We will gather this Friday, September 30 at 2 p.m. to collect, portion, package, and deliver No Neighbor Left Behind meals to families and neighbors across our area. If you have signed up to donate food, please drop your donations off at the church's SIDE DOOR by 2 p.m. on Friday.
Our ministry of food and love is so important at this time. A special thanks to all who donate and volunteer to help us address food insecurity on the Blue Hill peninsula, one nutritious meal at a time.
“a time when Christians in every culture break bread and pour the cup to remember and affirm Christ as the Head of the Church. On that day, they remember that they are part of the whole body of believers.”
That beautiful truth is true every day – but on World Communion Sunday, we take a moment and savor it, appreciating anew the beauty of the body of Christ – different in so many ways, but one at Christ’s Table.
And the table
will be wide.
And the welcome
will be wide.
And the arms
will open wide
to gather us in.
And our hearts
will open wide
to receive.
And we will come
as children who trust
there is enough.
And we will come
unhindered and free.
And our aching
will be met
with bread.
And our sorrow
will be met
with wine.
And we will open our hands
to the feast
without shame.
And we will turn
toward each other
without fear.
And we will give up
our appetite
for despair.
And we will taste
and know
of delight.
And we will become bread
for a hungering world.
And we will become drink
for those who thirst.
And the blessed
will become the blessing.
And everywhere
will be the feast.
Weekly Meditation
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
-Luke 17:5-6
Faith like a mustard seed: commentators have argued for centuries about exactly what Jesus is getting at here. In the original Greek, the text reads more ambiguously than modern translations suggest: “faith like a grain of mustard.”
So, what’s a grain of mustard like? Small, for starters. The species of mustard that grow in modern-day Israel and Palestine have seeds that are 1-3 mm in diameter. Not the smallest of seeds (that distinction would go to an orchid), but respectably small. But, as many scholars have pointed out, size is not all that distinguishes mustard seeds. They’re also spicy. Intensely flavored. Hot. As an ecologist, I’d have to add that mustard seeds – because they’re small and numerous – are decent at dispersal.
Faith, I suppose, can be all of those things: a small package, intense, fervent. And yes, it can take us far from home and help us put down roots in a new place.
And all of this has me wondering: with what other metaphors might we describe our faith? What’s your faith like?
For me, that question has a different answer on different days – and in different moments of each day. But if I had to choose just one answer, I’d say that faith is like the tendril of a shoot of a new, spring pea plant – reaching, reaching, reaching towards God. I invite you to spend some time with that question this week. What does your faith feel like? What metaphor captures your experience of faith on this particular day?
If you’re of a mind to do so, please feel free to share your musings with me. I’d love to hear the answers that emerge. And here’s a prayer I wrote, a couple of years ago, to accompany you on your meditations.
Loving God,
May we find peace in the quiet of you.
May we find courage in the nearness of you.
May we find wonder in the vastness of you.
May we find faith in the mystery of you.
Through Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Andi
Sunday Worship Service
While we have resumed in-person worship at the church*, we will continue to simultaneously broadcast our services on the ZOOM and YOUTUBE platforms. You can join us Sunday mornings at 9:30 by using these links: Click on the logo to access the platform of your choice.
Contact the church if you need assistance in receiving these ministries in your home.
* The Church Council continues to recommend following Maine CDC guidance. With Hancock County now rated low-risk for covid transmission, mask wearing is optional. Masking remains advisable for individuals at higher risk for serious illness. Those with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure should follow CDC recommendations for isolation and masking.
Click the links above to read the Scripture passages.
The Church Council and the Board of Deacons
are pleased to welcome two new Deacons:
Ginger Snapp Cunningham and Gordana Hassett.
Thank you, Ginger and Gordana, for serving TCPOC in this way!
Seeking a Volunteer to be a UCC Delegate!
Each local church is eligible to send two people (plus their minister) to serve as voting delegates at meetings of the Sunrise Association (which is the local assemblage of UCC churches, encompassing the stretch of coast from Lincolnville to Hancock) and of the Maine Conference of the UCC. We are currently looking for one additional delegate! This is a wonderful opportunity to meet, learn from, and build connections with folks in churches like ours. The time commitment is small: being a delegate would mean attending the Sunrise Association annual meeting on October 8 (either in-person, in Belfast, or on Zoom) and attending the Maine Conference UCC annual meeting on October 15 from 10-noon on Zoom.
Please contact Pastor Andi if you’re interested!
