoughtful man from Texas and Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University. After a long narration of the insights of three significant 20th Century lecturers, William James, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Karl Barth, Hauerwas comes to his very practical understanding of natural theology: the core purpose of the Church, and those who are members of it, is to witness to the God made known in Jesus Christ. We do this by living out, imperfect as we may be, the core values of Jesus in love, mercy, and service. And we know about this purpose and these values from the stories the church tells, including the stories that we, the individuals who make up this community, add to those already recorded in the Bible and the history of the Church. As we head into this cycle of review and reflection, I believe that we should be looking at how we more faithfully live out this purpose and these values so that this parish continues to thrive and endure. Yours in Christ, David+ A Message from the Senior Warden We Traded In Our Old Chimeras for New Canon Imaging In 2004 I had the privilege of speaking at the first Sunset Service and focused on a man of small stature - but a gigantic historical figure - Sir Winston Churchill. It was he who, at a commencement speech at Oxford, gave a three-word address - Never Give Up. This summer I much appreciated the same opportunity and concentrated on another brief message from a truly universal and eternal figure, Jesus Christ. We pretended that He was a senior partner at Morgan Stanley or E.F. Hutton, and we were asking His investment advice. The purpose of most visits to these advisors is to find out, among other things, how to conserve capital, or increase one's assets, or set up financial support for future retirement. Jesus would certainly agree with those goals (and wish us well), but He would add this very significant bit of advice: Invest time in and for others. That is the message from Matthew 6: 20-21: "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." LOVE can often be spelled T-I-M-E. It is so easy to walk by the people of life - to walk by them and not even see them, or hear them, or get to know them. It is equally easy to let others take up the slack. C.S. Lewis, better known for his Chronicles of Narnia, but also a theologian, distinguishes between need love and gift love. Need love says, "I need your love. I need you to do something for me." It's focused on what we get. Gift love emphasizes "what can I do for you with no thought for myself?" Why this introduction? Because this parish never ceases to amaze and delight me with the strong current of individual and concerted efforts which surge through our infrastructure and are given so willingly. We have abundant gift love. Many examples were given last month. Noteworthy now is the work related to Saint Mary's-by-the-Sea, quite obviously the most visible project within our parish community. But this effort has two distinct elements: the structural and the spiritual. The mortar and granite component is proceeding very well. This is no louche crew; they are very skilled, cost effective, almost lapidary in the precision of their management of the building, and have provided a courteous cushion to reduce any disturbance of the neighbors to an absolute minimum. As they progress, there is confirming evidence that the walls are in as good, if not better, shape than our second and third opinions declared. Thanks be to God the vestry made the effort in its time-consuming, but critical, decision to eliminate the suggestion that we dismantle the church before reconstruction. A new slate roof (with insulation) and replacement of the bell tower and clerestory windows will follow later this season. The spiritual side of this equation came about because of the need to determine if we wanted, as a congregation, to follow the tradition of worshiping at the stone church during the summer in spite of the debris and dust, inconvenience and contraptions, associated with the masonry work. The important news is not that a strong majority voted in two consecutive weekly polls to remain. What is most uplifting and enriching is that 41 people volunteered to help on Saturdays to clean the church in preparation for Sunday services. The volunteers included many who were seasonal residents - but there were in addition, our Music Director, our acolyte, all the ladies in the Altar Guild who returned a ballot, and a significant number of voters who preferred to move to the winter chapel but agreed to help if the vote was to stay. What a glorious expression of unselfish community spirit! What an investment of time for others! Many thanks to each of you. Sadly we are losing a person who set a splendid example of devoting time to the young people of the parish. Christy Roix has married and will be moving out of Maine, but she carries with her our everlasting appreciation for the many hours she offered in guiding her classes in Sunday school. Her example of commitment even in occasionally difficult circumstances calls to mind a brief story which reminds us of Christ's reminder to reach out - even if it seems awkward or uncomfortable. A second grade Sunday school teacher was welcoming her students when she noticed a newcomer, a seven year old named Davey. Immediately she noticed that his entire left arm and hand were in a full plaster cast. She tried to be sensitive so as not to call attention to his impediment. She had no opportunity to prepare the children for this situation, so she proceeded nervously, very cautiously, hoping she would not call upon Davey for something he could not do, and praying that the other children would not say anything to embarrass him. Usually she would ask her students to circle up and hold hands to say the opening prayer. But purposefully she omitted that. Finally, as the class came to a close, she relaxed a little bit. Calling on the children to come forward, she said. "OK, boys and girls, let's make our churches. Here's the church. Here's the steeple. Open the door and…" with a sickening thud it hit her. She had done the very thing she did not want to do. As she stood there speechless, little Karen saved the day. Very gently, Karen reached over to Davey and poised her left hand in his right hand saying, "It's OK, teacher, Davey and I will make the church together." Referring to the title, we may not read the Canons routinely, but we have the message of those and the Scriptures. And this is the way I see our parish - taking the time to reach out to and with those with whom we are very familiar and to those less well known, bridging gaps, and building Christ's church together. We have it on very good Authority that it is a wise investment. With much appreciation for the opportunity to serve, Michael T.B. Dennis, M.D., Senior Warden COMMUNITY NEWS HURRICANE FUND To make a contribution to help people affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, please donate to the US Hurricane Fund by credit card at www.erdd.org or by calling 1 800 334 7626 ext. 5129. Donations may be mailed to Episcopal Relief and Development c/o US Hurricane Fund PO Box 12043 Newark, NJ 07101. The Rector's Discretionary Fund will match your donation up to $500. Contribution forms are available at the back of the church. AWARD Robert Norwood, an EMT with the Northeast Harbor Ambulance Service has been named the 2005 MDI Hospital Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) of the year. An EMT for more than 20 years, Robbie received the award from Vicky Eaton, RN, during the hospital's annual Emergency Recognition Banquet. Robbie is the son of parishioners Judy and Lloyd E. Norwood. SUMMER'S END On Sunday, September 11th, there was a service at Suminsby Park on Somes Sound. The service was wonderful and the weather was perfect. The picnic was more delicious than ever. This is a service that makes us realize that summer is truly over, as we will worship in the Winter Chapel for the next eight months. |
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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