About Our Parish

On Saturday, April 5, 2025, the Discernment Committee sponsored a workgroup with the parish from 9am to 1pm. There were 26 people who participated, where we broke into small groups, including a group on zoom, to honestly answer a series of questions about where we are now, and where we are being lead. Next is a summary of themes for each question that was posed. Below that are some key themes across all the questions.

Themes for Each Question

Question 1: Where do we see ourselves as a parish today?

  • Positive Outlook and Progress: The parish has a generally positive view of its current state, describing itself as being “in a better place” and in a “great place”. There’s a sense of progress and positive momentum, with the belief that the parish is “moving in a right direction”
  • Impact of Leadership: The current leadership, particularly Fr. Nutter, has brought a “good spirit” to the parish. The leadership is seen as a positive influence
  • Growth and Vitality: The parish is experiencing growth, with “increased membership” and an average Sunday service attendance of “100 per Sunday service”. This growth is connected to a general sense of “strong energy” and “vitality,” further evidenced by the “remodel of undercroft/kitchen (lead to great coffee)”
  • Diversity and Inclusivity: The parish is characterized by its diversity, including a wide range of ages and skill sets. It strives to be “welcoming (intense),” “come as you are,” and “inclusive”. The parish aims to be open to families and extend its reach “beyond our doors”
  • Tradition and Modernity: The parish values its “Anglican tradition” and being “Jesus centered” and “service oriented”. It balances “traditional and new things”, including “online services” and efforts to “teach people how to use computers for online services” and develop an “online library”
  • Future Challenges and Concerns: Alongside the positivity, there are acknowledged “challenges”. Specifically, there’s “some anxiety about our next rector” and the potential for challenges in maintaining positivity during the transition, with the expectation that “we will lose some, but will gain others”. There are also demographic challenges, such as “getting downtown folks to SJEC”
  • Additional Elements:
    • Young people / children
    • Be open minded about new curate
    • No politics but talk about individual behavior
    • Great Wednesday’s
    • Bible based teaching; 25 on for Bishops visit in May
    • Explain services
    • Music is strong
    • Understanding there’s more than Sun. AM
    • Transportation committee for rides to services

Question 2: What brings us together as a faith community?

  • Worship and Tradition: The strength of their “worship and tradition” is a central unifying element. This includes being “Eucharistic centered” and “grounded by liturgy,” with a focus on “liturgical traditions”, “Music and liturgy”
  • Community and Fellowship: “Fellowship and wanting to get to know each other” are important aspects of the community. This is fostered through the “strength thru community – ask questions,” “food brings us together,” “The Peace is robust; helps build community”, “Port in the storm! Especially those who are hurting”, and a general sense of “Accepting who you are and where you are!”
  • Ministry and Leadership: The “Minister is well liked and meets needs of parish”. The leadership helps with “inward worship and share outwardly” and provides “Self reflection through sermon”
  • Core Values and Beliefs: The community is united by core values and beliefs, including “Jesus ventured; doesn’t judge”, being “non-judgemental/anti-Pharisee”, focusing on the “Message of love and redemption”, the “Episcopal Church has a line of beliefs that brings solidarity” and the belief that “All are welcome to Christ’s table!”
  • Practices and Expressions of Faith: Several practices and expressions of faith bring the community together, such as “Prayer shawls, music and Christian Education”, “Cradle to grave services”, “Prayer based, grounded in that”, “Music”, “Service to other and church”, “More traditional service; we have contemporary components to church”, “Bible based, focus on the Word”
  • Inclusivity and Openness: The community emphasizes being “Welcoming”, “a place where everyone’s welcome”, and that “all are welcome to the table”
  • Appreciation of History and Identity: There’s an “appreciating history of SJEC including our building” and the feeling that “When you leave here, you know you’ve been to church!”, “Communications across generations”
  • Additional Elements:
    • Eucharistic centered
    • Fellowship and wanting to get to know each other
    • Psalm 23
    • keep having more diverse programs to enhance church and our community
    • Not fundraising oriented all the time
    • Having name tags to identify each other

Question 3 Part 1: What are the things we celebrate?

