04.20.08
Website Updated
Maintenance begun 7:00 AM
Included WP upgrade to v2.5
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01.03.08
News Flash from Thayer!
The 2008 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service will be held at Saint Saviours’ Episcopal Church in Bar Harbor January 20, at 3:00pm. The Rev. Dr. William C Imes, President of Bangor Theological Seminary, will be the speaker. If necesary a Snow date will be at Saint Saviours’ on Sunday January 27, 3:00pm.
New this year is the opportunity to participate in several other activities during the week. One is the opportunity to exhibit Spiritual Art at one or more churches during the week of January 18 - 25. An art piece should have information with it telling about the art, and why it is special to the owner.
Please let Thayer Fanazick know if you have Spiritual Art to share during that week or have questions we can answer.
Also part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a Pot Luck Supper and Hymn Sing will be held at the Somesville Union Meeting House UCC, in Somesville on Friday January 18. Those attending will bring their place setting, a food dish to share and each choir participating will sing a hymn to teach others.
The Youth will have a Youth Service at the Bar Harbor Congregational Church in Bar Harbor on Monday January 21, at 5:00pm, followed by a pizza party for the youth. It is expected that favorite homemade pizza recipes will be made and donated by families, and milk or another healthy drink will also be donated. (Monday Jan. 21 is a no school day)
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12.08.07
Updates From Thayer
Somesville Union Meeting House is now celebrating the Season of Advent. A different family lights a candle and reads about the Advent wreath each week. For the first 3 weeks The John DaCorte family, Jeff Smith family and Jai Higgins family read the 1st, 2nd and 3rd weeks respectively.
The Youth Group will meet Sunday afternoon December 9 at the Parish House. Members are currently 7th graders through high school sophomore. Others are welcome.
On December 16 the church Christmas tree will be decorated after the service. Fellowship time refreshments will be available in the church during the decorating.
The Acadia Handbell Choir will ring during the worship service on December 16. Members are from the Somesville church, Tremont Church, Holy Redeemer in Bar Harbor and others. The choir rehearses Monday nights at 7pm, and new ringers or visitors are always welcome.
The choir rings at local nursing homes, the Ellsworth Library, the Ellsworth Christmas Parade, schools, and generally most times we are invited.
Two members of the Somesville Youth Group are planning to attend the National Youth Event in Knoxville Tennessee July 24 – 28, 2008, fund raising plans will be finalized soon. Currently the family of Joseph and Anthony Pierce’ have a portable bottle redemption drop box near the Parish House. The funds raised with the bottles will help pay for travel expenses. Thayer Fanazick will accompany Joseph and Anthony.
Somesvillle Union Meeting House United Church of Christ has a new Director of Music. Dr. Jamie A Hagedorn started with us on November 4. (There’s a lot more on her background in the Newsletter). Jamie plays piano or organ for choir and church services, leads a small youth choir Wednesday afternoon after the adult choir rehearsal, accompanies the Hancock Co. Gilbert & Sullivan Society and recently directed the Acadia Choral Society as it’s new music director.
Mount Desert Island Christian churches will again be participating in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity during the week January 18 – 25. The church service for all will be held January 20, 2008, 3:00pm at Saint Saviours’ Episcopal Church on Mount Desert Street in Bar Harbor. Rev. Dr. William C. Imes, President of Bangor Theological Seminary, will be the speaker. This will be the 4th consecutive annual service in recent years. There will be an ecumenical adult choir, and the Acadia Handbell Choir will ring. The offering will go to Church World Service with the local ¼ of offering going to local food pantries. Plans are still being made involving the whole Week of Prayer – January 18 to January 25. Different events are being planned to occur during the week. Please watch for updates.
The Somesville church is near the end of a year of studying what it means to be a Just Peace Church. This will be voted on in a resolution at our Annual Meeting on January 27, 2008 and then we will decide what to do. The Maine Conference of United Church of Christ voted to be a Just Peace Conference at the recent annual meeting in September.
