The summer is a busy time, and so I invite you to join us in worship so that you may breathe deeply of God’s Spirit, present when we gather in Jesus’ name!  I am grateful for my time away, because when I am on Lake Megunticook there is a kind of a continuum of time in which all eras of my life are present, seamlessly.  Much that I would call spiritual feels more readily accessibly to me and I find myself praying more hopefully.  My prayer now is that we may bring such hope to each other and the expectation that we will meet the Holy Spirit when we seek God in one another.  If that sounds like a tall order, I invite you to pay particular attention to the lessons we read in Colossians and in Luke this week.  From descriptions of who Jesus may be, even to the incredulous, to a depiction of how we might be, in service to others, we have a lot to learn and a lot to celebrate.

Then, at 2:00 p.m., you are invited to gather a second time in worship and celebration, this time at the Parsonage (between the Camden National Bank and the Town Hall). Please know that you may park at the Camden National Bank, the Town Hall or the library as well as at the church, with none of them a long walk from the front lawn.  You may also park on either Main or Union Streets, but please do not park at the Inn.   We will be joined by clergy from the Sunrise Association of the Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ as well as members of our Conference staff as we celebrate my installation (Pastor Lisa J. Durkee) with the help of our various music groups under the direction of Ann Boudreaux.  Friends from the Committee on Ministry will offer the message and the charge to the congregation.  This is an exciting time in the life of the church and I hope many will join us!

Preparing for Sunday..

“Who is my neighbor?”  One of the most familiar, and perhaps most misunderstood, questions in the Gospels, and one we will discuss together in worship this Sunday morning.  What does the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) mean to you?  Whom do you identify with in the story of the fallen stranger on the Jericho Road?  We’d all like to imagine ourselves as the Samaritan, but Jesus sets a pretty high bar!

We’ll experiment tomorrow with a shadier spot for outdoor worship (weather permitting), and the choir has a secret to share, so make sure to join us!   

Derek van Bever

We are invited on this holiday weekend each year to think about the idea of freedom.  So, looking again at the passage from the fifth chapter of Galatians and also from a passage in the Gospel of John, we will consider what is meant by freedom as people of faith.  Is it that we are free from things that bind us or, and perhaps we may say “and/or” that we are free for a different kind of life as followers of Christ.  The latter is motivation and affirmation of a different kind and we may celebrate that even more heartily this weekend.  

You are invited to celebrate this evening, as well, when we host our first Dolly’s Coffee House since the start of the pandemic!  Bring your instruments, voices, performances of all kinds or just yourselves to enjoy the evening together!  We begin at 7:00, but come early to get a seat!

Blessings and peace, Lisa

Our community was shaken this week to hear of a fatal shooting in East Blue Hill and we pray for the family and for the officers involved.  That our local reminder of the potential for violence fell coincident with a Supreme Court ruling on gun control legislation makes clear the connection between our nation’s laws and policies and our everyday life. I am sure that there is none among us who does not also have a strong response to yesterday’s ruling to overturn the 50-year federal rights settled in the landmark Roe v. Wade.  For many women, this ruling has a direct effect on a sense of safety and of freedom, no matter how one understands the biological determination of life’s beginning. These are challenges that affect the poor, Black and Latinx disproportionately, and so we grieve the shift in power that this ruling represents.  

The national staff of the UCC prepared a web program that aired last night live, called “Hope Beyond Roe: A Service of Gathering and Lament,” which can now be viewed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnDr5gzs-5U. I would like to invite anyone who is interested to screen this together Sunday evening at 7:00 in Fisher Hall, followed by discussion.  Please know that our goal in Christian fellowship is to foster love and compassion, which task is highlighted in the scripture for tomorrow morning’s worship service, as well.  Ours is a faith that is passed from generation to generation, nourished by the gifts of the Spirit.  Come celebrate the hope that sustains us through every difficulty.

Peace, Lisa

We will worship in the sanctuary and on Zoom today rather than gather outside where we can sing more freely.  On our newest federal holiday, Juneteenth, we will remember together that while we have made strides toward greater equality for all persons in our nation, the injustice of slavery is still evident in inequalities that persist to this day.  Our scripture invites us to look closely at members of our community that live at the margins, whether by choice or by accident of birth.  We also are invited to hope for the possibility of change in even the most despondent times. 

Peace, Lisa

Below you will find materials to accompany this week’s Sunday Morning
Worship via Zoom.  An order of service with scripture readings, along with
music recordings to accompany the service, are available by clicking the
following links.

A Reading from The Hebrew Bible, The Old Testament:     Psalm 1    

The New Testament Readings:    Romans 13:1-6
                                                     Philippians 3:17-21

Sermon:   The Bible, The Flag, and The Citizen

Helpful Hint:  If you are planning to join the Sunday morning worship Zoom call, you might wish to print the following documents prior to joining the call, if you have that capability. 

*A link to the sermon will be shared on our website during the week
following the service.

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