Pittsfield church’s liberal voice perseveres

PITTSFIELD – Sunday services at the First Universalist Church just aren’t what they used to be.

Fifty years ago, worshippers nearly filled the sanctuary, which seats 270, and 100 children swarmed through the basement for Sunday school classes.

But as Americans sought solace on the Sunday following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, fewer than 30 people gathered in the old building. A restless toddler ran up the side aisle, chased by her mother, and a seminary student delivered the sermon.

A similar scene is played out in nearly half the churches in America – and in more than 60 percent of the churches in Maine. Houses of worship that used to be centers of vibrant community and religious activity are struggling to survive and to keep their century-old buildings from crumbling.

The Pittsfield church is no different. Many declining congregations associated with mainline denominations in Maine’s small towns have stubbornly refused to consider merging with churches a few miles up or down the road for fear of losing their identities and histories.

But the Pittsfield congregation is also stubbornly proud of its role as a voice for tolerance and community service.

The First Universalist Society in Pittsfield was established on May 25, 1867, by 42 men and women. Thirty years later, the meetinghouse was crowded and in need of repair. Under the leadership of the Rev. Leroy W. Coons, $8,000 was pledged from the 300 member families.

Today, the church is essentially the same as it was in 1899. The meetinghouse has been stripped of its steeple and turned 90 degrees to stand parallel to the street.

One of four buildings in town listed on the National Register of Historic Places, First Universalist has been home to Troop 1 of the Boy Scouts of America, led by one of the first ordained women ministers in the country, and owner of a 600-pipe organ fueled by water diverted from the Sebasticook River.

Still, members cite the present – not the past – in explaining why they work so hard to keep the congregation alive.

“We need a liberal religious voice in our community,” said Barbara Jones, who has attended the church since moving to Pittsfield in 1947. The Somerset County town’s population has held steady at a little above 4,000 for decades.

“We have lost many of the middle generation,” Jones said. “Families moved away to larger towns for work; children went off to college and did not come back; the

older members are dying.”

The declines experienced by most of Maine’s shrinking congregations are sometimes attributed to the state’s aging population and the loss of residents in northern and eastern Maine. But in some cases the decline reflects the waning role of denominational churches.

All of these factors have affected First Universalist, but longtime members like Jones trace its current troubles to the denomination’s national merger in 1961 with the Unitarians.

While the denominations shared a liberal tradition, Universalism was founded on a belief in universal salvation. Jesus Christ’s acceptance of guilt and endurance of the punishment for the sins of humankind meant that all human beings, no matter their religious beliefs, would have eternal life. Unitarians stressed the unity of God rather than the Trinity.

The formation of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations caused what would have been the middle generation at First Universalist to leave, Jones believes. The group that left founded the First Congregational Church and joined the major Congregationalist denomination, the United Church of Christ.

As the new congregation was hiring its first full-time pastor, its “mother” church was being forced to sell its rectory and cut back to a part-time minister. First Universalist now is seeking a part-time pastor and uses Bangor Theological Seminary students to lead Sunday services. The church also has suspended services during summer months in recent years due to sparse attendance in July and August.

Joining with another congregation is not really an option for the Pittsfield church. The nearest sister churches are in Dexter and Bangor.

The UUA teaches tolerance and respect for other religious viewpoints and “affirms the worth and dignity of every person,” according to church literature. The denomination encourages political activism, and for many years was one of the few religious groups to support gay rights. It endorses ordination of noncelibate gay and lesbian clergy and sanctions the blessing of same-sex unions.

Such a stance on social and political issues has meant small but steady growth on a national level for nearly 20 years. And a trickle of new members like Tom Brown has kept the doors of the Pittsfield church open for now.

“Essentially, I’m not a Christian,” said Brown, explaining why he attends First Universalist. “There aren’t too many non-Christian churches in Pittsfield.”

In a state full of beautiful and unusual churches, First Universalist is distinctive and needs to be preserved, according to Debra Fletcher, a church member who is also is on the town’s planning board..

And, while many members worry about the future of the church, Barbara Jones has not despaired. Each Sunday, she sees small signs of hope and renewal.

“We do have a growing number of young people who’ll all get together, and we’ll progress,” she said. “I look at the young people here today, and they far outnumber we older ones.”

Matt and Tina Bernier, who were married in the church about 10 years ago, come nearly every Sunday with their young daughter, even though there’s no Sunday school program.

“The church is an important community to us,” said Tina Bernier, who is a member of the church council. “There is a great need right now for a faith community that is accepting of different ideas and faiths. We’d hate to see it dissolve.”