Pat Butler is now directing the adult choir for church services, and has a small group for youth choir that practices Sundays after Sunday School and the worship service. We look forward to hearing them sing!
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10.03.07
National Day of Action
New England Mobilization to End the War in Iraq
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Rally at 12:00 Noon at Boston Common
Followed by a March at 2:00 PM
From the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine:
On Saturday, October 27th, people from all walks of life will gather in Boston for a massive New England regional demonstration, part of a nationally coordinatedday of protest against the war in Iraq called by United for Peace and Justice.
Regional demonstrations will be held in 11 cities around the country. The New England event will start with a rally at the Boston Common bandstand starting at Noon, followed by a march from 2:00 to 3:00 PM.
Organizations across the region are working to build the October 27th mobilization. Please join us! We the People must end this war! Together we can build a social movement that can stop this war and shift the political agenda in this country to further global justice and fund human needs.
Bring All The Troops Home Now!
End All Funding for the Iraq War Now!
Support Our Communities, Fund Human Needs!
No Attack on Iran!
Stop the Attacks on Civil Liberties, Defend Human Rights!
Buses are available to go from Belfast to Boston for the October 27th regional national day of action to end the war. Three buses will leave Belfast at 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning and return to Belfast by 8:00 p.m. We need to receive payment and reservations by this Monday, October 8th in order to reserve the buses.
Please send a check by October 8th for $25 per person made payable to Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, 170 Park Street, Bangor, 04401. Put “Boston Bus” in memo line and indicate on your check names of those planning to travel.
E-mail by reply mail if you want us to reserve a seat for you and will send along a check. We need to put down a deposit to reserve the buses and want to be sure we can cover it. For more information contact Cathy Mink 338-4920. Thanks to Cathy for taking the initiative and being willing to coordinate these three buses.
If you would like to carpool from Bangor to Belfast or from Bangor to Boston, please e-mail the Center at info@peacectr.org . Please indicate if you would like a ride or can offer one and include your name, town, phone number.
We are also looking for a volunteer to coordinate the carpooling. Please call 942-9343 if you might be willing to take on this task. ***********
If you want to carpool from MDI to Belfast or Boston, please contact the Peace With Justice Task Group by email at just.peace@sumhucc.org, or leave a message at the church office at 244-9260.
07.23.07
Here and There Supper
Last Sunday evening, about twenty-five of us gathered for this year’s first Here and There Supper, sponsored by the Mission Committee. This Supper featured Wat Opot, a village for children with AIDS, or orphaned by AIDS in rural Cambodia (the “There” part of the supper), and the Free Medical Clinic of Downeast Maine (the “Here”). After a delicious potluck supper, we settled in to hear Dr. David Reiber speak about the Clinic in Ellsworth where he volunteers. The mission of the clinic is to improve the health care of persons, families and communities within the Downeast area by providing free medical service for those without medical insurance and assistance is accessing other programs and resources for medical care beyond the clinic. Someone in the audience attested to the fine medical care he received there when he was at a low point in his life, and said the personal attention and medical care he received at the Clinic was superior to the care he receives now, with insurance.
Then Gail Gutradt spoke about her experiences at Wat Opot and showed wonderful slides of the village, countryside, and especially the children who live there. It was a moving presentation, and the pictures she had taken highlighted the wonderful effort that has been made to provide these children a place where they belong, a place where they get the medicine and food and love they need to thrive.
Both the Clinic and Wat Opot operate on a shoestring budget. Donations for the evening were matched by an anonymous donor and both the Clinic and the Wat Opot project came away from the evening with funds to help continue the vital work they do. In the case of Wat Opot, donations will pay for the establishment of some stocked fish ponds (full grown fish will be eaten or sold) and a little left over to help them get through a lean (no food or money coming in) time. Please call the church office at 244-9260 for more information about either program, or to donate.
