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St. Bartholomew's
Episcopal Church
E-News
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Sunday, February 8 at 9:30 am
Worship Service with Holy Communion & Music
led by the Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson
Nursery Care will be available at the Sunday morning services, 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; Sasha; Paige; Nathaniel; Haskell; Don; Gregory; Andy; Molly; Nova; Steven; Jenn; Vance; Ted; Matt & Shannon; Lem; Carol; Beverly; Diana; Ben; Morgan; Benson; Hana; Celeste; Hans; Pam; Hurshell; Melanie; Joe; Susan; Sue; Brooke; Elizabeth; and the Wollerscheid and Hobson families.
For those who have died, especially William Wollerscheid, brother-in-law of Steve and Pam Hobson, 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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A Fraud Prevention Conversation
This Sunday after the service
Knowledge gives you power over scams. Stopping fraud has become a full-time concern.
Join Phil Chin, a volunteer spokesperson for the AARP Fraud Watch Network, for a conversation about how you can protect yourself, your loved ones and your friends from scams that can ruin lives. Get the latest information and in-sights about fraud prevention from AARP.
Remember, if you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam!
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An Update and Thank You
Many thanks to the St. Bart’s community for stepping up for our neighbors in the last week: eight people agreed to be shoppers for anyone who was not able to go to the grocery store; twelve people volunteered to cook soup to be delivered by the diocese to families in Lewiston (see the photo of a freezer full of Chicken Maumba); numerous members contributed $1200 worth of Hannaford gift cards for distribution to our Yarmouth neighbors needing the groceries: and NMAP has a new digital link for donations and has provided Hannaford gift cards to our neighbors as well. The new link for NMAP can be found here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/give-to-nmap
We will collect Hannaford Gift Cards through the end of the month and will continue to send updates about our discernment regarding how we as a community can collectively come alongside our vulnerable neighbors. Thank you.
The following is a reminder of the various organizations doing amazing work to which you can provide financial support:
New Mainers Assistance Program – long-time partner of St. Bart’s providing housing and other assistance to new Mainers in Yarmouth. Checks may be made out to “New Mainers Assistance Program” and sent to the church.
Maine Solidarity Fund – Coordinated by a consortium of immigrant-led and -centered organizations to provide legal support, emergency familial support, and healthcare access. Donations may be made via their website by clicking the link.
Presente – A grassroots mutual aid organization run by and for displaced and dispossessed Afro/Indigenous-Latines in Maine. Donations may be made via their website by clicking the link.
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project – A state-wide immigration legal services organization Donations may be made via their website by clicking the link.
Episcopal Diocese of Maine: Supporting Our Vulnerable Neighbors Fund – Coordinated through the bishop's office and an advisory board made up of members of our Diocesan Council, your donation will go to support churches, individuals, and organizations engaged in ministering to the new Mainer community. Donations may be made by clicking the link.
St. Bart's Rector’s Discretionary Fund – Used at the Rector’s discretion, Amanda will track gifts that come to this fund for the next month and use them towards supporting our vulnerable neighbors. Checks may be written to St. Bart’s with “Rector’s Discretionary Fund” in the memo line.
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"Faithful Conversations" Returns
If you would like an opportunity to join with others for discussion and prayer in these challenging times, Faithful Conversations with Rev. Vicki Smith and Dennis Fitzgibbons will return on Tuesday, Feb 24 from 5 - 6 PM on ZOOM. We will meet weekly for 6 weeks and reevaluate over Holy Week and Easter.
This reflection series will use the book “For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional”. It is not necessary to purchase the book. Each week, a link to the ZOOM call and a link to a reading from the book will be in the weekly St. Bart’s bulletin. We look forward to seeing you.
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Diplomacy on Ice:
Climate science, glaciers, and effecting change on the global level
A Talk by Dr. Susana Hancock
March 8, 4 pm
St. Bart's Climate Action Committee is excited to welcome Dr. Susana Hancock back to St. Bart's to speak on Sunday, March 8 at 4 pm. Susana, familiar to many at St. Bart's, is an Arctic and glaciers researcher who specializes in science diplomacy and climate policy. Susana will share some of her recent icy adventures (ranging from an attempt to ski to the North Pole to climbing the high altitude glaciers along the Colombian Equator) and how she brings her research to world leaders and into international decision-making spheres to drive urgency and ambition in global climate action. We hope you will join us for an engaging and informative afternoon.
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St. Bart's Outreach
A Focus on Organizations We Collaborate With
At the first meeting of the newly formed Outreach Committee one of the topics of conversation was the desire to focus monthly on one of the organizations with which we collaborate. Each month there will be a write up in the e-Bulletin and an announcement at a Sunday service about the organization's mission and volunteer opportunities for parishioners, as well as a drive to collect materials needed by that organization. This month(February) the focus will be Friendship House. March will be St. Elizabeth's and April the Yarmouth Food Pantry.
