St. James’ News October 7, 2009
Coming Events
Ongoing – New pictures are up on the undercroft wall. Thanks Jean Marie!
October 11 - Regular Sunday Schedule John Dieffenbacher-Krall preaches on the Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery and Relations with our Native American neighbors
October 16 - Hopes and Promises" Silent Auction for Book Angels at Step Up 5:30-8:00 pm, Hampden Highlands United Methodist Church44 Kennebec Road , Hampden
October 17 - Vestry meets with Sarah Flynn on the Development Plan 8:00-11:30 a.m. undercroft
October 17 - St. James’ fixes lunch at Ronald McDonald House Bangor
October 18 - Regular Sunday Schedule
October 20 - Vestry Meeting 7:00 p.m. in the undercroft
October 23 - Community Supper – Thanksgiving in October 6:00 p.m. undercroft (set up at 4:30)
October 25 - Regular Sunday Schedule
November 1 - Pumpkin Sunday, All Saints, everyone upstairs for the whole service
November 14 - St. Patrick’s Annual Fair
John Dieffenbacher-Krall on Maine Watch this Week
The repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery by the Episcopal Church is big news and John was instrumental in making things happen. He will be interviewed on Maine Watch on Maine Public Broadcasting. The show airs on TV on Friday evenings at 8:30 pm and on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 pm. An audio version of the program airs on MPBN Radio at 12:30 pm on Friday afternoons. The show can also be viewed online at www.mpbn.net.
Hopes and Promises Silent Auction ~ “It is the Power of the Purse”
Featuring Handbags, Purses and Accessories, etc.
Proceeds Benefit Book Angels at StepUp! Residential Services
Book Angels is a collaborative partnership of StepUp!, Stepping Stones Family Services a division of MAPS-Worldwide; Literacy Volunteers-Bangor; and St. James’ Episcopal Church, Old Town. You can still donate a purse of gift card to the effort. Contact Paula Baines, 944-0838 or prbaines@yahoo.com. Items can be donated now through October 10. Thanks.
St. James’ at Riverfest
Many thanks to Paula Baines for organizing our Riverfest presence and to those who staffed the table. We were visible at Riverfest and raised $35.00 for Crossroads. Decorated bags and flowerpots are still available down in the undercroft.
Youth in Service
Sunday, September 26 Paul Rawson took St. James’ Youth to the MAPS Shelter where they installed shelving. All reports say this they look great and make the room more usable for the residents.
Community Supper
Our last supper of the year will be Friday, October 23, at 6:00. It will be our traditional harvest meal, better known as Thanksgiving in October. The menu will be roast turkey and gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas & carrots, rolls, cranberry sauce, desserts, and drinks. This is a special meal so autumn decorations are welcome. A signup sheet is available during coffee hour on Sundays or contact Carol Gregory at camgregory@myfairpoint.net or 827-7516.
St. Francis Sunday
The annual Blessing of the Animals saw cats, dogs, and gerbils blessed as well as some stuffed animals and prayers for animals that did not make the trip to church. The crowd was bigger than usual (even not counting the animals) and it was good to catch up with four-footed and two-footed friends.
Pumpkin Sunday
On All Saints we bring our Jack O’ Lanterns to church where they adorn the altar as we make the transition from All Hallows Eve to All Saints Day to All Souls Day. All Saints will also be a children’s service Sunday (everyone up for the full service). Bring your pumpkin a few minutes early so it can be on the Altar!
Moving Forward
Late last month the vestry met with Sarah Flynn to go through the results of the appreciative inquiry process and develop goal areas. The vestry has a few more parishioners to contact so if you haven’t been part of the process, expect to be asked. The vestry identified the goal areas outlined below. If you have any suggestions or comments about these areas, please contact a vestry member (including wardens) before October 17th. Many thanks in advance for your ideas.
Parish Life
Continue to build Fellowship and be more intentional about designing events to involve everyone.
Growth
How can we bring members back, potential of young families,
How can we enrich, vary, expand the worship experience?
How can we improve our hospitality as people come to us?
Needs of Youth
How can we better serve and nurture our aging children/young adult population?
What kinds of opportunities can we provide to them for meaningful service in the church and beyond?
Administration
How do we best utilize parish resources?
How do we build and distribute leadership?
How do we make cooperation with other churches easier and valuable to all parties?
Stewardship/planned giving
Communication – assess and improve
Outreach
How do we maximize parish participation and satisfaction with our outreach efforts?
How should we assess our outreach efforts?
Building
The building is a future concern, but is a long-term issue. The vestry feels that we ought to deal with the above areas first and make decisions about the building based on mission and program rather than the reverse. For now, we hope to complete the conversion of the rector’s study area including the needed roof work.
Discussing the possibility of a shared Priest with St. Patrick’s, Brewer
Rev. George Lambert and Tad Johnston had a productive meeting with the wardens and interim rector of St. Patrick’s. The warden’s and rectors from both churches will meet again on November 10 at St. James’. Nothing has been decided yet in any way. One thing we need to explore sooner than later is Sunday service times. This has often been a stumbling block for “shared calls.” If church were not at 10:00 on Sunday, when could or should it be? Late Saturday afternoon, late Sunday afternoon, and a mix of Deacon’s Masses and regular services on Sunday have all been suggested. Let us know what you think.
Yours in Christ, Tad Johnston, Senior Warden, 827-8582