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September 2015

Sing to the Lord a new song "God has done marvelous things ! Sing to the Lord a new song." - Earth and all Stars (by Herbert Brokering) Just recently we sang - with gusto - the classic yet perhaps unfamiliar hymn, "Earth and all Stars." In phrases of praise, the song combines the wonder of God's natural world with the awe of human inquiry and striving. Separately, God's power and human ingenuity each inspire our rousing songs; taken together, we sing this resounding hymn of gratitude and praise, expressing God's call to us as "co-creators" of the Kingdom of Heaven and God's commonwealth on earth. It continues to reverberate in my heart. Ask Robin - she'll agree - we're a singing church. Our voices blend and `raise the roof' on treasured favorites, and we're game to try new songs, too. We make joyful noise together, and it sounds - and feels - great. Perhaps you've heard before that when you sing, you pray twice. I agree. Nothing reaches the depths of my soul like music and singing. All my well-built defenses dissipate, and it's like I have an IV direct to my spirit. I hear this is true for many of us. And so I wanted to let you know that there's a method to the madness that Robin & I concoct each week for our

hymns. Most often we like to sing two hymns from our Pilgrim Hymnal, ones that amplify the week's Scripture readings or sermon theme. Usually the first is melodic, joyous or majestic, and kid-friendly, and the second is more reflective or prayerful, like "Be still my soul." Sometimes we'll replace one of these with another familiar one that isn't in the hymnal, like "How Great Thou Art," "Amazing Grace," or "Here I am, Lord." And then the last hymn - we hope - helps our praise spill over into joyous hope. If we haven't sung one already, this last one might be a new hymn, like "Siyahamba / we are marching in the light of God." Really - we're not trying to trick you with the inserts! Quite the opposite - we hope to give words and music to the songs that God has placed already in our hearts. Some of you are concerned that too many inserts can get cumbersome, so Robin & I would like to encourage you to think about - better yet, make a list of - the hymns that you especially enjoy or find meaningful. Let us know. We'd like to pull together our beloved inserts into a hymn supplement - customizing it, making it truly our own. If you have thoughts or suggestions or ideas, please let us know. In the meantime, keep singing! Blessings & peace, Rob

Pastor Rob’s Message

THE CHIMES THE NEWSLETTER OF

THE BAR HARBOR CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

AN OPEN & AFFIRMING CHURCH

29 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 Office Hours: Monday, Tues., & Friday, 9am-3pm

Pastor’s Hours: Tuesday 11:00-1:00 and Thursday 12:00-2:00

(207) 288-3280 office@barharborucc.org

www.barharborucc.org

Facebook: BarHarborCongregationalChurch

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Here is this month’s news from your Outreach Board. Thanks as always for your powerful prayers and hands-on help with our church’s outreach projects.

It’s a new school year! We need your help as we restart the very successful

Backpack Program. Please prayerfully consider a donation of food or cash.

Work has continued throughout the summer to ensure that plenty of nutritious food is available. This effort comprises collaboration between the Bar Harbor Food Pantry, local schools, churches, and our community-at-large. Please clip and save the shopping list below. Bags are assembled at our church on Friday

mornings; please speak to Pastor Rob if you’d like to help. You may also write a check to the church or to the Bar Harbor Food Pantry with “Backpack Program” on the memo line. Thank you!

Haiti Mission Trip Update:

Our mission trip travelers have worked hard this summer to plan and fundraise for our trip to Ouanaminthe, Haiti and Institution Univers this winter. Nearly $1800 was raised at two lobster dinners provided for campers in August at the Mt. Desert Campground! Many thanks to the

generous donors who made this amazing fundraiser such a tremendous success: Hannaford Supermarket in Bar Harbor, Mainely Meats, Quietside Café and Ice Cream Shop, Thurston’s Lobster Pound, Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound, Gringo’s, Cas Ole Catering, and the Mt Desert Campground. The proceeds will fund four mission trippers’ room and board for the week in Haiti. WOW!

Our team is coming together as we plan for our experience in Haiti. In addition to helping to teach TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) preparation classes, we’ll be spending time visiting in the community Ouanaminthe and learning about the Haitian culture. Several of our mission trippers are medical personnel; there may be an opportunity to provide health screenings or other assistance. And we are open to whatever God has in store for us!

Outreach Board News for August

� Snack size boxes of raisins

� Individual serving sizes of applesauce

� Granola bars

� Mac and cheese (both individual and reg boxes)

� Canned fruit – individual serving sizes only

� Cracker sandwiches with peanut butter or cheese

� String Cheese

� Boxes of individual packets of oatmeal and cereal

� Chicken noodle and vegetable beef soup

� Microwave popcorn

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GOT COFFEE? We continue to sell Singing Rooster Haitian Coffee during coffee hour each week. Singing Rooster decaf is served each week during coffee hour so that you can you give it a taste. Thank you to SO MANY who are already purchasing the coffee on a regular basis. We have both whole bean (regular and decaf) and ground (regular and decaf). As the holidays approach (who said that??!!), be sure to have plenty Singing Rooster Coffee available for hostess and holiday gifts; they make great stocking stuffers! We will have special gift bags of coffee available for purchase beginning in late Oct/early November.