Friendship House is an organization fully funded by grants and donations, committed to helping men seeking to overcome their addictions, mainly by providing guidance, encouragement and a family atmosphere. 15 men and a house manager live at 390 Lincoln Street in South Portland. The Executive Director is Herb Blake who in May came to St. Bart's and spoke after the service. St. Bart's has supported Friendship House for over 30 years.
Each month on the third Thursday a meal is cooked and delivered, sometimes by an individual or a family. In October we began quarterly celebrations of birthdays with a birthday cake and Dunkin Donut gift cards. Also there is an ongoing need for high volume items that Friendship House has to purchase.
Below are opportunities to support Friendship House. Thank you!
Make and deliver a meal for one of these dates:
April 16, May 21, June 18 or August 20.
Donate $10 for a Dunkin Donut gift card (5 more needed).
Provide one or more of these items.
Paper towels
Toilet paper
Cleaning supplies
Dish soap
Dishwasher pods
Paper plates
Coffee
Extra silverware (does not need to be new or matching)
Please contact Pam Hobson with any questions.
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Book of 2 Months Club:
Tue, Feb 10, 6:30 pm
Join us in February as we meet for the 2nd time to discuss "White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in America Christianity" by Robert P. Jones. Drawing on history, public opinion surveys, and personal experience, "White Too Long" presents a provocative examination of the unholy relationship between American Christianity and white supremacy, and issues an urgent call for white Christians to reckon with this legacy for the sake of themselves and the nation.
Join Rev. Amanda to discuss this book on Tuesday, February 10th at 6:30 pm via Zoom.
Please RSVP to Rev. Amanda so that she can send you the Zoom link.
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St. Bart's Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
Tuesday, February 17, at 5:00pm
Join us on Shrove Tuesday and enjoy informal fellowship while dining on steaming pancakes and delicious fixings!
We could not do this without your participation.
Please volunteer and sign up on the sheet in the narthex bulletin board. If you can't get into the church to sign up, feel free to contact the office and Teri can add your name and item(s) to the list!
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Holy Habits Lenten Meditations
from Sister Monica Clare
Beginning on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18) and continuing throughout the 2026 season, Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) is offering daily Lenten Meditations inviting readers to reflect upon and deepen their spiritual practices.
This year, ERD has partnered with Sister Monica Clare—Episcopal nun, best-selling author and unlikely TikTok star—to create meditations that explore the theme of “Holy Habits.” In her meditations, Clare reflects on the scripture readings for vespers (evening prayer) to encourage habits that support and strengthen a life of faith.
All are invited to participate in “Holy Habits” by subscribing to daily emails, downloading resources for further study and including the meditations in community prayer, worship and gathering time. Explore the meditations HERE.
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An Update from St Elizabeth's Essentials Pantry
After a very low turnout of 73 neighbors last week, it was gratifying to have just over 200 arrive slowly but steadily this week to be served inside. The basic essentials were given out, along with diapers and helpful information to guide everyone in these challenging times. Books were also available and popular. Hopefully housewares will be distributed in two weeks if enough donations arrive.
Thank you for all the ways you support the mission of St. Elizabeth’s, especially now as we deal with challenges not seen before.
FMI: Contact Linda Draper or www.stelizabethsmaine.org
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Democracy Not Theocracy
The Authoritarian Threat of “Christian” Nationalism
A training on how to recognize and resist authoritarianism and
White “Christian” Nationalism
Thursday, February 26, 6:30 – 8:00pm (Online)
Authoritarianism and White “Christian” Nationalism are closely linked and it’s up to us to expose that link and counteract it-- for the good of our democracy and our faith. Because so-called “Christian” Nationalists and the authoritarian government they support threaten a foundation of our Constitution and our creed: belief in the sacred worth and equality of all people.
That’s why Maine Council of Churches and Multifaith Justice Maine are inviting you to attend this online training led by our national partners at Interfaith Alliance and get equipped to speak and act with the moral clarity this moment demands.
Adam Friedman of Interfaith Alliance who will lead this training says, “Faith communities have superpowers in this moment to make a real difference in unique ways. We will focus on showing what those superpowers are and how to activate them through interfaith nonviolent civil resistance.”
Adam and others from Interfaith Alliance will teach us how to refuse to cede ground to anti-democratic activists who think their “religious freedom” should be a license to hurt others. We’ll learn how to thwart their desire for social control, white supremacist beliefs, gleeful malevolence, and comfort with authoritarian violence.
At the end of the training, you’ll learn about next steps you can take right here in Maine, including a follow-up training that will be offered by Multifaith Justice Maine, a group led by MCC Board member Rev. Dr. Jodi Hayashida.
Because you believe authoritarianism is a spiritual crisis and betrays the divine call to love, justice, and humility, please join us for this important training.
We believe this opportunity is so important that we want to offer it free of charge, and many of you stepped up with end-of-year gifts to help make that possible. Thank you! For those of you who didn’t have the chance to make such a gift in December, we’ll offer an opportunity for you to do so now, when you register for the training.
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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.
To volunteer for a Sunday Coffee Hour, CLICK HERE.
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