The Rt. Reverend Mark Beckwith of the Diocese of Newark will return to All Saints by-the Sea as visiting clergy on August 11. Holy Communion will be celebrated at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. A social hour with refreshments follows the 10 a.m. service. The following Tuesday, August 13 at 9 a.m., Beckwith will lead a discussion group on the porch.

A special Evensong service (planned in conjunction with St. Columba’s Episcopal Church) will be held at St. Columba’s at 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 11 and Beckwith will also conduct this service. The Lincoln Festival Chorus, directed by Anthony Antolini,  Director of Music at the Episcopal Church of St. John Baptist, Thomaston, will lead the singing and will perform Russian music.

All Saints and St. Columba’s have a combined year-round outreach ministry in the Boothbay region. A free-will offering during the service will support this vital ministry.  

Beckwith was consecrated Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark in 1997. Throughout his career he has been involved in finding solutions to social problems. During his tenure as Rector of All Saints Church, Worcester Mass., the congregation was nationally recognized for its neighborhood ministry.

In the Diocese of Newark, Beckwith co-founded Morris Shelter, Inc. and was the first president of the Inter-Religious Fellowship of the Homeless in Bergen County. His blog at www.dioceseofnewark.org/bishops-blog includes recent postings about  “the chronic, and sometimes acute, cultural disease of racism” and a discussion of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on marriage equality.

The church is on Southport Island on All Saints Road about two miles on your left as you drive south on Route 238 (look for the Episcopal Church sign by the side of the road). Parking is available along Route 238, or if necessary, in the limited number of handicapped parking spaces off All Saints Road.

A golf cart will ferry persons from the handicapped lot to the church steps. You may also come to church by private boat or by the tour boat Novelty, which leaves Boothbay Harbor from Pier 8 at 9 a.m. Novelty picks up passengers from the church dock at 11:40 a.m. for return to Boothbay.

The very beautiful and simple wood chapel is open for quiet prayer and meditation during the week.