Belfast teens living and learning modern day parables

By the Rev. Martha Kirkpatrick
St. Margaret’s Church, Belfast

Driving home in a beat up Toyota…

It looks like a sunny May afternoon in the St. Margaret’s parish hall, the room filled with teens and adults from St. Margaret’s, First Church UCC, the First Baptist Church and the Game Loft,  gathered for the next installment of Encounters. But we know it is a cold December day in the fictitious town of New Salem, Maine, not far from Belfast, in 2009. In this “HBO miniseries,” the central characters are a class of 13-year-olds of diverse social backgrounds and family situations. All of us, including the adults, have a main character that we play, as well as play several other characters to fill out a scene.

One last question at the end of the afternoon…

Welcome to “Encounters Episode 5 — A Stranger in Need,” where things have gotten very interesting in the town of New Salem. A mysterious stranger has appeared, a 13-year-old boy who calls himself Drew has hitchhiked his way from somewhere south and is apparently headed for Canada. We play out the scenes, making decisions as we go depending on our character’s situation and character traits. Drew is picked up and taken home by a kind local family, the Bucklins, who privately express concern that he might be a run-away, and contact the local police officer. Christopher Bucklin, who shares his room with Drew, looks in Drew’s wallet while he is sleeping and discovers that he is in fact, Justin Bieber. He decides to tell no one. Justin/Drew goes to school with Christopher, where he meets the rest of the 8th grade class. The responses of the class to this stranger are unscripted; we play it out in character. Antonio is resentful. Drew is  handsome and is attracting the attention of a girl Antonio has a crush on. My character, Emily, likes Drew, and is very curious as to why he has ended up in New Salem. Christopher tells Olivia Drew’s real identity. Olivia has a huge crush on J Bieb, but she is also gossipy. Can she keep the secret? She agrees not to tell anyone in exchange for a promise of J Bieb’s autograph.

The school bus drops the students off, and, as they are walking home, Drew and a couple of his new friends notice they are being tailed by a black SUV. Drew quickly gives his trademark hat to a shy boy, Ethan, and scuttles away with the help of Christopher and his younger brother. Ethan finds himself confronted by a thug in the black sedan named Turk, who angrily demands to know where he got that hat and drags Ethan into the black SUV. The scenes follow in rapid succession, The thugs end up at the police station where they prove no match for the police officer. A frustrated Ethan has an angry phone conversation with his mother, who thinks he is fantasizing again and refuses to believe he has been kidnapped. Drew and Christopher realize they have to get Drew hidden, so they (miming) tie sheets together and climb out the bedroom window so their father, who is downstairs reading up on early church history, won’t know they have left. They make their way to an abandoned house, where they plan to hide Drew and make arrangements to bring him food and water. Drew is hiding in the closet, and he hears a door in the house creak, and footsteps on the stairs …. stay tuned for the next Episode…

Next we are sitting in a circle at in the Parish Hall, back in our real personae. As the clergy of the host church today, I read the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). We talk about how living the Christian life is about taking care of each other, and how, when we don’t, we isolate ourselves. We explore how each character reacted to the stranger. We pass around our talking stick (actually, “Herbert,” a mechanical plastic 4-legged toy) and each person gets to say something (or pass) about what struck them that day. Patricia or Ray Estabrook gives a one-minute sermon, and we end with our acclamation — “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!”

Thus goes a typical session of Encounters, our ecumenical teen faith group in Belfast. We always meet on a Sunday at noon, and begin with a reminder of our basic ground rules for how we treat each other, grace, and lunch. Our signature warm-up activities help us to listen to each other and our particular version of “fruitbasket” gets our blood moving and gets us ready for our roleplay.

We started the Encounters program last year, and are now in our second full “season.” The design team of the clergy from the three churches and the Game Loft had as the program objective to help teens see how God is at work in daily life, seen through parables constructed for the present day. The other objective is to have fun! After the “pilot” we got the feedback from the youth in the program, who to a person said “this was so much fun and much better than I expected!” We don’t take a didactic approach; we learn by doing and get to try on responses to ethical challenges through roleplay in a safe environment. I have watched shy children blossom in character, and there are many situations where a scene in New Salem mirrors a situation in real life, like a strained relationship with a parent or a bully at school. Roleplay gives us a safe place to explore what it means to be a Christian in the midst of these challenges.

We recently received a Diocesan grant to develop materials for use by other church groups who would like to develop a roleplay based program for Christian education.  Interested? find us on Facebook at www.facebook.comBelfastEncounters, and contact me at St. Margaret’s Church in Belfast, or Patricia Estabrook at the Game Loft at estabrook72@hotmail.com or 338-3800.