One of our important ongoing programs, the Ministry of Food & Love, provides vital relief for our neighbors in need. Your donations of non-perishable food and personal care items are taken by our Deacons to H.O.M.E. in Orland and the Tree of Life Food Pantry in Blue Hill, both still stretched to support folks in our area.
With thanks in advance for your continuing support – greatly appreciated by recipients and food pantry staff alike – please deposit items in the baskets in the church narthex, or in the food collection point at the Castine Town Hall on Court Street.
We would also ask your prayerful consideration of monetary support, whether instead of or in addition to the goods themselves.
Thank you for your continuing support of this important ministry, which helps us to serve as God’s hands and feet in the world, giving hope and help to those in need.
Sep 30 2 p.m. No Neighbor Left Behind
Oct 2 9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship (in person & Zoom)
Oct 4 9 a.m. Bible Study (Zoom)
Oct 9 9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship (in person & Zoom)
Oct 10 Indigenous Peoples Day
Oct 10 1 p.m. Shawl Ministry
Oct 11 9 a.m. Bible Study (Zoom)
Oct 16 9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship (in person & Zoom)
Oct 18 9 a.m. Bible Study (Zoom)
Oct 18 4 p.m. Board of Deacons meeting
Oct 20 5 p.m. Church Council
Oct 22 5 p.m. Harvest Dinner
Oct 23 9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship (in person & Zoom)
Oct 23 4 p.m. Nature Walk
Oct 24 1 p.m. Shawl Ministry
Oct 25 9 a.m. Bible Study (Zoom)
Oct 28 2 p.m. No Neighbor Left Behind
Oct 30 9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship (in person & Zoom)
Oct 30 4 p.m. Spirit and Nature Walk
We’ll be hosting a Harvest Dinner on Saturday, October 22, at 5 p.m.
More details will be coming soon!
Spirit and Nature Walking
It was a joy to spend an hour wandering the Hatch Cove Preserve together on Sunday afternoon. If you missed the walk, I’ve posted a self-guided version on my website. You can download it here, or by going to the front page of my website (www.andilloyd.com) and scrolling down to the post titled “Spirit in Nature, Again!” It contains the prayers & readings, along with a description of how you might approach the periods of meditative walking. If you don’t have the capacity to print from home, I’ll print out a few copies and leave them at the church, on the shelf outside the church office!
And I’ve also decided to keep this practice going – and will plan to hold Spirit and Nature Walks on the last Sunday of each month. The time may shift a little bit earlier as the days get shorter – and the word “walk” may become a container for other forms of foot travel (“snowshoe,” for example) – but I’ll keep you posted on that. For now, mark your calendars for another chance to go walking, together, in quiet contemplation on Sunday, October 30, at 4:00 PM at a location TBA!
Volunteer Opportunities Available
INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING SUNDAY WORSHIP?
If you’re interested in providing flowers, or serving as an usher, or bringing coffee hour refreshments, or spending time in the Children’s Corner with the littlest members of our community,
or sign up on the clip-boards downstairs in the Vestry.
INTERESTED IN HELPING OUT WITH OUR ZOOM MINISTRY?
If you’d be interested in helping out once in awhile running the live-stream of our morning worship, let Pastor Andi know! We’ll be offering a training in the next couple of weeks for folks who are willing to help out regularly – or on occasion, as backup – with making the livestream happen.
PRAYER REQUESTS
If you or someone you know is in need of our prayers, either individually or during our time of congregational prayer in Sunday worship, please let Pastor Andi know, using her contact information below.
Share the Good News
Click on the links below to share this newsletter with your family and friends.
So, what’s a grain of mustard like? Small, for starters. The species of mustard that grow in modern-day Israel and Palestine have seeds that are 1-3 mm in diameter. Not the smallest of seeds (that distinction would go to an orchid), but respectably small. But, as many scholars have pointed out, size is not all that distinguishes mustard seeds. They’re also spicy. Intensely flavored. Hot. As an ecologist, I’d have to add that mustard seeds – because they’re small and numerous – are decent at dispersal. 
One of our important ongoing programs, the Ministry of Food & Love, provides vital relief for our neighbors in need. Your donations of non-perishable food and personal care items are taken by our Deacons to H.O.M.E. in Orland and the Tree of Life Food Pantry in Blue Hill, both still stretched to support folks in our area.
If you’d be interested in helping out once in awhile running the live-stream of our morning worship, let Pastor Andi know! We’ll be offering a training in the next couple of weeks for folks who are willing to help out regularly – or on occasion, as backup – with making the livestream happen. 
If you or someone you know is in need of our prayers, either individually or during our time of congregational prayer in Sunday worship, please let Pastor Andi know, using her contact information below.
