Connie Fortier wanted to burn down the old parsonage. She did not think the Dexter United Methodist Church could afford to repair the run-down, 100-year-old building. She figured the best use for it would be to let the fire department set it ablaze in a training program.

That was last fall. On May 8, Fortier celebrated what she called “the resurrection of a building” with the grand opening of a thrift shop in the parsonage. Operated jointly by the Dexter United Methodist Church and the Messiah Episcopal Mission, the effort has given both congregations a mission, met a need within the community, and launched an unusual ecumenical effort. It has even provided job training through the ASPIRE program.

The Rev. Jo Bennett divides her time between the Dexter United Methodist Church and the Grace Linn Memorial United Methodist Church in Hartland. The church in Dexter had a prestigious history in the community, according to Bennett. During the 1950s, 250 attended Sunday worship services, and more than 100 children were enrolled in Sunday school classes. However, by the time Bennett took the reins in the mid-1990s, attendance had dwindled to 25 or 30 on Sunday, the Sunday school did not exist, and the church was nearly broke.

“I began to try to help the church define itself,” she said. “There was a strong sense that it was living out of its memories. We worked with a church consultant to ask the questions, `Do we have a mission and a calling in the community?’ and `Can we define what that might be?”‘

Last fall the church ran out of money, said Bennett. In looking at possible resources, the congregation considered selling or renting the parsonage, which had not been lived in for almost a decade. However, renovation estimates approached $50,000. The congregation decided the best solution would be to allow the Fire Department to burn the parsonage down.

As the United Methodists wrestled with ways to ensure their own survival as a congregation, the Messiah Episcopal Mission began searching for a new home. Although the Messiah Episcopal Church had served the community for more than 100 years, it no longer was able to support itself without financial assistance from the diocese, according to the Rev. Janet McAuley, who serves as its part-time priest.

“Messiah had a long history of operating a thrift shop,” said McAuley at the grand opening. “Recently, we had too small a space. We just had too much stuff and too little space. Plus we needed to find a new place to hold services. [The partnership between the two churches] was written in the stars. We just embellished it a little.”

“Janet called and said they needed to move and wanted to bring their thrift shop,” recalled Bennett with a wide grin. “It was like manna from heaven. It was an answer to our prayers.”

The United Methodists in Dexter had never operated a thrift shop. However, for 22 years the United Methodist Economic Ministry has operated a thrift shop, food cupboard and refinishing shop in Salem, according to the Rev. Linda Campbell-Marshall, district supervisor for the Central Maine District for the United Methodists. Salem is between Kingfield and Phillips on the northern edge of her territory, which stretches from Searsport to Boothbay on its southern edge, north to Dexter, west to Rumford, then east to the Boothbay peninsula.

“The Salem organization took us on as an extension of their ministry, taught us to use their bookkeeping system, provided leadership and seed money,” explained Bennett. “And then we got Ronda. She was a godsend.”

Ronda Snow lives with her 2 1/2-year-old son in Ripley, seven miles outside Dexter. She manages the thrift shop and works there from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Snow said that she has learned sales, marketing, display and bookkeeping skills, as well as how to deal with the public and coordinate the 20 to 30 volunteers who help out at the shop each month.

“I’ve learned how many caring people there are in this community,” she said between sales at the grand opening. “We have things here that were donated by stores that closed down and community people. There are a lot of people who can benefit from the stuff we have here. We’re also set up to provide help to people who might need help in an emergency situation, like a fire or flood.”

Nancy Gagnon of Dexter purchased a storybook for her 2-year-old grandson Zachary Judkins. He sucked on a lollipop while Gagnon, a member of the Episcopal mission, browsed through the first floor of the old parsonage checking out the bargains.

“Everybody is so tight on funds these days,” she said. “We need a place where people can get nice things — especially for children — and not spend a fortune.”

Fortier stressed that the store served a need in the community, already hard-hit economically and fearful that worse times are coming.

“Dexter is a one-industry town,” she said. “I volunteer at the food cupboard, too. I can tell you that there are people out there that need help. Now they can get it. It feels right, these two churches joining together to work on this. I used to be an Episcopal in my youth, so it’s like coming full circle.”

Bennett agreed, pointing out that Snow lived in the parsonage when she was a teen-ager. Future plans include being open later in the afternoons and on weekends and repairing the upstairs so it can be used by a youth camp to serve the community summers. Bennett and McAuley agreed that the project has energized both congregations.

“We have generated a ministry that serves,” said Bennett, explaining that her church had found its mission. “We found our reason to be a church — to love and serve our neighbors and one another. We will continue to look for viable ways to do that.”

The May 8 opening celebration attracted area clergy, community members, churchgoers and the Right Rev. Chilton Knudsen, the state’s recently consecrated Episcopal bishop. She praised the ecumenical effort, observing that in remote locations like Dexter such projects often were driven by the economic hardship facing community and churches. However, she quickly added, such efforts are part of the larger global ecumenical movement.