  • Worship and Liturgy: The “Eucharist” and “services” are central to their celebrations. This includes specific services like “Christmas Eve / Easter service” and the “order in tradition: Lord’s prayer, Nicene Creed”. They also celebrate “many services during the year” and “Morning and Evening prayer 5 days/week”
  • Community and Fellowship: The “history of fellowship” and the fact that “food gathers us” are important aspects of their celebrations. They also celebrate “recognizing birthdays, anniversaries, need for prayer every Sun W/ song afterwards”
  • Inclusivity and Participation: They celebrate that the “Congregation is working – not afraid to ask for participation”, “welcoming all church traditions;” and efforts to “make services accessible to all”
  • Tradition and Identity: The parish celebrates its “Via Media – the middle way,” “our building and facilities,” and the “universality of the Anglican Communion”
  • Modernity and Outreach: The use of “online media” is a point of celebration, as is the welcoming of “new faces” and the “energy of our parish of between old and new”. They also celebrate “acolytes and youth choristers”

Question 3 Part 2: What are the things that challenge us?

  • Leadership Transition: The parish faces the challenge of the “church’s dependence on Fr. Nutter,” acknowledging that while he “can [be] replace[d],” he “can[not] [be] replicate[d]”
  • Ministry Involvement and Burnout: There’s a challenge related to ensuring that people are “more involved in ministries” while also addressing the risk of “burnout”
  • Financial Concerns: The parish faces “long-term budget issues” and concerns about “money supporting [a] FT priest” and the need to address the “Annual Meeting” in terms of “luncheon, reports read aloud and explaining the budget”
  • Worship Clarity: There’s a challenge with “Sun[day] worship” being “complicated” and a need for it “to be easier to follow”
  • Congregational Transition: The parish anticipates challenges in “maintaining positivity and congregants as we transition,” with the expectation that “we will lose some, but will gain others”
  • Christian Education and Formation: A challenge exists “to grow Christian End program w/ teachers including teens” in areas like “Bible study, EfM; Adult Formation”
  • Communication and Outreach: There are challenges related to “ways to share our story” and “Evangelism- growth in this area,” including finding ways to “utilize various programs,” develop “community programs,” “draw community to our events,” attract “more families,” and address “financial commitment to FT priest, transportation and parking”
  • Spiritual Gifts and Assessment: The challenge of how to “assess spiritual gifts” is noted
  • Planning and Administration: Challenges exist around “current changes in book keeper’s treasurer with more planning”
  • Positivity and Vestry Strength: The parish recognizes that the “next call will depend on our positivity” and the need for the “Vestry to be strong”
  • New Leadership Integration: The parish also wonders “How willing and open will [the] new person be to ask for help”

Question 4: Where do we feel Jesus is leading us as we look to the Future?

  • Scriptural Guidance and Christ-Centeredness: The parish feels Jesus is leading them to “embrace scriptures in our daily lives,” “to be more like him,” and towards “making Jesus Christ our center”. This involves a desire “to understand ourselves and scripture” and to “accent the bible in our living”
  • Love and Inclusivity: A strong theme is being led towards love, with the idea that “Jesus is leading us to Love” and a call for a “rector who can lead us to love everyone”. This also involves a focus on avoiding judgment “need to listen deeply, judgement fore zone ” and recognizing that “troubling passages in bible can be used as a weapon”
  • Community Engagement and Outreach: The parish feels called to engage more with both the young and the broader community, including “More work in engaging our young adults, partnering with other faith communities”, using “social media to ask questions”, focusing “on youth and broader community 20s+”, and holding “fun events to socialize for us and the greater community” with a stronger “social media presence” and “service to broader community”
  • Reflection and Spiritual Growth: There’s a sense of being led towards inner reflection, “to understand ourselves and scripture”, “concentrate on our daily life and prayer” and utilizing “elders as mentors”
  • Acceptance and Trust: The parish is encouraged to “be thankful for what we have and accepting our limitations” and understand there is “not one way to do things”, leading “to a sense of trust and confidence in him”
  • Explanation and Understanding: There’s a desire to “explain the whys and hows of the EC”, acknowledge the “beauty of our space” and the use of “Memorial candles” and recognize the value of older parishioners: “age related: older parishioners have been faithful and can still give much”
  • The Bishop’s Vision: The quote from “The Bishop of Chichester” provides a guiding vision: “See thee more clearly, love there more dearly, follow there more nearly”
  • Intellectual Christian Message: There’s a call to “lead to intellectual Christian message; OT to NT; to help us see the path to where we are being led”

Question 5: What qualities and skills will help our next priest guide and support us in ministry?

