Dear Beloved of God,

It has been such fun exploring so many different options for music leadership at St. Margaret’s, and we have finally made it official:
 
Chris Donley will serve as our director of music and our seasonal adult choir director. He will work with the liturgy team and the rector to shape our worship throughout the year and call together a choir for Advent and Christmas. He will also teach us how to sing the psalms! You all sing so wonderfully together for worship, and I am really looking forward to growing with you in song. Chris will be our principle organist, playing twice per month.
 
Davide Delano will serve as an assistant organist, playing at least one Sunday per month and accompanying the choir.
 
Ruth Gelsinger will also serve as an assistant organist, and will play at least one Sunday per month.

 
Let us give them a resounding welcome!

Dear Beloved of God,

St. Margaret’s, even though she is tucked away on a side-street, is noticed by passers-by, visitors, and residents of Belfast as a beautiful edifice. We are indeed blessed by the generosity of all those who contributed and who are still contributing to the building and maintenance of this holy and life-giving space.
 
When a sanctuary is blessed during its consecration, the Book of Common Prayer includes this beautiful prayer as part of the service:
 
“Lord Jesus Christ, make this a temple of your presence and a house of prayer. Be always near us when we seek you in this place. Draw us to you, when we come alone and when we come with others, to find comfort and wisdom, to be supported and strengthened, to rejoice and give thanks. May it be here, Lord Christ, that we are made one with you and with one another, so that our lives are sustained and sanctified for your service.” BCP p.568
 
During the service, the Bishop says, “Peace to all who enter here”.
 
Our church is a space of worship and meeting—a place where God’s grace meets us in our need, helping to strengthen, encourage, and comfort us for the whole of our lives. This grace is extended to all who enter, be they members or not.
 
Recently, we have been asking how God is calling us to let our building serve the wider Belfast community so that more and more people can experience God’s loving embrace.
 
You have heard us speak of the possibility of hosting a program called Family Promise. But, there are many ways we can use this building to spread God’s good news and blessings, and Family Promise is just one of them. In order to listen to each other and to the Holy Spirit as we discern a path forward, we will hold two parish meetings, one on July 13 and July 16.
 

                                             July 13, 6-8 p.m., Potluck dinner and parish meeting
                                                             July 16, 11-12:30 p.m., Parish Meeting

March 10, 2023

Dear Beloved of God,

Since the first Christians decided to gather in Jesus’ name, baptism has been the mark of belonging to the body of Christ. In it, baptismal candidates pass through the life-giving and dangerous water of death and resurrection. Your baptism is a means of sharing in Christ, dying with him and being raised with him, of being baptized in him, becoming a member of his body and of receiving his spirit.

Since early in the church’s history, and even up until today, initiation by baptism has been the prerogative of the bishop. As churches proliferated, it became increasingly difficult for bishops to be at every baptism. Bishops, therefore, delegated the celebration of the rite to local parish priests, reserving for themselves the part of the rite that included the laying on of hands (and anointing), for the gift of the spirit. This later became the rite of confirmation. At the outset, baptism was administered at Easter. Catechumens, (those preparing to be baptized), were instructed by the bishop during Lent. Both the catechumens and those who would administer the rite would fast during all or part of this time.

Lent and Easter are therefore a wonderful time for us to remember the gift of baptism which we have received. To this end, Bishop Thomas Brown has invited us to join him and the members of Christ’s body in Maine for a celebration of renewal of vows to take place during the Chrism Eucharist—a celebration of the Holy Eucharist by the bishop during which the oil used in healing and baptism is blessed. The diocese will come together for Chrism Eucharist on Tuesday, March 28 at 9:30 am at Grace Church in Bath.

Please do consider attending this celebration. Bishop Brown will lead us in renewing our promises of baptism, and holy oils will be blessed for the coming year. Bishop Chilton Knudsen and Bishop Steve Lane will join us!

RSVP here before March 20.

