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There's a lot more information than you might think in our weekly news.

This Week of August 25

Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *

whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.

Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, *

for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

Psalm 84: 4-6

Quam dilecta!

Weekly Calendar

Quick Links for Online Worship and Fellowship

Evensong Service at Saint Andrews Church is this Sunday evening, August 25 at 5:00 PM.

Saint Mary’s Choir will sing Evensong with Father Michael preaching. This Choral Evensong will be dedicated to past members of the Saint Mary’s Choir who are now singing in the “Heavenly Choir”. Click hear for the event flier. Please join us for this special night of music and remembrance in a beautiful chapel overlooking Nantucket Sound.

Wednesday Spirituality Discussion Group

Meets every Wednesday morning at 10:00 AM in the carpeted section of Walden Hall. The group is currently discussing the Gospel of Mark. If you would like to join this group, please reach out to Deacon Elizabeth Whitmore. All are warmly welcomed!

Thursday Morning Holy Eucharist, Book Discussion And, Breakfast Group

Please consider joining our weekly gathering on Thursday mornings in Walden Hall at 8:30 AM. All are welcome! Each week different participants take turns facilitating the discussion and contributing tasty breakfast treats.

Our office hours are changing: 

Beginning Tuesday, September 3, our Main Parish Office will be open from Monday - Friday, 9am to 12:00pm. This change will support a more efficient workflow for our staff and the office. Though our office will be closed at noon time, our staff will be available for scheduled appointments and meetings after noon. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Parish Administrator, Julie Remie at admin@stmarys-church.org. Thank you for your help.

It has been oddly quiet outside of our offices the last two weeks. Our World United Preschool has been closed for their annual Summer Vacation and we all miss the sounds of the children playing but, although the playground is quieter, the gardens have been very busy with visitors. There are lots of photographers floating about taking senior pictures and vacationing families are delighted to find our, "secret garden" and playground. If you have a minute take a stroll out to the Kitchen and Cutting Gardens. The dahlias Elizabeth Betti (pictured above) so lovingly cared for all year are starting to show off. Thank you Elizabeth for making Saint Mary's so beautiful!

Meet and Greets with Father Michael Continue:

We are in the home stretch of all the Meet & Greets. They been a wonderful opportunity for people to meet with Father Michael and Charles in a more intimate setting as well as a nice opportunity for fellow parishioners to connect with one another. If you have not signed up to attend an event yet, please take another look at the on-line sign-up sheets. Your hosts will reach out to you with any specific information or directions a day or so before the gathering. Please contact Judy Knauer with any questions.

Putting Our Affairs in Order

Planning today for the living of tomorrow

Please join us for a 3-part Educational Offering of Saint Mary's Church for adults of all ages, recognizing the gift we give to ourselves and to those we love - parents, children, and others, when we plan today for the eventualities of tomorrow.

Sundays 11:30 - 1:30 in Saint James Room

A light lunch will be provided

Please click here to R.S.V.P. or call the Parish Office at 508-362-3977

• September 8 - Legal & Financial Considerations
• September 15 - Living Considerations
• September 22 - End of Life Considerations

Please click here for the flier

Save The Dates!

Please mark these upcoming events on your calendars. More information to come.

• Wednesday, September 4, 2024 - Choir Rehearsal Starts
• Sunday, September 8, 2024 - ROAR Blessing of the Bikes
• Sunday, September 8, 1891 Forum Series Begins - Putting Our Affairs in Order
• Sunday, September 8, 2024 - Creation Care Season Begins with special liturgies and speaker series offered with the theme of, "To Hope and Act With Creation" running through September, concluding with the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi on October 5-6.
• Tuesday, September 10, 2024 - A Celebration of New Ministry and Institution - Please join us for a very special service as we welcome The Reverend Michael J. Horvath as the eighth rector of Saint Mary's Episcopal Church. A special invitation will be forthcoming.
• Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - Annual 9/11 Service of Remembrance

Join us for the ordination and consecration of the Rev. Julia E. Whitworth as our diocese's 17th bishop diocesan!  

The service will take place on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at 11 a.m.

Registration is required. Please click here to register.

Doors open for general seating at 9:30 a.m.

The procession begins at 10:30 a.m.

INREACH

Volunteer opportunities within the Saint Mary’s Community:

OUTREACH

Outreach Action Brainstorming Session



August 28, 2024 from 12:00 to 1:00 PM

You are invited to join us for a brain-storming session as we work to develop a new branch of our Outreach Ministry at Saint Mary's. A simple lunch will be provided. Please R.S.V.P. by TODAY, August 23, 2024 if you plan to attend. ALL are welcome!

We will use this time to examine how we can best follow Christ's teachings; see and be the presence of God in our world. Please bring your thoughts on how we are called to serve and how our efforts bring Christ's justice, mercy, peace and love to our brothers and sisters in need. We seek to define the mission and goals of a "boots on the ground" Outreach Action Team at Saint Mary's to compliment our Outreach Grants and Giving Committee.

Backpack Drive - A Tremendous Success

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Back To School Backpack Drive, whether you purchased supplies, or sponsored a back pack, or two, or ten, we say, THANK YOU to each and everyone of you!

Saint Mary’s Backpack Fundraiser raised… drum roll, please! ......

$1,520.00 This successful drive was sponsored by our Outreach Action Team (OAT)

We were able to send a check to the Hands of Hope Outreach Center earlier this week along with our backpacks and supplies. We are overwhelmed with your generosity! The folks at Hands of Hope Food Pantry (who are collecting and distributing these backpacks) indicated they would not have been successful without the support of our church in particular. Thank you all.

