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St. Bartholomew's
Episcopal Church
E-News
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Sunday, December 7 at 9:30 am
Worship Service with Holy Communion & Music
led by the Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson
Wednesday, December 10 at 5:30 pm
Midweek Advent Service with Holy Communion & Music
Nursery Care will be available at the Sunday service, and little ones are also very welcome to enjoy our Quiet Play Area in the sanctuary during the service.
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To view bulletins for upcoming services,
and recordings and bulletins for previous services,
CLICK HERE for the Services page of our website.
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Need hearing assistance? We have earpieces that receive audio from the sound system. You can find them in charging stations in the entryway. Simply slip the earpiece over your ear, turn it on with the volume switch, and adjust volume. Please return to the charging stations when you are done.
Want to access the bulletin on your notebook/iPad/phone? Scan the QR code posted in the Sanctuary to get to the Services page of our website. Click on the link "Click here for the bulletin" toward the top of the page.
Want a copy of a sermon from this or previous Sundays? Go to the sermon page of our website HERE and click on the date of the service. If you would like a hard copy, please contact the office at 207-846-9244 and ask Teri to print you a copy.
5th Sunday of the month Offering. All cash in the offering plate, and checks so designated, will go to the Rector's Discretionary Fund on 5th Sundays.
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Pastoral Care
In Need of Our Prayers:
For all who have commended themselves to our prayers; for our families, friends, and neighbors; that being freed from anxiety, they may live in joy, peace, and health, we pray to you O Lord. (BCP, Prayers of the People, Form V, 391)
We pray for:
Virginia & Jamil; Jenny & Matt; David; Elaine; Sasha; Paige; Nathaniel; Will; Haskell; Don; Gregory; Andy; Molly; Nova; Richard; Dave & Judy; Steven; Jen; Vance; Gary; Ernie; Ted; Matt & Shannon; Lem; Sally; Ed; Carol; Beverly; Diana; Ben; Meagan; Ellen; Morgan; Benson; Suzanne; Matt; Margo; Hana; Mary; Celeste; Howsie; Meg; Perry; and Hans.
For those who have died, receive them into the arms of your mercy.
Click HERE to go directly to the Pastoral Care section of our website. We have information about Healing Prayers, our Words of Comfort booklet and how to contact us via email.
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CHRISTMAS FAIR:
Invitation
The preparation for the fair began on Sunday when chairs were cleared from the sanctuary and tables set up for workers to begin making the very popular table pieces that are sold at the Christmas Fair. If you stopped by this week, you smelled the fresh scent of the greens and saw the busy team creating these special pieces. The second-floor conference room is being transformed into a lovely Christmas shop and the classroom at the end of the hall, a bookstore! On Friday, all the tables will be placed in the sanctuary, garland will be hung, and inventory will be displayed. At 9:00 on Saturday morning, we will begin admitting shoppers. Gary and Grayson Sylvester and Peter Sillin come early to staff a tent offering coffee and hot chocolate to those waiting outside (yes, people line up to be first or twentieth in the door!). We are pleased that Amanda’s parents’ choir will be caroling around 9:30 again this year.
It’s a festive place to be, and we hope that you
invite your family, friends, and neighbors to join in the fun!
Please direct any questions you may have to:
Marcia Sharp / Michele Johns / Pam Waite
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Wednesday Evening Advent Services
December 3, 10, & 17 at 5:30 pm
Please join us on Wednesday evenings during Advent where we will gather for a quiet, reflective eucharist in the Celtic tradition.
With simple songs and candlelight, this service is designed to be an invitation to slow down during this busy time of year and to prepare our hearts to notice God in all the ways they dwell in and around us.
Please consider staying after the service for our Fellowship Series on Music in the Church. Please see announcement below for details.
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Storytellers Will Meet This Sunday (12/7) After Worship
Please join us in the chapel this coming Sunday for Storytellers. Storytellers need story listeners. This week we'll have stories of a time when you were hopeful or you inspired hope in someone else.
