The Parish of
St. Mary and St. Jude
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Message from the Interim Rector, The Reverend Frances CoxMy Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Last October I attended CREDO, a conference provided by the national Church for those of us who have been in the ordained ministry for some time. It was a very rich experience, which is one reason I have not written about it before this. I arrived home with a lot to digest. The most helpful part of the program was the pre-conference preparation. We had a number of questions to reflect upon in the areas of Spirituality and Prayer, Vocation or Call, Health, and Finances. It was an opportunity to take stock and set some goals for the future. In the area of vocation one of the things we had to do was to list every job we had had since high school. That took me awhile since in college I had a number of part time jobs. Then we had to identify which was the most satisfying, the most challenging, the most rewarding, the most trying, and then reflect upon the whys? We also had to look for common threads. The one that really surprised me was that every job I have had since HS has had some sort of building program attached to it. That's right, every one from my first in a gift shop in New Hampshire where within two weeks I was put in charge of the addition to the country store, to St. Mary and St Jude. This is by far the largest project I have encountered. I guess it won't be the last. For the Spirituality and prayer section we were to meditate on several scriptures. The most useful ones for me (and I commend them to you this Lent) were Exodus 3:1-5, 10, 13 (Moses at the burning bush) and Mark 4:1-9 (the parable of the sower). I realized that for Moses to even notice that the bush was not being consumed he had to stand there for awhile and pay attention. How often do I stop long enough to pay attention? I became aware that the answer was not often enough and have made some changes in the cycle of my day to have more time to spend paying attention to God. (Well some days anyway.) The parable of the sower reminds me once again that our responsibility as Christians is to till the soil and plant the seeds. It is God who is responsible for the harvest. I often want to pull up the fresh plants to see how the roots are doing. It requires trust on our part to simply sow the seeds and wait. Lent provides us all with the opportunity to take stock and to set some goals. I commend the areas of the Spiritual, Vocation, Health, and Finances as a good framework for all of us to focus our thoughts on this year. In Christ's Joy, Frances+ Greetings from your new Senior Warden. With hearts full of life and love, your Wardens and Vestry extend to you our warm greetings and the promise of faithful service. It is our hope that you too will take a moment to listen to your heart and discern where you feel most called to serve. Clearly, we're encouraging parishioners and friends to be a part of the new initiatives and new growth in our parish. The opportunities to share in the work we must do and want to do for our parish families are many. For instance, the E.C.W. (Episcopal Church Women) have decided to revive the Summer Fair this August, and have voted to donate the proceeds to the renovation projects at St. Mary's-By-The-Sea. (Won't you help?) More parishioners are singing in the choir these days. (Won't you join us?) More committees than ever before are serving St. Mary's and St. Jude's. As I write, members of committees new and old are working together define the goals for work to be done and identify their helpers. (Where might you fit in?) The 100th Anniversary of St. Mary's-By-The-Sea Committee, the Altar Guild, Welcoming, Worship, Education, and Events Committees would all welcome additional assistance from willing parties. The Buildings & Grounds, Centennial Fund, Finance, Nominating, Personnel, Renovation Fund, Stroud Fund, and Stewardship Committees are fully staffed for the moment. However, in time, we will need additional or replacement members. Keep that in mind if you'd like to serve in the future. These are the committees currently helping the rector accomplish the secular work of our churches in Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor. Your vestry has made great strides toward greater unity in ministry by encouraging members of both summer and year 'round communities to serve on these committees. Thanks to all who are willing to work toward ensuring our bright future. Sally Merchant From The Interim Rector's Bulletin Board… The Green Clergy Network The Maine Council of Churches is gathering representative Clergy from selected churches to form a "Green Clergy Network" to be part of a Spirituality and Earth Stewardship Program. Our Bishop has appointed me to this group so expect to see more in the days to come about our stewardship of our piece of the earth. In the meantime I would ask you each to think and pray about ways we, here in Mt. Desert, can be more faithful stewards of this Island we live on. Shrove Tuesday - February 12, 2002 Mardi Gras likely comes from the Latin phrase carnem levare: the removal of meat. Medieval Christians developed carnivals to celebrate with exuberance one last time before the rigorous Lenten fast. Although Lenten regulations varied with time and place, no meat, butter, eggs, milk or cheese were generally allowed during the 40 days. Lenten