New Website!

Thanks for checking out our website!

We've recently updated and moved our website here: http://saintansgar.org.

Check out the new website for information about who we are, when we worship, how you might become involved in our community, and what current events are coming up!

As always, join us for worship on Sunday morning!  We begin our 9am worship time this coming Sunday, June 26th!  We will worship at 9am thru Sunday, September 4th, 2016.  10am worship will begin on September 11th, 2016.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Holy Week 2016

Holy Week 2016

This Sunday begins the most sacred week in the Christian Tradition - Holy Week.  During this week, we remember the last few days of Jesus' life and celebrate the central teachings of our faith.  

PALM SUNDAY - March 20, 2016 - 10am

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday.  We celebrate and remember Jesus triumphal entrance into the city of Jerusalem.  Riding on a donkey, people placed palms before him as they would for a King.  Over the course of the week, however, these positive feelings about Jesus changed.  We will remember these changing feelings through a dramatic reading of the story throughout our entire worship service.  This is a very interactive service with Holy Communion.

MAUNDY THURSDAY - March 24th, 2016 - 7pm

We continue Holy Week with remembering Jesus last passover meal with his friends and disciples.  As they gathered for the meal, Jesus emphasized the message he was bringing by serving his friends and washing their feet.  In doing so, Jesus turns the established cultural rules on their heads, bringing the message that every person around the table is as important and loved as every other person.  As the continued and ate, Jesus left them with the promise of his grace and forgiveness through sharing bread and wine - the body and blood of Christ.  We remember both of these acts through a foot washing ritual during worship as well as celebrating Holy Communion.

GOOD FRIDAY - March 25th, 2016 - 7pm

Worship continues on Friday with the telling of Jesus trail and death.  We call this sad day "good" as it is the day in which we know that there is nothing so horrific or tragic in which God is not present.  It is this day that allows us to truly know the depth of God's love.  We worship this day with a Tenebrae service - a service of light and darkness - through the reading of the passion of Christ interspersed with singing and prayer.

EASTER VIGIL - March 26th, 2016 - 7pm

St. Ansgar will join our Episcopal neighbors in celebrating the Easter Vigil again this year.  This service begins with the fire of the Holy Spirit, continues with the telling of stories from the Christian faith, and culminates in the first Eucharist of Easter.  It is a very festive service that will engage the senses.  This service will take place at St. Luke's Cathedral on State Street.  Please join us!

EASTER SUNDAY - March 27th, 2016 - 10am

Holy Week concludes with celebrating the Feast of the Resurrection!  Join us in celebrating Christ's resurrection from death - the promise that God's love is stronger than the pain and suffering we experience.  There will be time for children to lead us in worship, choir singing, communion, and much celebration! 

Please also join us for the Easter Breakfast at 9am on Easter Sunday.  The breakfast costs $4 for an individual or $10 for a family.  All the money raised will go towards camperships for our youth to attend Camp Calumet this summer!

Lent 2016

Lent 2016

Lent is underway at St. Ansgar!  We are partnering with the area Lutheran Churches this year, as we have in the past, for our Lenten Soup Suppers and Worship.  Again, we will be using Holden Evening prayer to shape our worship.  This year our host is Trinity Lutheran Church in Westbrook. 

Wednesday Night Schedule:

6pm- Soup Supper

6:30pm - Pick-up Choir practice

7pm - Worship

We are also doing a Bible study on the book of James.  James is one of the few books in the New Testament that is neither a Gospel nor a letter from Paul. James is often categorized with a body of literature in the Bible called Wisdom Literature. (Think Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, etc.) Our Bible Study will take us through four themes relating to Wisdom.

1. What is Wisdom?

2. Wisdom: Faith and Action

3. Wisdom: God's Sustaining Care for the World

4. Wisdom: Healthy Habits that Sustain Christian Hope.

The Bible Study will meet for four Sundays, Feb. 14-March 6th after coffee hour (beginning between 11:30 and 12pm) in our church Library.  Come once or come every time!  All are welcome.

Reconciling in Christ Sunday

January 31st is RIC Sunday! 

RIC stands for Reconciling in Christ - the name for the formal process a Lutheran congregation goes through to officially become a congregation that is welcoming and affirming of people who identify as LGBTQ.

Please join us after worship and coffee and conversation for an hour long transgender ally training. Sarah Holmes, Assistant Director of Student Life and Diversity; Coordinator, Center for Sexualities and Gender Diversity at USM, and two of her students, Quinn Gormley and Benn Marine, will help us learn some basics about gender identification, why pronouns matter and how we can be good allies. Get your questions answered and help us celebrate the 6th anniversary of our adoption of our LGBTQ welcome statement! 

Invite friends or family. All are welcome!