First Congregational Church Camden, Maine

June/July 2015 Vol. 31, No. 6/7

Farewell Reception for Kevin and Pam

Friday, June 26th 5 -7 p.m.

Pilgrim Room

Join us as we gather to say thank you and

farewell to Kevin and Pam. You can help by

bringing a favorite light hors d’oeuvre to share.

We will also collect cards and ask that in the card

you highlight a favorite memory of Kevin’s time

with us.

Please rsvp on the sign-up sheet on the

Opportunities Table and indicate the hors

d’oeuvre you plan to bring.

Child care provided.

Come join in this fun party!

Ripples & Reflections Rev. Kevin M. Pleas

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gen-tleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:4-7 Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. — Second Corinthians 4:1

Dear Friends, How do you measure a ministry? We’ve had over 13 years together. I find my-self wanting to have some kind of summary, but I’m not quite sure how to go about it. Some of the statistics are interesting: 494 Sermons; 141 Memorial Services; 70 Weddings; 144 Beacon articles; roughly 175 Blogs, Midweek Messages, Annual Reports and “In the Spirit” pieces; countless meetings, pastoral visits, phone calls and emails; eight Adventure Camps; three Mission Trips; six Murder Mys-tery Dinner Theater evenings; dozens of Chapel, Healing and Morningsong ser-vices; ten TREK’s across Maine; and roughly 472,000 hugs (you didn’t know I was counting did you.) Of course, the numbers don’t really tell the story. Part of the reason I’ve decid-ed not to get myself a shiny new Apple Watch (apart from the cost) is that I just don’t want to spend my time assigning numerical values to my life. It doesn’t take very long for “how many steps you’ve gone today” to become tedious and boring. Working on my profile has brought some rather more interesting “accomplishments” to the surface. What I said in my resignation announce-

ment is a very meaningful part of it. My ministry here has often been about healing, gradually rebuilding faith and trust, and shoring up the foundations upon which a vital and enthusiastic church can stand. I’m proud of that work, for all of us. I’m also proud of having brought a progressive theology to our church. Begin-ning with the “Eight Points” document and the “Phoenix Affirmations” from the Center for Progressive Christianity (http://progressivechristianity.org) we’ve been on a ministry-long exploration of what it means for people of faith to be open-minded, open-hearted and extravagantly welcoming. Through my teaching and preaching, through a multitude of conversations both church wide and individual, progressive theology has been so all pervasive in my min-istry with you that it actually took me a bit to step back and see it for what it has been. I have worked hard to nurture our progressive spirit, and I believe one of the greatest fruits of that spirit has been our vote to become Open and Affirming. I feel a great sense of satisfaction that this is the journey we have taken together. Beyond statistics and achievements though, the best part of my time with you has been the wonderful friendship and fellowship we’ve shared. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the caring, the laughing and crying, the inspiring and visioning, the learning and reaching out, and the tremendous generosity of our faith, hope and love. Truly, it is by God’s mercy that we have been en-gaged in this ministry together. And though the future is uncertain, we need not lose heart, because God’s peace truly does surpass our understanding, and truly will guard our hearts and minds in Christ. May your next ministry, and ours, be blessed with rejoicing. Yours in love, Yours in spirit, Yours in grace,

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June 14 New Member Sunday Interested in joining our congregation? Please contact Beryl Charlton or Barbara Lamb of the Membership Committee or Debbi at church.

Shields Mission Project Committee A Ministry of

The First Congregational Church of Camden

Debbi Hitchings

I often write about the continuing problem of homelessness in our mid-coast area. So often these folks are invisible to us. Many have children. Many have jobs! Some, this time of year, live in tents or campers. Others curl up in their vehicles. (Where they go and how they survive when the snow flies is beyond me.) Others “couch surf” with friends or family. Some have found case management to assist and may temporarily find housing in a motel room or at the homeless shelter. Some eventually find more permanent subsidized housing. That is where Shields can often step in to provide financial assistance. For anyone without a roof over his or her head insecurity about to-morrow or the next day looms large and is overwhelming. Personally, I can’t even begin to imagine how frightening it must be, especially for a parent. Once in a while we hear of young people, children really, who are on their own, with no place to go. I have been in conversation recently with counselors who are trying to help a 16 year old find a stable en-vironment. He is on his own, wants an education and stability in his life but has no one to shelter him and desperately needs assistance to help guide him through these tough times. Hopefully, through some dedicated case workers he will get that help. Shields was contacted, not for financial support, but to help explore where and with whom this young man might be able to live. No teenager should have to ex-perience this sense of abandonment, loneliness and desperation. We hope that some solution is soon found and that Shields can also pro-vide financial help when appropriate. Our church can continue to offer this kind of financial outreach be-cause of the support of the congregation and of the greater commu-nity. (None of our funding comes from the church’s budget.) Your

kindness ensures that our church’s mission of reaching out to the com-munity will continue in the years ahead. As always, thank you!