meals were often restricted to one each day and that one taken after sundown. In addition to fasting, Christians were permitted no weddings, dances or parties. So the several days before Lent culminating on Shrove Tuesday became a time for rowdy parades, masquerades, and dances, and to fling themselves into festivity one last time before Lent. We will have our traditional pancake supper and this year we will have a couple of games for the kids. We won't have the costume parades of New Orleans, but we hope this will be a time when we can come together as families , enjoy one another's company, and have some fun. Ash Wednesday - February 13, 2002 Ash Wednesday begins our observance of Lent. Lent comes from an Old English word meaning lengthen. It is the season of late winter and early spring, the season when the days lengthen as sunrise comes a bit earlier and sunset a bit later each day. Just as spring brings both the last bleak days of winter and the first green promise of summer, Lent brings a season of austerity and hope to us as Christians. The 40 days of Lent call us to self-denial and discipline: a solemn preparation for the celebration of Easter. It is to be a time of prayer and repentance. At the Ash Wednesday services we have the opportunity to have the sign of the cross made on our foreheads with the ashes from the previous year's palm branches as a sign of our mortality as we begin this holy season. In the words of our prayer book from the Ash Wednesday Service BCP page 265, "I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self- examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer." Wednesdays in Lent On each Wednesday in Lent we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist at noon in the Chapel and at 6 p.m. in the upper hall. Lent is a time for prayer and for study. If there is interest we will do a bible study either before or after the noon service. Please let me know if you would be interested and if you'd rather meet earlier (at 11 perhaps) or bring a lunch and meet after the noon service. After the 6 o'clock service we will have a soup supper followed by study. We will offer a book for those who wish to read, and then have conversation based upon it. Those who may not wish to read the book will still be a part of the conversation, as we will begin with a brief presentation so we are on the same page as it were. Watch the Sunday bulletin or call the Church office after the 3rd of February to find out what the book will be. Thank You and God Bless You Janette! At the annual meeting, the Interim Rector read a letter from Janette Grindle stating that for health reasons she would no longer be able to serve the parish as Treasurer. The parish paid tribute to Janette for eleven years of faithful service. After the meeting Mother Cox paid Janette a visit at her home to deliver two dozen roses, gifts from the vestry, and a card signed by everyone at the meeting. We ask for your prayers for Janette and thanksgivings for a truly outstanding eleven-year gift to this parish - a gift made all the more extraordinary by Janette's strength and good will in the face of adversity. Grant Writer Wanted. If you have expertise in soliciting foundation grants and would like to volunteer some of your time and talent, please contact the parish office (207-276-5588). We have a list of organizations that offer grants for preservation of historically significant buildings. Other Parish News… In Search of a New Rector. The Search Committee reported at this year's annual meeting of the parish that the diocese has forwarded the names and profiles of eleven individuals who are both qualified and interested in the prospect of becoming rector of St. Mary and St. Jude. The committee has begun the candidate review and interview process, and has been advised that some additional names may be forthcoming. The various interviewing stages are expected to take several weeks, culminating in visits to final candidates' parishes and a reciprocal visit by the final candidate to our community. The committee hopes to call our new rector by early summer. We are grateful for the ongoing support and prayers of parish members. Renovation of St. Mary's-by-the-Sea. Work continues on the foundation, tower roof, drainage system, mechanical and electrical systems and wall motion monitoring - all part of the initial phase of restoring our beautiful, historically significant 100-year old church. Roz Rea, Buildings and Grounds Committee Chair, has created a photo album showing each aspect of the renovation. The album is available for all to see in the parish office and is updated every week or so as Roz takes new photos. Funds to pay for Phase One of the renovation continue to trickle in. It appears that, after all pledges are honored, we will have raised enough to cover costs. At present, 141 parishioners and friends of St. Mary's have contributed. It is gratifying to note that over half of the donors are from the year 'round community and just under half from the summer community. Working together, we are accomplishing miracles! The Annual Meeting: Mixed Blessings. On Sunday, January 20, more than forty parishioners met after the service for a truly lavish potluck brunch followed by the parish's annual meeting. The highlight of the meeting was a new accounting and financial reporting system presented by Finance Committee Chair, Lauri Fernald. The good news is that the parish