Announcements – March 1, 2020

 

Today, the children will be passing out bags with weekly devotional  materials for the five weeks of Lent, one per family.  Be sure to go home with one.

Columbia Street Lunch is TODAY, March 1   

Dignity First Thanks you for Your Write-In Vote!

Voting closed for Bangor Savings Community Matters More yesterday.  Thank you to all to voted online for Dignity First. Announcements of the winner will be made in April.

 

Meditation Service: Our first Lenten Meditation Service will be Thursday, March 5 @ 6:30.  This is a service of prayers, scripture, quiet meditation and  Songs of Taize and Iona. Lent is a time to take time in our busy lives to consider and tend to our spiritual health. 

As in the words of Brother Roger, founder of the Taize community:

“From the depths of the human condition a secret aspiration rises up. Caught in the anonymous rhythms of schedules and timetables, men and women of today are implicitly thirsting for an essential reality, for an inner life. Nothing is more conducive to a communion with the living God than a meditative common prayer with…singing that never ends and that continues in the silence of one’s heart when one is alone again.”  

We have this Meditation Service the first Thursday of each month. The second Lenten Meditation Service will be April 2nd.

 LENT AT ST. PAT’S

Letters to St. Patrick’s:  During the five Sundays of Lent, the second lesson will be read as a letter to St. Patrick’s from one of our neighbors and will highlight the various ways that the “least of these” and Christ are crucified in our modern world.  These letters will then be nailed to a piece of wood and hung on the wall as one of the stations of the cross.

Wednesday evening Lenten services:

 Once again, churches that are part of the community Lenten services  will be having Wednesday evening services. All services start at 6:30 PM, The first service was here at St. Pat’s last Wednesday and we had a “full house”,  over 80 people raising their voices in song. Thank you to all who contributed time, energy and food for this community event. Let’s support the other churches in our community as listed below.

March 4— Holden United Church of Christ-Church Road, Holden, ME

                 the Rev.  Peggy Day- preacher 

March 11–North Brewer Eddington United Methodist Church–31 Main Rd, Eddington

                   Pastor Jon Ouellette -preacher

March 18— East Orrington Congregational Church-38 Johnson Mill Rd, Orrington

                  the Rev. Linette George -preacher

March 25— Lighthouse Church of God–696 River Rd. Orrington

                     the Rev. Ron Chaffee preacher

April 1— Orrington United Methodist Church– 14 Center Drive, Orrington

              Pastor Jerrod Oltman preacher.

 

Women’s Book Sharing Group to Kick Off in April

If you are interested in participating in a once a month women’s group, please sign up in the Common Room. The book we will be sharing is “ by Lindsay Hardin Freeman. See a description with the sign-up sheet. Pat Blethen will be facilitating the group.

  • The group is open to all women, no church affiliation is required. Sign up sheet is being sent to congregations only as an easy means of distribution.  It has been sent to all the churches in the Brewer Ministerial group as well as St James and St John’s.
  • Please check all the dates/times you would be available to meet. The one that works for the most people across locations will be selected.
  • Please sign up by 2/26/2020 (Ash Wednesday)
  • The initial gathering will be held at held in April at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church on the corner of Main St. and Holyoke, Brewer. Hosting of future meetings will be determined at the April gathering.
  • People will be notified of the selected date via email.
  • Attending every month is not required.
  • Purchasing the book is not necessary as the material will be shared during the meeting.

 

THE ANNUAL DIOCESAN SPRING TRAINING will take place on Saturday, March 21 in Augusta 8:30-3:00 PM.   A flyer describing all the various workshops and the keynote speaker is on the table in the Common Room and is posted on our website. Registration is required which can be done online.  An optional $10.00 bag lunch can be reserved ahead of time which will benefit the diocesan summer youth program. Also on the table is a car pool sign up sheet where you can either request a ride or offer to drive and take other members. The Spring Training is always a good energy injector, helping to inspire and share our work in our church and community.  With the car pooling it’s a great time to get to know other parishioners. A fun day for all and highly recommended.

FAITH LINKING IN ACTION

 Faith Linking in Action convening.  The next meeting of all the congregations and community groups working with Faith Linking in Action is Wednesday, March 25 right here at St. Patrick’s. It was decided at the last gathering to revisit the issue of Food Insecurity to see what has been done since our last meeting. Congregations are asked to share what they do and to brainstorm what to continue and what to do next. We will also address the progress of the Transportation for All Team and learn how we can make a difference with the Child Care bill currently in the legislature. Lots to do and your input is very important. 

