January 2026
We kicked off 2025 with a historic celebration as we officially voted in our new welcome statement and became an Open and Affirming Church in the United Church of Christ! We also began a new Hospitality Ministry to ensure that not only is everyone welcome in Oldtown, but they are also greeted with a warm smile and a hot cup of coffee.
In worship, we spent the Season after Epiphany sharing scripture stories from “The Book of Belonging” by Mariko Clark, as we were reminded week after week that “We Belong, We are Beloved, and We are Delightful.” On Mardi Gras, we marched into Maxcy Hall after worship, singing “When the Saints Go Marching in” on our way out to a Mardi Gras Pancake Coffee hour. During the season of Lent, we searched for God in the sometimes-messy places in-between stranger and neighbor, faith and works, rest and growth, lost and found, righteousness and mercy, and shouting and silence. Throughout the Great 50 Days, we used stones in worship to help us recognize and let go of the worry, concern, and weight of the world that we so often carry day in and day out. Over the summer we turned to fun themes like starfish, whales, sand, fish, boats, sandals, and sea monsters to guide us on our faith journeys, and in the fall we took time to ask “how’s your heart?” as we learned about people from different faith, cultures, and backgrounds who live out their faith in their own beautiful and inspiring way, through a book titled “Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints” by Daneen Akers. We finished off the year with our season of Advent, working to “Make Room” in our hearts, our homes, and our lives for God, as we awaited the coming of the Christ Child.
Worship wasn’t all that was happening in Oldtown. Our little church stayed busy during the week, too, with Coffee Connections on Wednesdays, and our Second Serving Thrift Shop open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We had a “Great Day for a Snow Day” party, and several Food, Faith, and Fun nights where we “Made Tracks and ate Snacks”, ate fruit & watched VeggieTales, and learned about “Apples and the Book of Acts.” We painted rocks for our Easter worship. We held NOOMA nights and watched “The Jesus Revolution,” and we kept up our busy schedule of suppers, yard sales, pet clinic, paint nights, school tours, and fairs.
With tears in our eyes, we celebrated the lives of long-time members Marcia Brinson and Merrilee Fontaine, and with utter joy, we celebrated the marriage of Ed & Michelle Clavette. It was quite a year in our little church. Were things perfect? No. We faced our challenges, but we also stuck together and made the best of the situations that we were in, and that is why we are blessed to be part of such an amazing church. I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart, and I hold fast to the fact that there is no other church I would rather serve than Oldtown!
Blessings to you all!
Pastor Kelly
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