is now compliant with standard accounting practices and diocesan financial regulations. The bad news is that the content of the report revealed a shortfall of $37,000 in 2001 and a further projected shortfall in the 2002 budget of $47,000. This sobering news was balanced by a confident report from the Stewardship Committee that, with a more organized and concerted effort, the needed funds can be raised. (See article on Stewardship.) In her final Senior Warden's Report, Amy Smith, quipped that the year 2001 was reminiscent of bull riding at the rodeo. Plenty of ups and downs, but talented and dedicated people sticking with it and working together to meet our challenges with courage and optimism. New Leadership. A new slate of officers and four new vestry members were installed at the annual meeting to take the place of members whose terms have expired. Senior and Junior Wardens are, respectively, Sally Merchant and Martha Bucklin. Charlie Tyson will stay on as Clerk ex officio, and Jennifer Mitchell was elected Treasurer. New vestry members elected for three-year terms are Sandi Myers and Alan Gregory, and for two-year terms Lauri Fernald and Ruth Westphal. Moorhead Kennedy, Louisa Kennedy, and Sally Merchant were elected as Delegates to Convention, with Roz Rea and Amy Smith as alternates. Blessings and thanks to those whose terms have expired for their work on the vestry: Amy Smith, Janette Grindle, and Michael Dennis. Stewardship: The Meaning and the Method. Stewardship is not just about fund raising. Far more important, it is about thanking God for His many blessings. It is about taking good care of God's gifts to all of us - the church, its properties, and its people. And about putting to good use God's gifts to each of us - time on this earth, our talents and abilities, and our financial wealth. The more generous we are with these God-given gifts - time, talent, treasure, or all three - the better stewards we become. In this parish many give generously of their time and their talents. Many also give generously of their treasure - the money the church needs to pay its rectors, organists, and staff. To keep the office running, and our buildings and grounds in good shape. To pay the heat, electric and gas bills. To pay for Christian education, for outreach, for flowers, and everything else in our budget. Right now, we are falling behind in our ability to meet the church's expenses. That's not to say our parish lacks generosity, it is simply to say that it lacks information. Here are some things you should know. Fact: expenses have doubled over the last decade. Fact: the amounts pledged and donated by members of the congregation and the amounts we receive from our endowments have stayed the same. Fact: less that half of our parishioners (summer and winter) make annual pledges. Fact: the average pledge in our parish is among the lowest in the Diocese. Fact: in 2001 we fell short of meeting budgeted expenses by $37,419. Fact: in 2002, we are projecting a shortfall of $47,344. Unless something changes, at the end of the year 2002 we will be in the hole for almost $85,000. What are we going to do about it? We've done about all we can to keep costs down. So we're going to focus on getting income up. We're going to start by mounting a stronger stewardship effort with five major goals.
But, going back to where this message began, please remember that stewardship is not only about raising money for the budget. It is about the right formation of hearts. It is an issue of spirituality that has as much to do with our souls as it has to do with budgets. Please spend some time reflecting on your stewardship. Think about the real reason you pledge. Not just because the church needs money, but as a way to THANK GOD for blessing you with your special gifts. And heed these words from First Peter… "Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, SERVE ONE ANOTHER with whatever gifts each of you has received." Then when you get around to deciding how generous you are able to be. Think about giving from the TOP of your budget. That is, make giving a TOP priority - not something you do with what's left over. How will you benefit? Only God knows and only time will tell. But you can take comfort in this… God takes care of those who share. If all of us pull together - summer and year 'round residents alike - we can improve the immediate financial situation and at the same time build a stronger, more united faith community. We can do it. Working as one. The Good Seed. Something exciting is taking place. Instead of grumbling about the ills of our small, gifted, and stubbornly diverse faith community, instead of mumbling behind our hands about the division between summer and year 'round residents, a new attitude is taking root. The parishioners who participate regularly in church life are beginning to celebrate their differences instead of denouncing them. They are beginning to work for each other instead of working only for themselves. Lovely green shoots with fine translucent tendrils are sprouting everywhere. You can see them…
Three years ago during a vestry retreat, in a burst of newly acquired religious fervor a freshman member expressed the wish that we would all be more mindful of living our lives as Christ taught us. Plant a seed in fertile soil and it will grow. |
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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