MACHIAS – Despite many years with the United Church of Christ, the Rev. Gini King, 57, was never a pastor until February, when she became spiritual leader of the Centre Street Congregational Church.

She was director of continuing education at the Bangor Theological Seminary for four years and is one of many ministers with connections to BTS, forging links between churches and communities.

King, who wanted to leave academia and wasn’t looking for a particular church, lives 20 miles down the road from Machias, a factor in her applying for the job.

“I really was missing the pastoral ministry, the regular worship service and building community,” King said. “I really was missing working with people, the long-term development or a relationship with a particular congregation.”

King was a fourth-generation member of the Unitarian Church. In the 1970s, she was director of Christian Education at the Second Congregational Church in Manchester, Conn., and was baptized in the United Church of Christ. She was ordained in 1979, after graduation from the Yale Divinity School, then was minister of Christian education and youth for the Connecticut Conference of the UCC for 10 years before she and husband Felix Davis moved to Jonesport.

At BTS, King developed the certificate in small church leadership, one of her most important contributions to the seminary, and connected BTS with churches as a resource for laymen and clergy.

“I’m very pleased with the response to the [small church] program,” she said from her new office earlier this month. “What is particularly unique and has made it very successful is the fact that it was designed for pastors and church leaders to enroll in together. The focus is on local church ministry and team leadership rather than individual personal faith development of students in the program.”

The Centre Street congregation has strong lay leadership and is a very community-centered church, credited with “inventing” the annual blueberry festival. “It seems as though the congregation is ready to do more program development and try out new activities,” she said. “That’s one of the skills I have to offer is program development and experience planning with other congregations and community agencies.”

Christine Guy and her husband, Doug, who is church treasurer and was on the search committee that recommended hiring King, agreed. “The congregation called her knowing that from the beginning that she could start off running,” Christine observed. “She knows the congregation and knows what the needs are right from the very beginning.”

The Guys have attended the church for a decade, seeing three full-time pastors and three interim ministers. The last interim was in Machias for 16 months, Doug said.

“The church felt a need to be active,” Christine said, “and we need the leadership of a full-time pastor to do that. With Gini coming on, we feel the activity level rising already and people getting involved. One of her gifts is allowing people to do what they do best.”

“Right now we’re seeing a lot of retirees arriving in the area with a lot of energy, skills and talent. They are looking for community they can be members of and participate in,” King said. “There also are a lot of families who make the choice to live in Washington County for the lifestyle that is here. The church is working on how to meet needs of young families and respond to their spiritual journeys.”