St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church
Our Mission: "To Love, Praise, Welcome and Serve"
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Worship this Sunday:
10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
The Rev. Donna Downs, presiding
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Advent Vespers on Wednesday
Join us at 5:00 p.m. for this service of silence, prayer, and music. The Rev. Emily Blair Stribling will offer the reflection. You are invited to come early to sit in silence. We will have the candles lit by 4:45.
The bulletin can be found here.
Click below for the Zoom link.
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"Holy Waiting"
A reflection given by Jane LaChance at the Vespers service on December 11th.
Click here for a recording of the service.
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All services and meetings will be held both in-person and via Zoom unless otherwise designated.
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9:00 a.m. Welcoming & Hospitality Ministry meeting (Zoom)
4:30 p.m. Meditation/Silent Prayer (Zoom)
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8:30 a.m. Vestry meeting
10:30 a.m. Advent Bible Study with The Rev. Alice Hildebrand
3:45 p.m. Choir rehearsal
5:00 p.m. Vespers -- Reflection by Rev. Emily Blair Stribling
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8:30 a.m. Men's Breakfast at Stonecutters Kitchen
10:00 a.m. Christmas Pageant rehearsal
Volunteers are still needed (see below)
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10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist with The Rev. Andrew Stoessel presiding
11:15 a.m. Christmas Pageant in the Parish Hall
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4:00 p.m. A Service of Lessons & Carols with
Pastor Elaine Hewes preaching
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Pastor Elaine Hewes and poet Stuart Kestenbaum shared the sermon
on December 8th.
Click here for the video recording.
A text copy is available here.
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Fragments on the way to wholeness
(Two examples of the collages I refer to below can be found above in an introduction to last Sunday’s sermon.)
Susan Webster’s collages, made of fragments of her work which she discards and puts into a shoe box until she is ready to use them, have been such a compelling metaphor for me this Advent season as I have pondered the theme of “Holy Waiting.” And I say so because it reminds me that we are all a work in progress, never “a complete and perfect work,” and always waiting to have the broken fragments of our lives reconfigured and transformed into something reflective of the fullness of life to which God calls us.
And while this is good news in and of itself, Susan’s collages have helped me to see that there is a beauty to the artistic works made from the fragments that are deeper, truer and more authentic to human life than the original “perfect in-tact” artistic works from which they came. As if to say the creations made from brokenness have a quality of life and meaning that are somehow missing in the original works of art; a quality that is born in the broken pieces (the wounds themselves) as those pieces are creatively and lovingly reconfigured until they come to what Susan Webster calls “a moment of clarity” in which she knows she’s “landed” and “the world is right.”
What a wonderful thing it is to imagine that this is what God’s Spirit is up to in our own lives; creatively and lovingly taking the fragments, the broken pieces and the wounds, and reconfiguring them until they come to a moment of clarity and “the world is right.” What a wonderful thing it is to imagine that even as we wait to be made “whole” in the fullness to which God calls us, God’s healing and liberating Spirit is always waiting for us to release the fragments of our lives into God’s creative and loving care.
Who knows what the collages of our lives might look like were we to let God reconfigure and transform our broken pieces and wounds in the crucible of God’s creative and redeeming love? Who knows what beautiful things God makes of us even as we wait to be made whole?
Pastor Elaine
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Mickey Jacoba: In gratitude for a beautiful night: | | |
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STARRY NIGHT
December the Holy month of winter
Heavy frost and snow create a luminous landscape.
The moon full, strikingly bright
Ignites hundreds of frost crystals.
And on this night, this marvelous night
Down the pathway to the house
I walk on Stars.
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Jackie Wilson: In gratitude for friendship and for the visit of Judy Miller
to Deer Isle last week.
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Anne Williams:
Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is well on its way. However, my thanks for your support is still paramount. Without your blessed interaction, life would have been even darker than it was.
