St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church
Our Mission: "To Love, Praise, Welcome and Serve"
| | Last Sunday after the Epiphany | | | 9:30 a.m. Gathering at the Meditation Garden | | |
Worship this Sunday:
10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
Pastor Elaine Hewes, presiding
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All services and meetings will be held both in-person and via Zoom unless otherwise designated.
| | | | 9:00 a.m. Women's Breakfast at Stonecutters Kitchen | | | | 4:30 p.m. Meditation/Silent Prayer (Zoom) | | | | |
4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
Click here to let us know you are coming
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10:00 a.m. In-person Meditation
3:45 p.m. Choir rehearsal
5:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday service
Click here for the Zoom link. Check the website for the bulletin.
| | | | 8:30 a.m. Men's Breakfast in the Parish Hall | | | | 10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist with The Rev. Emily Blair Stribling presiding | | | | 3:00 p.m. First annual "Talent" show | | Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany | | |
"You are the salt of the earth"
Sermon given by The Rev. Timothy Ensworth on February 8th.
Click below for the video recording. A text copy is available here.
| | Thank you to Pete and Martha Dane for spearheading another Mardi Gras celebration and to Damon and Cindy Beyer and Karen Downs for taking over the meal preparation after Martha's accident. Thanks, too, to the many people who pitched in to help after the venue change to the Parish Hall. It was an evening of fine fellowship and delicious food. | | |
A Spring in the Desert
Our theme for Lent this year is “A Spring in the Desert,” a theme which acknowledges the wisdom of this season in the Church year as we dare to speak the truth about the desert (or wilderness) times in which we find ourselves and the promise that somewhere in the parched places (both internal and external) there is a spring of living water to be found in Christ Jesus. (Sometimes that spring is only a teaspoonful. Sometimes it’s only a trickle or a drop. And sometimes it’s only the scent of water… not at all visible… just a scent carried on the wind in the barren dryness of our days and nights…)
Over the forty days of Lent, which officially begins on the first Sunday after Ash Wednesday, we will observe the practices that help us live into the truth of our internal wilderness. The Church names those practices as prayer, fasting and almsgiving, each of them in their own way helping to “rid us of anything that is not Christ.” A kind of stripping away (compliments of the Holy Spirit) that removes from us those things like fear, apathy, animosity, mean-spiritedness, etc., that keep us from being the fullest measure of our true selves possible. (Think of it as entering the waters of God’s fierce and tender love with all your baggage intact and coming out buck-naked… a kind of spiritual “skinny dipping” for any of us who would never otherwise dream of such a thing!)
There will be many opportunities for us to gather at St. Brendan during the Lenten season for truth-telling, skinny-dipping, testing the air for the scent of water, and bearing witness to those wilderness times and places where we have found a “spring in the desert.” Below you will find a complete line-up of those opportunities. Don’t worry about keeping track of them all; we will have reminders in the Navigator and in our Sunday bulletins. Of course, besides these opportunities, we will gather on Sundays for worship at 10:00, Sundays being considered by the Church as “little Easters” in a season that is penitential in nature… a time when we can feast on the Eucharist, on the love of one another, and on all manner of coffee hour treats.
Shrove Tuesday pancake supper from 4:00-6:00 on Tuesday, February 17.
Ash Wednesday service at 5:00 on Wednesday, February 18, with the imposition of ashes.
Lenten vespers at 5:00 on February 25, March 4, March 11, March 18, and March 25. (Our reflectors, in order, will be Annie Porter, Linda Nelson, Cathy Washburn, Carl Woodard, and Dwight Staples.)
Holy Week offerings:
Palm Sunday March 29 at 10:00
Tenebrae service at 7:00 on Wednesday, April 1
Maundy Thursday service at 5:00 on Thursday, April 2
Good Friday service at 5:00 on Friday, April 3
Easter Vigil at 7:00 on Saturday, April 4 at St. Francis
Easter sunrise service at 6:00 on the commercial fishing pier
Easter morning worship at St. Brendan at 10:00
One other opportunity: During Holy Week, St. Brendan will host an art show for the wider community titled, “The Shape of Love: Deep Down and Wide Open – island artists respond to the Stations of the Cross.” More information about this will be forthcoming, but for now, just to say that seventeen artists (fifteen of them from the island) will participate in an art show on the Stations of the Cross that will be available for viewing from March 29 – April 8, with an opening from 2:00 to 4:00 on Sunday, March 29.
And, just a reminder that Bible study on Wednesday mornings during Lent will offer us the opportunity to focus our hearts and minds on a study called, “Wendell Berry and the Sabbath Poetry of Lent.” In the time of such turmoil around us and such desert places within us, the Sabbath poetry of Wendell Berry can offer us “a spring of living water.” Please feel welcome to join us either in person or over Zoom from 10:30-12:00 on Wednesdays beginning on February 25.
And, another reminder… Silent meditation is also a small Sabbath gift in a world gone crazy with fear and animosity. Every week, there are two opportunities to gather for silent prayer: Mondays at 4:30 over Zoom and Wednesdays at 10:00 at St. Brendan.
I look forward to gathering with the St. Brendan community during this Lenten season for truth-telling, skinny-dipping, testing the air for the scent of water, and bearing witness to those wilderness times and places where we have found a “spring in the desert.” May this season be for all of us a time of dying to things that keep us bound and a rising into the life to which God calls us.