Shields Committee: Deb Endl (Chair), Betty Bates, Julianne Edmondson,

Bob Garcia, Cate Lamb, Doug Linder, Shelley Mills, Roberta Walker, Debbi Hitchings (Administrator)

Our mission as an outreach ministry of the church: “To help provide less fortunate citizens of Knox County warmth, shelter, food, clothing, trans-portation, education, childcare, health care etc. and to enable them to become more able to live a productive and self-sustaining life.” __________________________________________________________

6/1 Vicki Doudera Allen Fernald Sue Hopkins 6/5 Andi Hamalainen 6/6 Alex Marin Ben Roberts 6/7 Hannah Wells June Durkee 6/9 Loel Kline Essie Sexton 6/11 Gloria Guiduli 6/12 Anna Weber 6/13 om Babbitt 6/14 Gary Walker Bill Rowland 6/15 Jacob Crane

6/16 Nancy Laite Bobbie Grant Chris Cobb 6/17 Joan Welsh 6/18 Louise Wieland 6/19 Marti Stone Marny Emanuel 6/20 Finn Mills 6/21 June Fryer 6/22 Meriel Lamb John Way Owen Weber 6/23 Colin Stone 6/24 Amy Rollins 6/25 Vicky Laite

7/1 Jane Babbitt 7/7 Betty Killoran 7/9 Skip Bates 7/11 Linda Strout 7/15 Gayle Palmer 7/17 Gail Palmer 7/18 Stephen Hanscom 7/22 Dodie Amundsen 7/23 Flora Shorey Patty Shuttleworth 7/24 Matt Doudera Kate Bates 8/2 Cathy Eagleson

June & July Birthdays

From Cate Lamb Youth & Family Ministries Director

June 25, 6-8 Women’s Potluck at Roberta Walker’s home in Searsmont- Join us for an evening by the lake at Roberta’s home, and enjoy some wonderful food and a heaping serving of laughter and conversation. We will meet at 5:30 and carpool from church for those that would like to. Please sign up on the Opportunities Table so we can set a place for you. Yard Sale News! Becky Brace is generously donating and organizing two tables of beautiful fabrics for sale at our sale. If you have unused fabrics that you would like to donate as part of this sale, please feel free to drop them off with Cate. We also have some space to store items for our sale, so bring those treasures to us! Save the date- June 20, Youth Group Yard Sale!- Our next fundraiser for the 2016 Service Trip is right around the corner! If you are doing a bit of spring cleaning and looking for a place to unload those treasur-ers save them for us! We’ll be accepting donations after church on June 14th as storage is limited here at the church. Youth Group members will be on hand after church to help you unload if you’d like to bring anything that day. Please contact Cate, 236-4821 x3 or firebug.glass@gmail.com if you have any questions or con-cerns. Craft Supply Sale- Sept. 26th 8-12- Do you have sewing supplies, yarn, paint by number kits, or other craft supplies that you won’t get to use? Rent a table at our fall sale! The youth group will set up a table for you in our Pilgrim Room and you get the profits and more space in your house! See Cate for details.

Oct. 16-18, Women’s Retreat, Save the Date!-You won’t want to miss this relaxing weekend on the shores of Damariscotta Lake at Camp Kieve. Save the date and prepare to re-charge your batteries! More info will be coming soon. See Cate with any questions.

Fruits for Jams and Jellies We no longer own property on Campobello island, where we grew many of the fruits we made into jam and sold at Christmas to benefit the Shield's Mission. If you have surplus quantities of soft fruits, rhubarb, raspberries or strawberries, we will be happy to arrange the harvesting. Give us a call if you can help. 236 0642

Have you heard the good news? YAY! Elizabeth Lally has accepted the position of

Church School Director effective June 1!!!

