The annual KnitMaine-ia fashion show fundraiser will be held during the month of March this year. Donate knit, crochet or fiber related items to our online auction, or share your work in photos to be posted online, and also in the window of Heavenly Yarns. All proceeds will benefit New Hope for Women. Knitmaineia 2021 is sponsored by the Women of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church with support from Heavenly Yarns. FMI or to donate auction items contact: [email protected] or Sara (978)325-0045 More information will be forthcoming as the date approaches.

Howard Thurman, educator, civil rights leader, and mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr. provided some of the key spiritual insights and theological underpinnings that ultimately shaped the civil rights movement.  His short book, Jesus and the Disinherited, first published in 1949, reveals much of the compassion and prophetic power of an interpretation of Jesus for those whose “backs are against the wall.”  It continues to speak powerfully to us today.
 
John Nieman will lead three consecutive Wednesday one-hour sessions on zoom at 4:00 pm: January 27, February 3, and February 10.  You don’t need to sign up for this group, just join us using the link in News from the Pews and Moving Forward Together.  Please read the Forward and Chapter One for the first session next Wednesday.  You still can purchase the book with a 15% discount from Left Bank Books in Belfast.  Tell them you’re with the St. Margaret’s book group. 

• Voted to adopt a Planned Giving Policy to be shared with parish in coming weeks
• Heard from Declan O’Connor and Elaine Bielenberg bout status of work being done on church and grounds
• Heard from Nominating Committee that three parishioners are willing to serve as new Vestry members: Kristin Frangoulis, Chris Quigley, and Mary Rackmales
• Heard that the Discernment Committee met and formed some structure.
• Heard that St. Margaret’s was awarded $1,400 as part of the diocesan’s Digital Onboard Grant
• Adopted a Memorial Gift policy

Presiding Bishop Curry will lead a live-streamed prayer service from the National Cathedral, Holding on to Hope: A National Service for Healing and Wholeness, on All Saints’ Sunday, November 1, 4:00-5:30PM. Amid pandemic, racial reckoning, and a historic election, the live-streamed service will gather Americans for prayer, song, lament, hope, and a call to love God and neighbor. FMI: https://episcopalchurch.org/holding-hope

The St. Margaret’s Book Club is up and reading! Join LInda Dunson, Nancy Perkins, Judy Johnson, and others for a virtual discussion of carefully selected books. The group welcomes new members to the First Wednesday Club at 1:30 p.m. Join us with your tea or coffee to discuss carefully selected books. The November 4th meeting features the book “The Stationery Shop” a novel by Marjan Kamali. In December the Club will be discussing “Blanche Among the Talented Tenth” by Barbara Neely. For more information and to receive a Zoom link invitation please contact Nancy Perkins at [email protected]

The Vestry will soon appoint members of the church to serve on a Rector Discernment (Search) Committee.  That committee will do the primary work and discernment necessary to enable the Vestry to fulfill its responsibility to call a priest who will bring the gifts and skills best suited to lead and serve us in our ministry in the future.
 
Please download and complete the attached form and return it to chruch office by November 6th.

The days are getting shorter and outdoor activities will soon be curtailed. Many of us have had the opportunity to gather for the 11AM outdoor worship service, go for walks together, or have lunch outdoors but pretty soon many of us will be more homebound.

The Care Groups are being reactivated and reconnecting. Did you know that the groups are listed in the back of the Summer 2020 Directory? and we have some new leaders/callers (see list below). A Care Group leader will be calling you every couple of weeks to say “hi”. This is another way for us all to stay connected, share what is going on in our lives both joys and concerns. 

How can St. Margaret’s assist and support you to provide connections? Do you have shopping needs? pick up a prescriptions? be taken to a medical appointment? How about dropping off your ballot at your local dropbox?

What connections have been helpful? Please share with your Care Group leader or a Vestry member.

