Our History…

Mid-Coast Church began with the dream and determination of Holly Lockhart who wanted a Presbyterian congregation on the Maine Coast.

In the fall of 1985, with the help of the Rev. Carl Geores of the Leeds Community Presbyterian Church and the blessing of the Presbytery of Northern New England, she discovered like-minded people in Bob and Marcia Foulger who had just moved to Bath.  Together they worked from a list of new residents, inviting them by phone and letter to form a church.  A committee of seven to ten people met throughout that summer to plan, pray, and accept assignments for making the dream a reality.

In the fall of that same year, the group initiated two worship service a month – renting adjacent rooms at what was The Golden Fan Inn (later The Atrium) at Cook’s Corner in Brunswick.  The committee agreed to “kick into a kitty” until they raised not only the rent money for worship every other Sunday through the end of the year but also enough to secure the services of the Foulgers’ daughter Sarah, an ordained Presbyterian minister.  Worship drew approximately twenty-five per Sunday, including the presence of the newly-retired Rev. James Underwood and his wife Ethel, resident of Cape Elizabeth and who agreed to lend expertise for two years.

By the beginning of 1986, the group decided to meet every Sunday and named Hal Lockhart as the first Treasurer.  A steering Committee, led by Sarah, was faced with the news that the Inn could no longer commit to any long-term arrangements.

Providentially, Ray Harrison, a frequent worshipper, offered his association with leaders of the Topsham Grange on Pleasant Street as a link to a new worship space.  A nucleus of thirty to forty regularly met for worship and church school, and this pattern continued until the congregation was chartered by the Presbytery in October of 1987.

Take a look at the Charge to the Congregation from 1987

The desire for a church home led to the purchase of property across Main Street from the Grange in early 1994, including the conversion of the “farmhouse” near the Street into offices as well as the building of a Sanctuary, Kitchen, Fellowship Hall and the West Room — with the new building dedicated on October 23, 1994.  In addition to its worship and educational life, Mid-Coast Presbyterian took a leading role in the Tedford Shelter, Mid-Coast Hunger Program, and Merrymeeting Aids Support Services.

Transitions in the Foulger family took them to Washington D.C., and the Congregation arranged for an Interim prior to callingPastor Bruce Langford who was called to the ministry here in September of 1998.  Over time the Congregation expanded ministry to all the generations – with new initiatives in children’s and youth ministry, monthly Potlucks, outreach through Bean Suppers.  A new Education/Administrative Wing was completed in the spring of 2004.  New mission activity included the Bright Start Day Care and Latch Key, a partnership with three congregations of the Amatola Presbytery in South Africa, building with Habitat for Humanity, and major support for the Sudanese Presbyterian Fellowship of Portland.  Pastor Bruce retired from Mid-Coast Presbyterian September 2006.

Our current Pastor, Rev. Diane Hoppe Hugo began her ministry here in the summer of 2009.  We hope you will come find out for yourself what it means to be part of this welcoming church family!