The Turning Point

June, 2015
St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church
PO Box 711, Ellsworth ME 04605
Phone: 667-5495

e-mail: stdunstansellsworth@gmail.com

Web site: http://stdunstansellsworth.com

IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THUS

SPOILER ALERT: If you never procrastinate, dont read this.
And there they were. Same place I left them when I began the project more than a week ago.
Now they were in the way of what I really wanted to do. But I couldnt do what I wanted to do
because what I needed to do was in the way. Has it always been thus? It always has. Im convinced its part of the human condition.
I had begun raking my lawn with an eye to burning the debris. Of course, I began raking after
almost half a day of planting lilies. I was tired. After about half an hour, I sighed, came to my
you-take-on-too-much senses , picked up my tools and tired body and went in to dinner. As you
may guess, life then decided to happen. A week later, the piles of debris were still there and the
grass had grown long and lush. Determined, now that I have new, pain-free hip joints, to mow
my own lawn this year, I knew I needed to mow soon or I would need a scythe. And there they
were. Not only were the debris piles there but they had settled in and would be harder to rake
over to the driveway for the burning.
By now the job seemed to have taken on huge proportions. And it wasnt as if I didnt know
what needed to be done. I just had to go and do it: drive into Bucksport, go to the first house,
get a burn permit, rake the piles to the driveway, light the fire and wait for it to burn down.
But I wanted to mow. Sheesh.
If there is an original sin, the desire to skip the hard steps on the way to a greatly desired goal
would be it. I had a seminarian once who always said things kept falling off the bottom of her
to do list. Finally, as her supervisor, I asked her if those things were important. No, said she,
they were just hard. And there they werethe piles of lawn debris in the middle of her life.
Getting right with God and our neighbor is no different than removing piles of lawn debris before mowing. Yes, I can mow over all those sticks and old leaves. But the lawn doesnt look as
nice or give me anywhere near the same amount of pleasure to look at if I skip that pesky rake
-and-burn step. I know I will have less joy, pleasure and energy in my life if I have lawn debris lying about in my relationship with God and my neighbors.
Isnt it amazing how much of our joy and happiness lie in our own hands?
Mother Johanna+

Growing
Over the past year and a half, I have marveled at how St. Dunstans has and continues
to grow. This growth has been in numbers joining our congregation, attending services,
participating in church and community projects, and in financial support. With the
leadership of our priest we are planning farther into the future than we have in years.
All of this growth and planning are having a compounding effect and are making us a
stronger congregation.
This past April, The Diocese of Maine questioned our annual Parochial Report because
it showed a growth rate approaching 15 percent in 2014. Anytime the Diocese sees
growth of more than 5 percent, questions are triggered about this positive trend, because changes, positive or negative, impact the amount that an individual church has
the responsibility to contribute to the Diocese the following year.
This past Holy week, from Palm Sunday through Easter, was a time of not only reflection as to the meaning and basis of our faith but also a strengthening of our church family. Attendance at all of the Holy Week services was the highest in recent history.
From Sunday school to coffee hours there is a wonderful interaction and joy expressed
by all. Whether young or older, new to St. Dunstans or a long-time member, everyone is
sharing in this growth. More importantly, we are growing as a people of God.
In Faith, Dave Wells
Sunday School stewardship within the church
Teaching young children about Bible stories and teachings,
about the church service, and about Christian beliefs and
practices is a vital part of stewardship. Marjorie Linscott is
currently the Sunday School teacher for the younger children
at St. Dunstans.
Marjorie loves teaching young children and has taught off
and on in Sunday School for many years. She grew up as a
Baptist, and her family considered attending Sunday School
to be very important. I think her mother read from the Bible
to her on days when she could not get to Sunday School. After
she grew up, Marjorie taught Sunday School at the Lamoine
Baptist Church and at the Trenton Baptist Church. However
in 1968, she joined St. Dunstans Episcopal Church (at that time, it was still holding its
services in its first building, the holy garage), and has taught Sunday School here, off
and on, ever since.
Continued on next page