Bishop Steve Lane answers questions about Holy Conversations

Bishop Steve sat down with Canon Heidi Shott this week to answer questions about the Holy Conversations process that each congregation in Maine has been asked to engage in.

He answered questions like, “Why are we doing this, anyway?”

Do you have a question you’d like to have the Bishop answer on video? Please post it in the comments or email him at slane@episcopalmaine.org.

If you would like to have a copy of the video to share with your congregation off-line, please contact Heidi at hshott@episcopalmaine.org or 772.1953 x126.

Facing an uncertain future with hope

One of a few dozen Mainers to travel to Boston on Saturday, April 27, for the Climate Revival, family doctor and member of St. John’s, Bangor, Ann Holland Faulkner Sherman reflects on her journey.

Ann offers a daffodil at the Boston bombing memorial during the procession across Copley Square to Trinity Church.

What is the stone rolled against the door of my heart, keeping me entombed?  It’s name is FEAR. Fear of change; fear of having to renounce some of the comforts of my life; fear of the pain of sacrifice; fear of ridicule and misunderstanding; fear of loss.

Can I, like Lazarus, hear the voice of Jesus calling me forth to rejoin the living? Am I able and willing to hear the confidence and calm assurance of his beckoning? Do I believe we are truly created one world, every rock, every flower, every beating heart, beloved of the Creator?

We have blessed each other’s hands, received blessing in return, been marked with the sign of the cross on each palm with the dark sticky soil of western Massachusetts. We have commissioned one another to go as healers of Earth, to bear witness and to pay whatever the price of our dedication to the community of God’s creation.

We heard the urgent message to take action in ways large and small from Thomas G.Carr, Baptist minister and Eco-Justice net-worker, as he proclaimed, “This is NOT an issue among issues. It is the quintessential moral, ethical and spiritual question of our time!”

Again and again in various ways and by different speakers, we were reminded that we are a resurrection people, a people of hope. Though our grief is profound in the face of Earth’s wounds, we can gather our strength and “seek in everything we say and do to glorify God” in the words of Rev. Geoffrey A. Black. The enemy will tempt us to inertia and despair, offer us cynicism rather than faith. But Jesus will lead us; his tenderness and ferocity will guide and inspire us. Together, we will breathe the creative breath of Life into our Earth, and God will continue to deliver the dead from the tomb.

Mother Nature smiled on our Climate Revival in Copley Square. Along Boylston Street the sun shone warm on trees blooming pink and white. On this first Saturday after Earth Day throngs of people filled the square as Bostonians and tourists crowded around the line of bike racks serving as a makeshift memorial wall for the victims of the Marathon bombings.

Services at Old South Church and Trinity Church drew young and old, from several denominations and from every New England state. Banners waved, people sang and prayed. In a city shaken so recently to its core by senseless violence, the juxtaposition of shock and grief against the glorious promise of springtime renewal reflected our own contrasting emotions as we contemplated the ravages of greed on our Earth and faced the uncertain future with hope.

God grant that we may heed the exhortation of Archbishop Desmond Tutu that “ordinary people must demand that governments put planet and people before profits.”

Let each of us feel a deeper and firmer commitment to climate stabilization and a fresh energy for doing the healing work to which we are called. I pray for the Holy Spirit to give us the courage to live our conviction.

New England Episcopalians gather for 2013 Climate Revival

The Presiding Bishop and Bishop Knisely of Rhode Island process across Copley Square from Old South Church to Trinity Church. Photo by Marjorie Manning Vaughan

While mainline denominations don’t often hold revivals, the compelling need for people of faith to fight climate change spurred the The Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ to break new ground. On Saturday, April 27, several hundred New Englanders gathered at Old South Church and Trinity Episcopal Church for the first ever Climate Revival.

Early that morning a group of Maine Episcopalians and a few UCC folk boarded a bus in Portland and, after stopping for more passengers in Portsmouth, NH, they arrived at the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth, just yards from the site of the first Boston Marathon bomb explosion less that two weeks ago.

Two worship services featuring leaders of several denominations, including sermons by the Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, President and General Minister of the United Church of Christ, and the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church [read Bishop Katharine's sermon here], set the tone for a day that caused all present to consider the role of individuals and members of various faith communities in the effort to heal the earth and all life contained within it.

At the beginning of opening worship at Old South Church, those present were invited to turn in the direction of the bombings and offer prayers and a blessing for all affected by the violence.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu shares a video message on climate change. Photo by Marjorie Manning Vaughan.

Pre-recorded video messages from environmental activist Bill McKibben and Archbishop Desmond Tutu inspired thoughtful consideration of the pressing need to fight climate change.