Pastor Elaine
| | Giving our Priorities Shape (GPS) Action Item | | |
On January 31, 2026, 154 Bishops of the Episcopal Church including Maine’s Bishop Thomas Brown, posted a letter to their fellow Americans saying in part, ”what is happening in communities across this country runs counter to God’s vision of justice and peace. This crisis is about more than one city or state – it's about who we are as a nation. The question before us is simple and urgent: Whose dignity matters?... Our faith gives us a clear answer: everyone’s... By the grace of God may this season of grief become a season of renewal. May courage rise from lament, and love take root in every heart”.
Read the complete letter here.
Please call or write your Senators and Representative and urge them to vigorously protest the lawlessness of ICE, to ask for accountability, and to insist on the safety and human rights of all persons – citizens, non-citizens, “documented” and “undocumented”.
Another organization to research is the American Immigration Council.
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Our beautiful books are ready for purchase!
The “St. Brendan’s ABCs of Christmas” is full of fabulous artwork done by St. Brendan people. They are $35.00 each, and there are enough copies for everyone in the congregation to have one. And, if you would like additional copies, let us know as we can order more. If you are off-island now, we can save a copy for you until your return.
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Journey through Lent, illustrated by award-winning cartoonist Jay Sidebotham, invites spiritual reflection and is a wonderful companion for the Lenten season.
This poster is just right for hanging on the wall or keeping on a table for coloring. The calendars are available in the entryway at the church. If you are not able to pick one up, email Miriam to have one mailed to you.
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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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The Sermon on the Mount:
On Earth as in Heaven
The Communities for Spiritual Vitality, a Vermont-based initiative that supports lay formation across Province 1, has just released its 2026 Lent-Easter Devotional. Included in the beautifully illustrated, 84-page booklet are contributions from Bishop Brown; Director of Faith Formation Emily Keniston; the Rev. Liz Marshall Casasola, rector of Trinity Church, Castine; Lio Cook, Church of our Father, Hull's Cove; and Larry Gilman, the Parish of St. Andrew and St. John, MDI.
Read it online, order a printed copy, and learn about the seven weekly formation gatherings using the devotional here.
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Living Well Through Lent 2026
Cultivating Healing and Wholeness
In Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind
This Living Compass resource is a daily devotional that provides a foundation for seeking a deeper experience of Lent. Click here to sign up for the daily emails. Print and electronic booklets are avilable here.
| | Education & Spiritual Development Ministry | | |
". . . Let your . . .light surround us, Lord . . . "
Psalm 33:22
Zoom Meditation/Silent Prayer at 4:30 p.m.
Readings, poems, and prayers are shared before a period of silence.
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10:00 a.m. Wednesdays
In-Person Meditation/Silent Prayer at St. Brendan
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Bible Study
February 18 - No Bible Study today - Ash Wednesday service at 5:00 p.m.
February 25 - Lenten Bible Study resumes with our study of some of the "sabbath poems" of Wendell Berry. The Lenten devotional we are using is available at church. If you will be Zooming, contact mantichino@gmail.com to receive the material by email.
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David Morrish – 4
Ruth Robinson – 4
Marilyn Fuchs – 9
Judy Miller – 10
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Marcia Scott – 16
Bill Melbostad – 21
Jane LaChance – 24
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An invitation from the Deer Isle Sunset Congregational Church
Friends:
A small group gathered at the church last week to share concern over current events in Minneapolis and a perceived sliding away from the founding values of our country. That is: government of the people, by the people, for the people; enacted with tolerance and forbearance. We decided to gather in a peaceful vigil outside our church on Thursdays at noon. Appropriate signs are welcome, and we want to emphasize loving kindness and a peaceful point of view. All are welcome to join us on Thursdays.
Pastor Kim
| | We pray for those in special need: | | |
Martha Dane
Peter McKee
Caroline Dane
Mike S.
Jennifer Hutchinson
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
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Mollie Ann Meserve
Tammie and Jason Cox
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
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Pam B
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. Mark's, Waterville, St. George's, Sanford, for victims of domestic violence, and for the ministry of Walking Together.
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean.
On the Island and Peninsula, we pray for Reversing Falls Sanctuary, Brooksville.
| | | The Last Sunday after the Epiphany
On this final Sunday before Lent, we always have as our Gospel reading the account of Jesus’ transfiguration. This event is chosen primarily because it marks the
turning point in the story of Jesus. It was on this occasion that Jesus clearly foretold his approaching death and resurrection. Thus we are pointed in our Lenten pilgrimage toward the cross and Easter.
The Old Testament reading records Moses’ meeting with God on Mt. Sinai in an event like the transfiguration. His forty days and nights with God on the mountain are a prefiguring of our time with God in Lent.
The second reading records the memory of the transfiguration event as a sign that the writer’s message is truth, being an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry. We are also witnesses as God transforms us into the likeness of Christ.
Today the Church uses the Easter word “Alleluia” for the last time until the resurrection is proclaimed at the Great Vigil of Easter. In many churches, the ancient “farewell to Alleluia” hymn (Alleluia, song of gladness) is sung at the conclusion of the service today. “Alleluia” is omitted from the liturgy throughout Lent in order that its restoration at Easter will underscore our experience of renewal on that day.
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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