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Alarm System to be Activated Dec. 8
If you ever enter the church when no one is there, please be sure to get trained on the new alarm system, which will be in use starting Monday, Dec. 8. You will learn the simple steps to "disarm" the system when you enter the building, and then "arm" the system when you leave. This procedure is needed only if you are the first to enter the building any day, or last to leave.
Joe Michaud is doing training after services on Sundays, or contact him by email HERE to arrange a time.
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From Psalms and Hymns to Christmas Carols:
An Advent Fellowship Series on Music in the Church
When: December 3, 10, and 17 following the 5:30 pm Wednesday Advent Service
Where: In the sanctuary (bring a brown bag if you’d like)
Have you ever wondered why we sing in church? Or why you’re handed a hymnal on your way into the sanctuary? Of all the ways humans might behave toward God, why music?
Or maybe you want to know what any of this has to do with Greek mathematicians, a fourth-century church under siege, St. Augustine weeping graveside, a Benedictine monk’s right hand, the ethics of poetry, or the morality of post-Reformation Europe.
Or perhaps you would value reflecting on how music resonates in your experience of worship in the St. Bart’s sanctuary and elsewhere in your spiritual life.
Please feel warmly invited to join our music director, Dr. Christina Scott Edelen, and St. Bart’s member, Dr. Maria Guarino, as they lead an Advent conversation series on music in the church. Bring a brown bag dinner to the 5:30 pm Wednesday Advent Service and stay afterward—from about 6:00-7:00 pm—to learn some of the fascinating history of music in the Church, and to reflect on what it has to say to us in our Advent journeys today. We’ll share a meal, join in conversation, and do a little singing to bring fellowship, joy, and a sense of deepening reflection to the holiday season.
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Christmas Fair Tip of the Week
Last call for volunteers (sign up sheet is in the Narthex) and items for the Christmas Fair (see Christmas Fair and Information sheet in the Narthex). Thank you!
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Thank You for Your Support!
Thanks to the coat and boot donations, along with financial contributions, there has been a wonderful supply of coats and boots to be distributed at St. Elizabeth’s.
245 coats have already been given out in November.
Over 300 pairs of boots are waiting to be given out on December 9.
An additional supply of coats will be given out December 16.
St. Elizabeth’s success is due to the generosity of churches like St. Bart’s!
Financial donations can be sent to: St. Elizabeth’s Jubilee Center, PO Box 4036 Portland, ME 04101 or visit us at https://stelizabethsmaine.org/give/.
FMI: Linda Draper ldraper347@gmail.com or Anne Jacobs ajacobs207@gmail.com
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Yoga Offering - Quiet Amid the Bustle
Yoga will again be offered for four weeks on Monday mornings in December, beginning on the 8th. Our focus will be to reflect, refresh, and reset, taking time for ourselves outside of the busy holiday time.
Classes will be ‘drop-in;’ held from 9:30 - 10:45 am, with a $12/class fee. Half of the proceeds will be donated back to St. Bart’s. Each class will start with a time to center, followed by warm up stretches and breathing, with poses taught to help strengthen and stretch our muscles. Class will end with shavasana, a time to relax and rejuvenate. No experience is necessary!
Wear comfortable clothes, and bring: yoga mat, blocks and strap (if you have them), water, and a blanket.
Joyce Cassidy is a 200-hour Kripalu-trained Yoga instructor, and offered this class last year at St. Bart’s. Please see the sign-up sheet posted in the entryway if interested; a minimum of 4 attendees will ensure the classes are held. Contact Joyce for information - 207-272-0262 or email at Joyce.
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The Vestry Minute
The E-News will now include a brief nugget of information from the Vestry each week. These are meant to provide current news or to refresh past information.
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Did you know...
...that Jan Burson and Linda Perkins head up our Altar Guild? Please contact them if you are interested in learning more and may want to volunteer. They are very knowledgeable, and we are so grateful for all they do!
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Sign Ups & Resources for Volunteers
To learn more about opportunities to volunteer in the community through St. Bart's (St. Elizabeth's, Friendship House, etc.), go to the COMMUNITY OUTREACH page on our website.
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