St. Brendan the Navigator Episcopal Church
Our Mission: "To Love, Praise, Welcome and Serve"
| | Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost | | | |
Worship this Sunday:
10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
The Rev. Andrew Stoessel, presiding
| |
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) | | | | |
10:00 a.m. Meditation/Silent Prayer (in person)
10:30 a.m. Bible Study
12:30 p.m. Outreach Ministry meeting
4:00 p.m. Choir rehearsal
| | | | 8:30 a.m. Men's breakfast | | | | |
9:30 a.m. Gathering at the Meditation Garden
10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Pastor Elaine Hewes presiding
| | |
Sermon given by Pastor Elaine Hewes on November 2nd.
Click below for the video recording. A text copy is available here.
| | |
A dynamic duo!
Our gratitude to Josephine Jacob and Miriam Antich for their tireless efforts in preparing and leading our 2025 WindowDressers Build. The Build started several months ago with the measuring of windows and ended on Wednesday afternoon. This was one of our most successful builds due to their leadership and to the many volunteers who so ably helped with this project.
| | |
Christmas Pageant 2025
Our St. Brendan Christmas pageant will take place after worship on Sunday, December 21. And this year, we need your participation well before the actual date of the pageant itself, as you are all invited to help us create an “ABC of Christmas book” that will be premiered on the “big screen” on the 21st, along with music and other “theatrical treasures.”
Here is the invitation to your participation:
Please consider picking up a colorful piece of tagboard and a letter of the alphabet, which you will find in the parish hall at church beginning this Sunday, November 9. Then, thinking about the letter of the alphabet you have chosen, come up with something in the Christmas story that begins with that letter… (Be creative… “C” could stand for “Christ Child,” but it could also stand for “cow” or “constellation” or “celebration” or “compassion,” and “F” could stand for “family” or “friendly beasts” or “feathers” or “fox.”)
You are encouraged to think outside the box and to imagine who else/what else might be included in the expansive reach of the Christ Child’s love… Maybe the serpent? Maybe Adam or Eve? Maybe you? Have fun with this “assignment” as you think about what your letter of the alphabet might stand for.
Then, using the tagboard and any other materials you would like to use (paints, markers, construction paper, fabric, tree branches, acorns, hot-glue guns, etc, etc, etc), fill the page with a visual representation of the item /thing/ person you have chosen to bring to the Christmas story. And be not afraid! Even if you don’t think of yourself as an artist… You can ask a five-year-old to help you! Or you can stay after worship on Sunday, November 16, as we take out all sorts of art materials to use and help each other to create what we want to create.
All of our ABC of Christmas pages need to be gathered at church by November 30th so we can get them ready for presentation on December 21st. And if you finish early, it would be lovely to have your page before November 30th so the team putting the “pageant production” together can get started.
Of course, there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, so if they all get taken before you have a chance to take one, not to worry… Some letters can have two pages in the story… And then there’s this… Whoever takes the letters “x” and “z” gets a Swedish coffee bread as a reward.
Any questions, please ask Elaine. Ready, set, go!
| | Giving our Priorities Shape (GPS) Action Item | | |
For the remaining weeks of Ordinary Time before the first Sunday of Advent, you are invited to engage more deeply in your “practice” of faith, your heart’s commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and in particular to the call to “Love Thy Neighbor.” There are so many opportunities near and far:
- Help out with and/or contribute to HIP’s Wednesday Food Pantry 2:30-5:30, or Thursday’s Senior Lunch Box distribution (call 367-6332 for info),
- Join with Simmering Pot 4th Monday soup making - next date November 24,
- Support Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) (Portland, ME),
- Make a donation to Alfred’s Box,
- Connect often with the children in your life,
- Share a meal with a neighbor,
- Write a letter to a long-lost friend,
- Make a phone call to the same,
- Share a smile or a kind word with a stranger,
- Offer a gesture of forgiveness where needed…
| | |
The WindowDressers Build is finished!
168 insulating window inserts were built and 70 inserts were re-wrapped.
The Build was an opportunity for us to build community.