COME AND GET IT! Join us for a bit of the Caribbean on Saturday evening, September 26, when your Haiti Mission Team will prepare and host a Haitian dinner, complete with music and delicious food. Please mark your calendar and plan to join us for a fabulous evening of food, fun, and Caribbean music. Watch your Sunday bulletin and the church website for more details.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already time to Talk Turkey! Our annual Thanksgiving Basket Program is already in the works for this year. Last year, we provided Thanksgiving baskets for more than 250 families and this year will certainly be another big year. Thinking ahead, please mark the Sunday, November 22nd as Food Sorting Day (after church – loads of fun!) and Monday, November 23rd as Thanksgiving Basket building day! All hands on deck! And thank you, as always, for your support of this island-wide project.

The Window Insert Community Build project takes off this fall! Our church will be the construction headquarters for building hundreds of window inserts. This local partnership with College of the

Atlantic, Healthy Acadia, and the Somesville Church needs your help as we begin to build these energy-saving inserts. Please come on October 12-16 to help! More info to come soon.

HARVEST FESTIVAL SUNDAY: We still have three more festival Sundays for Coffee Hour. We will celebrate the Apple on September 13th, the Pumpkin on October 18th, and the Cranberry on November 15th. Bring out your favorite recipes or search out a new one to try! Contributing to Harvest Festival Sundays is a great way to help with coffee hour in a manageable and meaningful way. Thanks in advance for your yummy contribution!

Want to donate that crockpot you’re not using to our Mission Trip? Or maybe that piece

of furniture or sporting equipment that you’re not really using? It’s true! Your items can

be sold in minutes! We’ve already made several hundred dollars and it’s SO easy; contact us

and we’ll do the rest. If you have an item or two of good, nearly new, or excellent quality that you’d love to donate, please contact Kathe Simons (244-3207) or Karen McFarland (288-5760) right away. Your item will be sold on the Facebook page “Bar Harbor Barter and Swap” – what a fast and easy way to donate to the mission trip! Thank you already to several of you who have donated so generously.

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Have you noticed the stacks of crayons at your local store? Do you

smell the apples baking? It’s that time of year! School is beginning and

Christian Education is gearing up for another successful and fun filled

Sunday School Year!

We are kicking off the year with Rally Day Sunday September 6th.

Come register your child, visit the classroom, see their learning

materials, and much more! We are going to be trying a new approach

to Sunday School for the Fall Trimester. Instead of having separate

classes depending on their grades, the children will be together in

what we are calling “Children’s Church”. It will be similar to our

upstairs church service with some variations based on the needs (and

wiggle time) of our kids. It is an exciting change and we hope to really

reach our children at their level in a meaningful and engaging way! We

are looking for a few people to lend a hand a couple Sundays each

month. The time commitment is much less than teaching Sunday

school, so if you’ve ever been interested in working with our kids but

didn’t have the time, this is the perfect opportunity for you! Please see

Amanda Beals for more information, she would love to hear from you!

mrsamandabeals@gmail.com or 207-669-5807.

This summer’s JC & Me was a great success and there are many

people to thank. Geneva Langley, Debby Hammond, Peter Benson,

Paula Moody, Kathe Simons, Marti Torbeck, Caroline McMinimy, Doug

McMinimy, Joan Carey, Wendy Fehlauer, Betsy Higgins, Amy Riddell,

and Betty Bryer all contributed a great deal of time and talents, which

were much appreciated! I know the children enjoyed the variety and

activities each of you provided. Thank you from the Christian

Education board as well.

Finally, we have just wrapped our VBC for the summer, Under

Construction: A Vacation Bible School from Habitat for Humanity. Kids

enjoyed story time with Pastor Rob where he told Bible stories based

on the four pillars of the week: Share, Care, Learn, and Worship. The

also had yummy dinners provided by Amanda Beals, Debby Hammond,

The Benson Family, Judy Fuller, and Little Anthony’s. Doug McMinimy

orchestrated drama and singing with the kids based around the Bible

stories. Games and crafts were also part of the evenings’ fun. During

our time together, children explored how the Biblical stories

connected to our world today through building and

CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRIES

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helping others in need. It was an excellent program and we look forward to next year! Thanks to all the

volunteers who helped make it happen.

Summer at BHCC

Haiti lobster dinner benefit at Mt. Desert Campground

Under Construction

‘Forepeople’

Darling’s Ice Cream Truck “Local Solutions” fundraiser

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JC and Me: The story of the Good Samaritan

A traveler falls among thieves

A plea for help goes unanswered

Help comes from an unexpected source…

Photos on these pages by Doug McMinimy

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‘Deep Water’ I like the way Luke tells the story of Jesus calling his disciples. Both Mark, who condenses, and Matthew, who echoes Mark, tell us that Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee, saw some fishermen, and called them to become “fishers of men”. They dropped everything and went off with him for the next three years.

Really? Who does that?

