Sunday Worship, 26 September 2010

Forum on Sunday morning was about the upcoming "experiment" of shared pastoral duties among the Island's Episcopal churches and how it will impact St. John's. There will be parish priests in three of the Island's Episcopal churches and a fourth priest, in a part-time position funded by St. John's, who will be a part of the priestly community. The priests are meeting and sharing what is happening in their parishes. The part-time priest from St. John's will be a part of this community, and on some Sundays there will be joint services between parishes, held only at one location (so, for example, on October 24 at 10 a.m., there will be no service at St. John's but instead a joint service at St. Mary's in Northeast Harbor.) The priest from St. Saviour's in Bar Harbor will continue to have office hours at St. John's weekly. The priest funded by St. John's and the priest from Bar Harbor will take turns presiding at each place. These changes are hard for people - words I heard were: "Who do I tell people is my priest?" "Who do I call for counseling/care?" "Will this situation be evaluated and how?"

The Rev. Stephen Hayward presided over worship at St. John the Divine's in Southwest Harbor this Sunday. The scripture lessons were from Jeremiah and Luke (the story of Lazarus). They tell of how we define ourselves in terms of what we have instead of by what we give and what we produce. Jeremiah is a prophet who sees opportunities and possibilities for us to care for each other and for God's creation. Lazarus shows us a reformation of society - he who had nothing is given everything, the nameless one who had everything was given nothing. There is hope for the future, for changes and reformations to happen. We need only be open to it and to live in a contributing manner.

The words about this lesson are my interpretation of what was said. The actual words said and ideas presented belong to Rev. Hayward and were delivered in a manner that was more interesting and likely clearer than what I have shared here.

As changes and reformation are about in the Island's Episcopal churches, and as change is always difficult, it will take their faith and their contributions to make the moves forward.

Being Prepared (Sunday Worship)

Mama Bear worshiped again at St. John's the Divine in Southwest Harbor. The Rev. Alice Downs was the celebrant. Today we did not hear the names of those who died in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts this past week. Perhaps there was no one who died. Perhaps they have stopped with the names because the Iraq conflict is concluded. I do not know, but rather missed the opportunity to pray for those serving our nation in this way, and to pray for wise, just and merciful world leaders to help us move to living in peace with others.


The sermon today was based on Luke 14:25-33. With all the preparations everyone here was urged to do for Hurricane Earl last week, Rev. Downs reminded us that Jesus, too, taught about being prepared. She shared a story from Katrina - a long and good friend of hers lived in New Orleans, and they believed in being prepared. So when the call came to evacuate New Orleans prior to Katrina, they grabbed their always-packed evacuation suitcase, their cache of documents and cash, and moved to their much-farther-inland motel: the mother, the father, the two daughters, the two cats, and the six carrier pigeons (pets of one of the daughters.) The storm was horrific, but after it passed, they checked out of their motel and began to press homeward. They had a chain saw, and they would drive down a road until they were stopped by a felled tree. They would cut it, move it, and press homeward. They did this repeatedly and became tired, but kept moving. At last they came to Baton Rouge, where they found they could go no further. There was no place to stay, so they were living in their car: the mother, the father, the two daughters, the two cats, and the six carrier pigeons. They would take turns going to a nearby fast food restaurant to clean as best they could in the restroom, get something eat, sit in the air conditioning a bit, and then they would return to their car. After several days of these activities, the manager of shop came to them. He looked at them, and asked, "Are you evacuees?" They said they were. He said, "I don't think you should come to this place any more." After a pause, he continued, "I think you should come to my home." And he closed the shop and took them home: the father, the mother, the two daughters, the two cats and the six carrier pigeons. They lived with this man and his wife until they could return to their own home in New Orleans. They were prepared for a storm. They were not prepared for this man's generosity. The woman tells of this event changing her life. And Rev. Downs wondered how many of us are prepared to offer God's love in the way this restaurant owner did, and how many of us are prepared to receive God's love when it is offered to us. Jesus tells us to be prepared for this type of gift - to give it and to receive it. It was a powerful and sobering sermon and provided much for Mama Bear to ponder.

The words about this lesson are my interpretation of what was said. The actual words said and ideas presented belong to Rev. Downs and were delivered in a manner that was more interesting and likely clearer than what I have shared here.


After worship, Mama Bear used her Droid-X to take a few pictures - of the flowers, which she learned today are provided by a man on the Island who is not a member of this family of faith but who loves it and so grows and then cuts and arranges the flowers each week, as well as a picture of the crane mobile, representing homes for peace throughout the world.