Hurting Coast

Ministering In Maine 2010

The Rt. Rev’d Alden Hathaway is the retired Bishop of Pittsurgh and now Bishop-in-residence at St. Helena’s, Beaufort. Through his kindness, we were introduced last summer to the Church of Our Father, near the entrance to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, Maine. Doug was the supply priest for most of the summer for the rector, the Rev’d Charles Bradshaw, who was on sabbatical. The Church of Our Father is about 50 minutes from our house in Sedgwick, but traveling there was worth every minute of the trip. It is very much like a smaller, more informal version of St. Michael’s; they are enthusiastic in their worship and music, have an active healing ministry, and are involved in outreach to the community. Announcements often contain spontaneous reports of what God has been doing in their lives as well as their work in the previous weeks, all of which is a great encouragement to everyone. Every summer for more than fifty years they have put on an astoundingly successful Church Fair on the parish grounds, which attracts people from far and near. It begins with worship together in the church, and the church remains open and staffed for prayer for any who desire that. It is an exciting and well-organized time of outreach and income for the parish.

Unlike the parish we formerly attended in the summer (much closer to our house), the Church of Our Father is a Gospel-preaching, Gospel-believing place, with a rector and people who want to bring Jesus to their community and the world. Several years ago they had run an Alpha course, but this year the Alpha program they did starting in March, in collaboration with four other (non-Episcopal) churches, was much more effective. They report a successful Holy Spirit weekend and look forward to a fine conclusion to the course in a couple of weeks. They also plan to have another Alpha course beginning in September and to continue to sponsor two courses each year. We look forward to seeing the fruits of those courses both in a continuing renewal of the existing congregation(s) and the new life in Christ begun in those attending the course who are new to genuine Christian faith. They are also very much involved in Cursillo, with the majority of the congregation having attended a Cursillo weekend. They are, in fact, one of the mainstays of that movement in the Diocese of Maine.

The Church of Our Father has also just embarked upon a time of intentional collaboration with the three other Episcopal churches on Mt. Desert Island, one of which is without a rector. We pray that the Gospel faith of the Church of Our Father will be found to be contagious among the other three congregations and clergy.

Our role this summer will be different from last summer, but we expect to be available to assist Father Chuck, as he is known, from time to time, perhaps to supply occasionally for the parish without a rector, and to look for opportunities not only on Mt. Desert Island to reach the unchurched but also among our own friends and neighbors on the Blue Hill peninsula.

The people of Church of Our Father are thrilled to be in partnership with St. Michael’s and hope that there will be some from St. Michael’s who will be able to join them in years to come, perhaps for Vacation Bible School or to help them with ideas of how to get more young families involved. Please pray for the continuing ministry and witness of Church of Our Father and the Bradshaws, as well as for opportunities for us to be effective evangelists and encouragers during our four-month stay in Maine this summer.

~ The Rev’d Canon and Mrs. Douglas Peterson
(Doug and Joanne)

The Church of Our Father in Hulls Cove, ME is a wonderful church whose leadership has challenges that we do not face. After speaking with, Rev. Charles Bradshaw, I learned that the community of pastors he is part of is involved in the National Church and it is a great mission field for him to continue to be winsome and of sound faith among his peers. He shared that the last thing they want to talk about is making disciples which is where is heart lies. His prayer is that God will provide strength to continue in a faithful walk and that joy will be with him in the midst of the storm.
They have been able to work along with five local congregations to put together an Alpha course. They have at least 40 guests who are not involved in church. Charles has called this a motley collection of which Church of Our Father is the only Episcopal church and also the only liturgical one. They are seeing good fruit through the course and are coveting prayers for their weekend away and the details of that weekend to come together to glorify the Kingdom. One challenge within the course is the mix of people who have been in church and those who have not. Charles has asked that we join in praying for the leaders and that they can continue to guide the discussions in small group giving room for those non-churchgoers to be able to share openly.

