Newsletter

May - June 2013 Dear Brothers and Sisters, This past April 13th I was reflecting on a phone call I received 5 years ago on that date. It was from St. George's and the voice was that of Marie Bean speaking on behalf of the vestry and discernment committee calling me as your new rector. Five years in the life of a parish and five years of growth and change. We are not the same people we were five years ago personally or as members of this beloved Christian Community and five years hence we will have changed. Several parishioners are making changes in their personal and spiritual lives and we will soon have an opportunity for a discernment group called “Dream Teams”. Unlike basketball teams or hockey teams these are quite different. A complete explanation is found in this newsletter The Bishop has encouraged us to engage in a process called Holy Conversations, the purpose of which is to revisit our life together starting with the past, as long as present members can remember, and bringing us to today and where we see our next steps in the future. To help us with this we have a core group that will facilitate this process and we will start by holding conversations during the early part of the summer. Our work regarding our dreams for our church were begun two years ago and now we are being asked to revisit that work and move ahead. I see this process as an opportunity to celebrate, reflect, make adjustments and changes in order to meet the mission we have set before us. We come from a long Anglican tradition that says, God's work is never done and the world is always changing and we need to adapt in order to grow and be relevant. So come along, share your experiences of life here at St. George's always knowing that "God's work must truly be our own." Love, Susan+ Summer at St. George's **One service at 9 AM on Sundays starting June 2nd through August 25. Rev. Susan will be away on sabbatical for part of the summer and to lessen the cost of coverage on Sunday we will go to one service. We will use this opportunity to get to know one another from the 8 and 10 o'clock services. We will have time to engage in Holy Conversations and plan for our future. **Kitchen Refurbish The vestry has approved a plan to refurbish the parish kitchen this summer. With our elbow grease, a sum of $13,000 from the remaining St. Elizabeth's Guild account which was designated solely for kitchen projects, and the generosity of a parishioner to buy the new stoves/ovens we will begin in mid June. Our Sexton Bill will do the painting and George Cheney will work with the vestry and parishioners in making sure the kitchen is up to code. A complete plan with costs will be presented in mid June before the work begins. **Bean Suppers on hold for 2013 after conversations with several key members who have supported the bean suppers in the past we are taking this summer off for 2 main reasons. We collected $830 during Lent, the equivalent of the profits from 2 bean suppers with out all the work and we can use the time to refurbish the kitchen. We will accept donations for a "no work bean supper" suggesting folks donate the money they would normally use to make the salads and pies and attend the suppers to a collection on the third Sunday of each month May-September. A bean pot will be made available for donations on that Sunday or folks can use the Food Pantry envelopes on any Sunday that are already available in the church. Holy Conversations Holy Conversations will begin on June 16th after the 9 AM service. This will be an opportunity for both the 8 and 10 AM folk to have meaningful conversations about our St. George Community. Some of the questions we will reflect upon and share in small groups are: Who are we as a church community? What were our roots going back to the early 1900s? What are some significant past events? What have been important events and experiences in the past 50 years? What do we love about St. George's? What are our gifts and commitments to the communities we live in? Where do we experience God? Where do we experience God in our faith community? What are we good at? What ministries and efforts excite us? Where do we see ourselves in 5 years, 10 years, 15 years and what do we need to be doing to fulfill those dreams and visions. Our Lenten Alms Giving During Lent parishioners were very generous giving $830 in cash to support the Sanford Food Pantry and numerous offerings for the UU Corner Cupboards non food essentials pantry that serves over 275 families each month and plenty of food donations to help stock the shelves of the Food Pantry. Making a difference locally through generosity and care. Easter at St. George's We had a prayerful Holy Week that culminated in our Easter Vigil when Ryan Musgrove was baptized and Easter Sunday when the church was filled with Alleluias. Ryan is a professional baker who has since graced us with his talents at the later coffee hour. St. Mary's Guild and our teens provided help to the Easter Bunny for the egg hunt after church. KIDS Supper Club Our KIDS Supper Club ended for this school year with a family dinner and fantastic puppet show. The children in grades 3-5 spent the year with wonderful St. George mentors learning all about cooking and baking, team building with art and crafts projects, a special program on raptors, story telling and loads of fun. Thank you to our mentors Cliff and Harriet Randall, Aline Nickerson, Rev. Wanda, Pat and Richard Watson, Betsy Reilly, Janet Hobbs, Gary and Linda Samia, Rev. Susan and Lynne Boston. Presently 5 of our neighborhood KIDS will be going to our Episcopal Camp Bishopswood in July. If you can help with a donation for scholarships please make your check out to St. George's Reconnecting Youth Program and give to Rev. Susan. We are grateful to St. Mary's for offering partial scholarship help as well. CLYNK BAGS Thank you to so many of you for donating the deposits from your cans and bottles through the CLYNK project. Those nickels have added up to over $400 this year and the proceeds help support our Gathering Grounds Coffee House. Bags may be found as you enter the church near the baptismal font. We have a great opportunity at St. George’s to learn more about and engage in a new way of discerning God’s individual call to each of us. As a Christian Community we have a Mission that directs us and we are also encouraged to develop individual missions in our lives as well. DREAM TEAMS may be just the answer to your next steps on your journey. Darreby Ambler, who developed this process, will be coming to St. George’s on Sunday June 9th and will speak at our service. There will be an opportunity for her to meet with a group of folks who would like to explore this process even more deeply after the service. If this is something you have been waiting for and maybe did not even know it please check with Rev. Susan. For more info go to www.darreby.com The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet — Frederick Buechner The Episcopal Church Welcomes (and Nurtures) You…. Darreby Ambler has developed a format for helping people discover their God-given, unique mission on earth, and launching teams where members work in fellowship to bring those missions to life…well, it just doesn’t get better than that! Being a person of faith on a Dream Team is more than uncovering your own gifts and passions – it is the exciting process of discerning God’s dream for you. What congregation members take away from being in a Dream Team • the discernment of their own passions and unique mission in this world • a deep sense of fellowship with their teammates • delight, as they watch their teammates pursue their “deep gladness” • joy, as they realize their own “deep gladness”