CARE GROUPS & LEADERS
Searsport, Swanville and Beyond – Tom McCord with Kristen Burkholder and Sarah Lincoln-Harrison
Route 3 and Beyond – Jackie Curtis and Sarah Lincoln-Harrison
Penobscot Shores and Crosby Manor – Pat Griffith and Mary Rackmales
Eastside – Nan Cobbey and Kristin Frangoulis
Downtown Belfast – Nancy Perkins
Northport and Bayside – Deirdre Good and Julian Sheffield

Here we are, more than six months into a global pandemic which health experts tell us will continue for quite some time. The needles on our pines are turning brown with drought. Friends and family in other parts of the country are threatened by apocalyptic-class fires and hurricanes. The consequences of systemic racism challenge us to examine our own behaviors and assumptions, and tear at our hearts. We are in a time of unparalleled need for mutual support, prayer, human contact, and “two or three gathered together in Jesus’ name,” which is nonetheless a time when that very gathering puts many at serious risk. 

St Margaret’s parish members have so far been spared by the virus at least, and we hope to continue that way. Our COVID Task Force (John+, Paul Mazur, Julian Sheffield, Elaine Bielenberg, and Chris Urick) met last week to discuss the possibility of in-person gatherings or worship. All agreed that the relatively low numbers of infection in Waldo County are no guarantee that we are safe from COVID.  By continuing to persevere in following the safety guidelines given to us by our pandemic experts at the Maine CDC and beyond, we are providing protection to those we love and care for.

Because the danger of transmission in enclosed spaces with inadequate air-scrubbing ventilation particularly in cold weather when windows must be closed and heat recirculating, and given the size of our church, the vestry of St. Margaret’s has made the difficult decision not to return to inside worship and meetings once the weather cools. The vestry recognizes that this will disappoint many in our St Margaret’s community. We too long to see each other face to face; we too miss worshiping in our now even more beautiful church with its sparkling stained glass. We know that connecting through Zoom and telephone doesn’t meet all our needs for community. But the safety and well-being of all our parishioners, as well as care and love for our greater community, require that we take every measure to prevent St Margaret’s from being a source of the spread of COVID. 

We, your Vestry, are working hard to provide the best Zoom worship experiences possible. Sunday’s service is followed by a coffee hour which, like all Zoom meetings, is accessible by telephone for those who cannot use a computer. We are adding weekly chats to our schedule and hope that many of you will participate, or join Compline. We also welcome suggestions about how we can connect and communicate with one another. If you have an idea for a small group that you would like to gather together, let us know and we will assist you in getting it going. Care Groups will be reconnecting as we enter Fall and Winter. We will renew our efforts to reach out to all our members via phone and e-mail. For those who need help in connecting via Zoom for the first time, we are here to help. Just let the parish office know! And if you would like to talk about the vestry’s decision, please do not hesitate to contact one of us.

Our buildings are now closed, but our hearts are open, our community is strong and our spirits are lifted by our care and love for one another.


Faithfully yours,

The Vestry of St. Margaret’s

Chris Urick and Elaine Bielenberg (Wardens), Kristen Burkholder, Jackie Curtis, Audrey Klein-Leach, Paul Mazur, Julian Sheffield, Faye Ward, Cynthia Zajac

Last week I proposed in my NFTP piece the resurrection of a new version on zoom of the informal Wednesday conversations that formerly took place (pre-Covid) after the healing service.  As I wrote then, this would not be random chit-chat, but gently guided conversation rooted in our concerns and anxieties arising out of the swirl of challenges we face in our world and lives right now.  Ultimately, the aim is to awaken hope.  Our weekly gatherings will be no more than an hour and extend for about two months (to get us through the election).  The group could determine at that point whether we wanted to continue.  We will meet at 11:45 AM.  You will find a link to this in our e-newsletter along with all the other zoom links.

Sunday, October 4th is the Feast Day of St. Francis and we invite you, your friends, and neighbors to bring your pets for the traditional “blessing of the animals” on the front lawn at 10:30AM. This is a long-standing tradition at St. Margaret’s and will continue despite the pandemic, but we do require that all humans wear a face mask!