Marjorie starts the Sunday School session by reading a Bible story. The children then talk about the
story and do artwork or some type of craft related to the story. She also talks to the children about the
church service, the seasons, and some of the things Jesus did. The children particularly like drawing
pictures. With the time left after the lesson is over, the children go into the Lotte Horn room and play
games. Marjorie plays right along with the children, which excites their admiration. Some years ago,
Sunday school started with a short service including songs accompanied by guitar, prayer, and a collection. The children also did a lot of cooking. Now Sunday School is more informal and the kitchen is no
longer used.
Seeing that the children have taken in what they have been taught and are learning to enjoy church
makes Marjorie feel happy and that she is contributing to the church in a meaningful way.
One parishioner says that her daughter is now teaching Sunday School in a church in Texas because of
the grounding she received in Sunday School from Marjorie years ago.
GRACE BEFORE MEALS
Blessings and prayers before eating are part of a tradition going back to ancient
Jewish ritual. This practice is often mentioned in the writings of the early church, and
appears in the monastic rules of the Benedictine and other monastic orders. In todays
harried and rushed world, however, it is a practice that all too often we dont, or wont,
take time for. Even in my own family where Mother was the daughter of a priest and had
two brothers who were priests I was not taught to say grace before a meal although we
did so before Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other special dinners.
For a number of years while living in a retirement home I led residents in saying
grace before the main meal in our dining room. As I did this 7 days a week I got bored
with Bless this food to our use and us to thy service day after day, and I looked for other
options. In my searching I found that the pre- meal blessing can take many forms and be
in many languages. My grandfather had a Latin grace which he could use privately at
large dinners. I dont recall the Latin but the sense was this: May the Blessed one bless
said before eating, and May the Blessed one be blessed said after the meal. I found
blessings coming from Chinese, American Indian, French, Spanish, and many other
sources. They may be sung rather than recited, and there are at least 2 hymns in our
hymnal that would serve this purpose as well as several gospel hymns that would work as
grace before meals.
The blessing may be made up on the spot or may be taken from scripture. A
priest taught me this one Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh
down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning which comes from a psalm. Some blessings are short and humorous, like Down
head, up paws, Thank God, weve jaws which is supposedly a Scottish childrens prayer.
I hasten to say I cant see myself using this for grace before dinner although children
might like it. Grace can be long, too long to quote here or it can be short, like Bless O
Lord this food to our use and us to thy service. Amen
Herbert Beckwith

Byzantine, ca. 5th century:

Blessed are you, O Lord,
Who have fed us from our youth,
And give to all their food.
Fill our hearts with joy and gladness,
That having all we need,
We might abound in all good works
In Christ Jesus our Lord.
With whom to you be glory, honor, and dominion
Unto all ages. Amen

LOAVES

AND

American Indian, from Book of childrens

prayers:
The eagles give thanks for the mountains,
The fish give thanks for the sea.
We give thanks for our blessings
And for what were about to receive
Gospel Hymns 1-6.
God is great and God is good,
Let us thank him for this food
By His hand must all be fed,
Give us Lord our daily bread.

FISHES FOOD PANTRY NEWS

The month of May has passed and our efforts to provide all the staff for the pantry
has been an outstanding success once again. Harvey and I wish to thank all 35 different
volunteers who helped prepare the food and stock the shelves and serve the 215 families
during each of the 13 days the pantry was open. Our efforts not only served the clients but
also included unloading the monthly truck from the Good Shepard food bank, sorting and
storing the donations from the Post Office carriers food drive and picking up food from
Hannaford's. This year we began picking up donations from Walmart 2 times a week as
well. The first pickup was over 1300 pounds. You may wonder if the pantry is able to use
all of these donations. The pantry is part of a greater network and sharing our left overs
occurs on a regular basis. Even the cull veggies, fruit and breads find their way to food for
domestic animals. Nothing is wasted.
A special word of thanks to the new faces who signed up to help and learn the inner
workings of the pantry. As in any endeavor there is a turnover of folks in the ranks, new
faces are essential to keeping our efforts successful. We hope it is a rewarding experience
for you all.
Your pantry continues to be successfully managed by Marion Hand, under the board
leadership of Linda Kimmelman. The pantry is well organized, clean and the several fund
raising efforts and food drives continue to be successful. Stay tuned for the next effort,
which as always will be at the Blue Hill Fair Pie booth. We are in good shape in many
ways thanks to your participation. And please do not forget the "Little Red Wagon"
If you have any questions please let Harvey or me know. Thank you once again for
your support.
Joe Stockbridge and Harvey Kelley