As we were able to get to know one another I was able to learn that the church has the same challenge that my previous church in Florida had; having an older congregation. While the older people in the church are full of wisdom and they love the traditions of the church, it can be a challenge to connect with the younger people. This is something that we have reached into at St. Michael’s in looking at generational faithfulness. Each generation has something to offer within the church body and our understanding of one another is essential to our spiritual growth as the body of Christ. This is a challenge in congregations that are heavy on one side or the other and this is certainly true at Church of Our Father. It is their hope that we might come in the next year to work with them on training of people in the church to reach out to the younger generations and to share their love for Christ possibly through a Vacation Bible School that would be held in the evening so the parents might have the same teaching and gathering as the children. In doing this we would need to also go out into their community to invite and promote this opportunity.
Please be in prayer for this vital congregation in the Hurting Coast area. Our relationship is building and it is a relationship full of prayer and blessings.
~Susie Morrison ~ Hurting Coast Staff Captain

Mission To Maine and The Hurting Coast

When Joanne and I were commissioned by St. Michael’s last spring to be missioners to Maine, we were only just beginning to see how that ministry might begin to work out. We were about to leave for our usual summer sojourn in the little coastal village of Sedgwick, just an hour this side of Bar Harbor, and I had recently been asked by Bishop Alden Hathaway (who is now the Bishop-in-residence at St. Helena’s, Beaufort) whether I would be interested in helping him fill in for the rector of a small church near Bar Harbor while the rector was on a four-month sabbatical (more than half of which was spent ministering in Tanzania).

Shortly after we got to our house in Maine, we had lunch with the Rev’d Charles Bradshaw, rector of Church of Our Father, Hulls Cove, Maine, and we began to understand that it was going to be possible to develop a wonderful relationship with the Bradshaws and with their parish. The Church of Our Father is a lively, relatively small (average Sunday attendance during the summer of around 100-110, and a bit less during the winter) but enthusiastic and renewed parish, supportive of Cursillo and Alpha, with an active healing ministry (they hosted a healing mission by the Rev’d Nigel Mumford last June attended by 120 people) and preaching the Gospel faithfully. Even though they have no choir, the congregation sings joyfully and enthusiastically, so much so that on occasion people driving by on a Sunday morning have been moved to come in and join the worship. They are also very active in their support of a number of social ministries in their area. Fr. Chuck is a graduate of Harvard College and Trinity School for Ministry; he and his wife, Beth, are greatly loved by the people of Church of Our Father. And this parish is one of only three or so parishes in the Diocese of Maine clearly preaching the Gospel of repentance and renewal so clearly laid out in the Bible and in classical Anglican worship.

In any case, Joanne and I were quickly welcomed into the Church of Our Father family and found ourselves pondering how St. Michael’s could partner with them, pray with and for them, and encourage them and their witness. This winter they will be doing their second Alpha course, partnering this time with some other local congregations (Baptist and Congregational, since the nearby Episcopal churches are not interested), and the prayers of St. Michael’s would be greatly welcomed. Another possible opportunity for partnering with this wonderful congregation would be to provide assistance and people to help with a Vacation Bible School for a couple of weeks during the summer. Such an effort could be targeted at current families, potential members, and summer visitors.

When we return to Maine next summer, we will once again be part of the Church of Our Father, even though they will not be needing a supply priest. It reminds us of St. Michael’s, with the enthusiasm of the people, the uplifting nature of the worship services, and their eagerness to bring the Gospel to the world around them. And we will appreciate the continuing prayers of St. Michael’s as we seek to know how God wants us to continue a ministry in that part of the world.

One more aspect of our ministry to the Hurting Coast: last winter, and again this winter, we will spend a few months in Hobe Sound, Florida, working with the Rev’d David Prior and the congregation of Christ Memorial Chapel on Jupiter Island. The Chapel is open for only six months a year, since virtually all its members spend the summer in places like Maine and Nantucket, as well as Michigan and Colorado. So Joanne and I have also been blessed to be part of this ministry to people from the Hurting Coast. In fact, one of our additional blessings this past summer was being asked, by a member of Christ Memorial Chapel who spends the summers in Maine, to speak at an evening open-air chapel service on the shores of Somes Sound, sharing the Gospel in that magnificent setting.