Beth Hearn - OAT Chair

7th Annual Ride, Run, Walk for Homes

Sunday, September 15, 2024

NEW FOR 2024 – Run/Walk Option along the Cape Cod Canal

Aptucxet Trading Post, Bourne, MA

It is not too late to join and help raise funds for this important partner in ministry. Click here to learn how you can help. Their are different levels of fundraising and the option to ride, run or walk.

Featured Finds of the Week

Angels' Treasures

Look at these great kitchen stools. With a little paint and polish they will be like new! We hear over and over just how amazing the "finds" at Angel's Treasures are. Janis and her angels do an incredible job finding special pieces and a whole team of folks help buff, clean, polish and paint pieces to help bring out their hidden value. The shop has been busy, busy, busy. Thank you angels! We see you and ALL of the work you do!



Angels' Treasures thrift shop is open from 10 AM to 3 PM Wednesday - Saturday.

Monthly Environmental Speaker Series:

St. John's Episcopal Church in Sandwich Village



Presentations are open to the public, free (donations gratefully accepted), and run from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM with Q & A. These events are held in the parish hall located on the rear right side of the church.

The Last Heath Hen: An Extinction Story from Martha's Vineyard.- August 27, 2024

Christie Palmer Lowrance will discuss her latest book, The Last Heath Hen: An Extinction Story. Beautifully illustrated, this gently told story for children recounts the dwindling days of a species of bird on Martha's Vineyard. A rare documentation of the very last individual of a species in the wild, the book describes the complexity and importance of conservation as well as the valuing of all wildlife. Christie is also the author of the definitive biography of Thornton Burgess, Nature's Ambassador: The Legacy of Thornton Burgess. Burgess, a resident of Sandwich, was a renowned twentieth century naturalist and children's author.

Tales of Cape Cod - 2024 Programs

Our neighbors across the street at the Olde Colonial Courthouse have a full schedule of fabulous authors and speakers throughout the Summer and into the Fall. Please click here to see the full schedule of stimulating talks. These talks take place in the Olde Colonial Courthouse every Monday night from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. We share our parking lot on these evenings.

The next talk features; local author Vincent Miles. He will explore the competition between Britain and America during the days of steam powered ocean liners, including those ultimately claimed by the Atlantic Ocean.

National Expert on Housing Inequities to Speak on Cape Cod

Author Richard D. Kahlenberg will present his research on housing inequities and share inspiring stories of a growing number of local and national movements working to tear down the walls that inflict damage on the lives of millions of Americans. 

The public session, co-sponsored by Housing Assistance and the Jewel Cobb Action Coalition, is titled “Housing Our Community: Challenges, Collaborations and Hope.” It will be held at the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Clapp Auditorium, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, 4-6 p.m. on August 26. 

Kahlenberg’s latest book, “Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don’t See” (2023), is an indictment of America’s housing policy that reveals the social engineering underlying our segregation by economic class, the social and political fallout that result, and what we can do about it. 

An Invitation From The Unitarian Church of Barnstable

Announcing the Cobb’s Hill Concert Series

The Unitarian Church is celebrating its new Steinway Model B Grand Piano by offering 6 concerts of classical music starting in July and running through December 2024.

The Next concert in the series is on Saturday, September 7, 2024 at 5:00 PM featuring Noah Janowicz, cello and James Rosenblum, piano.

Click here for a complete list of all the concert performers.

Tickets are $25 each or $125 for the 6 concerts in the series

tickets are available here or at the door.

1891 Society News

“I shall never die, for the Spirit within me is God and cannot change. My life is hid within the Universe of Love and Light, and that Light shall live forever. “ Ernest Holmes

The 1891 Society is an honorary group of church members and friends who have made a financial commitment to leave behind a gift to the Church upon their passing. You can become a member by stating

you have made a commitment to include the Church. No minimum gift is required and you will not be asked the amount. All members will receive equal recognition in appreciation of their universal “Spirit of Giving.” Click here for more information about the 1891 Society or contact Linda Gadkowski at 508-292-5500

Seeking Photos

Do you like to snap photos? Allison is looking for active photos, snapshots from life at Saint Mary's. Maybe snap a picture or two at your Meet & Greet Session, during Lemonade on the Lawn, or in Bible Study, Thursday Morning Breakfast Group, Knitting Group, or a scene in our garden. Please send all photos to Allison at community@stmarys-church.org.

Thank you for your help!

Improving Our Social Media Presence

We want everyone outside of Saint Mary's to see what a wonderful and vibrant community we are. In an effort to communicate all that we have to offer, we will be trying to post more frequently on our facebook and instagram pages about daily life at Saint Mary's.

If you have not yet followed our Facebook or Instagram pages please do so. We have a public facebook page as well as, a private facebook group page we use for more internal communications. We use our instagram page to reach an even broader part of the community with hopefully compelling visuals of all that is happening at Saint Mary's. We want our social media to represent who we are and your contributions and feedback are most welcome. Thank you for your help.

• Weekly E-News deadline: Wednesday at noon.
• In an effort to keep it brief we will only highlight happenings of the next 10 days in our E-News.
• The deadline for submissions for our Monthly E-Newsletter is the 25th of the prior month.
• For your convenience, the Monthly Newsletter (printed out) will be available in the sunroom and the back of the church for those who would like a paper copy. If you know of someone who would enjoy receiving a paper copy in the regular mail please let Allison know.

     Saint Mary's Episcopal Church

P.O. Box 395

3055 Main Street

Barnstable, MA 02630

508-362-3977

www.stmarys-church.org