Prospectus

Congregational Church of Wells, U.C.C.

1695 Post Road (U.S. Route 1) Wells, Maine 04090

Who We Are Welcome to the Congregational Church of Wells! Where, “No matter where you are in life’s journey, you are welcome here”. We are an enthusiastic, fun and faithful congregation of young families, active retirees, professionals, newcomers and longtime Mainers, who engage in ministry daily. We are diverse in our theology, politics and just about everything else and consider this and our ability to find common ground in service to God to be one of our many strengths. Our congregation of about 208 has a rich history, and a promising future. September 14, 2019 saw the completion of our Capital Campaign with the dedication of our new steeple. Other projects completed during the campaign included the renovation of our kitchen and fellowship hall, construction of a handicap access ramp and major refurbishing of the Sanctuary. This project has been lay-led from the beginning and we are blessed with many talented, creative and dedicated people who aren’t afraid of a challenge and believe all things are possible with God (and a lot of hard work!). We are a welcoming congregation who believe God is with us in all we do. In our church life we value caring for one another, engaging in worship, mission, faith, teaching God’s children of all ages, inspiring music, joyful fellowship, love and acceptance for all. Our Mission We take seriously Jesus’ call to “love our neighbor as ourselves” and serve God locally and throughout the world. We care for our brothers and sisters in very real ways: through our bi-monthly meal “Soup’s On”, our own thrift store “The Ditty Box”, youth fundraising events to benefit The Heifer Project, Int., Seacoast Mission, Holiday Giving sponsored by the Diaconate and Mission Board, The Angel Project and Mother’s Day Blankets (Church World Service) through the Mission Board and special church offerings to support various issues as they occur. Recently we donated $900 to aid asylum seekers from Africa who came to Portland.

Our Benevolent Society is an active group who meet regularly and is open to people of all ages regardless of church membership. The fellowship holds fund-raising activities such as craft fairs. Money raised is used primarily for charities and important activities that are not funded by the general budget. In the effort to celebrate Christ with our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, our church actively participates in area Ecumenical services though out the year. We support the UCC through giving to OCWM and several other special offerings throughout the year. If there is a special project that needs doing or someone who needs help, our church is ready to respond!

Our Church

Our Sanctuary

Our Youth Our youth are an important part of our church. We have a great group of children and youth who take part in Sunday School and Youth Group led by dedicated lay leaders. Our teenagers participate in mission activities inside and outside of church such as: Soup’s On and trips to Pilgrim Lodge. We enjoy a long and productive relationship with Pilgrim Lodge, a camping ministry with the Maine, UCC. We encourage our youth (and adults, grandchildren and grandparents) to attend. Fund raisers through church Talent Shows and gifts from the congregation helps insure all are able to attend. Our Music From weekly congregational singing, hymn sing a long before church, anthems and solos by the Chancel Choir to the Praise Group (which sings a variety of folk and contemporary songs on selected Sundays) we are blessed with a wonderful music program. Our wonderful Choir Director and Organist, who is a professional musician and composer brings a broad musical knowledge to the congregation. Our youth choir, the Youth Singers of Christ, charms us with their singing on special Sundays and is led by a dedicated and talented volunteer.

Our History Founded in 1642 by Rev. John Wheelwright and a group of his followers, we have a long and full history, much of which is detailed in many books and historical documents available locally and found on our web page. Some members of our church are direct descendants of the first settlers of Wells. We are proud of our past, we learn from our missteps and we are excited about our future.

Angels in the Christmas Pageant

Chancel Choir

Status report on the Heifer Project

Our Future We have many hopes and dreams for our church and our ministry as we serve God. Here are just a few of the things we look forward to doing together:

• Growing our church and faith.

• Being more visible in the community.

• Reaching out to our population of growing young families and retirees.

• Development of more bible studies and fellowship activities.

Our Community Wells is located on the beautiful southern coast of Maine, just minutes from the beach and ocean. Our members and friends live primarily in Wells, Kennebunk and Ogunquit. A small town of about 10,000 people (which triples in size in the summer), we are blessed with wonderful people, excellent schools, great restaurants and lots of recreational opportunities. The Town of Wells currently is in the process of building a new state-of-the-art public safety facility that will house our police and fire departments. The York Hospital in Wells is a satellite location of York Hospital offering walk in and emergency care for our community. In the summer, our congregation includes “seasonal” people who come to Wells. Many are regular or associate members who have attended and supported the church over the years. In many cases these relationships have been longstanding. Conversely, in winter, a few people go south for varying amounts of time. While many families call Wells home, it is also becoming a retirement community. Many “seasonal” vacationers become year-round residents when they retire. Our church already benefits greatly from people who have come to Wells and to our church this way. We recognize this to be a trend in our community and would like to reach out to retirees as well as families in the effort to grow our church.

Our Great Location There are mountains to be climbed and skied within 2-3 hours of driving time and hunting and fishing opportunities abound. Boston (1 ½ hours by car) offers world-class medical centers, cultural activities, colleges and sports teams. The Wells transportation center offers daily bus and Amtrak “Downeaster” train service from Wells to Boston and beyond. Wells is about 30 miles from the cities of Portland, ME and Portsmouth, NH, both of which have their own significant medical, dining, cultural and recreational centers. The Portland Jetport is 30 minutes by car and Manchester, NH and Boston’s Logan airports are each about 80 miles from Wells.

Moses Walk on the marsh with Sunday School

Reception of new members

Sunrise over Wells Beach

Our Information Outreach The Church Spirit-monthly newsletter, both paper and electronic versions are available.

Web Page - www.wellscongregational.org

Facebook - www.facebook.com/CongregationalChurchofWells

Email – uccwells@wellscongregational.org

Our Settled Pastor We seek a minister to help us to continue to grow in faith and discipleship and walk with us as we live out our vision of being a visible presence of God’s love in our community and beyond.

The Ditty Box

Palm Sunday

Community fundraiser Celebrating a successful capital campaign Our new steeple

Soup’s On volunteers