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The Net Tender

Newsletter of St. Andrew & St. John Episcopal Church

AUGUST 2008

Dear Friends in Christ,

We have been given an extraordinary opportunity.

By the time you read this, we will have had our mid-

summer parish meeting. We will have listened to our

architect, Brett Donham describe the alternatives his

firm has developed for improving the accessibility,

utility, and efficiency of the St. John structure. We

will have taken a big step in the process of remaking the St. John structure

to allow us to serve God and our community more effectively, more effi-

ciently, and more sensitively. We will have sat together to discuss the pros

and cons of each of the proposals, and I expect, spent a good deal of time

talking about the costs of each.

As we move forward with this process, it may be tempting to focus on

details, and certainly details are important. Eventually, we will need to

come to terms with the specifics of whatever project we choose to take on,

and we will all have an opportunity to share our ideas and our preferences at that time. For now, though, it is

essential that we keep the larger mission of our parish in mind. For now, it is essential that we focus on our

role as members of the Body of Christ. For now, it is essential to ask, what is it that we are called to do in His

name? The answer to that question, it seems, ought to be at the core of every decision we make.

Several people have commented that we must not allow the activities related to the building project conflict

with our stewardship efforts. The fact is, however we approach this project, it is an important part of our stew-

ardship effort. The two cannot be separated.

Stewardship is the ongoing business of making the most prayerful and responsible use of every single gift our

Creator sends our way. Remodeling or building a house of worship calls for just as much attention to steward-

ship as does conducting an annual pledge drive. If either is to succeed, then each must embrace the other.

Our parish is made up of an interesting and diverse cross-section of people. We come from a wide variety of

educational, geographic, economic and yes, faith backgrounds. Somehow, we have each been drawn to the

Episcopal Church—and the Parish of St. Andrew and St. John. Each of us brings a unique story to the mix,

and it they are the stories that shape the work we do; they are the stories that nourish us. As we move forward,

we must be certain that each of us has ample and appropriate opportunity to share our stories. We must be

certain that each of us is able to share our vision for the parish—how do we see St. Andrew & St. John

worshiping God and helping others in the twenty-first century? How can we make the best use of His gifts in

service to our community? Within the answers to those questions lie the wisdom, the strength, and the courage

we will need to move forward.

Love and Blessings to All,

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Monday

·

Tuesday

·

Thursday

8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Only two weeks ago………Thank you, thank you, to

all who helped in so many ways before, during and

after the Fair. We not only worked together but had

time to visit with new friends as well as old. Truly,

there are a variety of gifts but the same spirit. Musing

about the Fair, I realized what an amazingly wonderful

witness we showed to our community as we greeted

and talked with so many visitors, many from out of

town but also many people we know within our com-

munity who are not members of our church. I hope

even a few might be energized by seeing the strength

of our friendships and our loyalty to the St. John faith

community. Hopefully even as this particular hard

work has ended for a time we can remember to extend

a welcome to friends to join us in worship and in our

church life.

Wonderful Conversations have been taking place

about our plans for universal accessibility and other

important building needs. Please join in these talks,

with Fr. Richard or any member of the Vestry, Steer-

ing or Capital Campaign Committee. My immense

gratitude goes to all members of the committees and to

those who came to our parish meeting on July 27.

Soon home meetings will be scheduled so that all have

an opportunity to learn more.

We are doing “hard work” to make sure we make the

best choices to help us Worship God and help people.

This is your undercroft speaking (didn’t know I had

a voice if not a vote!). It’s a bit damp down here!

Do you have a dehumidifier that you could donate or

loan to the church? I’d be a pleasanter place if my

bones were a bit drier. If you can help, please leave

a message with Michele in the office.

At the recent Pre-Emergency Heating meeting pre-

sented by the Washington-Hancock Community

Agency, discussion centered on ways to keep every-

one warm this winter. There are some programs, in

place, to help income qualifiers. I would like to draw

your attention to the THAW Fund (The Heating and

Warmth Fund). It is geared for those with low incomes

who do not qualify for other programs. You can make

a tax deductible donation to this worthwhile program.

