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The E-pistle of Sunday, January 22nd, 2023

The Third Sunday After the Epiphany

Welcome to St. Luke's

We are most grateful to welcome you to our Sunday worship. We wish you God's blessings and love for this day.

We hope that you can feel part of the cathedral community wherever you are in your life's journey. Know that this is a place of welcome and love for all.

The church is so much more than a building or our Sunday services. At the core of the body of the church is each of you. God’s love and compassion which you carry out into the world from this place, is the living church.

Blessings to you.

  Sincerely, 

Dean Shambaugh and the Cathedral Community.

Sunday Morning Service Participants

Preacher and Celebrant: The Very Rev. Dr. Benjamin A. Shambaugh, Dean

Assisting: The Rev. Suzanne Roberts, M.D. & The Rev. Rebecca Grant, Deacon

Music Leader & Organist: Christian M. Clough

Assisting Organist: Randall Mullin

The Cathedral Choir

Ushers: Peter Bingham, Deb Marcoux, MJ Northrop, & Gail Swanton

Lector: Julie Rothrock

Prayers Leader: Judd Hume

The Healing Team: Mary Strnad & John Leddy

Live Streaming: Jack Swanton and Sam Allen  

Acolytes and Vergers; The Flower Guild; The Altar Guild

Music copyrights granted under OneLicense.net #A-713087. Sources: The Hymnal 1982, Lift Every Voice and Sing II, Wonder, Love, and Praise, The Saint Helena Psalter, The Book of Common Prayer, Enriching our Worship, The Holy Bible (NRSV). 

Happening at the Cathedral on Sunday

Finance Town Hall Meeting

This Sunday, January 22nd|11:30 a.m. (Following the conclusion of the 10am service)

Location: The Upper Hall and Livestream (Links Below)

Livestream Available at Youtube Live and Facebook Live

*(Please wait for 20 minutes following the conclusion of the 10 am service to access the livestream)

Join us for this Sunday's Finance Town Hall Meeting after the 10:00 am worship service to hear about how the surplus from 2022 will allow us to pay off our bank loan and hear about our budget and solid current financial status. We look forward to coming together as a community to talk about these matters.

Sunday Mornings|9:45am

Location: Upper Hall

Contact: Sarah Dowling

 Our Sunday school and nursery are both open today. Sunday school begins in the upper hall at 9:45, with children returning to their families at the sharing of the Peace. The nursery is open every Sunday from 9:45-11:30. Families are always welcome!

Sunday Mornings| 9am-10am

Location: The Oratory

Contact: Dean Shambaugh

So much of what we do at St. Luke’s is designed to help others. What about nurturing and exploring our own spiritual lives? What about our questions and struggles of faith, our relationship (or not) with God? 

• Lead by Dean Shambaugh
• All are Welcome

Sunday Mornings|8:45am-9:45am

Location: The Chapter Room

Contact: The Rev. Dr. Bob Hanson 

If one thinks theologically about how one was created it requires more than an analysis of the scriptural uses of Biblical words. Words were created as they were needed, and initial understandings of what was being described were often incomplete. Language was also usually restricted to what was sensible or historic. With our Hebrew inheritance  language became a dimension of Yahveh’s self revelation; ie, we were able to think not only  analytically but simultaneously creatively and metaphorically. From the very beginnings of Hebrew history we were invited to listen to God, but also to respond to God, to question His actions and to challenge God’s behavior. Such behaviors rapidly facilitated the development of our language. And the rapid development of our language,  i.e., the creation of new words and new concepts likewise increased our capacities to think and reason. This invitation to relationship also demanded of us that we question God’s demands of us. One of these initial demands was to know who one is based upon God’s freely given gift  of God’s own knowledge, i.e., being created in God’s own image! If such a miraculous gift is given us then we are similar to God in that we also have not a Spirit, but God’s spirit; the Ruah (breath) not a soul, but God’s soul (nephesh), not a mind (psyche) but God’s mind, and not just a body (soma) but God’s body. Our hearts and minds are overflowing with wonder and awe. How are we to accept and act on this invitation not only for self-understanding, but to an invitation to an intimacy unheard of in any other religion or philosophy? Let’s begin with the terms: Spirit comes first. God’s breath infused our minds. We were given a portion of God's own spirit. That spirit, located somewhere in the frontal neocortex , remains with us always, i.e., it predates our inception and continues with us into the afterlife. Its role is somewhat like the dual functions of unconsciousness and consciousness. When both forces are active in us it’s like the conscious mind is knowledgeable of the content of the unconscious, and that we can live a fully calibrated and righteous life in God’s eyes. Such a model was the Messiah, the anointed Jesus of Nazareth who always was and always will be the Christ. The soul comes next (the nephesh). It functions through the immense and complex nature of the brain. The soul represents the “hungers” of the Spirit for the promised “fullness” of relationship, but also our “relationship-free”, i.e., without God, needs and desires. These two forces are inseparable but constitute nature’s humanity, said humanity the struggles between the good and the not good, between the forces of life and death, the darkness of personal isolation and the light of a spirit-lived life. Join us in the Chapter Room at 8:30 AM on Sunday for fuller exploration of these God-given gifts.

For additional information call the Rev’d Dr. Bob Hanson, Biblical scholar, linguist and theologian, on (207) 405-8250.

