In another week Pentecost arrives. That’s the red letter – and red attire! – day on our liturgical calendar that marks the whirwind arrival of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, when they were filled with the miraculous ability to speak and be understood by everyone, regardless of what language each listener normally used.I

          Next week Pentecost will help set the stage for the upcoming Refugee and Immigration Sunday on July 13, which St. Margaret’s and Episcopal churches across the country will mark with word, song, prayer and action. First, we need you and your family to do some talking! (Click poster to left to go to website.)

          A large world map will be up on the wall in the parish house. Even before you snag a cup of coffee, please pause to stick a sparkly star on the country or countries where the first members of your American family came from. Easy. You probably know the answer to that question already. That’s Step 1.
          Next to the map will be a blank poster titled “Honor Roll of Courage.” This may require a wee bit of homework for you this coming week. The Honor Roll is going to list whoever you know as the first member of any branch of your family tree to come to the U.S. This could be someone as recently arrived as one of your parents or grandparents, or any or several “great-great-greats” you know about from your personal geneology sleuthing. You aren’t expected to jump onto Ancestry.com for this; hopefully you and/or someone nearby knows of at least one candidate for this honor. You’ll be able to add the country they came from, the approximate year or decade they came, and the reason why, if known. This is Step 2 of Pentecost coffee hour!
          The final Step 3 is again easy and sheer fun. You may want to bring an advance list, however. Think of those colorful chains made from strips of construction paper that you or maybe your kids made back in the day. Let’s do it again! Between June 8 and July 13, we’ll gradually stretch a paper chain from our world map across the room to . . . the first post? The kitchen wall? All the way to the front? We’ll see! Each link will have the name of someone in your family who came from across the border or across the sea. We mean your whole family, by marriage or adoption. Your brother-in-law from Denmark, your niece’s husband from Argentina, the baby your aunt adopted from China, your cousin’s in-laws who decided to move here from Canada. Hopefully you’ll have many people for links on our chain. And please add others born outside the U.S. and now here who had a significant impact on your life – a teacher or college instructor, a home health aide who made all the difference caring for your parent, a colleague at work, someone who cared for you after school while your mother was working, a surgeon who mended your bad back, a migrant farmworker who became a friend, etc. Each can be a link you add.
          Special note! We have several in the parish who are themselves “immigrants”! Gold strips are reserved for them to sign as special sparkling links on the paper chain.
          This all starts next Sunday, and can be added to week by week, through July 13.
Pat Griffith

Come out to support and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community on Saturday, June 7.
Parade marchers will gather at Belfast Area High School beginning at 10:30 a.m. to
build your excitement before setting off at 11:00 a.m.
The parade will travel down Waldo Avenue to Main Street and end at Heritage Park.
You do not need to sign up to participate, just show up with a positive attitude.
The parade will end at Heritage Park where we will celebrate together as a community.
The Pride Parade has been organized by Belfast Area High School’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance Group.
For more information, click link “Our Town Belfast“.

No – that is not a typo! Souper Bowl Sunday has long been a tradition at St. Margaret’s – one that lapsed in recent years, but is up for revival!
 
Before we go home from church to settle in at home to watch the game, or attend a Super Bowl party where we will enjoy a variety of dishes from chili to chicken wings to chips and dip, let us think about those whose homes have been ravaged by fire or war, or those who live locally and rely on our local Food Cupboards or the Soup Kitchen.
 
On February 9th a soup tureen will be on the table at the back of church and will be handed around during the Offertory for donations to the World Central Kitchen and the GBAM Food Cupboard.
 

All undesignated checks and cash in the collection plate will be used for Outreach. The Outreach Committee appointed the GBAM Food Cupboard as recipient of our 5th Sunday collection.

Matt Markiewicz ([email protected], 603 832-4388) is St. Margaret’s representative on the Food Cupboard Board along with representatives from Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, First Baptist Church, Belfast United Methodist Church, River Sangha, Church of St. Francis, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, First Church, and Belfast Area Friends Meeting. Parishioners can volunteer to assist with distribution on the week that St. Margaret’s is scheduled (on a rotational basis). Please speak with Matt if you would like more information on the Food Cupboard.

If donating financially, please make checks payable to St. Margaret’s Church with “5th Sunday” or “Food Cupboard” in the memo line. We will continue to accept donations for the next few Sundays. Thank you! Your Outreach Team

(for businesses affected by the January 2024 coastal storms)
 

The Outreach Committee continues to collect funds for this extremely important local initiative, and you can be part of our final gift to the City of Belfast by writing a check to St. Margaret’s with the words “Keep the Faith Fund” or “5th Sunday Plate Offering for March” in the memo line. Please put your donation in the pate offering during any church service in March, or drop it off to the church office. Many thanks to those of you who have so generously donated already!

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.

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..

Thank you for your donations to our April 5th Sunday collection.
A check for $832.00 has been sent to H.O.M.E. of Orland.
Our next 5th Sunday will be in July – stay tuned.