DRAFT for review at the Gathering on Sunday

Profile of our congregation:

Our congregation is blessed with immense talent and energy, strong lay leadership, and a commitment to the Unitarian/Universalist movement in Maine’s capital city. We are also a congregation in pursuit of healing in the wake of recent betrayal.

In the spring of 2007, our congregation learned that our choir director and that our former minister of 20 years had both engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct toward congregation members. Fortunately, our well-grounded lay leadership took decisive action to dismiss the choir director and initiate a complaint to the UUA regarding the former minister. Our committee on ministry immediately organized opportunities for people to come together to process these traumatic revelations, and later, arranged both a systems workshop and a values discernment process to help the congregation to move toward healing. Although we have received positive feedback about the extent and quality of our healing work, we remain committed to the long-term work necessary for recovery from the abuse we have suffered.

That we have survived these events without being torn apart reflects our commitment to each other and to our church. In fact, we have come together to move forward. Last year, using congregation talent and effort, we renovated a recently purchased a building next to the church. This spring, we raised money to restore our church building by expanding the sanctuary and common areas and tending to long needed maintenance. This fall, we returned to find a beautiful new sanctuary and a refreshed church. Now we take up the challenge of creating the administrative framework and generating the resources necessary to maintain our expanding church facilities.

Our RE program is vibrant and receives high praise and appreciation from all segments of the church community. In addition to organizing extensive religious exploration programming, our dynamic RE director has created a meaningful Sunday worship service for children and families. While this separate service is a valued addition to our worship offerings, we recognize that we face a challenge to better integrate RE families into the broader church community. As for adults, our survey reflected a widespread desire for increased adult RE opportunities.

Theologically, we are a diverse group. While a majority of members describe themselves as humanist or as practitioners of earth centered spirituality, a large segment of the congregation expresses adherence to a Christian tradition. Our spiritual practices center around creating peace within ourselves, connecting with the natural world, and pursuing justice in our local community and in the world beyond.

We come to church to find community, and most rank our sense of community among the congregation’s strongest assets. We have undertaken and nearly completed the process of becoming a Welcoming Congregation, and our members strongly value diversity and inclusion. This sentiment is tinged, however, by feelings that we could do more to make people feel welcome, both people already coming to church and people in the broader community.

Sunday worship is central to our community. People seek stimulating and thought provoking ministry, but also value participation in services by fellow congregation members. Music is an integral part of our services, whether we are singing together, listening to the choir, or enjoying the musical offerings of talented individuals.

Finally, our small group ministry program continues to thrive under the direction of our staff Small Group Coordinator. This program allows people to explore spirituality and form lasting relationships in a way that both expands and benefits the overall ministry of the church.