It has been a few several hard years for us. First, Dave's cancer and our desire and his to remain with us for his care and be his overseers for his well-being. Those were a hard three years in isolation for the three of us. Following that I fell and broke my back of three vertebrae and it has put me in a brace and vigilance for almost a year now, no driving and much surveillance as to my safety for at least a year. To top it off, my beloved wolfhound, Ballad, has developed a severe imbalance problem, partial blindness, we think, to a severe inner ear infection. Trips to the specialty clinic in Portland have also taken their toll. I do not know if looking into the future would help brighten the few years we have ahead or cause more problems and frustrations. However, we take whatever comes with gratitude and hope.
Again, a much-belated thanks for standing with us in such hard times. I sent this to you, Elaine, because many wonderful parishioners contributed hope, food, and prayer for us. It all came together at once, and I am not sure who did what. But no matter –they did it out of love and concern. You probably have a better idea of those intimately involved, so I wish you would pass this note on to those who were involved.
Again, thanks to such a wonderful, caring community of parishioners and friends led by you.
Anne
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Giving our Priorities Shape (GPS) Action Item | |
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During the Season of Advent, our GPS invitation is to put our Love in Action. In the December 1 Navigator, Elaine wrote about being Advent calendars ourselves, “opening a door in our hearts and lives each day to reveal God’s incarnate presence in our midst.”
As we prepare our hearts for Jesus’ coming, we are invited to open the door of our hearts to welcome our neighbor, the lonely, the imprisoned, and the refugee; to open the door of our hearts to the beauty of creation and the need to protect it….
What would some doors on your Advent calendar reveal if you were to open them and do what they say?
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This is the last Sunday to drop off your items
Here is the most recent list:
- 2 makeup kits for teenagers (ages 15 & 17)
- 2 Floral Legos
- Manga Tiles -- a building set
- Light-up cars and trucks (like fire trucks and cop cars)
- Remote control cars
- Body lotions
- Nail polish
- Flat iron for hair
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Click here for other suggestions
Financial contributions are also welcome.
Checks should be payable to Alfred's Christmas Fund and sent to
Bobbi Billings, 300 Sunshine Road, Deer Isle, ME 04627-3622.
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A Christmas Pageant at St. Brendan!
Please let Pastor Elaine know if you would be willing to participate in the Christmas pageant in the Parish Hall after worship on Sunday, December 22. With only three children in our church, we need many grown-ups to take part in telling the story. When was the last time you had the opportunity to be a shepherd, a king, an angel, or a donkey?! All characters can read their parts, so no one needs to worry about memorizing any lines.
We will have a pageant rehearsal at 10:00 on Saturday, December 21. Mark your calendars, and get ready to help us make the Christmas story come alive for the children and the entire St. Brendan community.
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Education & Spiritual Development Ministry | |
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"Live a life of love . . ."
Ephesians 5:2
Meditation/Silent Prayer
every Monday at 4:30 p.m. by Zoom
Readings, poems, and prayers are shared before a period of silence.
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Advent Bible Study
Join us this Wednesday, December 18, at 10:30 a.m. for the last session of "What is This Time For?" led by Rev. Alice Hildebrand.
No Bible Study on 12/25, 1/1, and 1/8
Bible Study will resume on January 15th
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Skip Greenlaw – 12
Connie Mayo – 13
Andree Appel – 21
Mimi Gerstell – 23
Jim Anderson – 29
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Last Saturday, nearly 60 people attended the opening reception of an art exhibit celebrating poet Stuart Kestenbaum and visual artist Susan Webster's new book, A Quiet Book. Stuart and Susan gave a short presentation about their process of producing the 54 images of collages by Susan and improvised text by Stuart. Our thanks to John Arrison for installing the exhibit. | |
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We pray for those in special need:
The family and friends of Susan Wade
The family and friends of Ron Dahlen
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Judy C
Beverly Braxton
Michelle
Louise Stevens
Bob Temple
Tom Russell
Peter Tarlton
Will Oneil
Isabelle Valencia
Dan Fowler
Janet
Mimi Maslan
Susan Manne
Semantha and Lee
Emily Gibson
Beth and Tito Kyzer
Judy
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Megan
Bishop Thomas Brown
Naomi
Robert B. Tobin
Anne Burton
Hewit
Mary Ann and Terry
Nishah
David Morrish
Corbin
Rebecca
Pam B.
