About St. Aidans' Episcopal Church
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St. Aidan's Episcopal Church is a mission Church in the beautiful downeast coastal community of Machias, Maine. We're one of three Episcopal Churches in Washington County, serving the greater Machias Valley, while our sister churches in Calais (St. Anne's) and Eastport (Christ Episcopal) serve the northern half of the County.
We're a mission church, which means we don't have a full-time priest or administrative staff. We share our Priest-in-Charge, the Rev. Lynn Rutledge, with Christ Episcopal Church in Eastport. But don't let our small size fool you...we have a strong, committed lay leadership, we are actively involved in our community, and we come together each week on Sunday mornings to worship and make beautiful music. After the service we enjoy fellowship and refreshment in the church undercroft, and stretch our minds with our adult education program.
In our liturgy we use the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and follow Rite II for most of our services. On the first Sunday of the month we use Rite I; also on that day we take up a special collection dedicated to a special need. This may be our local food bank, another local service organization, the diocese of Haiti (with which the Maine diocese has a special relationship) or an individual or family who is in need of our support. We discuss this offering every month at Vestry to choose where our support is most needed at that time.
As part of our outreach, we offer our church building and facilities to non-profit agencies, support groups and to various healing professionals serving the community who otherwise would have nowhere to practice. These include various AA and NA groups; Combat Veterans, Hospice, and Cancer support groups; a Reiki clinic and others. Not a member of the Anglican Communion? Don't worry, not all of us are! We're an eclectic congregation coming from diverse backgrounds and faiths, including the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist and Roman Catholic Churches. We welcome baptized communicants from all Christian faiths and encourage anyone interested in learning about our beautiful liturgy and fluid, Trinitarian-Christian spirituality to attend our services. Come, join us and worship in the beauty of holiness, surrounded by Byzantine icons in our light-filled Sanctuary!
