Who’s Who?
That We May be One,
So the World will Know!
Prince of Peace
Pastor Erik Karas (970) 590-3540 c
[email protected]
Parish Secretary M-F 8:30 a to 3 p
Patti Gardiner 207 623-9486 o
[email protected]
President
Donald Sproul 207 622-5785-h
[email protected]
Vice President
Bobbi-Jo Burdin 207 582-3070 / 557-2919 c
[email protected]
Secretary
Ave Chuprevich 207 933-4001 / 931-9098 c
[email protected]
Jesus prayed,
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those
who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be
one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be
in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The
glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may
be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may
become completely one, so that the world may know that you
have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
John 17: 20-23
Financial Secretary
Darryl Praul 207 968-2023 / 592-2023 c
[email protected]
St. Marks
Senior Warden
Elizabeth P Praul
207 441-1317
[email protected]
A Guiding Principle for the People
of St. Mark’s and Prince of Peace
Junior Warden
Pastor Erik Karas shares:
Gary Mann
Treasurer
Lynn Allerding
Vestry Members
Serving until January 2015 - Tina Barden, Sue Ernst, Cheryl Freye, Connie
McDonald
Serving until January 2016 – Nancy Finnegan, Steven Graham, Sue Smith
Serving until January 2017 – Kathy Tracy, Dan Stevens, Al Cook
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In preparing for the Vestry of St. Mark’s and the Council of
Prince of Peace to meet on October 5th several things became
immediately clear among our combined leadership. We decided
to first suggest a guiding principle which would hopefully direct
the work of our committees, teams and our congregation members in the weeks, months and year or years ahead.
The overarching principle we agreed we would follow was the
one which Jesus prayed for in St. John’s Gospel, that we and all of
Christ’s disciples be one. We agreed that, as Jesus prayed, this unity
would not be an end unto itself, but rather a means to continue to go
beyond ourselves and have our unity become a witness, “so that the
world would know” what God has done, is doing and promises yet to
do among us, in our community and throughout all of creation. Simply put, our two congregations will continue to do the work of the Gospel, but together our witness will be broader and deeper.
A Little History / Background
Summary:
http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/
difference-between-lutheran-and-anglican/
1. Lutheranism and Anglicanism both started in the early
1500′s, from Germany and England respectively.
While both congregations will remain legally separate organizations,
and our memberships will each remain with their current congregations, our hope is that this separation will eventually be noticeable
only on paper. By caring for one another, placing ourselves in one
another’s shoes and living in the unity Christ prayed for, we believe
the Holy Spirit will make us greater than the sum of our parts. St.
Mark’s will separately manage their facility as they discern how God is
leading them to be good stewards of their property. Prince of Peace
will separately manage their facility as well. However, our hope is
that we will begin to integrate all other aspects of life together
through generosity, love, compassion and creativity including in worship, programming, fellowship, administration and mission.
2. Lutheranism was founded by Martin Luther, and Anglicanism
was founded by King Henry.
3. Anglicans and Lutherans both believe in the Apostle’s Creed
and the Nicene Creed, whereas Lutherans also believe in the
Formula of Concord, Augsburg Confession and the Athanisian
Creed.
4. Anglicans and Lutherans both believe and accept the Trinity,
the resurrection of God and nature of Christ.
To begin the work of being “one” we acknowledged that worship is
both the area that will most unite us and is also the area where there
is the most anxiety for members of both congregations. What will
Sunday morning look like? How will Sunday morning feel? These are
valid and real questions which will not be fully satisfied until we live
into worship together in the new year. As we think about worship
guided by the principle that we will work to be “one” we have developed an initial list of thoughts on worship:
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5. Lutherans’ doctrine is based upon the Bible, whereas Angli-
cans’ doctrine basis is the church father, the gospel and the
scriptures.
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Lutheran / Episcopal dictionary
Pastor
Priest
Deacon (worship assistant /
spiritual leader)
Deacon ( ordained)
Acolyte
Acolyte
Hymnal—
Hymnal—
Book of Common Prayer
Evangelical Lutheran Worship
Congregational Council
Vestry
President
Senior Warden
Vice President
Junior Warden
We’ll add additional terms soon.
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1. Recognizing our liturgies both flow from the same ancient
source, we will find ways to use both tradition’s liturgical settings
together. It will certainly mean borrowing elements from each tradition to use together every week and it may mean all of us learning a musical setting that is new to us all at some point in the future.
2. Working with one another, our worship committees will seek
to incorporate physical worship elements such as banners, vessels, furnishings and paraments from St. Mark’s into regular use in
our new shared worship space. We will strive to integrate worship
assistants; for instance, scheduling an usher from each church to
serve together. Our hope is that this would follow in all the areas
of service which support our worship together.
3. We will meet with both individuals who currently provide music
leadership to each congregation and determine if there is a way to
integrate those positions to support one another throughout the
year. This will hopefully result in a combined choir, musical support
for mid-week worship times (funerals and Lenten services )and a
mutually agreeable sharing of musical leadership for the year.
4. We will agree upon a single worship time to be approved by both
congregations. Currently Prince of Peace worships at 9 a.m. and St.
Mark’s worships at 9:30 a.m.
5. There are two opportunities for Prince of Peace to move their
worship to St. Mark’s in the coming months as a demonstration of
care and support as St. Mark’s makes the courageous move to worship at Prince of Peace for the coming year.
A) November 16 is the combined K-6 worship hosted that
day at St. Mark’s Pastor Erik will preach and preside.
B) December 28 is a service of lessons and carols and is also
the last service in the St. Mark’s sanctuary. .
6. Offerings given in envelopes and checks made out to a specific congregation will be given and used by each respective congregation. “Loose” offerings of cash will be given to the Helping Fund.
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WE HAVE AGREED TO STRIVE TO BE ONE
IN EVERY OTHER WAY AS WELL.
Recognizing that the life of any church is more than what happens in
worship, we have agreed to strive to be one in every other way as
well.
While by no means an exhaustive list, here are other areas and ideas
for intentionally working together that we believe will help us embody
Jesus’ prayer:
1. We will commit to wearing name tags for the coming year. We
will use name tag stickers and will find people from each congregation
who will help us remember this commitment from week to week.
2. We will strive to get to know one another more deeply and commit the extra time needed to make that a reality. Potlucks, after worship lunch groups, or social outings are some of the ideas to intentionally help us to be one.
3. We will study and pray together, taking advantage of and inviting
one another to adult education opportunities, prayer groups and other gatherings that already exist and being open to new opportunities
which will certainly present themselves in the year to come.
4. We will develop a picture board with pictures and names of all of
our families to help one another remember names and faces.
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5. We will combine our newsletters and develop a combined directory,
mailing and email list so that we can share weekly, monthly and special
announcements with everyone.
6. Our various committees will begin to meet with one another over
the next few months to get to know one another and in some cases,
such as worship and finance, to make arrangements ahead of the New
Year for an easier transition.
7. We will review all the committees, ministries, classes, programs,
annual and regular events etc. that each parish does now, drawing the
best practices from one another so that each area of ministry is better
able together to reach out further and more significantly into our community.
8. We will establish a regular meeting between the St. Mark’s Vestry
leadership and the Prince of Peace Council leadership to address any
issues that might arise along the way. We will seek consultation from
both Bishop’s staffs to resolve any deeper conflicts that arise, recognizing that because we will share one Pastor/Priest, a deep conflict could
potentially place that Pastor/Priest in an impossible situation.
9. We will schedule regular gatherings of both congregations to
check in and assess our progress of living together, decide how we
feel God is calling us to proceed and to plan together our ministry into
the future.
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