THANK YOU to everyone who helped with this effort. A special thanks to the Welcoming and Hospitality Ministry for our lunches and snacks.
| | |
An updated list for Alfred's Box
Theresa Gove sent the following Christmas Wish List to Woody. She continues to receive names daily and is so grateful for our help. Don't forget the items on her first list. Click here for the list.
| | | | |
Train set & trains for a 4-year-old boy
Dinosaurs for a 2-year-old boy
Play-doh kits (likes to make pizza)
4 sets Pokémon cards
Soccer stuff. Anything for a 12-year-old boy
Boys boots size 6
Men's boots size 8 for a 14-year-old boy
5 pairs water-resistant gloves girls
7 pairs water-resistant gloves boys
Boys size 12 sweatpants
Snowsuit for a 12-month-old girl
Mittens & hat 12-month-old girl
Puzzles for a 4-year-old
12 coloring books and crayons
6 packs of markers for little ones
3 packs of multiple color Sharpies for 3 teenagers
| | | Education & Spiritual Development Ministry | | |
"Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things."
Psalm 98:1
Zoom Meditation/Silent Prayer
Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Readings, poems, and prayers are shared before a period of silence.
| | |
In-Person Meditation/Silent Prayer at St. Brendan
Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
| | |
Bible Study
Wednesday, November 12th at 10:30 a.m.
In person and on Zoom
No Bible Study on November 19th and November 26th
| | |
Jonny Wheaton – 3
Janet Pickens – 15
Kassie Grey – 17
Charlie Putnam – 17
Beth Carter – 18
| | |
Peter Tarlton – 20
Robert Stribling – 23
Joan Maxwell – 27
Tom van Buren – 27
Andrew Stoessel – 29
| | |
It's Hard to Talk About: Stories of Incarceration in Maine
Saturday, November 8 1:00 p.m.
The Grand in Ellsworth
Five justice-impacted storytellers will perform narratives from individuals who are currently or formerly incarcerated, as well as their friends and family, and others affected by and working in and around the criminal legal system.
This is more than a performance; it's an effort to bridge the gap between those on the "inside" and "outside" and challenge oversimplified public narratives about crime and punishment by highlighting paths of transformation and growth.
The show is free and open to the public. This project is sponsored by the Freedom & Captivity Collective. Learn more here.
| | |
Join online Creation Care Compline
Monday, November 10 at 8 p.m.
As The Episcopal Church prepares to participate in the 2025 United Nations climate change conference (also known as COP30), join for an evening of prayer hosted by the church’s creation care ministry and the Green Caucus of The Episcopal Church. Register here.
Learn more about The Episcopal Church’s commitment to creation care.
| | We pray for those in special need: | | |
Jerry
Harry Vickerson
Helen and Gibbie Nauman
Mimi Gerstell
Agnes and Billy
Barbara K.
Julie and Tom
Gwen Murray
Sally
Beth Kyzer
David
Preston Henderson
Mollie Ann Meserve
Heidi (Jonny's mother)
Tammie and Jason Cox
Tyler Goss
| | |
Kate Hallen & Bob Blum
Judith Jerome
Mimi Maslan
Semantha
Judy
Megan
Bishop Thomas Brown
Naomi
Anne Burton
Hewit
Mary Ann and Terry
Nishah
David Morrish
Corbin
Rebecca
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
Mary Ann Shaw
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 Good Shepherd, Rangeley, for all who serve and have served in the armed forces of our country.
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for The Church in the Province of the
West Indies.
On the Island and Peninsula, we pray for the Reversing Falls Sanctuary, Brooksville.
| | | Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
The final Sundays in the church year always direct us toward the end of time and the end of human life. So today’s gospel reading is a confrontation between Jesus and the Sadducees, a group within Judaism who did not believe in resurrection, as did
Jesus and the Pharisees. They try to ridicule the doctrine of resurrection by giving a theoretical application of the Old Testament law that if a man died childless his brother must marry the widow and produce a child to carry on the dead man’s name. Jesus responds that the concern of the law to perpetuate the human race is only for this life. The resurrection life never ends, thus procreation is not needed in that life.
Jesus emphasizes that all people are alive in God, thus undercutting the exclusivity of many of his contemporaries.
Haggai was a sixth-century B.C. prophet who led the way in the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity was ended. Here we see that the promise made through the earlier prophets was fulfilled; a remnant of the people was saved and they were restored to their land.
The second reading today is from 2 Thessalonians. This church had repeated difficulties due to some members’ expectation that Jesus’ return was due at any moment. Both letters to this church deal primarily with the need for Christians to live at all times as though the Lord is at hand, regardless of when he will actually return.
We gather in the Eucharist as people already in the resurrection life because of our baptism. We gather to share and celebrate a foretaste of the life to come, which will never end. We rejoice that God is God of the living and that our union with God can never end.
Notes on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of the Church Year. Copyright © 2009 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated, New York
| | |
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
| | | | |