  • Interpersonal and Communication Skills: The parish desires a priest who is “somewhat of an extrovert; approachable; and can communicate” well, “represent us;” and is “loving people, [and] likes people”
  • Community Engagement: The ability to engage with the community is important, including someone who “works w/ community groups” and has “involvement in religious and secular greater community”
  • Leadership and Delegation: The priest should be a “strong church leader” who can “know their strengths and where they can delegate” effectively and “work w/office Stuff, Vestry, Finance Committee”
  • Pastoral Care and Empathy: “Pastoral care – visitations, phone calls, [and] cards” are essential, as is being “patient and kind” and “empathetic”. The priest should also “understand spiritual abuse and how to help”
  • Preaching and Teaching: “Scripture based sermons” and “teaching from the bible” are highly valued, and the priest should “enjoy preaching”
  • Faith and Theological Grounding: The priest should be “Jesus focused [and] believe in the Trinity” and have a “belief in Anglican/Episcopal traditions”
  • Personal Attributes: Desired personal attributes include being able to “reside locally to be accessible”, “someone happy to live in Bangor”, having “emotional and spiritual awareness” and being able to “accept and be invested in our new person”
  • Administrative Skills: “Some admin[istrative]” skills are necessary
  • Self-Awareness and Balance: The priest should “be aware of issues that need to be addressed”, have the “ability to recognize strengths and limitations” and be able to “balance between control and letting go” while also being able to “keep formal worship and maintain our standing in the Dio[cese]”
  • Rector Preference: The parish has a preference for a “rector” rather than a “priest-in-charge”

Key Themes Across All Questions

  • Community and Fellowship:
    • The parish highly values the sense of community and fellowship. This is evident in their emphasis on “Fellowship and wanting to get to know each other” and the importance of “strength thru community”
    • They express that “food brings us together”, indicating that shared meals and gatherings are important for fostering community
    • The phrase “The Peace is robust; helps build community” suggests that the practice of exchanging the Peace during services is a significant way they connect with one another
    • They strive to create a welcoming and accepting environment, as shown by “Accepting who you are and where you are!” and being “loving people, [and] likes people”
    • The community is also seen as a “Port in the storm! Especially those who are hurting”  
    • There’s a desire for the church to have “fun events to socialize for us and the greater community” and for the priest to be someone who “works w/ community groups”
  • Worship and Tradition:
    • Worship and tradition are fundamental to the parish. They identify as a church “united by our worship” and emphasize being “Eucharistic centered” and “grounded by liturgy”
    • They value their “Anglican tradition” and “liturgical traditions”, showing a connection to their historical roots
    • “Music and liturgy” are important components of their worship experience
    • They celebrate specific elements like “the order in tradition: Lord’s prayer, Nicene Creed” and observe various services, including “Christmas Eve / Easter service” and “Morning and Evening prayer 5 days/week”
        
  • Inclusivity and Outreach:
    • The parish demonstrates a strong commitment to being “Welcoming” and creating “a place where everyone’s welcome”
    • They express a desire for “Extending as beyond our doors”, indicating a wish to reach out to the wider community
    • This is further supported by the idea of “welcoming all church traditions”
    • They identify “Evangelism- growth in this area” as a goal, with specific strategies like finding ways to “utilize various programs,” develop “community programs,” “draw community to our events,” and attract “more families”
    • They also see a need for “More work in engaging our young adults, partnering with other faith communities” and using “social media to ask questions” and focus on broader community outreach
  • Leadership and Ministry:
    • The importance of leadership is highlighted by the statement that the “Minister is well likes and meets needs of parish”
    • They seek a priest who can “help us with inward worship and share outwardly” and who is a “strong church leader”
    • The desired qualities in a priest include being “somewhat of an extrovert; approachable; and can communicate”, able to “represent us”, and someone who can “know their strengths and where they can delegate”
    • The parish is also aware of the challenges related to a “leadership transition”  
  • Growth and Future Direction:
    • The parish expresses a sense of positive momentum, stating they are “in a better place, in great place” and “moving in a right direction” and have “strong energy”
    • However, there’s also “some anxiety about next..”, indicating uncertainty about the future
    • Looking ahead, they emphasize the importance of “making Jesus Christ our center” and a desire to “embrace scriptures in our daily lives” and “to be more like him”
    • There’s also a recognition of the need for “More work in engaging our young adults”
  • Challenges and Concerns:
    • The parish acknowledges several “challenges”, including “demographics -getting downtown folks to SJEC” and the complexity of “Sun[day] worship”
    • They are concerned about the “church’s dependence on Fr. Nutter” and the difficulty in replicating him
    • Other challenges include the risk of “burnout”, “long-term budget issues”, the need to “grow Christian End program”, and “ways to share our story”
    • The parish also recognizes that the “next call will depend on our positivity”