Houlton Congregational Church sold, dwindling membership prompts sale

Sunday was a bittersweet time for members of the First Congregational Church in Houlton as the church closed its doors for the final time.
And while members of the church are not leaving their Congregational beliefs behind, the church came to the conclusion that it was time to sell its place of worship on High Street.
    Pastor Dale Holden, who retired from active duty with the church in 2006, but remained a prominent member of the parish, said the decision to sell the parsonage was not an easy one.
“Over the years, the congregation, like many mainline churches, has aged,” Holden said. “We just don’t have the young people we used to have, so suddenly we’ve become a parish of 20-25 people, with three-quarters of those being senior citizens.”
At the end of Sunday’s final service, Holden said many in the parish shed tears, but they were not all tears of sadness.
“We had a really good turnout, which was nice,” she said. “We had a potluck Thanksgiving meal before the service. It was really nice. It’s been hard for some for sure, because when you picture your church you picture a specific place. We have had other churches in town who have very graciously offer to let us use their facilities in the afternoon.”
Holden was known as Rev. Dale Arndt when she came to Houlton to take her position at the church in 1988. She moved to the Shiretown with her two youngest daughters, while two others were adults. They quickly settled into the community and it wasn’t long before she found herself as the accompanist for many high school musicals, children’s theatre performances and community concerts. In 1994 she married longtime Houlton resident, Jim Holden.
Rev. Holden assumed the role of Pastor Emerita at the First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Houlton. Holden held the position of full-time pastor at this church for 18 and one half years, retiring in 2006. Since her retirement she has been the minister of music for the Church of the Good Shepherd on Main Street in Houlton.
The Rev. Marc Fuller had succeeded Holden in 2008, but in 2010 Fuller was no longer able to fulfill the duties of pastor due to poor health. Amanda Wagner, a recent graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary, is the current worship pastor on Sundays, but has been searching for a more permanent place to call home.
Houlton’s First Congregational Church was formed 200 years ago and recently celebrated its bicentennial. And while its members still have a strong belief, the strains of keeping the building going were beginning to wear on the group.
“The work of keeping the building going was coming down to just a handful of people,” Holden said. “We had the same few people wearing many hats.”
About a year and a half ago, the building was on the market for a short time, but many in the church were not ready to let go of the facility, Holden said. The building once served as home to the Fair Street School.
Holden said she recalls a time when the church was “bursting at its seams” with three Sunday school classes and adult class and choir rehearsals. In fact, the church considered expanding at one point.
Being a Congregational Church, the decision to sell the building was put to a vote by its members.
“It was deeply discussed and not a hurried thing at all,” she said.
There was some discussion of donating the building, but with several items needing to be repaired or replaced, the church did not feel comfortable passing along its problems to another organization.
Despite no longer having a building to worship in, the congregation will still gather on Sundays. They will take off Sunday, Nov. 27 for missions work, but starting on Sunday, Dec. 4, the group will worship at Bowers “chapel” on Water Street until the end of the year. On Christmas Eve, a service will be held at the Unitarian Church. After that, the church will be on “hiatus.”
“Tony Bowers graciously offered us the space to worship,” she said. “After that, we’ll see if people want to think about finding a different church to join, if they feel comfortable with it. Unfortunately, it’s a reality. A lot of small churches just try to hang on too long.”
Some of the churches “sacred” objects, such as the baptismal font and pews are going to other churches in the area. Items such as the electric organ, upright piano and various metal tables and chairs were also given away.
“I like to think that we are going to be something of an organ donor for other churches,” Holden said.