Roots of Peoples United Methodist Church
Part 64 Peoples Church Enters a New Millennium
In the last episode of Roots we found that the world had questions about what it would be like in the new century. The people of Peoples also had questions that we tried to develop answers for during the 1990’s through God’s wishes and desires for us. Several folks were engaged in direction setting through previously mentioned Focus and Implementation groups.
One of the truly significant activities that members of Peoples saw as a crying need was in the area of handicap accessibility throughout the building complex. A group was formed from various aspects of church life and presented to the church as a whole a campaign that was called "Celebrate the Faith". Several members of the Trustees served under Tom Nelson, Dan Doughty and Betsy Morrison to make this project a reality. Dr. Brad Call was hired from the Methodist Foundation to oversee the Peoples Project. Handicapped accessibility was the major priority although paying off the parsonage mortgage, sprucing up the vestry and refurbishing Ellis Hall were all included in this project. Money was pledged throughout 2001 and by the end of the year a good portion of the estimated need was pledged. A substantial sum of money was borrowed, interest-free from the New England Conference in order for the project to get underway in 2002. March saw some destruction of the floor and wall between the Breezeway and the vestry. More "shoring up needed to be done as water damage to the underpinnings was realized when the cavity under the breezeway was exposed. The purpose of ripping up the floor and wall was to make a wheel chair elevator and widened stairway possible. That was perhaps the single largest portion of the project but not the only portion of handicapped accessibility. A ramp was built in the vestry along the Broadway wall to the level of the existing elevator. In turn that elevator had to be replaced to make way for a three stop rather than two stop elevator. In Ellis Hall, the former nursery was divided into a handicap accessible rest room complete with baby changing facility and the remainder of the old nursery was turned into a storage area for Meals on Wheels and Sunday school materials.
Additional physical changes to the church property was to put new replacement windows around the perimeter of the vestry and kitchen. With new tiling on the floor throughout the area, new ceiling tiles, patching of cracks in the wall and paint supplied by members of the church the vestry became a much more serviceable and bright area for day care and church functions. In time the ceiling tiles in Ellis Hall were replaced and lowered making it more efficient to heat. Along with the replacement of the ceiling tiles was the replacement of lighting fixtures that would make lighting more effective as well. Members of the trustees and other church volunteers also took out the divider panels in Ellis Hall before the ceiling folks did their work.
Last but by no means least, the mortgage on the parsonage on Mussey Street was paid off. It was also during this time that Trustees went ahead and upgraded a number of the exterior features of the parsonage. The entire house was reshingled and painted and the boards in the front porch and on the back deck were also replaced and painted. Several rooms in the house were also repainted and refurbished. Members of the Trustees and other volunteers did much of this work, but Fortin Construction was the company hired to do the shingling.
Members of the church can take some pride in this project in that it was generally completed within the original budget and on time. The inspiration for handicapped accessibility really came from two young ladies; Mallory and Alisha Wade and their parents Fred and Linda. Because of their needs many other folks have been able to participate in the life of Peoples anywhere in the building. The pledges and accommodations that had been made paid for the majority of the project upon completion.
This was also a time when all of the Mission Shares that were requested from Peoples was paid in full. Since that time it has been difficult to pay the total amount even though the finance committee has sponsored a number of initiatives to assist in paying more than the pastoral benevolence fund obligations.
Part-time janitors had served peoples for many years. The last of those to serve were Danny and Linda French. It was at this time that Trustees felt that it would be better to have a janitorial service come in and do the work a couple of nights a week. The nights that were chosen were Wednesdays and Saturdays. While Danny and Linda had served well as had most other folks who had served in that capacity it seems that the janitorial service has provided a more than adequate cleaning job with its professional equipment and man (woman) power. Trustees also felt that this might be a way of saving some money. With the same thought in mind Finance chose to hire a payment service to handle to checks and monies of the church relative to employees. At the time the pastor(s), church secretary, growth coordinator and janitors were employed by the church and this service was seen as effective again in removing difficult issues from a church member serving as treasurer as in the past.
During the summer of 2001 a group of folks from Peoples including Hank Dunn and Rosemary Herd went to a gathering at Gordon College to hear Nicky Gumbel who was the founder of the Alpha Movement. Inspiring was the word that described the program and so Hank with the help of Ellen, Rosemary and Pastor Bill began planning for Alpha to be part of the life of Peoples. Over the next few years the Dunn household served as the hosting home for a series of Alpha sessions. Over 50 members of the church and other folks from outside membership were invited weekly to the Dunn home to eat and to see and discuss another episode in Christian understanding from the perspective of Nicky Gumbel. The book, Questions of Life, was divided into 15 chapters, each of which would serve as the guide for one week. Those that participated had a good time together, had an intimate personal learning experience and found fun and fellowship in the process.
Eventually what was felt and learned through the Alpha program led to a series that we will talk about later that was produced by Saddleback Church’s Rick Warren and Associates. Over the course of three years Peoples People would again gather together in private homes and use Purpose Driven Life, Purpose Driven Church and 40 Days of Community as continuing Bible and application to life studies.
Other events that were inspired during this time included a Men’s Breakfast that would allow men of the church to get together on a monthly basis for simply good food and good conversation. Launched by Hank Dunn in the Fall of 2001, he encouraged Brad Morrison, our resident master chef, to initiate the breakfast program with some of his early morning delicacies. Over the first few years of the breakfast as many as 15 to 16 men of all ages would meet at 7:30 on the second Saturday of each month. Sometimes there would be a church activity that would follow such as a Spring cleanup or an ushers meeting. On some occasions because of the nature of what else was scheduled a few women might on occasion participate.
In the summer of 2001 Peoples hosted a visit by the Red Bird Mission traveling fair.
Folks from the Red Bird Mission in Kentucky, sponsored by the United Methodist Church traveled to Maine to sell the wares of folks from the Mission area. The van was filled with all manner of hand made objects that were neatly set up and displayed in Ellis Hall. The doors were open to the community and a number of items made their way to households in the South Portland area. Those running the fair would also trek on in Maine to other Methodist churches to do the same thing. Red Bird Mission in Kentucky is the recipient of new toys and gifts that we have collected for many years during the Christmas season to send to the mission for distribution throughout Appalachia.
Peoples has been a resource of development for people interested in becoming pastors and lay speakers. At the turn of the millenniums the two latest members of the community that entered study leading to Methodist ministry included Annie Britton who would matriculate at Boston University School of Theology and Mike Gray who has continued to take courses through Bangor Theological Seminary. Both have served churches in the conference. Mike has served as pastor of the Old Orchard United Methodist Church while Annie left local pastoring and has worked on a doctorate in Theology. The following members of the congregation have taken beginner and advanced courses in Lay Speaking: Linda and Doug Greer, Chris Ward, and Merrill Kaiser. Much later Art Tordoff joined this group.
In 2003 the 150th anniversary of Peoples Church would be held. Early in 2002 a committee was formed to prepare for this momentous occasion. Doreen Gay, Tom Nelson, Chris Ward, Rosemary Herd, Belle Graney, Brad and Betsy Morrison and Dr. and Mrs. Malcolm Cass joined Art Tordoff on a planning committee that would meet on a regular basis for a year to conceive, plan and carry out a series of activities that would celebrate Peoples Heritage on January 26, 2003.
We will spend more time and space in the next episode on the events that surrounded this series of Sesquicentennial events.