Please help us in welcoming Elizabeth to our wonderful staff. Planning has begun for the summer activities during worship so let Elizabeth know how you can help out!

lally@tds.net 273-3331 Thank you, Elizabeth

Trustees Report Loie Hanscom

For over two years, the Facilities Planning Committee, Board of

Trustees and Cabinet engaged in a sustained deliberative process

regarding the church campus. Church approved decisions, regarding the

disposition of the Free St. house, Barn and Coastal Opportunities build-

ings, flowed forward from that process. Everything came together in the

last weeks. Today, the entrance to the church parking lot is open and

much more visible. Landscaping work will begin shortly.

New work projects are also set to begin inside of our lovely

church. The Breezeway entrance will be remodeled, new entrance doors

will be installed and glazing will be done on a number of windows.

Heating / air conditioning units have been recently installed in the Pilgrim

Room. Up-coming exterior work on the church includes completion of

the painting of the church, remediation of the mold problem on the exte-

rior, adjacent to the breezeway entrance and significant work on the

garage.

There’s an old saying that goes something like this, “People make

plans and God smiles.”. Well, under that category, I can tell you that

we’re now in a short holding pattern with respect to the planned, and

budgeted, replacement of the ceiling in the Pilgrim Room. The reason(s)

– there are more than a few cracks in the walls and ceiling of the sanctu-

ary and we have an erosion problem all along the far side of the church

parking lot that needs remediation,. A structural engineer has reviewed

the problems relating to the sanctuary walls and ceiling. To that end, our

church Co-President, Tony Bates, and I joined the engineer and walked

along the narrow board in the somewhat dark space above the ceiling

sanctuary early last week. It was an important undertaking, as we sought

to obtain crucial information, but not something I’d recommend to

anyone (myself included).

The Preliminary good news is that the problems are real but

NOT SIGNIFICANT. Once we have the formal report, Trustees can

make decisions about remediation – I’ll keep you up-dated on this im-

portant work. We also need, and will shortly obtain, a report on the

erosion issue along the back side of the church parking lot.

Two weeks ago, Trustees reviewed the approved Stormy Day

Policy that was implemented last December. The unintended result of

this new policy was that there was one Sunday when church was can-

celed for a predicted snow storm that never really materialized. Clear-

ly, this policy needs some fine tuning – which it will receive in the com-

ing months.

In closing, I’d like to speak to the matter of funding for the

maintenance of the church building and grounds. In 2004, the church

was greatly blessed as the recipient of a restricted gift from Doris

Schirmer. The “Doris Schirmer Fund” is a special endowment, restrict-

ed as follows: “During each calendar year, the Board of Trustees of the

Church, with approval, as necessary of the Congregation, shall expend

as much of the principal and income as it deems necessary for the

maintenance of the Church buildings and grounds, provided, however;

that no more than 10% of the principal, as determined on December

31st of the previous year, may be expended in any one calendar year.

The amounts paid shall be taken first from current income , and if that

is insufficient, from principal of the endowment fund. Any unexpend-

ed income shall be added to principal.”. Today’s church is so blessed

by this gift. This year, with Cabinet approval, these funds were also

enriched by the funds derived from the sale of the church property

(land) to Coastal Opportunities, for their new home.

The Board of Trustees is very actively working on a number of

other matters and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you in the

coming months.

It’s our privilege to have this opportunity to serve our church.

Please reach out to me, or to any member of the Board of Trustees,

with any questions or recommendation you may have.

Prayer has been such an important part of my life. It is a conversation with God that keeps me grounded and helps to shape my life on a day-to-day basis. Late last summer the Prayer Chain met together for a time of shared prayer and discussion. During our discussions, we agreed that it would be good to share with our fellow church members, infor-mation about this ministry. As such, Rev. Chuck Erb and I have written informational short pieces about our personal journeys and our belief in the power of intercessory prayer. This month marks my final report. I want to thank-you all for the privilege of being able to share my expe-riences with you. Intercessory prayer is a form of prayer that offers up to our Lord, the needs of others. Most of these prayers are for comfort and heal-ing for the person(s) we are praying for, some are not. Some prayers are celebratory in nature, prayers of thanksgiving and praise. Although somewhat outside of the definition of intercessory pray-er, I believe that this form of prayer is as essential as the very act of breathing. From my own experience, during this sacred time of prayer, both heart and spirit are unbounded in space and time and, although there is no light shining, there is light all around in this direct connec-tion with our Heavenly Father. Each member of the Prayer Chain has a slightly different way of praying. I’m happy to share with you the prayer I begin with. I learned it many decades ago and it has stayed with me over the years.

