The Weekly E-Pistle

Thursday, August 15th, 2024

A Reflection from the Reverend George Stevens, Interim Dean

Dear Friends-

One of the primary focuses identified by the congregation in last winter’s parish wide survey was "formation".

Over the years, we’ve called the education we do on Sunday mornings many things: Sunday School, Christian Education, Adult Forums. Formation encompasses all these things, but also invites a different perspective.

A few months ago at a gathering after church, we heard from Emily Keniston, the Diocese of Maine’s Director of Faith Formation, that formation is a continuous, life-long journey. Formation involves questioning, wondering and learning and enables closer relationships with God and others.

Stewardship, outreach, hospitality, and liturgy are all part of our formation as Christians. We are aware that formation encompasses learning, action and reflection, that formation is ongoing, and that it is both formal and informal.

In the weeks since Emily’s presentation, your vestry and an enthusiastic group of parishioners have engaged with the process of envisioning how we understand faith formation at the Cathedral of St. Luke and how we can enact and share programs that fulfill this priority.

You’ll be hearing more about our plans for the fall in the coming weeks.

See you Sunday!

George

UPCOMING

Season of Creation Banner Painting

Sunday, August 25 after the 10AM Service

Lower Hall

Come help paint our new Season of Creation banner!

No artistic skills are needed beyond the ability to paint within the lines of a simple shape.

Join us after church on Sunday, August 25 in the Lower Hall for a time of fun and fellowship.

Please plan to wear old clothes due to potential paint stains!

For more info, contact Linda Carleton.

Season of Creation Book Group

Meeting Each Monday at 6:45PM

August 26-September 30

Connect Room at St. Alban's Episcopal Church

885 Shore Rd, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107

Contact Mary Bingham Paul if Interested

The Season of Creation is fast approaching! In September, parishioners from St. Alban’s, St. Luke’s, and St. Peter’s are joining together to form a book group.

The group will start on August 26 and end on September 30, 2024. Proposed meeting times are each Monday from 6:45PM-8:00PM in the Connect Room at St Alban’s. Spaces are limited to 12 people. While in-person is preferable, a hybrid option will be offered.

The book discussion will be led by Mary Brigham Paul, a member of St. Alban’s.

The group will be reading Sacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural World by Karen Armstrong.

Please contact Mary Brigham Paul sign up, and please indicate whether you would like to meet in person or on zoom.

You can purchase the book through Amazon, Nonesuch Books, or wherever you like to purchase your books.

About the Author: Karen Armstrong has written many books on religious affairs, with a specific focus on the history of world religions. To read more about her please visit the webpage here.

About the book: Sacred Nature is “An urgent manifesto and a practical guide on how to rekindle our spiritual bond with nature, drawing on the wisdom of the world’s religious traditions”.

“Since the beginning of time, humankind has looked upon nature and seen the divine. In the writings of the great thinkers across religions, the natural world inspires everything from fear to awe to tranquil contemplation; God, or however one defined the sublime, was present in everything. Yet today, even as we admire a tree or take in a striking landscape, we rarely see nature as sacred…Karen Armstrong re-sacralizes nature for modern times. Drawing on her vast knowledge of the world’s religious traditions, she vividly describes nature’s central plan in spirituality across the centuries: from the Book of Job to St. Thomas Aquinas, from Lao Tzu to Wordsworth, and from the Stoics to Jainism and beyond…explor(ing) the power of silence and solitude, the nature of personal sacrifice and the need to reconnect with sorrow and compassion—and how greater contact and appreciation for nature can help us in unexpected ways”. Penguin Random House Publishing

The Cathedral Choir Season

Startup and Potluck

Thursday 5 September 7-9PM

The Cathedral Choir season begins with rehearsal and potluck welcome reception Thursday 5 Sept. 7-9PM.

The choir sings weekly during the academic year, and for periodic Choral Evensong services and various seasonal liturgies.

Previous singing experience is not required.

For more information, contact Christian Clough, Canon for Liturgy & Music.

5:15 Service Cookout & Potluck

Sunday, September 8

Following 5:15 Service

Lower Hall

Please join us on Sunday September 8 following the 5:15 worship service for a cookout.