VOICES OF PEACE CONCERT
VOICES OF PEACE CONCERT
with
ROBERT SHETTERLY (artist; peace activist; author)
and
THE VOICES FOR PEACE CHOIR
3:00 pm at the Somesville Church, Main Street, Somesville
Donations ($10 suggested;children free) gratefully accepted
Followed by a Shared Meal in the Parish House
Chowder, Soups, Salads, Breads and Dessert
Donations ($7 suggested; children free) gratefully accepted
This will be a wonderful opportunity to gather and hear Robert Shetterly, see some of his paintings, and listen to the beautiful Voices For Peace Choir. George Emlin wrote the new song, “Cindy’s Song,” for Cindy Sheehan and he will be at the concert to accompany the Choir for that song. Please pass the word to friends and neighbors that this will be a meaningful afternoon not to be missed, hearing voices of peace.
After the concert, please join us as we gather in the Parish House for a supper, and share ideas and coordinate plans about peace and justice efforts on the Island and beyond. Proceeds from the concert and supper will be used to help fund peace and justice projects and programs through the Peace With Justice Task Group. For more information, please call (244-9260) or email (just.peace@sumhucc.org). See you there!
07.21.07
Soldiers of Conscience and the Abolition of War
Last Thursday we drove to Waterville for the Maine International Film Festival’s showing of Luna Productions’ Soldiers of Conscience, a humbling and inspiring 85-minute story of remarkable courage and the transformative power of the human conscience. But I must confess that I was disappointed that my expectations of learning more about the military’s conscience reprogramming tactics weren’t realized. I guess that the movie’s trailer highlighting the bayonet with shouts of its spirit imposed by the masters of war to “kill, kill, kill without mercy!!!” by teenagers in crisp fatigues had allowed me to imagine that the rigors of psychologically converting our natural abhorrence of killing humans into precepts of professional killers would be explored further than it was. Don’t misunderstand, I think the movie is excellent, incredibly powerful and should be seen by everyone, especially by students twelve years old and older. But the presentation of the psychological conversion and reflex-firing conditioning was entirely from the perspective of the instructors of wholesale murder and possibly linked to the U.S. Military’s support of the film out of some sense of balance – as if the senselessness of war could ever be balanced.
The nearly hour-long conversation following the movie played out almost entirely as one might have expected amongst a left leaning audience within the dimmed theater largely lit by the flood lights on the five seated speakers along the stage. Afterwards, conversations drifted over to the nearby Grand Central Cafe with a crescendo and free pizza. But it wasn’t until this morning that I awoke with my thoughts from the movie more fully digested and a hunger for an expose showing how “Being all you can be” and “Being Army Strong” is about radically rewiring your being so that you’ll be able to kill one, or many at a time, with a bayonet or white phosphorus, without compunction, and how killing forever and severely alters not only an enemy, but you, your family and our collective future.
Little Johnny walks over and asks Uncle Bill if he killed anybody when he was in the war while Johnny’s parents squirm uncomfortably by their eleven-year old son’s question only to interrupt Bill’s response before its utterance with an apology to Bill and rebuke to Johnny all in one panicked gasp. The bizarre dichotomy between institutionalized mass-murder underwritten at extraordinary cost by a largely peaceful populace under the guise of “defense” is one of the most astonishing aspects of American culture, particularly when punctuated by the silence of Christ’s lambs and the others claiming to love their neighbor – or worse, by their cheers for war. Like little Johnny, I think we all need to know more about what Uncle Bill went through. Perhaps if it was openly revealed and more fully taught in school how the military mentally prepares soldiers to become professional killers, the permanent effects killing has on them and the general perpetuation and acceptance of a culture of increasing violence, then possibly we can begin to imagine a world with more soldiers of conscience and the abolition of war.
07.20.07
Ann Wright to Speak In Deer Isle
Download, print, post and share flyer
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06.29.07
Look For Posts From Molly
Information about the Here and There Supper and the Voices of Peace Concert coming soon!