Please join us, though, in continuing to pray for the ministry of Church of Our Father and its rector, Chuck Bradshaw. They are bringing the Good News of God’s love to the coast of Maine.

~ The Rev. Doug Peterson

Why the Hurting Coast?

Many people have been asking the question, “Why the Hurting Coast?”, “Why are we reaching out there when we are already doing so much?” While I believe these are good questions I also believe that God has given this vision for the Hurting Coast for a really specific plan. With the condition of the Episcopal Church in our country, it is important for us to never let go of the hope that God can restore what has been broken. This is why, every week, we lift up the renewal and healing of the Episcopal Church. We are to stand beside our Lord where there is brokenness and never let go of the hope that He can restore. There are good churches fighting the battle of being believers and teachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in an area where they are looked down upon for doing so. This is especially true in the Episcopal Church in the Hurting Coast area; Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Washington DC, etc.

In a recent article I wrote, I was mistaken about a couple of things. I wrote that the church which Doug and Joanne Peterson, our missionaries to this area, were not standing for the Nicene Creed, but they are. It was another Episcopal church, St. Francis, where Joanne had attended a study on the Nicene Creed. There, Joanne, was the only one who claimed belief when the study was completed. I apologize if the picture was painted unclear, because the Church of Our Father is thriving on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sending Doug and Joanne to be a part of this congregation has given hope to the idea of being a beacon of light to the Hurting Coast. Their ministry there this summer has opened a door for us to partner with Church of Our Father. It is a church that prays for growth. Our partnership encourages them in the faith and is just one way we can give hope. This is a small parish doing great things.

It is our hope to partner with Church of Our Father as one of our first Hurting Coast Missions. They are already doing great things, but if we are the encouragers I believe we are, we can walk along side of them in what they are doing and pray with them for growth in their community of believers. They are already doing ministry where they reach out with the Gospel message. They are giving an Alpha Course with five other churches in their community and they also held a Day of Healing Prayer with Nigel Mumford. Both of these things are sure to make an impact in the community for Jesus Christ. Another thing we mentioned is, they are excited about doing a Vacation Bible School. Their hope is that some from among us will feel called to go this summer and help them with this ministry.

So now, I hope I can give some simple answers to the questions. The question, “why,” is simple. We need to be a church that understands that looking outward can be transformational. God equips the called and the called have to be willing to move out. Once we believe, we will be sent. This is a place where we can go and be encouragers in the faith. The Church of Our Father is one place where we can begin caring for those who are in ministry, who might feel isolated because they are looked down upon for standing up for the Gospel.

After meeting with the team, those with a passion to see something happen in this area of our mission to the Hurting Coast, we have decided that first we are to pray for this church, the people who are in ministry there, and the ministries they are currently doing. Our second thought is to reach out to those in ministry at the church with encouragement through e-mail, phone calls, letters, and anything else we can offer. Finally, we would like to be a catalyst to send a group (hopefully a life group) of people who love the ministry of Vacation Bible School and parent ministry. They should have a desire to be a part of this ministry in Maine at Church of Our Father. It is simple for us to share what we know. Deuteronomy 6 says that we are to teach our children about God by the way we live our lives. This is something our church has a passion for and will have an opportunity to go and share this vision where so many are lost.

Our team is asking that if you have a passion to see parents sharing the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with their children, perhaps you are being called to GO and share this with parents who need encouragement and children who need to hear this life giving message. As a Youth Minister, I have discovered that one of the best ways to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus, is through teaching about His great love to others. Are you being called to share what you know about Jesus? Pray about this as a life group and individually and see where God is calling you to share your passion for parents and their children. It is a great way for an entire family to spend a week of vacation serving others together.

~ Susie Morrison, Hurting Coast Staff Captain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

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