A panel discussion on the issue featured faith leaders  Geoffrey A. Black; Katharine Jefferts Schori; James E. Hazelwood, Bishop of the New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Thomas G. Carr, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in West Hartford, CT. It concluded with the signing of a document titled, “A shared statement of hope in the face of climate change.”

Click here to read the Climate Statement.

Visit the link below to view a slideshow of the day’s events.

http://www.flickr.com//photos/episcopalmaine/sets/72157633387514838/show/

Prayers for the people of Boston today at noon at St. Luke’s Cathedral

At noon today Bishop Steve Lane and Dean Ben Shambaugh will ring bells and offer prayers for the people of Boston and the surrounding communities at St. Luke’s Cathedral at 143 State Street in Portland.

Join them in person or in spirit.

Prayers in the wake of the tragedy in Boston

Updates:
From Bishop Tom Shaw of Massachusetts:

From Episcopal News Service: “Boston Marathon bombs rock local Episcopalians”

From The Episcopal Church’s Youth Ministries Office: How to talk to youth about the bombings http://episcoyouth.org/
_____

As we keep the people of Boston – our New England neighbors and those from around the U.S. and the world -  affected by yesterday’s bomb attack in our prayers, the Diocese of Maine offers some prayers to guide your hearts. At the bottom are resources posted by Episcopal Relief & Development for parents and church leaders ministering to children and families in the first week after a disaster.  Lord have mercy.

From the Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori

Gracious God, you walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death. We pray that the suffering and terrorized be surrounded by the incarnate presence of the crucified and risen one. May every human being be reminded of the precious gift of life you entered to share with us. May our hearts be pierced with compassion for those who suffer, and for those who have inflicted this violence, for your love is the only healing balm we know. May the dead be received into your enfolding arms, and may your friends show the grieving they are not alone as they walk this vale of tears. All this we pray in the name of the one who walked the road to Calvary.

Additional prayers: (courtesy of the Rev. Ron Pogue at his blog e-piphanies.)

• Prayer for Victims of Terrorism

Loving God, Welcome into your arms the victims of violence and terrorism. Comfort their families and all who grieve for them. Help us in our fear and uncertainty, And bless us with the knowledge that we are secure in your love. Strengthen all those who work for peace, And may the peace the world cannot give reign in our hearts. Amen.

 - Beliefnet

• A Prayer for First Responders

Blessed are you, Lord, God of mercy, who through your Son gave us a marvelous example of charity and the great commandment of love for one another. Send down your blessings on these your servants, who so generously devote themselves to helping others. Grant them courage when they are afraid, wisdom when they must make quick decisions, strength when they are weary, and compassion in all their work. When the alarm sounds and they are called to aid both friend and stranger, let them faithfully serve you in their neighbor. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 - adapted from the Book of Blessings, #587, by Diana Macalintal

• For the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to your merciful care, that, being guided by your Providence, we may dwell secure in your peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of Massachusetts, and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do your will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in your fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

- Book of Common Prayer

• For Peace

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

- Book of Common Prayer

• A Collect for Peace

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

- Book of Common Prayer

A prayer written on September 11, 2001 by the Rev. Dr. Francis H. Wade, then rector of St. Alban’s, Washington, D.C. and interim dean of the National Cathedral:

A Prayer For Those Who Do Great Harm

Almighty God, whose will it is to place awesome power into the hearts, minds and hands of your children, let your care and our compassion be on those who do harm as well as those who are harmed. Lord, you reached across the limits of human understanding to embrace the outcast and the lost, reach now beyond our understanding and embrace those who have caused so much pain and death this day. We cannot but commend them to you for in our hearts are seeds of hatred and in our nostrils the stench of madness. As you touch them in your healing ways, Lord God, dry also that hate that could grow in us, smother the fear that would blind us and deliver us from the temptation to follow instincts that are far from the path you have set before us. In the Name of the One we always hope to follow, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

From Episcopal Relief & Development:

The US Disaster Program has developed the following resources for parents and church leaders ministering to children and families in the first week after a disaster:

Working with Children After a Disaster: Tips for Parents and Teachers. This one-page handout suggests age-appropriate ways to help children process, discuss and pray about a disaster. It can be used as a bulletin insert or sent home with children in religious education classes this weekend.

Individual and Family Preparedness. This one-page handout details ways for families and individuals to make their own disaster preparedness plan, including information and items that should go into a preparedness kit.

