Portland, Maine-Saint Ansgar Completes Class on Sexism

Pastor Maria Anderson and co-facilitator, Christopher Bear-Beam, gathered with congregational members for five Sundays, beginning in April 30 and ending on May 28, 2017, to lead a class on Sexism.  Participants could attend as many or as few of the classes as they wished.

St. Ansgar is located at 515 Woodford St, Portland, ME and can be reached by calling 207-774-8740, or going to www.saintansgar.org.  

The class was formulated to include accurate content, interactivity, group communication, and dialogue within the group.  St. Ansgar is a church within the sphere of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA); the denomination began the process of creating a church-wide social policy statement on Sexism in 2009.  Each congregation within the ELCA will give feedback to the Churchwide Assembly, and the document will be brought to the Assembly in 2019.

Topics covered during the five-week class (that began during the Easter season) included: 1).  Intro: why are we here to discuss this topic; getting on the same page around Sexism; 2).  What problems do women face?  3).  How is Sexism personal?  4).  Why do images of God matter?  5).  What does economic justice look like?

The class used group guidelines that we hope were effective in creating a safe, sacred space; the facilitators used small group exercises, large group activities, and other focused exercises.  Our philosophy was to create a “give-and-take” (a dialogical model that uses listening to “two to one or more” as a primary method so that experiential learning may emerge.

One participant attended the class because she lives in the neighborhood where St. Ansgar is located.  She was also interested in the class because she’s an editor for parts of a biblical commentary that’s a feminine critique & exposition of other teachings & practices in the biblical annals, using a feminist mode of interpretation & hermeneutics.

Other presentations, groups and classes will be sponsored by St. Ansgar, so be sure to watch for future events!

©Christopher Bear-Beam

Wells, Maine: Blended Awakenings Opens New Season!

Brewed Awakenings opens their new season (through the summer and into the fall).  My refrain was “Is there only one coffee café (shop) in Wells?” (1846 Post Rd., Wells, ME 04090; [207] 646-2600).

The present-day proprietor, is Jackie Maude, and she’s been doing this job for the last three years; her dad, Jim, began the café about eight years ago. When Jackie took over, she decorated the café in her way & with her touch.

Saturday, May 27, 2017 was the first day of a brand-new season.  It was gratifying seeing many of Jackie & Jim’s friends & family come to the café.  I felt it was a wonderful support to the café.

Another sense I had of the café, was its “family-style” atmosphere, that was informal, amiable, and filled with the scent of wonderful coffees & bakery goods.  By the visitor’s remarks, many of them knew the owner’s family for a long time.

Jackie Maude is a person with incredible energy, which is obvious, if you just watch her for a while in the café.  There’s no doubt she loves what she does.

One new idea that will become a future reality, is that the café will soon begin serving hamburgers, remaining open in the afternoon & evening, to meet the needs of clientele. With this new attraction/food many folks may stop for a burger after they’ve hit the beach.

Another event that Brewed Awakenings is a sponsor for & supporting, will be held on Father’s Day, June 18, 2017

For a poet, like me, you search to find the right vibe & atmosphere, to sit drinking your coffee, and typing on your computer. If the energy is good in a place, it effects everything else, including artists who may doing their art, or poets who need inspiration and positive affirmations to write their poetry.

The only shortcoming, I could find was Jackie’s refusal to sell me her “Poseidon” color pick-up truck (I think it’s vintage 1963).  She loves her truck, so I don’t foresee any upcoming raffles for it.  It rounds out the “Poseidon Blue” color-scheme for the café.  I also heard another secret: Jackie also has a motorcycle that she loves riding.

In short, a good vibe & energy helps everyone, because it enlivens us, and helps us to digest what we’ve put in our stomachs.  My recommendation is to check it out yourself.  You won’t be sorry!

©May 28, 2017