The Rector’s Office Hours:T-TH Mornings: 9:30AM-12:30  /  T Afternoons: 2-5PM  /  W & TH Afternoons: 1:30-4:30
In case of emergency or urgency, please text or call my cell phone and leave me a
voicemail @ (860) 560-6992.

Dear Beloved of God,

A parish church is a unique kind of organization. It is not like other non-profit organizations and it is neither a private residence nor a business. It does, however, have rules for the conducting of business within it. Episcopalians call these guidelines the Constitution & Canons Together with The Rules of Order For the governance of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America otherwise known as The Episcopal Church.  You can find these online at Constitution & Canons (generalconvention.org)

We are always learning from our faith about the difference between ownership and stewardship. From a faith perspective, we don’t own anything. All of it has been gifted to us by God. We are, in fact, more stewards than owners of everything we have. This is even more true of our beloved St. Margaret’s Church—its property and its buildings and all its physical contents. I have copied and reprinted here some of what our national canons say about this.

“Title I, Canon 7: Of Business Methods in Church Affairs
Sec. 3. No Vestry, Trustee, or other Body, authorized by Civil or Canon law to hold, manage, or administer real property for any Parish, Mission, Congregation, or Institution, shall encumber or alienate the same or any part thereof without the written consent of the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Diocese of which the Parish, Mission, Congregation, or Institution is a part, except under such regulations as may be prescribed by Canon of the Diocese.

“Sec. 4. All real and personal property held by or for the benefit of any Parish, Mission or Congregation is held in trust for this Church and the Diocese thereof in which such Parish, Mission or Congregation is located. The existence of this trust, however, shall in no way limit the power and authority of the Parish, Mission or Congregation otherwise existing over such property so long as the particular Parish, Mission or Congregation remains a part of, and subject to, this Church and its Constitution and Canons. 

“Title III, Canon 9, Section 6a part 2
2. For the purposes of the office and for the full and free discharge of all functions and duties pertaining thereto, the Rector or Priest-in-Charge shall at all times be entitled to the use and control of the Church and Parish buildings together with all appurtenances and furniture, and to access to all records and registers maintained by or on behalf of the congregation.”

What this means is that we are fully responsible for the well-being of both the congregation (people), and its physical property while having ownership of neither. One of the responsibilities of the rector is to ensure that we do this work together.

In other words,
1. we are to respect the dignity of every human being and,
2. nothing can be lent out, sold or given away without consultation with the rector, and for some things, without consultation with the vestry, and in other cases, without the permission of the bishop and standing committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine.

Dear Beloved of God,

We are nearing the end of our month of Creation Care, although we will continue to care for our creation for the rest of our lives. To conclude the month, we will be holding a Prayer Vigil for the Care of Creation on St. Francis Day, October 4. This prayer has been prepared by the brothers of Taizé specifically for such an occasion and we need your presence!

The “Songs of Taizé” published in different languages are simple, but preparation is required to use them in prayer. Short songs, repeated again and again, give the time of prayer a meditative character. As the words are sung over many times, it becomes a way of listening to God. It allows everyone to remain together in attentive waiting on God. See below for more on this way of praying together:

1. October 4 at 4:00PM* we are hosting a pet-blessing together with St. Francis Church at the entry to our sanctuary. (At the bottom of the steps near the sunflowers). Please do bring your scaly, furry or feathered friends! * note the time change 
2. October 4 at 5:00PM we will be hosting an ecumenical song practice. If you can sing, PLEASE come to help us! We will be preparing the 5:30 Prayer Vigil for the Care of Creation. We need your presence. We need your prayer. We need your voice. 
3. October 4 at 5:30PM we will gather with people from many different congregations in our area for a Prayer Vigil for the Care of Creation.

Meditative singing can also sustain personal prayer. Through singing, little by little, our being finds an inner unity in God. The songs can continue in the silence of our hearts when we are at work, speaking with others or resting. In this way prayer and daily life are united. The songs allow us to keep on praying even when we are unaware of it, in the silence of our hearts.