We will have a sign-up in the Common Room for help to set-up for the pot luck supper which begins at 5:30, for clean-up, and for those planning to attend this important convening. 

 Transportation for All (TFA) After persistence from a TFA member there is now a “warming bus” stationed at the Pickering Square terminal so people can get out of this bitter cold while they wait for their bus. The work continues to improve schedules, bus stops, hours of operation and many more important issues. Your input is needed. Come to the monthly meetings on the 3rd Thurday. The next meeting will be March 19 from 9-11 at Peace and Justice Center, 96 Harlow Street, Bangor. (Across the street from Bangor Public Library) Contact information: Darcy Cooke 989-5860 darcy@foodandmedicine.org.

Childcare/Jobs Team is working on the legislative bill LD 1760 an Act to Support children’s Healthy Development and School Readiness. The full bill and a summary are in the Common Room. The passage of this bill will ensure a pilot program in partnership between government agencies, businesses, and parents. Join the team to advance awareness, education, implementation, evaluation and more in the area of childcare and jobs security for parents and childcare providers.

They also need help planning and implementing the third annual Week of the Young Child event at the Discovery Museum in April. See the flyer in the Common Room. The next meeting will be March 3 from 6-7:30 at First United Methodist Church, Essex Street, Bangor . Contact: Mary Ann Perry 570-3113 maryann_perry@hotmail.com or Team Chair: Roz Fisher osurosalyn1960@gmail.com

The Second Moveable Feast

The Second Moveable Feast supporting Faith Linking in Action is Saturday,  April 18, 2020 .  It will be held in the Orono area this year.  The Islamic Center has agreed to serve the hors d’oeuvres.   We are being asked if St. Patrick’s would be willing to provide the main meal of lasagna.  This would be served out of the kitchen at the Keith Anderson building in Orono.  I am willing to make two vegetable lasagnas.  We need three more volunteers for making  lasagna .  If you are willing to help,please let me know.  There is an oven there and we are planning to get warmers.

Thank you for considering this.  Peace, Peggy Day

Food AND Medicine is having a PARTY!!!! See flier below for the Food and Medicine 

 
FAMparty.362020  

Please note the new date is this coming Friday, MARCH 6TH, 2020  6:00 pm TO 8:00 pm

Help Support the Bangor Homeless Shelter

The Islamic Center of Maine along with Temples Beth El and Beth Israel will hold an Open House fundraising event for Bangor Homeless Shelter on Sunday, March 15 at Temple Beth El from 2 to 4:30 pm.  Heavy appetizers will be served.  There will be no admission fee, but donations are being accepted.  The proceeds from the event will go to the shelter to get a new boiler.  The St. Pat’s Outreach Committee has contributed $100 towards this event so look for the flyers and plan to drop-in. 

What’s Happening at the Wilson Center

The Wilson Center invites you to an interfaith luncheon on March 12, 11:30-1:00. The topic is “Feeding Our Community Through Service and Devotion.” Lunch is provided at no cost to attendees, thanks to our co-sponsors the Jewish Community Endowment Associates. Additionally, The Wilson Center is also hosting a Meditation Circle  on Tuesday evenings, 5:30-6:30. Our program director Anna Godsey says that everyone is welcome who would like to explore mindfulness.

Artful Spirit Connection welcomes back the artists from Citizens of Maine (COM) back for the Spring Reveal exhibit from March 1 through April 12 (Easter). A Spring Reveal reception and art activity will be held Monday, March 16 from 6 pm to 7 pm. The art activity will be St. Patrick’s Day oriented and it is an opportunity for St. Patrick’s members to meet the artists of COM.

Artful Spirit Connection is one of the table designers for this year’s Literacy Tea for Literacy Volunteers-Bangor on Sunday, March 29 from 3-5 pm at John Bapst. Each table is based on a children’s book.  Artful Spirit Connection designing a table around Lighthouse Dog to the Rescue by Angeli Perrow (local author). Tickets are going fast. You can call 947-8451 or buy online  Buy Tickets. 

Coffee Hour:  Please sign up to host coffee hour. The sign-up sheet is on the Common Room table.

Where does the loose offering in the plate go?  The Outreach Committee would like to remind folks that the loose plate offering on the second Sunday of the month goes into the Outreach fund.   On the third Sunday of the month it goes to the Rector’s Discretionary Fund. On other Sundays it goes into the general fund.

Prayer list updates:  Larry and Bonnie Puls are the contact people for creating the prayer list.  If you would like to add or delete someone from the prayer list you can add your request in the Common Room or contact the Puls’ at: bonniepuls@aol.com or 942-1321.