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July 22, 2007 - Sunday Bulletin
THE SOMESVILLE UNION MEETING HOUSE
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
P.O. Box 96, Mount Desert, Maine 04660
207-244-9260
www.sumhucc.org; email: office@sumhucc.org
An Open and Affirming Congregation
Rev. Victor C. Stanley, Minister
July 22, 2007
Deacon of the Month - GINNIE HEFFNER (244-5395)
Anyone needing a meal or knowing of someone who does should contact her. She would also be happy to receive suggestions for Friend-of-the-Week cards.
Organist: EDITH VASS
Deacons Serving: GINNIE HEFFNER and MARIE NOLF
Scripture Reader: KEITH MARTIN
Special Music is provided this morning by
MARSHA LYONS
Anthem: “God The Sculptor of the Mountains”
Offertory: “How Beautiful Are The Feet of Them That Preach The Gospel of Peace”
OUR LIFE TOGETHER …..FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 22
Sunday, July 22:
• Children and Youth Activity: There are activities for children and youth in the Parish House after Time For Children and Youth.
• Readings about Peace for next Sunday’s Second Hour are on the table in the back of the sanctuary and in the Parish House.
• Flyers and posters for the Voices of Peace Concert are available in the back of the church and in the Parish House. Please post them in places such as libraries, grocery stores, banks, post offices, community centers, etc. and pass on the flyers to friends, family, neighbors and co-workers.
Mid-June throughout the summer: Every week we collect redeemable bottles and cans from the Mt. Desert Campground. Please see Gail Reiber to volunteer.
Wednesdays, at 10:00 am: PIES ON THE LAWN! Homemade pies for sale, many of them still warm from the oven. Volunteers are needed every week to make pies and to sell them. See anyone on the Fund Raising Committee to volunteer or for more information.
Saturdays, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Peace Rally in Southwest Harbor. Join others on the green in front of Pemetic School every Saturday.
Monday, July 23, 9-Noon: Marcus Borg Book Study (includingThe Heart of Christianity and The Last Week) in the screened gazebo at the Alcyon Center, followed by lunch. Bring a sandwich and drinks will be provided. Meet at the church at 8:40 if you would like to car pool.
Friday, July 27, 7-9 pm: Alcyon Center Soul Friends Gathering For Women. Call 244-0274 for more information.
OUR LIFE TOGETHER…..LOOKING AHEAD
Sunday, July 29, Second Hour after the service: We will discuss, “What Is Peace?“ What is your definition of “Peace”? Bring your copies of the material you received the week before and any material about Peace you would like to share with the group.
Friday, August 3, 9-Noon: Alcyon Center Quiet Day. Come for a time of silence and then gather together for a simple shared meal from 12-1. Please call 244-0274 for more information.
Saturday, August 4, and Sunday, August 5, 8:00 pm, St. Saviour’s Church, Bar Harbor: The Mount Desert Summer Chorale will be performing The Messiah. Suggested donation: $15. See church bulletin board.
Sunday, August 5, 3:00 pm: VOICES OF PEACE CONCERT with Robert Shetterly and The Voices For Peace Choir. George Emlin, who wrote the new song “Cindy’s Song” for Cindy Sheehan, will be at the concert to accompany the Choir for that song. Suggested donation $10; children free. The concert will be followed by by a Peace Supper of chowder, soups, breads, salads and dessert. Suggested donation $7; children free. This will be an opportunity for everyone to gather and share ideas and coordinate plans about peace and justice efforts on the Island and beyond. There is a sign-up sheet for salads in the Parish House. See poster on the church bulletin board.
Monday, August 6, 3:30 pm: Christian Education Committee meeting at the Parish House
Monday, August 6, 4:30 pm: Diaconate meeting at the Parish House
Saturday, August 11, 9 am - Noon: GIANT YARD SALE! We need donations (everything except clothing). Drop off donations at the Parish House. If you need donations to be picked up, please call Victor at the church office (244-9260).
Thursday, August 16: LOBSTER DINNER - Mark your calendars for this delicious lobster feed with all the fixin’s. More information coming soon!
Peace With Justice: July is “Liberty and Justice For All” month