Chris Urick, Author at St. Margaret's (Belfast, ME)

November 27, 2023

The Giving Tree is Back!

A St. Margaret’s outreach tradition – the Giving Tree – has returned to its place of honor in the parish house just in time for Advent.

This year’s tree is adorned with angels ready to fly to Lewiston with your comfort and support for bereaved families struggling to cope this Holiday Season without a loved one they lost in the Oct. 25 mass shooting tragedy. For a donation of $10 you may choose an angel card ornament that can then become your own greeting for someone on your Christmas list to hang on their tree. Funds raised will go promptly to the Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund established by the Maine Community Foundation, and to a separate fund set up by Lewiston Public Schools to support affected students.

The Outreach Committee is hoping that together we’ll send off dozens of angels during Advent. You may put either checks made out to St. Margaret’s, with “Lewiston angel” written on the memo line, or cash in the donation box by the Giving Tree. Then select an angel for each donation and spread Christmas love even farther.

By Chris Urick

Women of St. Margaret's

November 27, 2023

Pies for Thanksgiving

So who made all 32 pies this past Tuesday?! You have these individuals to thank for the delicious pumpkin and/or apple pie you had at Thanksgiving: Chris Urick (on her birthday!), Jackie Curtis, Cindy Frost, Suzanne Pelletier, Cynthia Zajac, Chris Quigley, Kathy Sticht, and Sue Belair. Thank you Women of St. Margaret’s Committee for this labor of love and gustatory delight!

By Chris Urick

Adult EdFellowship

November 27, 2023

Getting Ready for Advent

Sunday, November 26th – This morning during coffee hour, we made Advent wreaths! And caught up with each other.

By Chris Urick

CommunityWorship

October 5, 2023

Blessed Pets

Parishioners and pets from St. Margaret’s and St. Francis received blessings from the Rev. Barbara Briggs and the Rev. Divine (of St. Francis) on a beautifully warm Fall afternoon (October 4 – the Feastday of St. Francis).

By Chris Urick

Adult Ed

September 29, 2023

Adult Ed Offerings in October

Your Adult Ed Committee at St Margaret’s invites you to these October events:

October 8: Reflection on lectionary readings led by Roy McAlpine in the parish hall or the library (builds on reading reflections before the sermon)

October 15: Reading of book: You Are Already Praying (available in parish office) led by Kristen Burkholder in the parish hall

October 22: “My practice of prayer” led by Adult Ed Committee in the parish hall

October 29: Bible Drama led by The Reverend Barbara Briggs in the parish hall

By Chris Urick

CommunityWorship

September 28, 2023

Pet Blessing

Bring your furry friend and join us on October 4th at 4PM in front of St. Margaret’s Church as we celebrate St. Francis and his love of animals in a short pet blessing service. This annual event is always very heart-warming and fun!

By Chris Urick

Uncategorized

August 3, 2023

Sunday Service time changed to 9:45AM

To help alleviate the parking issues (we share many of the spaces with St. Francis of Assisi Church) we have shifted the later service to 9:45AM from the previous 9:30AM time.

By Chris Urick

Outreach

July 17, 2023

5th Sunday – for refugees and asylum seekers in Maine

They are the poorest of the poor, from Angola and Honduras, Haiti and Somalia and other explosive countries, and at this very moment they are huddled in a bewildered mass in the Portland Expo arena. They are without doubt the “homeless” and “tempest-tost” of Emma Lazarus’ immortal welcome at the Statue of Liberty. And they are the faces of Christ in exile.
    As we as a parish family ponder how we might assist homeless families in the wider Belfast area, the Outreach Committee is designating the coming Fifth Sunday collection for the desperate mothers and fathers, tumbling toddlers and searching teens down the road a bit in Portland, the denigrated “wretched refuse” from other teeming shores. Our money will go directly to provide a plate of food or a bottle of water, diapers or toothpaste, given with smiles and gentle words by volunteers on scene. It is so little. For now, it means everything.
    As many as 600 asylum-seekers and refugees have smooshed onto the jumble of cots and rumpled blankets at the Expo in recent weeks. According to the Bangor Daily News, there are now around 270 there. Many have been hoping to move on to Canada and are now snagged in limbo by a new bi-lateral agreement that has stopped crossing the border on foot. Others hoped to find work in hotels and restaurants or as outdoor laborers in Maine, but are forbidden by federal law from employment for six months. All will be evicted on Aug. 16, when the city is closing the Expo. They can then join hundreds more who are overflowing smaller shelters in town, or grab a spot on the street.
They are the poorest of the poor, from Angola and Honduras, Haiti and Somalia and other explosive countries, and at this very moment they are huddled in a bewildered mass in the Portland Expo arena. They are without doubt the “homeless” and “tempest-tost” of Emma Lazarus’ immortal welcome at the Statue of Liberty. And they are the faces of Christ in exile.
    As we as a parish family ponder how we might assist homeless families in the wider Belfast area, the Outreach Committee is designating the coming Fifth Sunday collection for the desperate mothers and fathers, tumbling toddlers and searching teens down the road a bit in Portland, the denigrated “wretched refuse” from other teeming shores. Our money will go directly to provide a plate of food or a bottle of water, diapers or toothpaste, given with smiles and gentle words by volunteers on scene. It is so little. For now, it means everything.
    As many as 600 asylum-seekers and refugees have smooshed onto the jumble of cots and rumpled blankets at the Expo in recent weeks. According to the Bangor Daily News, there are now around 270 there. Many have been hoping to move on to Canada and are now snagged in limbo by a new bi-lateral agreement that has stopped crossing the border on foot. Others hoped to find work in hotels and restaurants or as outdoor laborers in Maine, but are forbidden by federal law from employment for six months. All will be evicted on Aug. 16, when the city is closing the Expo. They can then join hundreds more who are overflowing smaller shelters in town, or grab a spot on the street.
     A controversial scenario envisions turning empty dormitories on the former Unity College campus right here in Waldo County into transitional housing for asylum seekers. Now known as Unity Environmental University, the college has undergone its own transition to primarily online instruction, leaving dorms vacant and the administration looking for new sources of income. To date no specifics have been worked out among state, local and university officials to make this happen.
      The Greater Portland Council of Governments estimates it would cost around $7.8 million to lease the buildings, pay utilities and provide food and other assistance for the next year. Maine-Housing, a state agency, would make the final decision, likely drawing from the $100 million in budget measures to address Maine’s homeless and housing crisis that were passed by the Legislature a week ago. Gov. Janet Mills signed a two-year $10.3 billion state budget into law on Tuesday, but that money won’t be available for 90 days, until October.
       Meanwhile people wait. They are hungry, destitute and determinedly hopeful. We will reach them through groups such as Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, and the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project. Please give generously on Sunday July 30, noting on checks “Fifth Sunday.” Thank you.
Please mark checks “5th Sunday” in memo line.

By Chris Urick

MeetingOutreach

July 10, 2023

Parish Discussion and Potluck

We will meet as a parish on Thursday, July 13 at 6PM for a potluck supper followed by discussion on how we can share our building space for the good of the community. We will eat and then break into small groups to answer focus questions which will later be collated.

Also, there will be another discussion focused on the same issue following the 9:30AM service on Sunday, July 16, approximately 11 a.m..

By Chris Urick

CommunityWorship

July 10, 2023

Taizé prayer

Join us for Taizé prayer at 7PM on July 11 and 18.

By Chris Urick