We will meet in the lower hall for a time of fellowship and fun.

The gathering will be a potluck.

To learn more about how you can help with a side dish, dessert, drinks, and/or help with set-up and clean-up, please contact Tim Wilkins.

Summer Finale

Sept. 13 - 15

Camp Bishopswood

Registration is now open for Summer Finale at Camp Bishopswood!

Summer Finale has several offerings:

There is a day-only option on Saturday, Sept. 14.
Back this year after a several-year hiatus is a mini retreat especially for those who do formation work in our diocese on Friday, Sept. 13 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

As in years past, this will be an opportunity to spend a day in conversation with formation folks, to enjoy delicious food, and imagine ways in which we can collaborate and uplift one another in our formation work.

See a full description, including FAQs, here.

Conflict Transformation Parish-Wide Conversation

Saturday, September 28, 9AM–noon

The Cathedral Nave

Save the date! On Saturday, September 28th, from 9A.M. to noon, all parishioners are invited to participate in the fourth and final phase of our conflict transformation work.

Please note that it is not necessary to have participated in Phases 1-3 of the conflict transformation process to attend. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate!

We will gather in the Nave for a parish-wide conversation about our communal life using a “World Café” format.

Please click here to learn more about this type of conversation style.

Conversations will center on questions developed in conjunction with our consultant Susan Czolgosz and will occur in small groups of 6–8 people.

A group of parishioners will be invited to act as table facilitators, timekeepers, and notetakers.

More details will be provided as the event approaches.

With questions please contact The Reverend George Stevens, Interim Dean

or Sam Allen, Senior Warden.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eco Tips from the Public Policy

& Environmental Action Team

This year's General Convention considered many pieces of creation care, climate change and ecojustice legislation, which were submitted by dioceses, committees, task forces, and other bodies. For a curated list of legislation visit the link here.

For an Episcopal News Service article discussing creation care click here.

To receive more information and regular updates on these resolutions, you can subscribe to the Episcopal Church's Creation Care Newsletter. To subscribe, click here.

A Highlight from

St. Luke's Food Pantry

At last week’s food distribution, one of our regular food pantry neighbors, Steven, expressed his thanks to our volunteers for the welcoming environment and the kindness that they show each week. He painted two plaques that are replicas of the Episcopal and Diocesan shields. Thank you Steven for this kind gesture!

The photo above has been given permission to be shared

by Steven.

COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN THE NEWS

Parishioner Paul Burlin

Publishes His Most Recent Book

Paul T. Burlin, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of New England, and St. Luke's parishioner, published his most recent book titled Charles Fletcher Dole, Liberal Theology, and Reform.

Charles Dole, a long term Unitarian minister and Social Gospel advocate who lived from 1845 to 1927, was born in Maine into what he described as “an ultra-orthodox” Congregational family. As an adult he tacked off to the radical wing of Unitarianism. While his theological perspective was time-bound, Dole might well provide inspiration to any adult who struggled (or struggles) with the religious perspective of their upbring.

To read this text and Paul's other books, please visit the link here.

If you are interested in learning more about this text, join us on Sunday, November 10th after coffee hour in the upper hall. Paul will be giving a talk on his book along with an accompanying slideshow presentation.

RESOURCES FROM THE DIOCESE

& WIDER CHURCH

To read about stories, resources, and events from around the Diocese of Maine, read their newsletter, TheDioLog,by clicking the link here , or by clicking on the Episcopal Maine Shield in the bottom of this email.

Tri-Dio Sacred Ground Circles Begin Again This Fall

Published by the Episcopal Diocese of Maine

"Are you interested in joining others from the Episcopal Dioceses of Northern New England (and beyond) in a film-based dialogue series on race and faith? The third round of Tri-Dio Sacred Ground dialogue circles will start this fall, and will include others from the wider Episcopal church and other denominations. There will be at least three circles that will meet at different times and on different days. Register here.

View the Sacred Ground Invitational video “We Bless You” by the Union of Black Episcopalians and Sacred Ground staff, and learn more about Sacred Ground here.

