Volume 28, Number 4

April 10, 2025

Bishop's Visitation, All Saints, Skowhegan

On March 16, Bishop Brown visited the congregation of All Saints, Skowhegan. In addition to presiding at the Eucharist, the Bishop also confirmed Senior Warden Ashley Pairitz (above right), Nick Pairitz, and Nancy Verderese, affirmed Clifftine Fortin, and reaffirmed Jesse Pilai (above left), David Stark, and Mary O'Donnell.

Youth Service Corps Produces St. Elizabeth's Diaper Drive PSA

Members of the ecumenical Youth Service Corps (YSC), which was featured in last month's edition of the Dio Log, produced this video to ask for support of St. Elizabeth Essentials Pantry's Diaper Drive. To join or learn more about YSC, contact Amber Burks.

'Font Relay' Brings Sacramental Church Pieces from Maine to Alabama



If you've never heard of a "font relay," you're not alone. It's what a team of Episcopalians dubbed their successful efforts to transport a baptismal font, a processional cross, and an altar cross from the Fryeburg home of the Rev. Sinclair "Skippy" Ender, rector of Christ Church in North Conway, New Hampshire, to a new church plant in Alabama. Ender had been storing the pieces since the Episcopal Church of Sts. Matthew and Barnabas in Hallowell closed in 2021, and had hoped to find them a new permanent home. He offered them in response to a request on the Episcopalians on Facebook page, and when the shipping costs proved too high, 14 volunteers from 11 parishes stepped up to "relay" the items southward. Read the uplifting story in the Episcopal News Service here.

Above: After driving the font and crosses from Maine to Springfield, Massachusetts on Feb. 3, the Rev. Skippy Ender, left, transferred them to Leslie Williams, who transported them to Danbury, Connecticut. (Facebook)

Finding Solid Rock in a Time of Shifting Sands: Insights from the Spring House of Bishops Meeting

To reflect on the recent House of Bishops (HOB) meeting last month at Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, Alabama, Bishop Brown and New Hampshire Bishop Rob Hirschfeld joined Director of Communications Susan Sherrill Axelrod on Zoom for a Q+A. The text of their conversation is on our blog.

Bishops at Camp McDowell for Spring 2025 House of Bishops meeting. Photo courtesy of the Bishop of Georgia, Frank Logue.

Good Friday Offering, Concert Will Support Middle East Ministries

Did you know the Good Friday Offering has been assisting churches, medical programs, and schools in the Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East for 103 years?

“This Lent, the need is almost unfathomable,” writes Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe in a letter to Episcopal churches. “We do not know what the political future of the Holy Land will be; but whatever the future, our siblings in Christ in The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East will continue to serve God’s people through their congregations, hospitals, schools, orphanages, and humanitarian aid programs. These vital ministries serve people of all faiths without distinction, bearing witness to the power of hope and healing across divides.”

Your gift to the Good Friday Offering will support ministry at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, which has continued to provide essential health care services despite the violence of war; St. George’s in Baghdad, Iraq, and its medical center; an eye clinic at Christ Church in Yemen; and the powerful Christian presence of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Damascus, Syria, and All Saints' Episcopal Church in Beiruit, Lebanon.

Find information about ways to give and downloadable resources here. Read Presiding Bishop Rowe's letter here.

Episcopalians are invited to enhance their Good Friday devotion by attending a sacred performance of music devoted to this solemn day. The concert—an encore presentation recorded in the spring of 2024 at Christ and St. Luke’s Church, Norfolk, in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia—will air on April 18 at noon and 7 p.m. on The Episcopal Church’s Facebook page and website. Viewers will have the opportunity to make donations to the offering during the event.

Dio Maine Cooks: Recipes and Stories from Episcopal Church Cookbooks

In January, the communications team launched a new project to share recipes and stories from the church cookbooks in our archives. Created as a way to fundraise and/or mark an anniversary, spiral-bound church cookbooks capture a moment in time, whether that moment is in the 1940s or the 1990s. The recipes they contain are tried and true favorites that have graced tables at countless Maine Episcopal church coffee hours, potlucks and progressive dinners. 