You can even dedicate the money to certain towns, if

you wish. That way, you can know that you are help-

ing keep your neighbors warm during what appears

will be a very hard winter for many. Checks may be

sent to: THAW, WHCA, PO Box 299, Ellsworth,

Maine 04605

Please consider using a portion of your tax rebate to

help stimulate the economy by repairing the roof

trusses at St. John. A planned repair will install

cables to prevent the building walls from further

spreading. Vestry and Finance & Investment Com-

mittee members have pledged $3,000 and are hoping

for further matching contributions from the parish.

Our thanks to Ken Cochrane for painting over the

wall and ceiling water stains at St. Andrew. Using a

bit of the flaked-off paint we were able to match the

existing aged wall and ceiling paint, and with Ken’s

great skill able to make that long-standing stain on

the wall disappear.

A regional farewell party for the

Right Reverend Chilton Knudsen

will be held. All are welcome on

Saturday, September 6th at the

Holiday Inn in Waterville. Lunch

buffet*/Open House and program.

5:00 p.m.—Eucharist at St. Mark’s in Waterville

5:30 p.m.—Program

*Reservations requested: email

Farewell Banquet and Investiture Weekend will

be September 12-13. See www.episcopalmaine.org

for details.

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Pledged for 2008

$110,800

Pledges received to date

$57,022

Is your pledge up to date?

Budgeted income

$53,748

Income received

$53,115

Budgeted expenditures

$84,500

Actual expenditures

$83,112

Budgeted surplus/deficit

-$30,752

Actual surplus/deficit

-$29,996

Wow! What a day! Thanks to the many who worked so hard in prepara-

tion, carrying out, and cleaning up after this year’s Quietside Fair at St.

John. Through these efforts we had the most successful fair ever, raising

about 12% more than last year’s record

event. With monies still coming in, as

well as a few expenses, we should clear

well over $14,000. This should enable

us to donate more than $1,400 to the

Hancock County Medical Mission, our

Vestry selected partner this year.

We owe special thanks to the table

chairs and their teams. These were headed by Sarah Flynn – Tickets, Mimi

Barnes – Plants, Mary Mitchell – Basket Raffle & Handicrafts, Joe & Cass

Wright – Lemonade, Judy Obbard – Photos, Becky Buyers-Basso – Publicity, Margot Haertel & Dottie Ritsko

– Pies, Eleanor Watts – Boutique, Ann Benson – Treasure Trove, and Mary Vekasi & Ted Bromage –Silent

Auction.

The somewhat confused and disorgan-

ized author of this bit has to give special

thanks to Mary Vekasi, co-chair and

Michele Daley who brought order and

calm to the organization and execution of

the Silent Auction. A special thanks is

offered to the Fallicas’, BJ, Steve, Joseph

& Jacob who so ably managed the paper-

work and accounting through a very long

day. I learned to enjoy soliciting and

was helped immensely by B.J. and parish friends, Tom & Sue Hobbs.

Eighteen parishioners donated 28 items and over sixty-five business donated

another 73 items and gift certificates. Donations from the business commu-

nity (please read the separate list and thank and patronize them) our

neighbors and fellow parishioners made the big difference.

All booths did well. This year we split

the “goodies” offered for the Treasure

Trove with the newly established Bou-

tique – between the two of them sales

increased 50%, as it did for the Pie &

Home Baked goods table. The Silent

Auction broke records, increasing over

30% to over $9,000 (and still counting).

We owe a special debt to those who

donated so much to make the Fair such

a success.

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Over the past few months, the capital campaign

committee has made significant progress toward

both understanding our building needs and deter-

mining the will of the Parish and Vestry on

which course of action to take toward addressing

these needs. The most recent event was the July

27 parish meeting where the various options and

costs were discussed.

As a brief history of this effort: we have been

discussing the various unmet needs for some

time. Several years ago, Architect Chris Glass

created a schematic design that was endorsed by

the Vestry and presented to the parish. The plan

languished for a while as we dealt with funding

of St. Andrew, rehabilitation of the Rectory, and

recruiting for a new Rector. Over the past year,

Paul Haertel headed a steering committee to fur-

ther develop this design and prepare a estimate.

During the process, three additional alternatives

were added for consideration. In anticipation of a

funding drive, the Vestry created a capital cam-

paign committee co-chaired by Becky Buyers-

Basso and Jim Vekasi. This committee has been

meeting since May.

The purpose of the July 27 meeting was to

inform the broader parish of this process, present

the alternatives and costs, and to provide a forum

for comments. About 50 parishioners attended the meeting.

