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. Emily Blair Stribling, presiding
| | Plan to stay for our Christmas Pageant immediately following the service | | |
Christmas Eve Service at 4 p.m.
Pastor Elaine Hewes, preaching
Join us in-person or online. Click below for the Zoom link.
The bulletin will be available next week.
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All services and meetings will be held both in-person and via Zoom unless otherwise designated.
| | | | 4:30 p.m. Meditation/Silent Prayer (Zoom) | | The Navigator for Sunday, December 28th will be sent on Wednesday. | | | | |
10:00 a.m. In-person Meditation
4:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Service with Pastor Elaine Hewes preaching
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10:00 a.m. Christmas Day Holy Eucharist at
St. Francis by the Sea
| | | | 10:00 a.m. Service of Lessons and Carols and Holy Eucharist with The Rev. Donna Downs presiding | | | | 3:00 p.m. Walking the Camino de Santiago - Talk by Jane LaChance | | | | 6:00 p.m. Feast of the Presentation at the Meditation Garden followed by soup in the Parish Hall | | Join us this Sunday for the ABCs of Christmas | | |
H is for host, the heavenly choir
That sang for the shepherds, their hearts to inspire,
Leading the way both uphill and down
A music to follow to Bethlehem town.
We've seen the artwork, and the ABCs of Christmas will be an X-traordinary presentation. Who knew we were all artists?! The Pageant begins following morning worship. If you are able, please bring a plate of cookies to share.
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"The Power of Joy"
Sermon given by The Rev. Jennifer Reece on December 14th.
Click below for the video recording.
| | From Pastor Elaine: I am so grateful for the two beautiful sets of stairs to our church basement made by John Arrison and Allen Downs, our Senior and Junior Wardens. Not only are the stairs beautiful; they will also allow us to "descend and ascend" in safety, style and heavenly glory! Many thanks from the entire St. Brendan community, John and Allen. | | |
In gratitude for our St. Brendan community,
where we are led to welcome Love into our hearts this Christmas
and every day.
| | Julie Pierson: I am grateful for the deep, consistent caring that characterizes this congregation! I welcome The Birth once again, with its message of hope and kindness in our suffering world. | | |
Magnifying the Lord
During our Outreach meeting last week, Frances Barbour shared a poem with us by Lynn Ungar in which the poet reminds her readers that when Mary first sang the “Magnificat,” the very first line of her song was, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in my Savior.” Which is why Mary’s song is even titled “The Magnificat,” I guess, although it had never before occurred to me that Mary’s affirmative response to the Holy Spirit’s question about her birthing Jesus into the world was her way of magnifying God’s presence; her way of making God known in ways God could not have otherwise been known. (A few of the lines in Lynn Ungar’s poem, spoken by Mary saying, “My soul magnifies the Lord./ Who I am, what I do, how I choose/ makes God bigger.”)
The amazing thing is though, is that Lynn Ungar’s next lines suggest that to magnify God is to slip God “between microscope slides” so as to “see God in never-before-seen detail,” which means, as the poet says, “that in being magnified God gets small,/ small enough to sleep amongst the straw and the scent of farm animals./ God magnified,” writes the poet, “becomes particular,/tangible, urgent as a hungry child.”
What a stunning paradox; the poet’s suggestion that in magnifying God, God gets bigger by getting smaller (particular, tangible)… A mystery worthy of our contemplation as we take the Christmas story into our hearts and consider how we might magnify the presence of God in our own times and places.
(The poem by Lynn Ungar can be found by “Googling” the poet’s name and “Magnificat.” The poem has also been set to music by Dale Trumbore and can also be found on the internet. Our dear Frances is singing this piece in a choir this Christmas season at her home in California, and she encouraged everyone on the Outreach ministry to listen to it. So why not all of us? Thank you, Frances!)
Lynn Ungar’s use of the word magnify in her “Christmas” poem reminded me of a Christmas poem I wrote years ago using a magnifying glass as a central image. The poem, entitled “Incarnation,” goes like this… “The sun’s unbounded rays,/ when found in the curve/ of a convex glass,/ will focus to a point/ so rich in light/ it turns to flame./ So too love,/ immense and unmeasured,/ when tethered/ to a gesture/ of sound or skin/ will round to a point/ so rich in relation/ it burns with the fire/ of Incarnation.”
Two poems giving us two ways of contemplating the word magnify this Christmas season. Along with the question of how each of us might “magnify the Lord” in ways that can be seen and heard in the world… small, tangible, particular ways “so rich in relation, they burn with the fire of incarnation…”
So much for us to ponder, like Mary, as we contemplate the paradox of making God bigger by making God smaller… A paradox beautifully rendered in the last four lines of Lynn Ungar’s poem…
And Mary, like so many women
before her and after, puts the baby
to her breast, where they both grow
vast in one another’s eyes.
| | Giving our Priorities Shape (GPS) Action Item | | |
Slow Down. Quiet. It’s Advent.