The third weekend of the month, we publish Dio Maine Cooks on the blog and our social media feeds; so far, we've featured St. George's, York Harbor, Grace Church, Bath, and St. Francis by the Sea, Blue Hill. In addition to sparking joy, our hope is to collect more of these cookbooks for the archives. If you have one to share, please email Susan Sherrill Axelrod. 

The Episcopal Church Awards Campus Ministry Grant to UMaine's Wilson Center

The Executive Council of The Episcopal Church awarded 19 grants, totaling $135,000, to young adult and campus ministries from dioceses across the U.S., Europe, Caribbean, and South America. The Wilson Center at the University of Maine, Orono, received $5,500 to support its faith-sharing community meals program with the purchase of a new commercial stove and hood. 

The Wilson Center, which is ecumenical with "heavy involvement from Episcopal young people and their leadership," according to diocesan Director of Faith Formation Emily Keniston, is the diocese's only campus ministry in the state. The center hosts multiple faith-sharing community meals per week and currently rents space at a local community kitchen while planning to expand their facility to include a new kitchen. "Purchasing the stove and hood is a part of that larger effort," says Keniston. "I'm so delighted to share in this enriching, vibrant, grassroots ministry and know that it's touching a lot of lives."

Pride Planning for Maine Youth Expanded



The annual Portland Pride Parade is scheduled for Saturday, June 21. This is the third year that our diocesan youth have led our presence in Pride, but this year the program is being expanded to include specific learning about theological foundations, history of LGBTQ+ community organizing within The Episcopal Church, and specific strategies for organizing people for advocacy. All youth are invited to join the following planning sessions on Tuesdays, 6 - 7 p.m. on Zoom:

• April 22, Theological foundations for advocacy
• May 6, History of LGBTQ+ community in TEC
• May 20, How to organize in your community: the "recipe" for group advocacy

For more information, please contact Director of Faith Formation Emily Keniston.

Weekday Helping Professionals Retreat

Monday, April 21 - Friday, April 25

Limina Retreat Center, Searsport

This mid-week helping professionals stay is offered for people who typically work weekends, and offers unstructured time to find rest and renewal at Limina's oceanside retreat center. Special rates, which are discounted in gratitude for the work of helping professionals, include lodging, all meals, daily meditation and movement classes, and access to all of Limina's amenties, including sauna and biomat. Learn more and sign up here. 

Regional Confirmation with Bishop Brown

Saturday, May 10, 10 a.m.

St. George's, Sanford

Priests with candidates to be presented should contact the bishop’s Executive Assistant, Lauralee Raymond, by April 30 and fill out this form.

World-renowned Episcopal physician Dr. Audrey Evans honored in new film



"Audrey’s Children" tells the remarkable true story of Dr. Audrey Evans, the groundbreaking Episcopal physician who revolutionized pediatric oncology and co-founded the first Ronald McDonald House, according to a press release. Grandmother to the Rev. Sara D'Angio White, associate for youth formation at St. David's in Kennebunk, Evans is credited with developing the Evans Staging System for Neuroblastoma, a breakthrough in childhood cancer treatment. “To be the one who cares is one of the most rewarding experiences in a person’s life,” she famously said, capturing the spirit of her lifelong dedication to healing, innovation, and faith. "Audrey's Children" is now in theaters. Read more here.

Earth Keepers Update



In February 2021 at its initial meeting the Diocese of Maine Climate Justice Council (now the Creation Care Team) consisting of nine lay and ordained Episcopalians, crafted a resolution asking the Bishop to declare a climate emergency and encouraging each parish to appoint an Earth Keeper who would work to create and oversee the implementation of a Covenant to Care of Creation. The resolution passed by an overwhelming margin. The Council sent a letter on Earth Day 2022 along with a letter from Bishop Brown urging each parish to appoint an Earth Keeper (an individual or a small group) to:

• inform parishioners of creation care actions in the local community, 
• suggest educational opportunities on climate change, 
• coordinate with the diocesan Climate Justice Council,
• encourage sustainable practices at both parish and community levels, 
• and engage in local, state and federal advocacy for systemic change. 

