Special guests slated at area churches> National Unitarian Universalist Association leader to preach at Bangor

Area churches have scheduled a variety of special guests:

In Bangor, the national president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Rev. Dr. John Buehrens, will preach at a combined service of the Bangor Unitarian and First Universalist churches at 9 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, at First Universalist Church, 120 Park St.

Buehrens is a graduate of Harvard College, where he studied the history and literature of the Renaissance and the Reformation. He also has a doctorate from Harvard Divinity School.

He has been a parish minister in Tennessee, Texas and New York City. With Dr. F. Forrester Church, he is a co-author of “Our Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism.” He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Starr King School for the Ministry.

Buehrens lives in Boston with his wife of 22 years, the Rev. Gwen Langdoc Buehrens. A leader among ordained women in the Episcopal Church, she is an interim minister in Dedham, Mass. She and Buehrens have two children.

In Bangor, a Missouri evangelist will be the guest at a seminar and special meetings at Peakes Auditorium, Bangor High School, off Broadway. Joyce Meyer, a radio and television minister from St. Louis, will speak at the free seminar at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13.

Meyer, who was the victim of incest, shares a message of reconciliation and healing for those who have been hurt by dysfunction. She tells audiences how her healing was the result of the power of God’s word and a personal relationship with Jesus.

She also will speak at services at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14. Featured in all four services will be the music of violinist Maurice Sklar. The sponsor of the events is Abundant Life Church.

Nursery and preschool care will be available on Sunday only.

Violinist Maurice Sklar will give a free concert of contemporary and classical Christian music at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Abundant Life Church, 263 Texas Ave., Bangor.

The pastor of Abundant Life, Ron Durham, called Sklar “a modern-day psalmist who brings glory to the Lord on his stringed instrument.” Sklar has also been endorsed by evangelists such as Carlton Pearson, musician Phil Driscoll and Benny Hinn.

In Ellsworth, the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Northeast, the Right Rev. Bruce Chamberlain, will preach at 9 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Anglican Church of the Advent, meeting at the United Methodist Church in Ellsworth.

Chamberlain is making his annual visits in the diocese, which extends from Rochester, N.Y., to Machias. Last year, he visited Sargentville.

In Milbridge, the Rev. Robert Simon said that Milbridge Congregational Church will “lean toward” the Baptists and the Episcopalians for the next two Sundays.

On Aug. 14, the 10:30 a.m. service will feature hymns of a past generation, often in the Baptist tradition. After two weeks of voting, he said, members will weave their choices into an inspirational service with music by organist Robert Cordier and a choir. Simon’s sermon topic will be “Why Me, Lord?”

On Aug. 21, the service will use communion worship from the Episcopal “Book of Common Prayer,” with the Rev. Dana Kennedy, retired Episcopal priest and author, as celebrant and homilist. Simon will assist him, and the chancel choir will lead liturgical responses.

In Old Town, the Church of the Good Shepherd will sponsor Campmeeting Days through Aug. 21, rain or shine, in the park in Old Town. An old-fashioned revival service will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13. Revival services with music will be held at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, and 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 21.

The event will conclude with an outdoor gospel jamboree and barbecue at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, with free hot dogs and soda. Featured will be local artists such as the Country Boys, Gloria Anderson, Higher Call, Dayspring and Glorybound.

In Bangor, eight couples from the Sojourners, Christians who travel the country to assist congregations of the Church of Christ, will spend several days at Penobscot Valley Church of Christ, which meets at the Grange Hall, 1192 Ohio St.

Morning devotionals will be held at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday, Aug. 15-19, and evening lessons at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Aug. 15-18. The schedule for Sundays, Aug. 14 and 21, will be: Bible study, 10 a.m.; worship, 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Many of the Sojourners are retired and have been ministers or teachers in Christian colleges. They establish group and individual Bible studies, offer marital and family counseling, help to build and maintain meetinghouses, visit the sick and homebound, and try to bring the message of Christ to the community.

In Seal Harbor, an Episcopal bishop and priests will conduct services at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church. The series will begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, with the Right Rev. Alden Hathaway, bishop of Pittsburgh, Pa.

Holy Communion will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 21, by the Rev. John Harper, retired priest and author, who served at “the presidents’ church,” St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.

The Rev. Timothy Dobbins, rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, Pa., will lead morning prayer on Aug. 28.

The former rector of St. Jude’s, the Rev. Walter Hurley of Hulls Cove, will celebrate Holy Communion on Sept. 4.

In Belfast, a “Peripatetic Organ Recital” will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, at First Church of Belfast, with Dr. Ralph Stephenson. The Community Lyceum program, sponsored by the Friends of the Library and the Belfast Academic Forum, will then move to Belfast United Methodist Church, with a talk on the restoration of the organ by E.T. Mickey, who is doing the work. The program will conclude with music at First Baptist Church.

Stephenson has degrees from the University of Maine and the University of Texas, and he studied at Edinburgh University. He was supervisor of pupil personnel services for the Department of Education in New Brunswick.