CHANGE HAS COME Rev. Rick Messana is the pastor of the North Livermore Baptist Church. He has been a member of the Ministers Council for nearly 30 years and currently serves as Senator from Maine. Rick is married to Valerie Carpenter Messana. They have three grown children, and they are expecting their first grandchild in July.

Maine is a wonderful place. From the rocky coast to the ski slopes near where I live to the numerous and beautiful beaches and lakes, we’ve got it all here in the Great State of Maine.
You really haven’t lived until you’ve seen autumn here. The colors are so bright and varied they almost hurt your eyes. American Baptist Churches of Maine (ABCOM) has served and evangelized this great state for over 200 years. Established as the Maine Baptist Missionary Society in 1804, we have a long and storied history in this denomination. The first minister of the church I pastor in Livermore, ME was Sylvanias Boardman, whose son, George Dana Boardman, joined Adoniram Judson in his missionary work in Burma, becoming the “apostle to the Karen.”

ABCOM is a region made up primarily of small churches. In fact even our largest churches have average Sunday morning worship attendances of little more than 200. Most of our churches serve less than 100 parishioners and many have less than 50. As our history shows, we are a region very much invested in missions. As hard as times have been recently, 2008 was 4th best mission-giving year in the previous decade. Since 1995 giving has remained level even with the loss of many churches that have left the denomination over a variety of issues.

While this is good news, the financial picture for ABCOM is bleak. These hard economic times have brought some hard changes to ABCOM. The China Lake Conference Center, our regional conferencing and camping center, had to be closed and may be put up for sale. There have been massive staff layoffs leaving us with a staff of just three, the Executive Minister (Dr. Al Fletcher), a business manager, and a part-time secretary. There are no Area Ministers on paid staff though some former area resource ministers are working on a volunteer basis when churches have emergencies or need help with finding a pastor.

There are fewer and fewer full time pastors in the state. Many churches have cut their pastoral ministry to half or even quarter time. Churches have closed their sanctuaries during the harsh Maine winter to conserve oil, meeting in fellowship halls or Sunday School rooms.
The ABCOM Ministers Council is rising to this challenge. Leadership Transformation Groups (LTG’s), Together in Ministry groups, and other clergy-led fellowships are helping to fill the gaps left by a lack of area ministry resources. The Ministers Council Executive Committee is working hard to plug the other holes in the dike as best they can.

For example, the Ministers Council of Maine held a “Celebration of Ministry” in recognition of the 20 years that Rev. Alan Shumway served as a member of the national ABC staff and the regional staff of Maine. Alan was our last full-time area resource minister, and when the axe came down it seemed as if the twenty years in which he served so faithfully would go unrecognized. That did not happen.

Clergy and laity of the entire region were invited to attend the celebration, contribute to a book of letters, and/or bring a financial offering of appreciation. The event was held on a Sunday afternoon in February and was attended by a good representation of pastors and lay persons with whom Alan had shared ministry over the years. It was a time of expressing appreciation for what had been, and looking forward in hope to the future unfolding before us. Alan’s sense was that though this was held for him, it wasn’t all about him.

It was a recognition of the twenty years of shared ministry among American Baptists in Maine with whom he had the privilege of serving. It was about encouraging one another as we face the reality that the denominational life we have known is no more. It was about recognizing that this was a new beginning as we seek ways to connect with one another in ministries of support, encouragement, inspiration and assistance.

In a recent e-mail to me Alan wrote; “I was impressed by the leadership and vision of the Ministers Council executive committee in providing this time of recognition, celebration, inspiration and fellowship for all who gathered that day.”
This event is an example of how the Ministers Council is more important now than ever before. Dr. Al Fletcher, the Executive Minister of ABCOM, said in a telephone interview, “The ministers role is changing so rapidly that if we don’t help each other we will all be in real trouble.”
But the role of the Ministers Council is more than just filling gaps and plugging dikes. As times get tougher and the end of the tunnel seems to be growing farther away rather than closer, we need the mutual love and support we get from the Ministers Council. We share a common goal, the proclaiming of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We come from different backgrounds and differing theological outlooks but we are nonetheless brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. If we don’t look out for one another in times like these, who will?

If you aren’t a part of a Ministers Council in your region, now is the time to join. If you are a member and have been inactive or “too busy” to attend retreats and meetings there is no time like the present to recommit yourself to the fellowship and support that the Ministers Council can provide. And who knows? Perhaps it isn’t you who needs the support, but a colleague who needs your support. Possibly you are like Esther as she faced the question, “Who knows but that you have come to (ministry) for such a time as this?"

I don’t know what lies ahead for ABCOM. I am certain that great change is in our future. In fact great change has already come. We don’t like change here in Maine. We don’t like it at all. How many Mainers does it take to change a light bulb? None. We don’t like change. But change comes whether we like it or not.

Change has come and the measure of any organization is how it rises to the challenges brought by hard times and rough roads. The Ministers Council in Maine is facing these challenges head on. We are more than just an organization; we are an organism, the living breathing Body of Christ, and we do not fear what the future holds, because our God holds the future.