We now have 20 Earth Keepers and would like to have more. To learn more about what our Earth Keepers have been doing check out the Earth Keeper blog. For more information or to let us know that you would like to start an Earth Keeper program in your parish, please contact the Rev. Jenny Reece.

— submitted by Sarah M. Braik

Calling All Communicators: COMMSCON25 in OKC



Join fellow Episcopal Communicators in “the Big Friendly,” AKA Oklahoma City, for the Annual Communications Conference for Episcopal Communicators, May 13-16. The conference offers three full days of workshops, keynotes, and fun gatherings to explore fresh perspectives on new technologies, innovative ways to communicate, and creative approaches to the vital work of church communications. Register here. 

Episcopal Communicators are a growing network of professionals in the Episcopal Church who share the good news of Christ as we write and edit, design, take photos, produce video, use social media, design websites and tell stories of faith in our communities. Learn more about membership here. 

Stations of the Cross Service

Palm Sunday, April 13, 4 p.m.

Emmanuel Chapel, Cathedral Church of St. Luke's



This Sunday, St Luke's will offer a stations of the cross service with music composed by John Hosking and played by Hentus von Rooyen, director of music ministries at St. Alban's in Cape Elizabeth.

A World Unraveling: A Day with Brian McLaren

Saturday, May 3, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Grand Ballroom, Westin Portland Harborview, Portland 

For 25 years, influential author and activist Brian D. McLaren has navigated the complex interplay between religious faith and contemporary culture in our rapidly changing world. His work incorporates valuable insights from philosophers, poets, scientists, and theologians, addressing pressing themes such as hope, the significance of grieving, and the need for fresh perspectives on thinking, becoming, and belonging during difficult times.



On Saturday, May 3, join Brian for an inspiring conversation on remaining hopeful and finding purpose amid the world’s environmental, economic, political, military, and social crises unraveling our world. Lunch is included. You don’t want to miss this opportunity if you are eager to strengthen your community and uplift your family while discovering the courage and resilience necessary to face the challenges ahead. Learn more and register here. Download a flyer here. 

** Please note that McLaren will also be speaking at the Clergy Conference on Monday, May 5. This registration link is only for the public event on Sat., May 3, and is open to all.

SAVE THE DATE

St. Luke's Food Pantry Benefit Italian Dinner and Silent Auction

Thursday, May 15, 5:30 - 7 p.m. 



The benefit dinner will take place in the Lower Hall at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke's, Portland. Details coming soon!

Church Office Administrator | Emmanuel Lutheran Episcopal Church, Augusta

Emmanuel Lutheran Episcopal Church in Augusta, Maine is seeking a part-time (20-hour per week) Church Office Administrator. Responsibilities include overseeing the operation of the church office and performing general clerical duties to support the church, clergy, and the leadership team. This position includes both routine work such as general administrative duties and assisting with projects. To apply, please submit a letter of interest and a resume to the Rev. Ben Cooke. Please include “Church Office Administrator” in the subject line of your email.

Trinity Episcopal Church in Castine is receiving applications from Episcopal priests for the position of part-time priest in charge. Find more information about Trinity Episcopal Church on their website. Find more information and application instructions in the Ministry Portfolio.

Is your church hiring? Would you like us to share the job description? If so, let us know!

See the full events calendar here.

See the bishop's visitation schedule here. 



• April 27, Ordination of Myrna Koontz to the Transitional Deaconite at St. Paul's Brunswick, 4 p.m.
• May 3, A World Unraveling: A Day with Brian McLaren, Westin Portland Harborview, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• May 5 - 6, Spring Clergy Conference at Cathedral of St. Luke
• May 10, Regional confirmation at St. George's, Sanford
• June 21, Portland Pride Parade with Diocesan Youth
• June 29, Deacon's Day
• Sept. 26 - 28 Summer Finale at Bishopswood
• Oct. 25, 206th Annual Diocesan Convention, Bangor

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