Thinking about Tony Stoneburner’s Annunciation poem heard a couple of weeks ago, let us consider what keeps us from hearing, listening, seeing, acting to share God’s love with our neighbors near and far. Are we too busy, distracted by our phones, fearful of risk, resigned, overwhelmed? Try to wake up each day with a decision to bring joy to someone, somewhere, in some small way.
| | Sunday services in storm conditions | | |
How’s the weathah?
Weather or not, we will have Sunday services. We got good practice in the COVID days, thanks to George, Barbara K., and Zoom.
If there is a storm warning or a significant chance of unsafe travel conditions, Pastor Elaine will “meet” with John, Allen, and George on Saturday night to evaluate weather conditions and decide whether we can meet at the church or hold an all-Zoom service.
Know that under wintry conditions, the first rule of thumb is to stay safe. Stay put, even if a power outage means you might not be able to Zoom in.
We will send an email blast Saturday evening or Sunday morning with service information and a Zoom link if there is a significant storm in progress or about to hit. If you have questions, please feel free to call or email John at 207-505-2474 or arrison17@gmail.com.
“As a community of faith, nothing can separate us from the love of God nor are we separated from one another.”
John Arrison
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Barbara Kourajian gave the reflection on December 10th.
. Click here for the video recording.
A text copy is available here.
| | | Education & Spiritual Development Ministry | | |
"The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth."
Psalm 146:5
Zoom Meditation/Silent Prayer at 4:30 p.m.
Readings, poems, and prayers are shared before a period of silence.
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In-Person Meditation/Silent Prayer at St. Brendan
Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
| | No Bible Study on December 24, 31 or January 7 | | |
Skip Greenlaw – 12
Connie Mayo – 13
Andree Appel – 21
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Mimi Gerstell – 23
Jim Anderson – 29
| | The gallery will be filled with unique works created by local artists in a wide variety of mediums and styles, perfect for collecting and gift-giving. Woody Osborne is one of the featured artists. | | We pray for those in special need: | | |
Janet
Meredydd Cooper
Henna Torrey Roy
Liz Leuthner
Jerry
Helen and Gibbie Nauman
Agnes and Billy
Barbara K.
Julie and Tom
Gwyn Murray
Sally
Beth Kyzer
David
Preston Henderson
Mollie Ann Meserve
Tammie and Jason Cox
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Tyler Goss
Kate Hallen & Bob Blum
Judith Jerome
Mimi Maslan
Semantha
Judy Miller
Megan
Bishop Thomas Brown
Naomi
Anne Burton
Hewit
Mary Ann and Terry
Nishah
David Morrish
Corbin
Rebecca
Pam B.
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Jaxson
Heather Corey
Stephen Gill
Bill Scaife
Brent Was
Gary and Wellesley
Mary Lawrence Hicks and family
Nancy Greene
Peter Brown
Seth
Linda Shepard and family
Lindsay Bowker
Marcia Scott
Tony Stoneburner
Carol Stoneburner
| | We pray, also, for those who love and care for them. | | |
We continue to hold in prayer those in our community who have recently lost loved ones; among them are the Sherman, Hewes, Putnam, Wright, Clauson/Hewes, Pierson, Wade/Scaife, Dahlen, Stoessel, and Miller/Budd 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 Sarah Mullally, Archbishop of Canterbury; Hosam, Bishop of Jerusalem; Sean, our Presiding Bishop; and Thomas, our Bishop.
In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we pray for St. Matthew's, Lisbon Falls, for our neighbors in the United Methodist Church, and for peace throughout the world.
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for The Anglican Church of Burundi.
On the Island and Peninsula, we pray for Eggemoggin Reach Society of Friends, Sedgwick.
| | | Fourth Sunday In Advent
On this final Sunday of preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth, the central figures are the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. The Gospel reading is Matthew’s account of Jesus’ conception by the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin. It is this
Incarnation -- becoming flesh -- of God the Son that unites things earthly with things heavenly. In the quiet obedience of Joseph and Mary, we find the model for Christian living that enables us to be extensions of Christ’s Incarnation.
In today’s reading from Isaiah, the prophet foretells the birth of a child in a passage that the New Testament writers, especially Matthew, considered to be fulfilled in Jesus’ birth from Mary.
Jesus’ descent from David, his birth, his death and resurrection, are Paul’s theme in the passage from Romans. That life, death, and resurrection are the source of our new life in Christ, and bring us the grace and power to live in faith and obedience.
The liturgy centers on the fact that God comes to us in and through the material world. He came in the flesh of a human mother and lived within a human family. He comes to us now in bread and wine. He comes to the world in our flesh as we live in faithful obedience to him. The pattern for that obedience is the Holy Family of Nazareth for whom we give thanks today.
Notes 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:
| | Warden - John Arrison, 207-505-2474 arrison17@gmail.com | | Warden - Allen Downs 207-348-2560 agdowns53@gmail.com | | |
Emily Hawkins - Treasurer
Cindy Beyer - Clerk
Beth Carter
Kassie Grey
George Pazuniak
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