“Father, I ask You to create a spirit within me that will truly draw me toward You – a spirit deep, perceptive, gentle and bold. Fa-ther, I ask you to clear my mind and open my heart as I come to You in prayer. I hold to You…” (and here I bring forward the person(s) for whom I am praying, stating their need(s), be it comfort or healing or peace, asking the Lord to be present in that person’s life). I then contin-ue to pray, steadfastedly, with that person, or persons, in my inmost heart.

If you feel called to this special ministry, please reach out to

our minister or to any member of the Prayer Chain.

Intercessory Prayer Ministry (Prayer Chain) Loie Hanscom

Planning Our Transition Important dates: June 7th Information Session with Rev. Ineke Mitchell from the Maine UCC Conference June 26th Celebration of Rev Kevin’s Ministry and Pam’s Contributions to the church

As you know the Cabinet and all committee members are working extremely hard during this transition process. We want to thank each and every one of you. It’s an exciting time but also a challeng-ing one. This is an opportunity for us all to come together as a con-gregation and make this as smooth and productive as possible. The Co-Presidents are beginning to form a search committee for an in-terim minister. Later they will form a search committee for a settled minister. If you are interested in serving on one of these two search committees or would like to help out in another capacity please let Rich Anderson and Tony Bates know right away. The search committees will each consist of 7 members. We have so many wonderful people who will be interested it will be difficult to choose. Please recognize that these will be very busy jobs. The members of the search committee for the interim minis-ter will continue to serve in the role of Pastoral Relations for the interim minister. That period is expected to be 1-2 years. The mem-bers of the search committee for the settled minister will first lead the reflection and visioning process, create the Church Brochure, then review candidates and potentially serve as members of the Pastoral Relations committee for the settled minister once in place. We will continue to provide these weekly updates. If you have further questions, comments or recommendations, please reach out to any member of the Cabinet: Richard Anderson, Tony Bates, Greg Worden, Beryl Charlton, Donna Crane, Judy Cucinotta, Phil Cucinotta, Loie Hanscom, Jinx Hugnagel, Barbara Lamb, Gail Palm-er, Betsy Perry. Personnel Committee: Betty Bates, Carole Brand, Sue Hopkins. Pastoral Relations Committee: Jane Babbitt, Allen Fernald, Roy Hitchings, Essie Sexton. Please don’t forget to send checks for Kevin and Pam’s gifts. Please be sure they are labeled as such. Thank you.

Faithfully, Richard Anderson, Tony Bates, Greg Worden

OUR VOLUNTEERS For every month, in every Beacon, we will be printing the names of

our very wonderful volunteers who have signed up for the tasks below. Check your calendars. If Ushers & Fellowship Team Members are unable to assume the duties on that day, please find a substitute and alert Nan so she can make the correction for the Sunday Bulletin. Many thanks!

DATE LITURGIST USHERS FELLOWSHIP

June 7 Rich ANderson Stephen & Loie Hanscom, Allen & Sally Fernald

Gail Palmer, Jim & Pam Elliott, Flora SHorey, Madeline Shields, Ralph & Audrey Preuster

June 14 Mimi Edmunds Chase & Nan Lasbury, John & Jinx Hufnagel

Amy Rollins, Jean Silva, Bob Garcia, Kim Young, Linda Strout, Susan Bryant

June 21 Wendy Wickenden

Chris & Shelley Mills, Bette McFarland, Amy Rollins

John & Jinx Hufnagel, Craig & Mary Wells, Janet Kelsey, Anne Smart, Nan Haid

June 28

Debbi Hitchings Marty Martens, Linda Strout

Dana & Suzanne Southworth, Jean Forest, June Fryer, Gary & Roberta Walker, Loel Kline

OUR VOLUNTEERS For every month, in every Beacon, we will be printing the names of

our very wonderful volunteers who have signed up for the tasks below. Check your calendars. If Ushers & Fellowship Team Members are unable to assume the duties on that day, please find a substitute and alert Nan so she can make the correction for the Sunday Bulletin. Many thanks!

