| Dragon Tales August 2008 Newsletter of St. George's Episcopal Church
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From the Rector: Partners For Sacred Places
For the last year or so we've been gently discussing a capital campaign, getting us all used to the idea. We also brought together a Long Range Planning Committee to evaluate possibilities for our parish's future needs, given our mission and vision that arose from our Mutual Study of Ministry, of St. George’s being a "welcoming, inclusive, vibrant community in which every person of every age is engaged in mission and ministry." The LRP produced a report (click here) that lays out a couple of options for our consideration.
I don’t need to tell you that we are living in complex times, or that those complex times are also impacting our parish’s life. We find ourselves in a very complex economic reality, and we find ourselves with some very real capital needs. In conversation with the Wardens, Vestry and other leaders, we’ve tentatively developed component parts of a capital campaign that is both “maintenance” and “mission” in character. Some of the projects might include:
- Painting the inside (as needed) and outside of the church (needed!);
- Beautifying the downstairs bathrooms;
- Making modest improvements to the organ to move some pipes out of the chamber, shrinking the organ loft a bit, but making significant sound and appearance improvements;
- Adding seating in the nave to replace failing pews. These would help make the space more flexible, more attractive and would be easy to "add to" when the time comes for us to significantly expand the space. (Check out Holy Trinity Lutheran in Newington, or St. David's, Kennebunk, for lovely examples.);
- Bringing the worship space into the 21st century, tastefully. We have some offers to make this happen, e.g., installing, discreetly, a screen and projector, perhaps covering it with a liturgically appropriate drape/banner when not in use. It would look like decoration to those attending our more traditional services.
- Loving on the Rectory a bit—paint outside, looking at some energy improvements around the place, some improvements to make it less of a morale liability;
- One thing bold: joining the local Methodist Church and others in improving our energy efficiency and increasing use of renewable energy. This is not only the right thing to do, but it will also help us engage faithfully this complex economic and energy reality in which we find ourselves.
I have asked several parishioners with particular expertise to work with us to price out such a campaign.
Just as this discussion began taking shape, becoming more concrete, the bishop encouraged us to investigate our diocesan relationship with Partners for Sacred Places (www.sacredplaces.org). Their website states “Partners for Sacred Places is the only national, non-sectarian, non-profit organization dedicated to the sound stewardship and active community use of America's older religious properties. Partners provides assistance to the people who care for sacred places while promoting a new understanding of how these places sustain communities.”
Partners helps churches transform their buildings to be financial assets, rather than financial drains by empowering churches in the areas of:
- Resource training, fundraising, restoring and promoting historic church buildings (their definition of historic is older than 50 years);
- Promoting maintenance, upkeep and facilities preservation of historic church buildings as icons of mission in a particular community;
- Empowering, training and consulting with local church members so they are aware of possibilities for accomplishing items 1 and 2.
All in all, this work prepares a church to launch a capital campaign well, a campaign that is rooted in mission, in the church’s relationship with the larger community and, ergo, able to better access the resources of the larger community as well.
Beginning this fall, ten churches in Maine will participate, each with four lay leaders and their clergy. The program is 18 months, with only three three-day “away” meetings. During that time, however, Partners’ consultants are available 24-7 to support the work of the churches’ participants. Other churches include St. Matthew’s, Hallowell, Christ Church, Biddeford, The Cathedral Church of St. Luke, and St. Mary’s, Falmouth.
The Diocese will pay at least half of the cost of the program, with the maximum cost for each church being $1,000 (there will be a sliding scale). As the Bishop said in a letter to participating churches: “If you were to hire a Capital Development Consultant on your own, the costs per congregation would be much greater.”
Given where we are now in our parish’s and our world’s history, this seems like a wonderful way to spend 18 months, an incredible opportunity to ready ourselves for what is next, so that we are ready to take the steps we are called to take when the economy settles down. Faced with this opportunity so well-suited to our situation, at the July meeting your Vestry voted to participate in Partners for Sacred Places.