Representatives from each diocese are: Mary Provo of Maine, Betty Lane of New Hampshire, and Franci Vinal Farnsworth of Vermont. "

OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

Sunday 5:15PM Service of Holy Eucharist

The 5:15PM Service is a lay-lead worship service of Holy Eucharist and meditation which gathers each Sunday in Emmanuel Chapel. Each week we welcome a member of the clergy to celebrate the Holy Eucharist.

The service invites all in attendance into a space of quiet and stillness with music, scripture, and reflections.

With questions about the service please contact Liz Parsons.

We look forward to welcoming you to future services. Please join us!

Below is a photo from a service held on July 28 which features parishioner Barbara Rylan offering her musical gifts on harp.

This is accompanied by a reflection offered by The Reverend Dr. Celestin Hategekimana.

Parishioner Barbara Rylan offers her musical gifts on the harp

Click here to read a reflection offered by The Reverend Dr. Celestin Hategekimana

on July 28

Contribute to St. Luke’s Summer Music Ministry

The Cathedral Choir is on recess from 9 June through Labor Day, and summer is a great time to make a musical contribution to our worship as a singer or instrumentalist. Help us to keep our music well-supported with your offerings.

Please email Christian Clough, Canon for Liturgy & Music.

Access Your Realm Profile

The Cathedral’s online database, Realm, is a useful tool for parishioners to manage their contact and pledging information.

Realm helps our community by improving our record keeping in a more streamlined fashion.

When joining Realm you can sign-up to be a part of the online directory in the database.

To activate your Realm profile please contact our financial administrator Nina Andersen.

Nina will assist you with the few steps necessary to access your profile.

We look forward to sharing this exciting new technology with you!

Coffee Hour

Coffee Hour - Please join us after the service for a time of fellowship in the upper hall through the doors to the left of the altar. All are welcome.

Interested in hosting? It is an important part of our parish life and provides us with a time for connection. Hosting is fun and easy, it requires bringing in a baked good and brewing coffee the Sunday of your choosing. Please consider signing up, a lot of gratitude comes with the job. Thank you!

Check the hosting schedule by visiting the link here.

Please email Meredith Cough with your date.

Join Luke's Garden

LGBTQIA+ Group

Luke's Garden is the cathedral's LGBTQIA+ group which meets every 2nd Sunday of the month following coffee hour.

All are welcome!

For additional information contact Orion Williams

Join the Young and The Restless

We are St. Luke’s 20s-30s-year-old ministry. We are an active group at the cathedral which also gets together outside of the church.

Join us as we go hiking, ice skating, play trivia, or just enjoy each other’s company! If you are new to us, welcome! We meet each Tuesday at Maine Beer Company in Freeport, 6-8 PM for Trivia.

Other events happen sporadically throughout the month, however trivia is a wonderful opportunity to meet us if you’re joining us for the first time. Contact Shana Rose to stay up to date with group activities and information.

The Kneeler Guild and

Prayer Shawl Knitters

Tuesday

2:30PM

The Upper Hall.

For additional information contact Jeri Edgar 207-303-8447 or Nancy Mawhinney 207-775-7500

Everyone is welcome, whether you are curious or want to begin. Kneeler kits cost $75, which include directions, yarn, needles & canvas. Novices are welcome; we will teach you as needed. Prayer Shawls: 26-29” by 60”; select your yarn & needles. Coffee & Tea available.

The Biblical Study Group

The Biblical Study Group will begin meeting again on September 1 in the Oratory at 8:30AM.

The group will focus on the topic of being made in the image of God.

The first session will allow time for our leader and resource person, Dr. Bob Hanson, to highlight the content of the upcoming sessions, and to gauge the group to find a preferred time and place to meet.

This class will consider what you know about yourself, your own self image, what you want for yourself, and what God and Jesus are calling for you.

Biblical references on the Imago Dei are “Genesis 1:26, Genesis 5:5, Wisdom 2:23, I Corinthians 15: 49, II Corinthians 3: 12-18, I Corinthians 11:7, Colossians 3:10, I Corinthians.

With questions please contact Dr. Hanson at 207-405-8250.

The Parish Prayer List

Names remain on the prayer list for 3 consecutive weeks unless otherwise requested. If you wish for a name to be added, contact Avery Schott, Parish Administrator via email.