Architect Brett Donham explained the four construction

alternatives – three with increasing levels of additions to the

existing building and one for total reconstruction. Jim

Vekasi discussed the need to repair and improve the existing

building, balance the operating budget, and provide for in-

creased operating costs associated with additional building

space. Becky Buyers-Basso explained the current feasibility

stage of the capital campaign. Emphasis points included:

The committee and vestry are still in the listening mode. We

plan to have further opportunities for discussion including

home meetings. We would like to hear from all interested

parties.

Please comment on program needs and general layout, but

do not focus overly on architectural details. Once we deter-

mine the appropriate scale of this project, we will go into

detailed design and can work out the bugs.

We need to look at total cost of ownership to make sure that

whatever we do is financially sustainable. Total costs range

from a current backlog of $550,000 to meet existing build-

ing and operating budget needs to $2,900,000 for recon-

struction and long term operation of a new building.

This is a lengthy process and we plan to proceed deliber-

ately. Further information will be available as we go

through discussions, meetings, and the Net Tender. Please

contact us if you would like to discuss the issues one on

one.

Summary of costs for each Alternative:

After the presentations, we broke into six smaller groups to discuss the choices. Each group later reported a

summary of their discussions to the larger group. It would be fair to say that a very wide variety of views were

expressed. A questionnaire soliciting more detailed feedback was distributed. (Additional copies of the ques-

tionnaire and the meeting handouts are available at the back of the church.) Please return these to Michele.

We next plan to organize home meetings to further discuss our choices in a relaxed, small group session. A

signup sheet was circulated. If you did not have a chance to sign up, please contact Cass Wright or any of the

committee members.

Total Capital Funds Required

Existing

Bldg

Additional

Endowment

New Con-

struction

Total

1. St. John Church existing

$100,000

$450,000

$0

$550,000

2. St. John with new entrance and elevator

$100,000

$563,902

$200,000

$863,902

3. St. John Church with mid-size addition

$100,000

$877,133

$750,000

$1,727,133

4. St. John Church with large addition

$100,000

$1,133,412

$1,200,000

$2,433,412

5. Reconstructed St. John's

$0

$725,073

$2,200,000

$2,925,073

Total Capital Funds Required

Existing

Bldg

Additional

Endowment

New Con-

struction

Total

1. St. John Church existing

$100,000

$450,000

$0

$550,000

2. St. John with new entrance and elevator

$100,000

$563,902

$200,000

$863,902

3. St. John Church with mid-size addition

$100,000

$877,133

$750,000

$1,727,133

4. St. John Church with large addition

$100,000

$1,133,412

$1,200,000

$2,433,412

5. Reconstructed St. John's

$0

$725,073

$2,200,000

$2,925,073

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So what’s next? We will discuss what we have learned so far through private interviews and the parish meet-

ing. We will continue interviews and the home meetings. We will continue to gather information to further de-

fine the real costs for each alternative. At some point, we will make a recommendation to the Vestry on which

alternative to pursue. After Vestry direction, we will proceed to the fundraising portion of the capital cam-

paign.

Committee members include co-chairs Becky Buyers-Basso and Jim Vekasi, Richard Tardiff, Joan Bromage,

Ted Bromage, Patsy Fogarty, Anne Wetzel, Joe Murphy, Spencer Ervin, Ward Mackenzie, Chloe Hatcher,

Cass Wright. We have been assisted and advised by Steering Committee chair Paul Haertel and Deacon Deb-

orah McKean from the Diocese of Maine.

Acadia Air Tours

Acadia Fuel

Acadia Repertory Theatre

Acadia Sailing Partners

Acadia Shops

A-Cappella.com

Aquaterra Adventures

Art & Soul Gallery

Brandon & Laura’s Café

Café Drydock & Inn

Café This Way

Café’2/ Eat-a-Pita

Carroll Drug Store

Causeway Golf

Claremont’s Xanthus Restaurant

Coastal Energy

Dead River Company

Doug Gott & Sons

Downeast Friendship Sloop

Ed Elvidge Photography

Fiddler’s Green Restaurant

Galyn’s Restaurant

H. G. Reed

Hamilton Marine

Hannaford - Ellsworth

Hannaford – Bar Harbor

Hinckley Ship Store

Islandscaping Garden Center

Jack Russell’s Steak House

K & B Automotive

Karel Weissberg

Kristen Hutchins

Maine Point

Maine State Kayak

McEachern & Hutchins – Bass Harbor

McEachern & Hutchins - SWH

McKinley Market

MDI Islander

Morrison Chevrolet

Mount Desert Spring Water Co.

