Laurence Milder is much more than a rabbi, according to one of his congregants.

“He’s a human dynamo. He’s here, he’s there, he’s everywhere,” Dr. Edward Harrow, a Bangor physician and founding member of Congregation Beth El, said this week.

As of July, however, Milder’s “everywhere” will no longer be northern and Down East Maine.

The spiritual leader of the only Reform synagogue north of Augusta for the past 11 years will move this summer to Westborough, Mass., where he will become rabbi for Congregation B’Nai Shalom.

With 475 member-households, Milder’s new congregation will be nearly double the size of Beth El. It also will allow him to explore areas of the rabbinate he cannot in Bangor because the congregation is too small to afford a full-time staff.

“This is a good opportunity for me,” Milder said in an interview earlier this month. “It’s an opportunity to be a rabbi in ways that are new and different for me.”

In addition to his role as spiritual leader, Milder is known in folk music circles as “The Singing Rabbi.” He performed in the 1980s with the Boston-based Jewish rock band Elijah Rock, then he went solo and acoustic. An accomplished guitarist, he studied with champion flat-picking guitarist Orrin Star.

The rabbi’s music, both secular and liturgical, falls into the new Jewish music category, which is markedly different from klezmer, familiar to many non-Jews.

“Musicians [in the new Jewish music] are recording songs that speak to them as Jews, whether it’s drawn from traditional text or from their own personal experiences, and they’re likely to draw from the type of music they listen to,” Milder said three years ago as he prepared to perform at a benefit concert for WERU-FM, a community radio station based in Orland.

His personal interest in music is a gift he has shared and enjoyed with his congregation.

“Music is something people identify with us,” he said. “We have an outstanding volunteer choir and it’s become something the congregation loves. It’s elevated our sense of what worship can be, and really given wings to our prayers.”

Congregation Beth El was founded 25 years ago by a handful of Jewish families who felt the need for a Reform synagogue in the city, which had well-established Orthodox and Conservative congregations.

Under Milder’s leadership, it has grown from 97 to 170 households. The congregation in 1996 bought its own building, on French Street, from Messiah Baptist Church.

The move allowed for an expansion of its educational program. Today, Beth El has programs for children from kindergarten age through 10th grade. Milder said he believes the next rabbi will need to expand programs to include the last two years of high school because teenagers are hungry to learn more about their faith.

Milder also has been instrumental in helping non-Jews learn more about the religion and its practices. He has offered a series of classes called “A Taste of Judaism” that have drawn Catholics, Protestants and Jews who grew up without practicing their faith. He has also taught history at the University of Maine and the Bangor Theological Seminary.

“Many Mainers know a very small number of Jews through work or some professional relationships they might have, but they don’t know much about Judaism,” he said. “People have no vehicle for learning about Jews and Judaism authentically. Synagogues need to be places that provide that. I see an increasing need for [such classes] because Jews have non-Jews in their families and their extended families may include non-Jews.”

Milder also has helped Beth El become a regional congregation for Jews living either year-round or part-time in northern Maine. From April through October, he has led a discussion group on Mount Desert Island and encouraged Jewish families living far outside the Bangor area to attend services. He sees great potential for growth in coastal and rural areas for which the city serves as a service hub.

“There are a growing number of people moving to Maine … who either have second homes, summer homes or are retiring,” he said. “Addressing this growing community and their spiritual needs will always be a challenge in geographic terms, but it’s also a tremendous opportunity. They have an interest in Judaism and, when they’re here, they have the time to explore their Judaism in a sophisticated way.”

Because he earned his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University, Milder is familiar with the Boston area. He said that one of the things he will miss most about Maine is the quality of life.

“We will miss that quality of life you get here,” he said, “our very close friends, and the congregation, our extended family. I really do value my relationship with congregants. I’ve seen many of the kids in families grow up. I want to see where they’re going next. I won’t get to be here for the next Jewish life cycle event in their family.”

That will be a job for the new rabbi, who is expected to begin work before Milder leaves so he can help with the transition. Candidates are scheduled to be interviewed and visit Beth El next month.

“He’s represented us in a most beneficial kind of way,” Harrow said of his rabbi’s high profile in the community. “Professionally, I’m sure the move is appropriate for him. I will miss him. He’s a compassionate guy who always says the right thing at the right time – an exceedingly righteous individual.”

Milder at a glance

Name: Laurence Elis Milder

Age: 48

Born: St. Louis, Mo.

Education: Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.; Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York.

Wife: Janet Elis Milder

Children: Miriam, 14, Avi, 12, Alex, 9

Profession: Rabbi

Avocation: Music