Thursday Evenings |7pm-9pm  

Sunday Mornings|10 am Service

Location: The Cathedral Nave

Contact: Christian M. Clough

Each week we are blessed with the gift of music from the St. Luke's Cathedral Choir under the direction of our Canon for Liturgy and Music, Christian M. Clough. If you are interested in singing with our choir in future services, please contact Christian. 

Stewardship Update

As of January 7, 2023, the parish had received 142 pledges for $411,417.84. There are

13 new pledging units. Half the pledgers increased their pledge from the previous year. Several dozen of 2022 pledgers have not been heard from yet, and Finance Committee and Lesser Chapter members are in the process of reaching out to them for their support.

Give/ Pledge to St. Luke's

A Letter from the Dean

Dear friends,

I write to inform you that I have accepted a call to serve as rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, East Hampton, New York in the Diocese of Long Island, beginning May 1, 2023. With agreement from the bishop and vestry, my transition time will begin February 1. This means that January 29, 2023 will be my last Sunday at St. Luke's. A farewell celebration is being planned for Saturday, February 4.

The Rev. Paul St. Germain, a newly retired priest with large church experience and a wonderful caring soul who recently moved just a few blocks away, has agreed to be with St. Luke's during the transition time, after which the diocese will assist St. Luke's in finding an interim and begin a search process. Paul will be ably assisted by the Rev. Suzanne Roberts, the Rev. Anne Fowler, the Rev. Christopher Worthley, and the Rev. Rebecca Grant. All may be reached through the cathedral office 772-5434 or [email protected]

May of 2023 will mark 18 years of mission and ministry together. Being with you and serving as the Dean of the cathedral have been a great adventure, a joy, and a blessing that has truly been a high point of my career, my life, and the life of my family. Together we have done God’s work in serving the wider community, standing for love and justice, caring for others and ourselves, striving to make sure that all are welcome, and helping people experience God’s presence through worship, music, and spiritual growth. Thank you for going on this journey with me. I deeply love Maine. I love St. Luke's and I love you. I will always have a special place for you in my heart.

I am so proud of all that we have done together. From the successful campaign for Marriage Equality to the revitalization of our pantries during Covid, completion of the Rose Window wall repairs and capital campaign and strategic transitions in cathedral staff, the Spirit is at work and new life and energy are bubbling up all over the place. As was clear in the wonderful services on Christmas, St. Luke's is in a good place and ready for the next stage of its life. The same is true for me. May God be with us all as our journeys continue.

With love and gratitude,

Ben

The Very Rev. Dr. Benjamin Shambaugh

Dean of the Cathedral

A Letter from the Bishop

Dear friends in Christ, the cathedral community of Saint Luke,

The Dean’s acceptance of the call to be rector at St. Luke Church in East Hampton, New York, is an occasion for us to congratulate him, and to celebrate your nearly two decades of beautiful Gospel work together. Everything about this call seems right, and as the Dean has already stated, now is a good season for you, the cathedral community, to envisage your future, working with each other and me to welcome your next dean. 

Yet the focus for the next month must center on making a good farewell with Ben: honor the ways you’ve engaged God’s mission, and say “thank you” and “peace be with you.” Your commitment to a “good” good-bye for Ben & Shari will likely determine your readiness to engage a search process for his successor; I will do everything possible to support you in the weeks (and months) before us. Most importantly, together we’ll rely on God, whose mercies are new every morning. 

As you know Father Paul St. Germaine, a priest from Southern Ohio who moved to Portland two years ago, will serve you until May 1st. Bear in mind, however, that the wardens and members of the lesser chapter will be the principal leaders of this transition. During the winter and early spring I will work with the lesser chapter to recruit a skilled interim priest to succeed Paul, and then, with your engagement and participation, we’ll conduct a search for the next dean. 

There’s no way to eliminate the anxiety that accompanies managing this change, nor would we want to for often clergy leadership transitions are also accompanied by optimism and excitement. We need only maintain our gaze on Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. 

It has been a great honor to work alongside Ben, and I know that both Bishops Knudsen and Lane join me in giving thanks to God for the ministry and friendship we’ve shared with Ben & Shari, as well as with Scott and Kate. We will miss them! When I spoke with the Bishop of Long Island affirming Ben’s gifts for and discernment toward East Hampton, I teased him by saying, “Maine is part of Ben, and Ben is part of Maine; in the fullness of time we expect Ben and Shari to come home so please don’t get too used to having them!” 

Be assured of my prayers, as well as my eagerness to support your continued faithfulness in Portland and throughout our diocese. 

Faithfully in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Thomas James Brown, Bishop of Maine

Weekly Ministries

• St. Elizabeth's Jubilee Center is offered every Tuesday from 8:30 am to 11 am.
• The Food Pantry is open from 9 am to 11 am every Thursday.
• Noon prayer is offered every Wednesday via Zoom.
• The Tuesday 12:10 Eucharist gathers weekly in Emmanuel Chapel. Join via Zoom.
• Contemplative Prayer is offered every Thursday at 4:30 pm via Zoom.
• Compline is also offered weekly on Friday from 8-9pm on Zoom. For additional details contact Ray Murdoch Curry

https://episcopalmaine.org/

stlukesportland.org

(207)-772-5434

Physical Address:

143 State Street, Portland, ME 04101

Parking Available at:

134 Park Street, Portland, ME 04101

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 4141, Portland, ME 04101