February 12, 2025
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Seminary student survives moose crash 10 days before graduation

BANGOR -“I’m going to die.”

That was Terri Bracy’s first thought when she hit a moose earlier this month near the Bangor-Hampden line driving south on Interstate 95.

Her second thought was, “Now Lord? You’re going to take me now?”

That’s because when the moose crossed her path, Bracy, 57, of Frankfort was just 10 days shy of earning her master of divinity degree from Bangor Theological Seminary after six years of study.

She was one of 18 graduates who took part Friday in the seminary’s 189th commencement held at BTS’s Portland campus, the State Street Congregational Church. An uninjured Bracy told the tale of her encounter with the unfortunate moose that did not survive at a barbecue on May 14 to honor graduates at the seminary’s Bangor campus at Husson College.

Like many of her fellow graduates, Bracy, a native of Damariscotta, now is seeking a job as a full-time pastor in the United Church of Christ denomination. Most likely, she said, that will be outside of Maine because there are few UCC congregations in state that are seeking full-time ministers.

Until she is offered a full-time position – she will be ordained after she receives that call – Bracy will continue to serve part-time as pastor of the Frankfort Congregational Church, UCC. She has been serving that congregation for the past three years while attending classes at the seminary.

Sarah Pringle-Lewis, 55, of Bangor is waiting for a similar call. Four years ago she left a career as a college administrator to attend the seminary. Although she intends to be ordained a UCC, she has preached one Sunday a month at First Universalist Church in Dexter while at BTS.

Raised by her grandparents in Dayton, Ohio, Pringle-Lewis felt pulled to the pulpit as a child, but her grandparents’ denomination did not ordain women. As an adult, she went looking for an inclusive church.

“I was looking to find a place where all would be welcome,” she said. “I consider Hammond Street Congregational Church in Bangor to be my home church. They are the model I was seeking. As a congregation, they are very caring about each person and committed to helping each one grow spiritually.”

Pringle-Lewis will be welcomed with open arms at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Dexter anytime.

“She’s very special to us,” Nick Kondax, 66, of Corinna said of her after her sermon on Mother’s Day. “She’s extremely intelligent, eloquent and very warm. We want her back.”

With graduation from BTS, Carl Schreiber Jr., 47, of Hermon finally went into the family business after running his own company for many years. His father, the Rev. Carl Schreiber Sr., was pastor of United Methodist Church in Dixmont, Troy and Jackson.

The younger minister is one of the few BTS graduates who already has a full-time job in ministry. He is senior pastor of East Orrington Congregational Church, which is part of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. He began his seminary studies at BTS four years ago before being hired to replace the Rev. Bob Carlson at the church in East Orrington.

“The seminary has taught me how to find out what I need to know,” he said last week. “The faculty here has given me the skills to communicate and to listen. A huge part of ministry is listening.”

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

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Correction: A story that ran on Page B1 of Tuesday’s paper about Bangor Theological Seminary graduates contained incorrect information about the succession of pastors at East Orrington Congregational Church. The Rev. Adam Soderberg replaced the Rev. Bob Carlson when Carlson retired in 2002. Soderberg left Maine in 2006 to serve a church in Hartford, Conn.

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