About Us
Welcome!
NEW IN TOWN? Stop by the church office or give us a call. This might become your church home, and we’d be really happy if it does. But even if it doesn’t, we’re your neighbors. We’d like to meet you, and we’ll be happy to help you sort out who’s who and what’s where. The office phone number is 926-3260. The church is located at 19 Gloucester Hill Road. There is a map link on the Home page.
OUR PASTOR IS THE REV. SHERI NELSON. Sheri grew up in West-Central Minnesota and spent a year at U of Southern Maine, Gorham before heading to Los Angeles for five years. Moving back to Minnesota, she worked as a pharmacy technician while attending school to finish her degree. While coming from a Catholic and ELCA background, Sheri and her family joined the United Church of Christ in 2007. Sheri is a graduate of American Military/Public University with a BS in International Relations-Comparative Governments and an MDiv. from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. She has served as a Sunday school teacher, Youth Director, Lay Pastor, Licensed Pastor, Bridge and Interim Pastor, and Director of Outdoor Ministry with the MN Conference UCC. Sheri currently serves as a board member of Outdoor Ministry Association (OMA-UCC) and Outdoor Ministry Connections (OMC), along with serving as co-creator of the Great Lakes Collaboration, an environmental group with members from all UCC conferences bordering the Great Lakes and UC Canada.
She and her spouse, Derek Peterson, have a son, Nik, who is currently living in Minnesota, a daughter, Kristen, who moved to New Gloucester with her partner, Riley, and daughter, Matilda. Plus, they have a houseful of cats and dogs. Sheri has a passion for vibrant worship and conversations about theology. In her free time, she likes to watch movies and checking out recipes online.
JOHN TERISON, OUR DIRECTOR OF MUSIC, joined us in September 2012. John loves the piano but is crazy about the organ. We’ve heard him play his trumpet and a transverse flute, and we’ve seen him take a lick out of a couple of old violins and a banjo, but we’ve heard he plays just about every instrument you can name…and he’s a fine baritone, too! If you would like to sing with the Sanctuary Choir (7 pm Wednesday) or play with the Bell Choir (6 pm Wednesday), you are welcome to ANY rehearsal. Our Community Orchestra plays occasionally throughout the year, and we welcome church members and friends on any instrument and any skill level to play with us.
WELCOME TO WORSHIP: The worship service begins at 9:30 am each Sunday. You’ll find great music, thoughtful preaching, and good energy in a lovely old sacred space. Dress is comfortable casual. We have activity bags for our youngest friends as well as a coloring table and rocking chairs at the back of the sanctuary for anyone who needs a little room to wiggle. After worship, we usually gather in our Vestry for coffee, fellowship and refreshments.
There’s plenty of parking, and you can enter the sanctuary by the formal entrance you see on our home page or follow the crowd entering the building from the back parking lot. There is a wheelchair-accessible entrance (and bathrooms) to the right of the sanctuary front porch.
WORSHIP ON-LINE: You can join us for worship on-line via ZOOM each Sunday at 9:30am. Send us an e-mail if you’d like the link. We also post recordings of our service on our YouTube page so you can worship with us anytime.