News (fyi)
Visioning Worship/Workshop
On Sunday, May 21, at 10:00 am, the Rev. Dr. Susan MacAlpine-Gillis will join us for worship to introduce a discernment process that will help shape our vision for the future of our church. The service that day will intertwine worship with our visioning and discernment workshop. … We highly encourage all persons involved in the life of our church to attend. Childcare will be provided.
Because of technical contraints, this worship/workshop will not be streamed. There will be other opportunities for all (including online) to be a part of this process of shaping our church’s future.
Community Yard Sale
Presque Isle Area-Wide Yard Sale
Saturday, June 3, starting at 9:00 am
Our church will participate in the City of Presque Isle Area-Wide Yard Sale. Proceeds from the sale will benefit funding for the church's local mission partners.
Please note: no television or computer hardware will be accepted.
If you need items picked up, please notify the church office. Thanks in advance for your generous donations!
Plan Your Own Life Celebration
How do you want your life to be celebrated?
RESCHEDULED (from April) Meg Hegemann will hold a workshop on Thursday, May 25 at 6:00 pm, to help us through the process of planning our own funeral or memorial service. Consider this an ideal gift to your loved ones.
This will be an in person event at the church with a Zoom option for online participation. RSVP to the church office if attending in person. RSVP here for Zoom link to participate online.
Parsonage Repairs Project
From the Church Moderator
Dear Members and Friends,
As many of you are now aware, our congregation has been struggling with physical infrastructure issues for some time. …
Tackling the parsonage first, it is a building built in the early 1900’s for the purpose of housing our settled pastors. Over the years we have been able to modernize much of the building’s essential components but the foundation itself has begun to show its’ age …
Planning Your Own Life Celebration
How do you want your life to be celebrated?
POSTPONED (to be rescheduled) Meg Hegemann will hold a workshop on Saturday, April 8 at 10:00 am to help us through the process of planning our own funeral or memorial service. Consider this an ideal Easter gift to your loved ones.
This will be an in person event only, and will meet at the church.
“Mourning By Morning” - Lenten Video
“Mourning By Morning” is the fifth (final) video in our Lenten series of short devotional films. “Mourning” may anticipate Good Friday’s grief, which we will experience again, soon enough. But the song by Shellee Coley recognizes the story does not end there, in death. “Mourning by morning, … I am becoming new,” she sings. “Come and make us new,” she prays to God. That day is coming!
We also hear echoes of Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) in the opening of Kelly Ann Hall’s poem …
“Only Just Begun” - Lenten Video
The Fourth video in the Lenten series, “Becoming: a Season of Rebirthing,” is “Only Just Begun.” The words and images of the poem in the video reflects Psalm 23. The song by Shellee Coley, too, with these words: "So I wandered throught the valley. I stood beneath an open sky, just looking for somebody to lead me through the lonely night.”
The creators point out that the video contains themes appropriate for Lent: a “willingess to be in communion, to wander towards blessing, to continue to learn.” …
Lenten Video - “Story Like This”
The third video in the Lenten series, “Becoming: a Season of Rebirthing,” is “Story Like This.” Images in the song reflect the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), and images in the poem/prayer echo the story of God making water spring from a rock for Moses and the Hebrew people (Exodus 17).
The video also reminds us that the work of seeing our way through the hard times, the dark times of our lives, is constant, difficult, and can be elusive. …
“Wait For It” - Lenten Video
Last week, we shared The Knowing, the first video in the series “Becoming: a Season of Rebirthing” that we are offering in Lent. The videos are the work of singer-songwriter Shellee Layne Coley, poet Kelly Ann Hall, and filmmaker Travis Reed.
The poem in The Knowing is a reflection on Adam and Eve hiding in the garden. In Wait For It, the poem is God’s response to them. …
Lent Begins with Confession
(Update: discussion guide available)
As the season of Lent begins, we offer a visual liturgy resource for your personal reflection and preparation for the spiritual journey ahead.
The Knowing is an evocative song by Shellee Layne Coley, which overlays a poem/prayer by Kelly Ann Hall.
Click here and enter your email to watch the video - available through March 22.
Lent at Our Church
As Lent begins, we’ve got a few events and activities coming up for both fellowship and faith formation. All are welcome!
Soup Suppers: … Monday, March 6, and Monday, March 27. Meals will begin at 5:30 pm. …
Book Discussion Group: an in-person group [reading] The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. … at the church starting Friday, Feb 24 at 11:00 am. …
Lenten Book Discussion
You’re invited to join an in-person book group during Lent, to read and talk about the new book by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie: The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days.
We’ll be meeting at the church at 11:00 am, starting Friday, February 24. Lenten Devotional Guides to accompany the book will be available for participants. …
Food for Thought
This Sunday, January 8, we give thanks and dedicate commitments of financial support for our church in the coming year. There will also be a potluck lunch following worship.
Coincidence? Not really. …
One is essentially about food and fellowship, the other financial and organizational. But both are about what we choose to give that we might nourish …
Remembering the Life of the Rev. James W. Fletcher
The Rev. Jim Fletcher, surrounded by loved ones, died peacefully at home in Scarborough, Maine, on December 28. Jim and Paula Fletcher came to Presque Isle in 1980. He served our church from 1980 - 1987. We will keep Paula, son Christopher and family, and daughter Peggy and family in our prayers.
“Gifts for the Christ Child”
Just what can I give him, Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man, I would do my part;
Yet, what I can I give him – give my heart.
As our church has considered whose birth we honor, we have for many years gathered “Gifts for the Christ Child,” supporting the work of local organizations to meet basic human needs. UPDATE: With Dec 18 worship cancelled, please bring gifts to the Christmas Eve service. …
Giving as Grateful Response
From Ray Rice, Property & Finance Ministry
I want to begin by simply saying thank you. In the midst of constant change, a global pandemic, and learning how to be present in celebration in ways we might never have expected, you have responded with openness and generosity, inviting all to be together in worship. … Because of your commitment to the ministry of this congregation, we are an ever-increasing effective witness to the radical welcome of Jesus Christ. …
From Moderator Calvin Hall
I’m fairly certain that none of us enjoys paying bills. Many can’t be avoided. Some are for those things which may not seem essential but make our lives that much better. So, we prioritize, budget, save and plan, especially during challenging times.
It’s the same here at the church. … That’s where we all need to come in because we are all owners of the assets, physical and fiscal, and the money to pay the expenses comes from us. …
November Mission Moments
Warm and Safe Homes Telethon
Donate to the annual heating assistance project via our church, or the telethon on Nov. 17, 5am-8pm on WAGM-TV.
Grace Interfaith Food Table (GIFT)
Non-perishable food items are needed for Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets …
“Mr. Jones” Film Screening - Oct 26
The University of Maine at Presque Isle will offer a film screening of ‘Mr. Jones’ as part of the event titled ‘Holodomor or Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine,’ on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Multi-Purpose Room. A free event
The film loosely tells the story of Gareth Jones, a journalist from Wales, who … uncovers the truth about … the devastating famine in Ukraine in which millions died.
Neighbors in Need Offering
MISSION OUTREACH - October offering
Neighbors in Need (NIN) is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). Two-thirds of this offering is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects through grants. …