DATE USHERS FELLOWSHIP

July 5 Sarah Shepherd, George McKiernan, Lila Vultee

Betty McFarland, Don & Judy Flock, Gayle Palmer, Essie Sexton, Mary Rabiaoli, Doug & Rebecca Laliberte

July 12 Bob Garcia, Kim Young, Peg & John Way

Eric & Beryl Charlton, Marcy Buck, Jared & Kristin Todd, Meg & Owen Thomas

July 19 Jim & Kay Wendt, Dorothea & Charlie Graham

Nancy Laite, Wendy & Roger WIckenden, Marian White, Mary Wells, Barbara Lannamann

July 26

Vicki Doudera, Kate Bates, Betty & Tony Bates

Deb Endl, Carol & Gary Spinney, Ann Bex, Jeni Mason, Harold & Barbara Lamb, Charlene & Peter Orne

From Heavenly Threads

June is bursting out all over and so is our shop. We are gear-ing up for the summer season. We have received lots of donations which we love and thank everyone for their generosity. Lots and lots of summer clothes adorn our racks, waiting for you to try on. We also have sandals and flipflops. We have been fortunate enough to get a wonder-ful donation from Whitehall Inn. So, if you have a summer camp that needs dishes and glassware, we have lots. Come in and purchase a memory of a plate or cup of the Whitehall Inn dogwood pattern.

Bring your summer guests in to visit our store. There are movies and lots of books and games to entertain your guests. The prom and wed-ding season is upon us and we have some wedding dresses, prom dresses, and something for the mother of the bride or groom, with shoes to go with your outfit and lots of jewelry. There are tuxedoes for the young men involved in these events. As we go through the summer months, we will be putting out more items.

So keep in touch and visit the shop, read about us on Facebook and Village Soup to keep up with the latest information through June and July. Have a Happy 4th and have a good summer.

And we are now OPEN ON MONDAY!

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PLEASE ATTEND THE INFORMATION SESSION Remember to attend our information session after church on June 7th. Interim Associate Conference Minister, Reverend Ineke Mitchell from the Maine UCC Conference will join us. She has already provided us with a vast amount of information to guide us in our transition planning. She will share with you some of this information and answer your questions.

The 2015 SANCTUARY FLOWER CHART has been relocated to the Pilgrim Room and is on the bulletin board near the kitchen door. Please sign up to dedicate a Sunday of flowers to a loved one or in honor of an event.

JUNE HIGHLITES 1Monday, 5:00pm, Baccalaureate 4Thursday, Noon, Prayer Shawl Knitters meet; 5:00pm, Trustees meet 7 SUNDAY, 9:30am, Worship, Communion, Rev. Dick Hanks preaches; 10:30am, TRANSITION INFO SESSION 11Thursday, Noon, Prayer Shawl Knitters meet 14SUNDAY, 9:30am, Worship, New Members Sunday, Last day of Church School 18Thursday, Noon, Prayer Shawl Knitters meets 20Saturday , 8-1, Yard Sale benefiting the Youth Group; 3:00pm, Cil Wickenden’s Memorial Service 21SUNDAY, 9:30am, Worship, Father’s Day; 1:30pm, Anderson Inn Chapel Service 23 Tuesday, 5:00pm, Cabinet meets 20 Wednesday, 9:15am, Staff meeting; 1:00pm, LAST Prayer Service; 6:00pm, Choral Bells Rehearse; 7:00pm, Sanctuary Choir rehearses 25Thursday, Noon, Prayer Shawl knitters meets 26Friday, 5-7pm, Farewell Party for Kevin & Pam Saturday, 1:00pm, Memorial Service for Kerry Sabanty 28 SUNDAY, 9:30am, Worship, Kevin’s last day

JULY HIGHLITES 1,2, 3Wednesday, Thursday, Friday CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED 5,SUNDAY, 9:30am, Worship, Communion, Rev. Dick Hanks preaches 9Thursday, Noon, Prayer Shawl Knitters meet 12,SUNDAY, 9:30am, Worship, Rev. Dick Hanks preaches 13,Monday, 12:30-5:30pm, Blood Drive 16Thursday, Noon, Prayer Shawl Knitters meet 19,SUNDAY, 9:30am, Worship, Rev. Dick Hanks preaches; SUMMER CHOIR begins 23Thursday, Noon, Prayer Shawl Knitters meet 26,SUNDAY, 9:30am, Worship, Rev. Dick Hanks preaches 30Thursday, Noon, Prayer Shawl Knitters meet

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