The new executive director of the Maine Council of Churches wants to widen the circle.

The Rev. Jill Saxby, named successor to Tom Ewell on Nov. 1, has a plan to carry out its agenda, including finding ways to support people at the local congregational level and in opening up participation in the council’s work to a wider circle of Mainers.

A Unitarian Universalist minister and formerly an attorney, Saxby, 45, of Cape Elizabeth, will focus on the council’s Resolutions for New Directions, which include a new mission statement, a clarification of the council’s values and a new approach to its work.

Most recently, Saxby served for three years as associate minister of the First Congregational Church in South Portland, after the UU minister was given dual fellowship from the Cumberland Association of the United Church of Christ.

Prior to that, the Bangor Theological Seminary graduate served as associate minister at First Parish Church in Portland and as the first minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Belfast, which was launched in the 1990s.

“I’m excited about joining the council at this point in its history,” Saxby said. “I’m particularly looking forward to working with all people – within the council and the larger community – who share our belief that, in these times, Maine needs a clear voice of Christian conscience rooted in the biblical call to ‘do justice and walk humbly with our God’ and in Jesus’ inclusive and challenging commandment to love our neighbors – all our neighbors – as ourselves.”

Saxby said she shares the council’s concern for social justice and peace issues. She is particularly interested in how the council can support people in local congregations doing this work and in opening up participation in the council’s work to a wider circle of Maine residents.

In a statement, the Rev. Edward W. Poitras, president of the council’s board, said the council “faces a future filled with daunting challenges [but is] prepared to respond in a way faithful to its traditions of promoting justice in the search for a creative new culture of life-embracing peace.”

“We welcome [Saxby] with great enthusiasm and high expectations, convinced that her exceptional talents are a providential fit at this critical moment in our history,” Poitras said.

For information, contact the council at 772-1918 or visit www.mainecouncilofchurches.org.