What do we need from you? We need your nominations for people who would be lay participants in this program. Please contact me with your ideas at pblair1@earthlink.net or 207-363-7376. Please hold St. George’s in prayers. This is an exciting time and an interesting time. God is good. And prayer always helps. Pray about strong ties to our community. Pray about our church meeting the community’s needs. Pray about St. George’s being a great steward of all our resources. Pray about how you might be involved in this adventure. In this way you can be a partner to this sacred place.
In Christ,
Paige+
Heading For the Hospital? Let Us Help!
by the Rev. Sudie Blanchard, Deacon
Every now and then, a parishioner is admitted to the hospital and your clergy don’t learn about it until after the person is home again. This can cause hard feelings—the patient may feel ignored by his or her church family, and we are unhappy that we missed a chance to be with that person in their time of need.
As a deacon who visits lots of patients in the hospital, this is a real concern for me, so I spent some time a few weeks ago with Pat, a member of the admitting staff at York Hospital. I wanted to learn more about the admitting process there. Here’s what I discovered: There are several places where a person may be admitted as an inpatient: the Emergency Room, the Surgical Center and Admitting. During the regular admitting process, patients are asked about their spiritual needs, but those questions may be phrased very subtly so as not to offend. If a person has a critical illness or injury and is admitted through the Emergency Room, in the urgency of the moment the question may simply not be understood by the patient or family members.
Hospitals take patient privacy very seriously. There’s only so much information about you that the hospital may divulge without your express permission—even to your clergy. York Hospital doesn’t employ a chaplain who follows up with newly admitted patients to be sure their spiritual needs are being met, so we may not hear of your illness without your help.
Here’s how you can help us help you when you are ill and hospitalized:
- If you know ahead of time that you’ll be heading to the hospital for a procedure, let the church know.
- Let members of your family or close friends know ahead of time that you’d like the church to know about any illness that involves hospitalization.
- If you are released from the hospital to a rehab facility, let us know where you’re headed. The hospital won’t tell us where you’ve gone.
- If you are in the hospital and realize that you’d like to talk to one of us, let your nurse know. He or she will make sure we see you.
Like the hospital, the clergy at St. George's respect your privacy. If you share a health concern with one of us in confidence, we will always respect that, unless doing so presents a danger to you or others. We’ll work with you to give you support according to your wishes.
Finally—please don’t ever worry about “bothering” us with your concerns when you are ill. Those concerns are real, and we care! There are many practical and prayerful ways both lay and clergy members of the Pastoral Care Team can support you and those you love when you are ill—we are blessed with many helping hands and hearts in the St. George’s community. We’ll be there when you need us!
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Deacons Corner: Seeds or Weeds?
by the Rev. Aaron Perkins
As I write this, I’m also preparing to preach this coming Sunday, July 20. The Gospel for this Sun
day is the Parable of the Sower from Matthew (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43). In the parable, Jesus tells us of someone who sowed good seed in his field, and when everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat. The master directed the workers to let the weeds come up with the wheat, and the weeds could then be separated at the harvest.
This parable can be thought of as Jesus telling us that the good will be separated from the bad in the end but also that we shouldn’t be hasty in determining what is good and what is bad. When a seedling is small, it’s pretty hard to tell what a weed is and what a wheat seedling is.
I’m currently preparing three women at the correctional center for baptism and one woman for confirmation. They have decided all on their own that becoming part of the family of God is something that has been missing from their lives. They have also decided that they are tired of people labeling them weeds when they know that they are not. They have all made a bad decision somewhere along the way that has caused them to be in prison, but they are all still young—still seedlings.
Even though we think that we can tell which plants are weeds and which ones are wheat, I think that we need to remind ourselves that making that judgment is not our job.
Only God knows which is which.