Even if one person, swept away by the moment, abandoned ship, does it sound likely that four men with a business and families and excuses aplenty would drop everything without a backward glance to follow a stranger? Enter Luke. He offers details: Jesus is preaching on the shore and draws a crowd so large that he asks Peter to row him off shore so people can see and hear him. Peter, though he is exhausted, agrees. Jesus speaks to the crowd and, after he finishes teaching, Jesus asks Peter to “Put out into deep water and let down your nets”. Peter, clearly affected by what Jesus has been telling the crowd, warns him gently that they would be going on a fool’s errand. “Master, we were hard at work all night and caught nothing; but, if you say so, I will let down the nets.”

And then comes the moment that changed everything. They cast their nets and caught so much their nets began to split and they had to signal to their partners in another boat to come and help. The two boats were “loaded to the point of sinking”.

After they struggled to shore, they left everything and followed Jesus. That’s what Luke says. On the one hand, we have Jesus who reinforces his words with loving actions. He not only tells them; he shows them the overflowing abundance of God’s love. On the other hand, something was asked of the soon-to-be-called disciples. Jesus asks them to “Put out into deep water,” a call to have faith in Him. Once they stepped back in that boat, everything changed.

Transformed men stepped ashore and began the journey of their lives. Behind them were two boats overflowing with fish that would provide for those left behind.

That’s the way Luke tells the story, and it has a loud ring of truth.

ALL ABOUT THE JOURNEY

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Just think, we could be

standing on the shore

path or surfing the

internet or sitting in our

comfortable chair or the

less comfortable bench

in church next Sunday

when the invitation that

could change everything

comes to us: “Put out

into deep water.” - Cindy Fox

Artwork: ‘Storm’

by Betty Liscomb

September Birthdays

3 Rob Fry 3 Brian Booher 4 Kristoph Naggert 6 Benjamin Blaney 12 Tracey McCarthy 13 Jacquelyn Johnson 15 Mimi Dickson 18 Sue McKay 20 Olivia Stanley 22 Wanda Young 23 Anna Naggert 24 Kendra Bonsey 24 Hannah Boyce 24 Geneva Langley 25 Debby Hammond 25 Rob Benson 28 Kathy MacCulloch

B I R T H D A Y S C O N T R I B U T O R S B I B L E R E A D I N G S

About Chimes Devotional writings

Note from Cindy Fox: I did not intend to contribute the devotion on the previous page. The Deacons are hoping that we can get twelve people brave enough to contribute a devotion or just talk briefly about why church is important to them. I wrote the first article and asked a few people to join with me in this project. Then summer came and…well... I didn’t contact anyone in time to give them proper time to write an article. My bad. So, if you are willing to submit an article once a year or just once, please contact me or any of the Deacons.

Let’s work together to make the CHIMES reflect how God is at work in our lives!

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Sunday Worship

Contributors

Liturgists- 7: 13: Al Simons 21: 28:

Flowers – 6: Amanda Beals, Bill and Judy Fuller 13: Mr. and Mrs. Erwin Soule 20: Mrs. Vernice Young and Charlie and Michele Croan 27: Robert Malaney

Coffee Hosts - 6: 13: Apple Festival 20: 27:

Home Bible Readings 6 Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 Psalm 125 James 2:1-17 Mark 7:24-37 13 Proverbs 1:20-33 Psalm 19 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 20 Proverbs 31:10-31 Psalm 1 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 27 Esther 7:1-6, 9-10 Psalm 124 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50

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This calendar is current as of Aug. 28. For the most current event information, click here.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Sat.

1 2 3 4 5

6 Rally Sunday

Worship Service 10:00 AM

7

Labor Day

8

Hospitality Committee

7:00

9

Outreach 6:30

10 11 12

13

Worship Service 10:00 AM

Harvest Festival - Apple

14

Haiti Mission Trip deposit

due

15 16

Chimes articles due

Deacons

7:00

17

Trustees 5:30

18 19

20 Worship Service

10:00 AM

21 22 23 1

st Day of

Autumn

Church Council

7:00

24 25

Kevin Morse’s Recital 7:30

26

Haitian Church Supper

5:30

27

Worship Service 10:00 AM

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29 30

The Dyer family would like to thank all who helped us through this difficult and heartbreaking time. Thank you Rob Benson for your touching tribute to Don, Doug McMinimy for your beautiful solo, Cas Dowden for all of your work at the reception and to all who provided the food for us. Words aren’t enough to tell you how much this meant to the Dyer family. We will miss Don greatly. With love, The Dyer Family.

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Bar Harbor Congregational Church United Church of Christ 29 Mount Desert Street Bar Harbor, ME, 04609 www.barharborucc.org

Artwork: ‘Playing Hookie’ by Betty Liscomb

• Rally Sunday: Sunday, September 6

• Harvest Festival, Apples – Sunday, September 13

• Haiti Dinner: Saturday, September 26, 5:30 PM

Please check the Calendar on page 9 for church meetings, and the BHUCC website and Weekly Messenger for updates and current listings.

Bar Harbor Congregational Church: Love in Action

UPCOMING EVENTS