TREASURERS REPORT
As you can see from the financial report (see bulletin board in undercroft), our financial
picture continues to be healthy. This is possible through the generosity of our parishioners and the diligence of our staff and Vestry in keeping expenses under control. We even
are doing ok on the snow plowing charges spending just $1,010 of our $1,800 2015
budget so far this year. I am not, I repeat NOT suggesting that we need lots of snow this
fall, but it does amaze me considering the snow we had this past winter! We continue to
thank our Snow Shovel Guys who save us plenty! We even continue to have a few pledges
coming in.
Thank you all for the wonderful energy and happy times clearly present at St. Dunstans. It is all because of you!
Bless you all for your support,
Mary DeLong and Muffet Stewart

DID YOU KNOW.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS
We are accustomed at St. Dunstans to singing or saying the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory be
to God on High)as we begin the Eucharist. It is one of three acclamations or statements of praise provided in the Book of Common Prayer for the opening of the Eucharist.
The other two are the Kyrie Eleison and the Trisagion. The Gloria is probably the most
familiar and often used of these. It is a very early Greek hymn possibly from before
150AD. In the sixth century its regular use on Sundays was ordered by Pope
Symmmacus. A very long tradition of singing the Gloria has existed in the Episcopal
Church with tunes being published at least as early as 1814. The 1982 hymnal provides
eleven different settings for this old hymn.
TRISAGION
The Trisagion (Holy God, holy and mighty, Holy Immortal One, Have mercy upon us) is a
troparion or a text in rhythmic prose composed as a refrain for a psalm or canticle. It is
known to have been in use by 451. Over the years it was used at various places in the
service but is established in our 1972 prayer book in the opening of the Eucharist. The
hymnal provides 4 musical settings for it.
KYRIE ELEISON
The Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy), usually called
simply the Kyrie is the third of the acclamations or statements of praise provided in
the Book of Common Prayer for the opening of the Holy Eucharist. The Greek words
Continued on next page

Kyrie Eleison meaning Lord have mercy were originally used as an acclamation for
Roman emperors to acknowledge their authority. They first appear as a Christian litany
response in the 4th century, while by the 5th Century the phrase began to be used alone
without a litany to respond to. Often a ninefold form of the kyrie was used, with the
three middle phrases being altered to Christe Eleison. Nowadays it is often translated
into English as Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us , etc. At least
since 1916 musical settings have been provided in the hymnal for the Kyrie as well as
the other chants used during the church service. In 1982 we have about 18 such settings
for the Kyrie and the Lord have Mercy. The Gloria and the Trisagion also have several
settings in our hymnal.
Herbert Beckwith
Letter from the Editor:
You will notice that there are no photos or personal information (such
as birthdays to celebrate) in this edition of the Turning Point. Because this
document is shared on our website, and basically available for the world to
see, I am uncomfortable opening your lives to the general public without your
permission. The financial report and a variety of photos from events you have
shared will be displayed on a bulletin board in the Undercroft for all parishioners to view. Please feel free to submit any information you would like included in our next newsletter (submissions due September 1, 2015), such as articles you have written, feast day histories, favorite psalms, etc. I would be
happy to read any feedback from you as well. This is your publication...let me
know what you are interested in reading! Thanks.
Ann
Priest In Charge
Rev. Johanna-Karen Johannson

Newsletter Editor
Ann Blood

Deacon
Rev. Joan Preble
Senior Warden
Dave Wells
Junior Warden
Harvey Kelley
Treasurer
Muffet Stewart
Assistant Treasurer
Mary DeLong

Send news to:

Ann Blood
Email: stdunstansellsworth@gmail.com
St. Dunstans Episcopal Church
P.O. Box 711, 134 State Street
Ellsworth, ME 04605
www.stdunstansellsworth.com