Organ Concert at St. John 7pm Wednesday August 8

Douglas Beck, Organist-Choirmaster, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Old Town, Alexandria, VA will perform on St. John’s historic 1885 organ. The program will include traditional, jazzy and blues tunes from recent centuries including one inspired by Sting. This is music that you will probably not hear on Sunday morning!

There is no charge, but there will be a free will offering. We hope you can join us for an evening of glorious organ music. For questions, please call Ted Bromage at 244-3227.

More information here

Taizé service at St. Saviour’s

A friendly reminder…

TAIZÉ

ECUMENICAL PRAYER SERVICE

Friday, July 13, 6:00 p.m.

at

St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, Bar Harbor (288-4215)

Church of Our Father Invites All To Healing Services

Are any among you sick? They should call for the
elders of the church and have them pray over them,
anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord
will raise them up; and anyone who has committed
sins will be forgiven. James 5:13-16 (NRSV)

In Scripture there are many accounts of Jesus
healing people. In John 14:12 he talks about his
followers doing the things he did and more. Jesus
loves us and wants us to be whole. He will help us
if we ask. We often need �Jesus with skin on� in
the form of our clergy and friends who will listen
and pray, and through the power of the Holy Spirit
can be channels of love and healing of body, mind
and spirit. This can help us be more the people God
created us to be.

For many years prayers for healing for individuals
have been an important ministry at Church of Our
Father in Hulls Cove. Year around special prayers
are offered after every worship service to those who
request them. As part of our regular weekly
Eucharist at 7:00 AM on Wednesdays, on the first
Wednesday of the month, we use the Healing
Liturgy from the Episcopal Book of Occasional
Services, and offer anointing with oil and laying on
of hands by clergy. In order to make this more
available to anybody, we have been offering
monthly evening services open to the public on
Thursdays at 6:30 PM, with Holy Eucharist. We
welcome anyone to be part of these services and
need your help to spread the word. The next ones
will be Wednesday, March 7th at 7:00 AM and
Thursday, March 22nd at 6:30 PM. Please call us
at 288-9010 if you have any questions, and do come
and join us.

In Jesus’ Name,
Bob and Fran Raymond
Church of our Father

Benefit…

…for Paul Rozeff…

Be Prepared: Pandemic

A pandemic (from Greek παν pan all + δήμος demos people) is an epidemic (an outbreak of an infectious disease) that spreads across a large region, or even worldwide.

Several weeks ago Patsy Fogarty and I attended a gathering of the 5 local Episcopal churches at St. Mary’s winter chapel in NEH. At our earlier meeting this past fall we discussed ways our churches could make a difference in our communities at time of crisis. You’ve heard a bit about Pandemic, but what does that mean today, tomorrow or ??? Gretchen O’Grady of the Ellsworth chapter of the American Red Cross spoke to the group. Who will be the helpers and caregivers? It was eye-opening to learn it will be the individual and the family. You can we expect the National and State governments to limit or stop most travel. One sneezing session in an airplane holds the possibility of spreading the virus around the world. Schools may well be closed; commerce will be impacted in the extreme. Avoiding exposure is the best way to protect you and loved ones. The preparations you can make today probably won’t be possible to do when a pandemic is in progress. Gretchen handed out two papers that are invaluable in the planning process: Food and Water in an Emergency and Home Care for Pandemic Flu. For those not able to get them via their computers, we will have a few copies available, on request, in the Saint John church office in Southwest Harbor (244-3229). Please take the time to read, think, and act upon them as one of your New Year’s resolutions. If you have any questions, suggestions, or further thoughts on pandemic, please contact either Patsy (244-9410) or me

Ted Bromage (244-3227)

November Taizé Prayer Service

Set aside some time on your busy calendars to attend the November Taizé Prayer Service at 4:30 pm on Sunday, November 19. It will be held at Church of Our Father this month. Please come - it’s the pause that will refresh!

Camp Farthest Out (CFO)

Come enjoy “…a time apart for living in the love of Jesus.” Camp Farthest Out (CFO) emphasizes helping people to experience the love of God and to express their love for Jesus through the many ways a camp program provides. The camp is lay oriented, non-denominational and inter-racial. Privacy is respected, oneness in spirit encouraged, and sharing abundant. It begins with supper on Friday, October 13, and runs through lunch on Wednesday, October 18. Registration is $60 and room and board for five days at the Claremont in Southwest Harbor is $320. As space permits, part-time campers are welcome with rates adjusted to an appropriate percent of the five-day rate. There are a limited number of scholarships available. Contact Kathy Hawkes at 667-8048 if interested!

Second Area Meeting

On Tuesday, September 19th, over two dozen Episcopalians from the four Island churches plus St. Dunstan’s of Ellsworth met in Church of Our Father’s parish hall in Hulls Cove for a lively and productive meeting. Many ideas were put forth as to how we can further cooperate and coordinate our efforts as we reach out to our community. It was decided to have a meeting of the group at least quarterly, with interest groups meeting ad hoc, when deemed necessary.
One request was for access to a ‘library’ and to that end an Episcopal website was suggested as a resource to access a wealth of information reguarding the Episcopal Church USA. This is a website just published by ECUSA in its online news service: . Check it out; you won’t be disappointed. The name of the site is Theological Education for All. The next planned meeting of the Island group will be early December, to be held at SS. Mary & Jude in Northeast Harbor.