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| U2charist on Sunday, August 3! Our next U2charist will happen on Sunday, August 3, 5:00 p.m. Please come to a beautiful service that is also a rockin’ good time. Bring anyone and everyone with you! This is a special 3rd anniversary of the U2charist! An ice cream social celebrating our AIDS Walk Team’s being the #1 fundraising team from a faith community will follow the U2charist—all are welcome! | ||
Congratulations, AIDS Walk Team
Congratulations to the St. George’s AIDS Walk Team! St. George’s team was the #1 fundraising team, and the team with the most participants in the AIDS Response Seacoast AIDS Walk in May. The Team won an ice cream social, hosted by the AIDS Response Board, which will take place after the August 3 U2charist. Please come and celebrate our AIDS Walk Team!
PlayPumps International Success
Between March 22 and June 29, many of our supporters came together in an effort to bring individuals and families in sub-Sahara Africa access to clean drinking water. June 29 marked the completion of our "100 Pumps in 100 Days - Second Spin" campaign. [St. George’s offering from the January 2008 U2charist helped fund this effort by PlayPumps International!]
We surpassed our goal of 100 pumps in 100 days for the second year in a row and raised enough money to fund 109 new PlayPump® water systems!
"All children have the right to clean water ....... and the right to play." (Children's Charter of South Africa) These pumps will improve the lives of millions and you made it happen. Soon, more children will be spinning and smiling, and clean drinking water will be flowing in 109 new communities in sub-Saharan Africa due to your compassion and support in 2007 and again in 2008.
Today, we are closer to our ambitious goal of raising funds for 4,000 PlayPump water systems in 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa by 2010, bringing the benefits of clean water to up to 10 million people.
Thank you for making the "100 Pumps in 100 Days - Second Spin" a success and taking a seat at the pump!
The Chocolate Fest is Coming! by Christina DeSoto Reilly
Choccolata, Chocola, Schkolade, Chocolae! No matter how you say it, CHOCOLATE can't be beat! We will hold our annual Chocolate Fest on Friday, August 15, 6:00-8:30 p.m. Proceeds from this event will benefit our Church Library and other church programs.
We need your help to make this event a huge success. Would you consider donating any item you have that has any type of chocolate in it, on it or around it? Candy, cake, cookies, coffee, coffee beans, bagels, bread, ice cream treats—and gifts or gift cards for our raffle, too.
We also need volunteers to pick up donations, set up on the day, work during the fest and clean up. Please see the sign-up sheets in the parish hall.
What is a Pastoral Associate? by the Rev. Paige Blair
If you have been reading previous articles in Dragon Tales, or your Vestry minutes, you know that the Rector, Wardens and Vestry have been working on a staff reconfiguration, shifting around some responsibilities and doing our best to be sure that everyone's gifts and skills are being used to their utmost for the sake of our mission and ministry.
One change has been the roles and responsibilities of the ordained staff. A good number of responsibilities that had been overseen by the Associate for Spiritual Formation and Family Ministries (namely pastoral care and programming for new members and young families) will be overseen by the Rector going forward, and a good number of responsibilities that had been overseen by the Rector (namely pastoral care and programming for established members) will be overseen by a new clergy position: the Pastoral Associate.
The Pastoral Associate will be a halftime position, with primary responsibility for the pastoral care and programming for established members, including home, hospital and nursing home visits, most of the Thursday morning healing Eucharists, and oversight and support of the many ministries that make up our vibrant and well-grounded Pastoral Care Team, including the support and encouragement of the pastoral care coordinator, and recruiting for these ministries. Sunday morning responsibilities and a share of the preaching will be included as well.
It is important for all of us to keep this shift of roles and responsibilities in mind. After the Rector has met with candidates for this position, they will meet with members of the Vestry and other lay leaders. The Rector has reminded these lay interviewers that they are not looking to replace Steve Godfrey as Associate for Family Ministries, but instead are looking for a Pastoral Associate who will be relating to and ministering to a different population.
This staff reconfiguration will allow the Rector to use some of her gifts that have been rather dormant during the time we've had an Associate for Spiritual Formation and Family Ministries as part of our staff configuration.
Please keep your leadership in your prayers as we discern who is called to be our pastoral associate. Please keep our candidates in your prayers as well.