Curricula for Ministering to Children, Youth and Teens After a Disaster. This three-module resource provides age-appropriate lesson plans and activities for church school classes and youth group sessions immediately following a tragic event. While it focuses on communities directly impacted, religious educators can adapt the prayer experiences and discussion guides to help children and youth respond to tragic events in other communities.  The modules are:

• Ministering to Children After a Disaster (Grades K-5) 
• Ministering to Youth After a Disaster (Grades 6-8)
• Ministering to Teens After a Disaster (Grades 9-12)

Note from our US Disaster team: Please be sensitive to the needs of children before exposing them to details about a disaster. While encouraging prayer is always appropriate, let young people take the lead in indicating what they need in terms of information and discussion.  Additionally, it’s also important to let those who are directly impacted by a disaster take the lead in indicating what kind of response they require. Right now church leaders in Massachusetts are asking for your prayers.

These and other resources on disaster response can be found online at http://www.er-d.org/resourcelibrary.  For more information please contact Barb Ballenger at bballenger@episcopalrelief.org.

Holy Week Witness liturgy to be used in Washington, D.C. available to all

On Monday, March 25, the bishops of the Diocese of Connecticut will lead those gathered at St. John’s Episcopal Church at Lafayette Square, near the White House, in walking the way of the cross between the White House and the Capitol as a way to stand witness to the spread of gun violence. They say:

We are taking our witness to our nation’s capital to say to our political leaders and to our country that we will no longer be silent while violence permeates our world, our society, our Church, our homes and ourselves.

Our faith calls us to be ministers of reconciliation, to give voice to the voiceless and to strive for justice in the name of our Lord. The horrific slaughter of children and adults in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown in our home state, and the day-to-day shootings and deaths of our children and young people in cities and towns across our nation, call us to prayer and action and to work for peace.  [more]

For those who are unable to journey to Washington to take part in the walk, the Diocese of Connecticut has made the Holy Week Witness liturgy to be used on the walk available to all.

Below please find Bishop Stephen T. Lane’s letter to the Maine Congressional delegation. The Episcopal House of Bishop’s recent word to the Church on gun violence is available here.

An Open Letter to Members of the Maine Congressional Delegation on Preventing Gun Violence

Last week, at the spring meeting of The Episcopal Church House of Bishops, I was deeply affected by Bishop Laura Ahrens of the Diocese of Connecticut speaking of her experience as a pastor and church leader in the days following the tragic shootings in Newtown. “There’s no one to impress when your heart is broken,” she said.

While The Episcopal Church has, beginning in 1976, repeatedly lobbied for the strengthening of laws related to selling and licensing firearms, I believe that it is now time for people of all faiths to raise our voices in the public square. With thousands of other faith leaders across the U.S., I contend that “to refuse to take the steps we know would reduce harm is a violation of religious values so severe that we are compelled to speak out.” [www.faithsagainstgunviolence.org]

I recognize that Maine has a long tradition of hunting and responsible gun ownership, and I firmly believe that legislation requiring universal background checks, limiting high capacity magazines, and placing restrictions on certain types of military-style weapons will not impinge on the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners. Our greater responsibility, however, as people entrusted with the common good, is to protect the innocent from gun violence – whether it stems from the domestic violence that too often plagues communities across Maine or from the horrific acts of a rampage shooter.

I commend the recent bill passed by the Senate and co-sponsored by Senator Collins that tightens gun trafficking and, if also passed in the House, will go a long way to keep guns purchased in Maine from being transported and resold across state lines. I further urge you to support Senator Schumer’s bill requiring universal background checks on nearly all purchases and requiring states to improve reporting of felons and those with major mental health issues to a national database.

This week the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church, of which I am a member, released a statement wherein we “particularly grieve those killed by senseless gun violence in the many contexts from which we come. We lament and have cried over the widely reported mass shootings in this country, recalling tragedies like Aurora, Oak Creek and Newtown. We are outraged by the too often unseen and unacknowledged daily massacre of our young people in cities such as Chicago, Newark, Baltimore, Port-au-Prince, and Tegucigalpa. This carnage must stop.”

As a leader of the faith community in Maine, I commit to beginning conversations in our communities, in collaboration with other denominations. I envision conversations that would allow us to openly discuss how we as Mainers wish to live the balance between protecting our neighbors and children from needless violence and honoring the traditions and rights of all people. That’s my job, and I will do it. I urge you, as Maine’s elected leaders, to put your whole hearts and minds to the task of creating and supporting legislation that promotes communities where all people can live in safety, security, and peace; a country where, as the prophet Zechariah dreams, “old men and women shall again sit in the streets…And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing.” Together, let us make it so.

Thank you for your close attention to this critical issue. I would welcome opportunities for further conversation.

Sincerely,

The Rt. Rev. Stephen T. Lane
Bishop of Maine

A pdf of the letter may be found here.