National Park Canoe Rental

Nationwide Instructional

No Frills Oil Co

Northeast Harbor Golf Club

Norumbega Moving & Storage

Parson’s Landscaping

Pioneer Print Shop

Red Sky Restaurant

Rinehart Dining Pavilion

The Parish of St. Andrew & St. John Episcopal Church, Southwest Harbor, along with the Hancock County

Medical Mission wish to thank the following businesses for their support of the Quietside Fair at St. John on

July 19th. Please support them with your patronage.

Riverside Café

Rooster Brothers

Rose Garden Restaurant

Sargasso Salon

Sawyer’s Specialties

Seacoast Fun Park

Seafood Ketch

Seaglass Infusion

Southwest Cycle

Southwest Food Mart

Stanley Subaru

Striking Gold

The Bar Harbor Times

The Burning Tree

The Deck House

The Granite Shop

The Moorings Restaurant

The Tan Turtle

Top of the Hill Restaurant

Trenton IGA Marketplace

Under the Dogwood Tree

Victoria McDonald

West Marine

Westside Florist

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Birthdays

18—Tina Baker

26—Tom Harrison

26—Frank Barnes

26—Brooks Saltsman

30—Rita Redfield

31—Peter Obbard

Wedding

Anniversaries

3—Fuzz & Nancy Harrison

12—Spencer & Floy Ervin

18—Ted Fletcher & Ann Kidder

23—Haywood May & Vicky Vendrell

Many people today question the need for the institutional

church. Why can’t I go out in nature and worship God?

Why should I give money and time to support the church,

rather than give the same dollars or time to charity where

it will do more good? I find these challenging questions.

My answer is that I need the church to feed me. Without a

community of faith, I would get discouraged and could

easily give in to apathy and fear.

I need to know that God is in charge and that the world

doesn’t depend on me or any other flawed human be-

ings. I need the Eucharist to feed my soul and refresh my

faith in the living God. I need to be reminded of what it

means to be a Christian. I need to continually recommit

myself to respect the dignity of every human being. With

this support, I can go out and see clients who are feeling

hopeless and work in the food pantry or volunteer for Is-

land Connections with the knowledge that what I do is

important and that my little bit is all God asks of me.

As a child of God I am enough.

This may be your last

opportunity to sup-

port the Quietside

Fair at St. John.

There are still ten

places available (ten

are taken!) at Reeve

and Anne Bright’s

Grey Farm festival dinner to be held (tentatively)

on Friday, August 29th. Here’s the deal, gather

up to 10 friends at $50/person for a wonderful

salmon & steak dinner, wine included. Contact

either me or Michele Daley in the church office

to reserve your space.

Ted Bromage (244-3227)

Place: St John’s Episcopal Church (located in downtown Southwest Harbor)

Dates: August 11-15

Time: Begins at 9:00 a.m., with opening, song & prayer…. closing begins at noon, all dismissed by 12:15

Extended Day: afternoon field trips also available by arrangement, with parent permission.

All activities are FREE of charge – for everyone. (Thanks to our volunteers and generous sponsors.)

ALL are Welcome!!! All children– pre-school up to teens – and adults are welcome, also.

Our goal is to help raise awareness of Native American

Peoples and Native American issues: “Encourage a higher

level of consciousness among Episcopal Church members

and the congregations in the Diocese of Maine, commend-

ing all to get to know the Native Peoples and to join with

them to share in the ministry of reaching out to all people

in the name of Christ." Please take printed materials and

share with others. DVDs and videos are also available to

order or to borrow from your local Public Library.

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Wednesday, August 8 -- Please meet in the Beech

Mountain Parking Lot at 7:45 a.m for the easy,

short hike up to Beech Cliff and our 8 a.m. Holy

Eucharist in celebration of the Feast of the Trans-

figuration! This commemorates the writing of the

Collect for that day by The Rev. William Reed

Huntington, summer visitor in Northeast Harbor.

He is said to have been inspired by a hike up Sar-

gent Mountain – Beech Cliff has a wonderful view

which includes Sargent Mountain and is a lot eas-

ier to reach for some of us! Please join us for this

very special service.

Saturday, August 16

th

- 11:30-1:30 - price $10.