Jaxson
Heather Corey
Stephen Gill
Brent Was
Bill Scaife
Stewart and Julie
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Gary and Wellesley
Mary Blanco
Max
The family of Bob Budd
Mary Lawrence Hicks and family
Nancy Greene
Peter Brown
Nick
Seth
Linda Shepard and family
Mary Ann Shaw
Lindsay Bowker
Nancy Boothby
Marcia Scott
Tony Stoneburner
Carol Stoneburner
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We pray, also, for those who love and care for them. | |
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We continue to hold in prayer those in our community who have recently lost loved ones; among them are Wade/Scaife, Dahlen, Stoessel, Miller/Budd, Verhey, and Greene families.
We pray for those struggling with addiction and mental illness and their caregivers.
We pray for all those receiving care through Neighbor Care and for all the relocated residents of the Island Nursing Home and their families.
We pray for the victims of gun violence -- in our cities and towns, in our schools, in our places of worship, and in our homes.
We pray for the victims of the violence of armed conflicts around the world. We pray for those made refugees by the violence of armed conflicts. We pray for the victims of terrorist attacks everywhere.
We pray for all who suffer the effects of domestic violence and the violence of bullying in our schools and workplaces.
We pray for our nation, our president and vice-president, and all elected and appointed leaders.
We pray for all peacemakers and all those who work for justice; may we be found in their ranks.
We pray for all those serving in the armed forces of our country.
We pray for Justin Welby and his family; Hosam, Bishop of Jerusalem; Sean, our Presiding Bishop; and Thomas, our Bishop.
In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we pray for St. Thomas', Winn, for those grieving the loss of a loved one this holiday season.
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for The Anglican Church of Tanzania.
On the Island and Peninsula, we pray for Saunders Memorial Congregational Church, Deer Isle.
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Third Sunday of Advent
In our readings and in the Collect for today, the major themes of biblical, prophetic religion come together, deepening the preparation of God’s faithful people for the approaching Christmas festival.
We pray that God will “stir up his power and come among us” and we are given the paradoxical message of fearful judgment and joyful anticipation. This message is given first in Zephaniah’s announcement of “the Day of the Lord” when God will come to draw all people into a saving and life-giving community. “The Lord, your God, is in your midst.” “Sing aloud... Rejoice... Exult.”
For Paul and the church in Philippi, the Lord has indeed come in Jesus’ death and resurrection. “Rejoice,” Paul says, and be partakers in the peace of God, which is our true guardian and protector.
But first, we hear the harsh words from John the Baptist, warning that we must be prepared for that coming if it is indeed to be a time of rejoicing. Repentance is the key to that preparation. However, repentance must be more than a feeling, and it must be deeper than outward rituals such as water baptism, or tracing one’s descent from Abraham. That repentance must bear fruit in social righteousness—in self-giving and concrete actions of love and mercy toward others.
The Lord is in the midst of us, and so we sing out joyful Alleluias as he comes to us in his Word, and again as he comes to us in the breaking of the bread.
The Rite Light: Reflections on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of the Church Year. Copyright © 2009 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated, New York
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Office Hours: Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Pastor Elaine Hewes
Tel: 207-479-5651
elaine.hewes@gmail.com
Emergency Contacts:
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Warden - John Arrison, 207-505-2474 arrison17@gmail.com | |
Warden - Lis Ingoldsby, 207-348-2586 lisingo@msn.com | |
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Dan Reardon-Treasurer
Emily Hawkins-Clerk
Beth Carter
Woody Osborne
George Pazuniak
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