Today, the Taizé Community is made up of about a hundred brothers, coming from many different ecclesial backgrounds, and from around thirty nations. By its very existence, the community is a “parable of community” that wants its life to be a sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and between separated peoples. The brothers wish to support the search for peace and reconciliation wherever it exists.
Some of the brothers live far away from Taizé, mainly among the very poor; they work among prisoners in Seoul, South Korea, bring relief to the disabled in Bangladesh, welcome numerous children in Senegal and Brazil, and lead youth meetings in Kenya…. The existence of these “Taizé houses” is based on prayer and fraternal life.

Over the years, young adults have been coming to Taizé in ever greater numbers; they come from every continent to take part in weekly meetings. Sisters of Saint Andrew, an international Catholic community founded seven centuries ago, Polish Ursuline Sisters and Sisters of St Vincent de Paul take on some of the tasks involved in welcoming the young people.

Church leaders also come to Taizé. The community has thus welcomed four Archbishops of Canterbury, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, Pope John Paul II, metropolitans and bishops of different Orthodox Churches, the fourteen Lutheran bishops of Sweden, and countless pastors from all over the world.

For more information, go to https://www.taize.fr/en

Dear Beloved of God,
       Next week Paul and I are heading to a family reunion in Massachusetts. My mom has invited her siblings and all the cousins to join her for a week of reconnecting. I am not sure yet who will be in attendance, but I look forward to reconnecting with those who will be. It has been over fifteen years since I was last with this branch of the family.
       Several years ago our son gave us a membership to Ancestry.com. I spent hours looking up photos and histories from both my parents’ ancestors. It was fascinating, and made be grateful for all the people that have come before me. I found photos of great, great grandparents, and wondered what their lives could have been like in the 19^th century when there weren’t so many household conveniences and when the worry about the climate crisis didn’t exist. So much was changing, even back then, as the U.S. economy was shifting from small family farms to manufacturing.
       We have seen immense change in our own lifetimes—a small hand-held phone can do more than the old main-frame computers that took up entire rooms. If I need to find an address or phone number for any of you, it’s all in the directory on my phone! How fabulous is that? Although I know that some people choose not to adopt these gadgets, I am impressed that some folks, now in their 90s, have adopted iPads and iPhones and seem to navigate them with relative ease, video chatting with their children and friends.
       I still prefer the irreplaceable in-person visit. It may be more time-consuming, since it requires travel, but it is SO satisfying! As I travel to visit with my extended family on my mother’s side, I look forward to returning to visit with you, my new church family. If you need to reach me, text or call my cell and leave me a message.

Dear Beloved of God,

       Welcome to September! From September 1 – October 4 we are celebrating a Season of Creation Care with educational events, prayers, and community gatherings. The schedule for these can be found in the Creation Care Newsletter and web-page. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mary Rackmales and the Creation Care Committee for all their hard work in getting this off the ground!
       Every morning we have the opportunity to find a quiet spot and to pray Morning Prayer as set forth in our prayer book. In it we will read, “Know this: The Lord himself is God; *  he himself has made us, and we are his”. This phrase has taken on special meaning for me in the recent years as we grapple with how to help our planet recover from the impact of human industry. Our very life is a gift and the planet that sustains our life is a gift.
       As I contemplate where we are in terms of the impacts human activity has had on the planet, I am hopeful that as we speak with one another about creative solutions, we will indeed find ways to mitigate some of the more deleterious effects on our planet. The idea that God has made us God’s partners in this enterprise is energizing. That we are, in fact, called to act by God is energizing. I look forward to learning more about how we can partner with God in the care of God’s creation.
       Beginning this Sunday, we will gather at 9:15 for Adult Education. During the month of September we will be learning about creation care from author Bill McKibben, who is founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice. (Please see the Adult Education Schedule in this newsletter for more information).
      His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages. He’s gone on to write 20 books, and his work appears regularly in periodicals from the New Yorker to Rolling Stone. He serves as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the alternative Nobel, in the Swedish Parliament. Foreign Policy named him to its inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers.
      Join us this Sunday at 9:15 in the parish hall as we explore the theological foundations for climate care.