Secret Missions and Celebrations
Bar Harbor Congregational Church Welcomes Minister of Faith Formation & MDI Walkers Walk Again!
BAR HARBOR—Recently several members of Bar Harbor Congregational Church (BHCC) carried out a secret mission. The head honcho removed the church’s front-yard sign and brought it off island. A few days later, someone else snuck the sign back onto MDI. Next morning, another sneaky member rehung the sign at early-bird hours.
An important new line of text now appears on the sign below Rev. Rob Benson’s name, reading: “Rev. Kiah Baxter.” BHCC’s community officially welcomed Rev. Baxter back to town after her Feb. 17 ordination ceremony in NYC with the stealthily hung “new and improved” signage.
One more celebration lies ahead for Rev. Baxter—her installation as Minister of Faith Formation takes place at BHCC on May 19 at 4 pm.
A native Mainer raised in Lewiston, Baxter’s undergraduate work was in studio art and painting, and she studied ballet for many years. In 2019 Rev. Baxter earned her Master of Divinity degree at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, with a focus on pastoral ministry and a concentration in theology and the arts. Prior to moving to Bar Harbor, she worked as the director of children’s ministry at Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City. In 2022 Baxter was hired to be BHCC’s first Minister of Faith Formation.
While interviewing for the new position at BHCC the week before Thanksgiving 2022, Baxter saw the church community in action serving as MDI’s hub for sorting food, then assembling and distributing food baskets island-wide. BHCC’s sanctuary serves as a sacred space for worship—and as a sacred space where members care for each other and the greater community. Baxter was moved to see the church members living their beliefs by helping ensure that neighbors would have food for their Thanksgiving tables. She wanted to be part of such a congregation.
Baxter attributes much of her spiritual growth and development to having attended, then later worked at summer camps including Pilgrim Lodge, Pecometh Camp & Retreat Ministries, and Silver Lake Camp & Retreat Center.
As she described, “The intensity of the work combined with the deep intentionality of relationships fostered personal growth. I learned how to build relationships with staff members and campers from different walks of life. Each day, interacting with the young people I served, hearing their stories, and doing some of the hardest work in my life—I struggled with and then found my faith.”
The seasons and years Baxter spent in nature at camps—with staff working and worshiping together—led to those camps becoming the backdrops for sacred memories.
She said, “We had deep conversations at staff meetings, over the dinner table, and while sweeping out cabins at the end of the week. We experienced God climbing mountains on our days off, and there were times when we experienced God on site in community. There I also found time and space to meet God alone.”
Baxter’s outdoor experiences taught her that “being in outdoor ministry settings enhances our understanding of our faith and our encounters of the divine presence of God.” It is no surprise then when Baxter notes, “My call is to outdoor ministry and faith-forming ministry.” She cites an expansive definition of outdoor ministry as embracing creation care in partnership with God as stewards of the earth. To her, outdoor ministry includes hiking in beautiful natural areas as well as going on prayer walks in NYC, while maintaining good stewardship of our homes and buildings.
Examples of ways that Baxter offers nontraditional faith-formation experiences to BHCC’s congregation include outdoor nature walks and projects for adults and families, book groups and discussions, an Advent retreat, a self-directed Lenten retreat for all ages, Bible study groups, and outdoor prayer stations in the summer.
Reverends Baxter and Benson respect and support each other’s initiatives and projects, and typically conduct services together. Each minister offers support to church and community members who are struggling, suffering, or grieving—and each one celebrates happy events and opportunities with BHCC’s community as well.
Baxter is delighted to work with and learn from BHCC’s beloved community-building/community-leader senior pastor, and appreciates having him as a spiritual and theological resource. In turn, Benson welcomes and is inspired by Baxter’s new ideas, her commitment to fostering faith via nontraditional experiences and in connection with nature, and her energetic, loving spirit.
MDI Walkers Walk Again!
Global 6K for Water
On Saturday, May 18, 2024, the MDI Walkers, organized by the Bar Harbor Congregational Church, UCC will walk again with thousands of others throughout the world to support World Vision’s annual Global 6K for Water, Last year 2,100 people around the world participated in this annual event. Through their efforts, 8,300 more people in the world will be equipped with clean water.
Once again, people will be walking, running or rolling 6 kilometers from their home or neighborhoods. The MDI Walkers hope to raise $6,000 this year, which would provide 120 people with clean water and hygiene for those in the developing world who are vulnerable.
Participation is easy! To learn more or sponsor a team member, visit this site and search for the MDI Walkers Team. If you register as a member of the MDI Walker’s Team, your $50 registration fee will also provide life-changing clean water and hygiene to one adult or child. All MDI Walkers will receive a participant’s packet which includes a t-shirt, a finisher’s medal and a race bib with a photo of the child that you’ll be walking, running or rolling for that day.
The MDI Walkers will begin their walking route from the Bar Harbor Congregational Church UCC parking area at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 18. For additional information contact Debby Hammond at debbyhammond@hotmail.com or Marti Torbeck mmtreehouse4@gmail.com.
Note from Carrie and Shaun at the Bar Harbor Story: Many thanks to the Bar Harbor Congregational Church for sending in this news about Reverend Baxter. If you have good news that you’d like us to share about the Mount Desert Island community or people you’d like us to celebrate, please let us know. We have a lot of hard local news here, but it’s important to our paper’s purpose to celebrate the good, too. We firmly believe that good things are newsworthy, too.
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Good for You!
This was a lovely and uplifting read. Good for Edith and even better for you.