Meeting of the Island Church Group

Hello to All,

Just a reminder that the meeting of the Island Church Group (which also includes St. Dunstans) will meet Tuesday, September 19th at Church of Our Father at 6:30 for dessert and conversation. Please email me with any suggestions for topics to be discussed. Also, please call Therese at the Church office (288-4849) if you plan to attend.

God’s Peace,

Tony Sousa,

Church of Our Father

288-5193

Les Petits Chanteurs

Les Petits Chanteurs, a 30-voice boy’s choir and string quintet from Holy Trinity School of Music in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, will be performing on Wednesday, September 27, at 7 pm at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bangor (among other places in our fair state). There are significant travel costs involved in bringing this group to Maine. If you would like to offer financial support to help fund this endeavor, checks should be payable to “The Diocese of Maine” and mailed to 143 State Street, Portland 04101 – Attn: Canon Vicki Wiederkehr, with “Les Petits Chanteurs” on the memo line.

St. Andrew to Remain Open

Details here. Original story here.

Organ recital at St. John’s Episcopal Church - and you are invited!

On Friday, August 4th, at 7:30 p.m. Organist Richard W. Hill will be playing the historic 1885 Hook & Hastings organ at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Southwest Harbor. Dick has been an organist for over fifty years; for the last 28 years he has been Music Director and Organist at Unity Church, (Unitarian Universalist) in North Easton, MA. A popular recitalist, he has performed on several recital series in Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, VA; Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Cathedral, Boston; St. Joseph’s Church and Mechanics’ Hall, Worcester; and St. John’s Church (RC), Bangor where he will be playing the evening before this recital. This past year he co-chaired the Organ Historical Society’s 50th convention, “The Old Colony Convention” which visited some 38 organs in Massachusetts on six days in July. He is secretary and past dean of the Southeastern Massachusetts Chapter, American Guild of Organists and for several years has served as chair of the Organ Advisory Committee of the Boston Chapter, AGO.

Most of the program will be 19th and 20th century music, but will begin with Bach and 18th century American composer Philip Phile, ending with Scott Joplin and Duke Ellington. In between you’ll also hear music of Louis Vierne, Edward MacDowell and others. Dick will comment on the music and invite the audience sing the hymns in the hymn prelude section. There is no charge, but there will be a free will offering. We hope you can join us for an evening of glorious organ music. For questions or further details please call St. John at 244-3229 or Ted Bromage at 244-3227.

Diocesan Convention: Call for Nominations and Resolutions.

The 187th Convention of the Diocese of Maine will be held October 27-28 in Bangor. This year’s Convention will elect the Secretary and Treasurer of the Diocese (one-year terms); one clerical and one lay member of the Standing Committee (three-year terms); one clergy and one lay member of the Diocesan Review Committee (three-year terms); and one lay deputy and one clerical alternate to Province 1 Synod. Resolutions, nominations, or appointments originating from the Church of Our Father, and requiring endorsement by your local Vestry, should be brought to a Vestry Meeting. Consult the clergy or any Vestry member for more information or guidelines on submitting nominations or resolutions.

Collective Heating Fuel Pre-buy

The MDI Episcopal congregations, and St. Dunstan in Ellsworth have entered into a collective heating fuel pre-buy for the next year with No Frills Oil.  Church members will be able to purchase oil “at 8 cents a gallon less than the pre-buy price (which varies daily)…” (in the words of Ted Bromage, who negotiated the contract.)  A fuller explanation of the arrangement will appear in the August newsletter; but Ted says that interested parishioners who are still comparison-shopping for their winter oil supply will be able to call No Frills (422-3581), identify themselves as church members, and “see what they can do for you.”

Additional “Snapshop of the Diocese” Meetings

If you cannot make it to the “Snapshot of the Diocese” Meeting on July 8 at St. John in Southwest Harbor, here is a complete listing of alternative meetings.  Please try to fit one into your schedule.  We elect our Bishop Coadjutor at Diocesan Convention in October 2007.

Sunday, July 9, St. Mark’s, Augusta, 2:00-4:00 pm

Tuesday, July 11, St. Paul’s, Brunswick, 7:00-9:00 pm

Wednesday, July 12, St. Barnabas, Rumford, 5:30-7:30 pm

Sunday, July 16, Christ Church, Eastport, 2:00-4:00 pm

Trinity, Portland, Noon-2:00 pm

Thursday, July 20, St. Michael’s, Auburn, 6:30-8:30 pm

Saturday, July 22, Christ Church, Biddeford, 10:00 am-noon

Sunday, July 23, St. Francis, Blue Hill, 2:00-4:00 pm or St. David’s, Kennebunk, 3-5:00 pm

Monday, July 24, St. Thomas, Camden, 7:00-9:00 pm or St. Mark’s, Waterville, 7:00-9:00 pm

Tuesday, July 25, St. Thomas, Winn, 7:00-9:00 pm

Saturday, July 29, Good Shepherd, Houlton, 10:00 am-Noon

Sunday, July 30, St. Patrick’s, Brewer, 1:30-3:30 pm or St. Mary’s, Falmouth, 2:00-4:00 pm