Hosted by Peggy Engel, we are planning a public

luncheon, in conjunction with the 2

nd

Art Show on

Pemetic Green! We’ve thought about doing this

for a long time – with such good cooks among us,

we’ll focus on chowder this time, with sand-

wiches, and blueberry gingerbread for dessert.

Please volunteer to help – and/or come and help

welcome people to our church.

On Sunday, August 24, Bishop Lane will preside

and preach at St. Andrew at 8 a.m. and at St. John

at 10. He will confirm Jim Vekasi at the 10 a.m.

service (anyone else?). Bishop Lane looks forward

to visiting with many of us at an extended coffee

hour after the 10 a.m. service. Following that, he

will meet with the Vestry and with the Rector. We

are honored that he will be coming so close to the

beginning of his ministry in our diocese.

at

St. Andrew for this year will be on September 7

th

.

will take

place at St. John on September 14 between the

8:00 & 10:00 a.m.

As we did early last year, parish groups will have

info displays of their ministries, with an invitation

to join in them. Invite a friend to come with you!

Saint Andrew & Saint John Episco-

pal Church in Southwest Harbor (and

Greta - our 1885 Hook & Hasting

Tracker Organ) will be privileged to

host the first two sessions of a Mount

Desert Organ Festival on August 20

th

and 21

st

Wednesday evening, the 20

th

, at 7:00

p.m, Kevin Birch, Director of Music

at St. John's Catholic Church in Bangor will present an

illustrated lecture on "Hook Organs in the State of

Maine", followed by a short recital on Greta, our fabulous

organ, Thursday evening, the 21

st

, again at 7:00 p.m.,

Douglas Beck, Organist-Choirmaster, St. Paul’s Episco-

pal Church, Old Town, Alexandria, VA returns to St. John

for a full recital.

Friday noon, the 22

nd

, the festival will conclude at St. Sav-

iour's Parish, in Bar Harbor, with Music Director Julia

Morris-Myers performing on their Visser-Rowland organ.

This will be the fourth, and concluding recital of St. Sav-

iour’s August Friday noon recital series – try to attend the

earlier ones!

Admission is by donation. For details please visit our

website: http://standrewstjohn.blogspot.com/ or call Ted

Bromage - 207 244 3227, or email, ted@bromage.us

A service of worship in the

tradition of Taize will be of-

fered at St. Andrew's Church

at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday,

August 24. This is a service of silence and candles, and

short, chant-like songs repeated several times. Vesta

Kowalski playing her flute, and Bob Winglass on his

guitar will offer the music. If you've never experienced

this beautiful, simple service, this is a great opportunity

to do so. It is an ecumenical service with folks from

different traditions worshipping together quietly, and

our small Seal Cove church is the perfect place for it!!

Feel free to call Cass Wright at 244-5459, or Mimi

Barnes at 244-7985 if you'd like to know more about

Taize or have questions.

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The Net Tender -

August 2008

St. Andrew & St. John Episcopal Church

315 Main Street ● P.O. Box 767 ● Southwest Harbor, ME 04679

Phone 207-244-3229 Fax 207-244-3256

E-mail: saints315@verizon.net / website: www.saintsmdi.org

Anniversaries/Birthdays 6

Bishops

2

Capital Campaign

4

Heat for Neighbors

2

Indian Relations

6

Organ Festival

7

Quietside 2008

3/5

Rector’s Reflection

1

Special Events

7

Sr. Warden’s Notes

2

Taize

7

Touch Up

2

Truss Fund

2

Vacation Bible School

6

Why Church Is Important 6

The Rev. Richard Tardiff

244-4037

William Voorhies

Michele Daley

Mimi & Frank Barnes

8:00 a.m.—St. Andrew, Rt. 102, Seal Cove

10:00 a.m.—St. John, Southwest Harbor

9:30 a.m.—St. John’s

August 3—Psalm 17:1-7, 16; Genesis 32:22-31;

Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21

August 10—Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b;

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Romans 10:5-15; Mattthew 14:22-33

August 17—Psalm 133; Genesis 45:1-15;

Romans 11:1-2a; Matthew 15:10-28

August 24—Psalm 124; Exodus 1:8-2:10;

Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20

August 31—Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c; Exodus 3:1-15;

Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28

September 7 (last service at St. Andrew) - Psalm 149; Exodus 12:1-14;

Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20