photo by Bill Kenny, 2022

January 2023

A Note from Alyssa

Whew! What an Advent and Christmas season we had here at Woodfords. So many meaningful moments spring to mind when I think of the past six weeks. Early in December, the congregation voted to sell the Parish House to Community Housing of Maine, which means that we will have opportunities to warmly welcome new neighbors to our campus in the future. (It may be a couple of years, though. As anyone who has lived through a construction project can tell you, the process can take a while!)

Over the course of Advent, we watched a Tree of Generosity grow at the front of the sanctuary, as our community collected donations for Maine Needs. Here are two pictures of the Tree of Generosity (courtesy of Ellen Snyder). The first shows the Tree as it appeared after worship on November 28, the First Sunday of Advent. The second is the Tree as it appeared a couple weeks later. Notice the difference in height and the breadth of donated supplies. By Christmas Eve, the tree had grown even larger. It was well over my head and filled the entire width of the chancel! Truly, it was a thing of beauty, complete with decorative lights, poinsettia, and hand-decorated Christmas ornaments made by the children of Woodfords’ Sunday School. When I dropped off all the donations, the volunteers at Maine Needs expressed many thanks and much appreciation for Woodfords’ generosity and kindness.

At the Christmas Eve Family service, we enjoyed a spectacle that Woodfords hadn’t witnessed since 2019: namely, a live Nativity Scene at the front of the sanctuary, complete with costumes and kiddos. There were angels with their halos, and shepherds with their crooks. Mary was there in her blue head covering, and so was Joseph, in his multi-colored robe. Together, they watched over a sweet Baby Doll Jesus lying in the manger, engulfed by lots of hay.

Overall, Christmas Eve proved to be a wonderful evening filled with unexpected plot twists, and moments that called for improvisation and flexibility, and the simple humanity of people gathered together on Christmas Eve. The next morning, our Christmas Day Zoom devotions provided an opportunity for sharing that led to a wonderful discussion about art.

As 2023 begins, we’ve got an exciting future ahead of us. Now that the vote to sell the Parish House has passed, and we have a more defined sense of Woodfords’ building and space capacity will be like in the future, we can start revving up visioning plans and processes. I look forward to doing this energizing, exciting work with all of you … and then to making our vision happen.

Happy New Year, everyone!

In faith,

Rev. Alyssa

Championing Justice

Family Promise News

On November 29 the City of Portland notified Greater Portland Family Promise that the city shelters were full and families were going to have to be turned away. Woodfords, thanks to Rev. Alyssa's quick assurance, was able to agree to host families for two weeks. Many people from Woodfords and across the local faith spectrum jumped in to help. Things that had been in storage for several years due to Covid were located and brought to Woodfords - mattresses, pillows and bedding. The Undercroft was cleaned and arranged for families. A sign up link was sent out and people quickly volunteered to be there with the families. It was heartwarming and exciting to be able to pull this together in less than 24 hours.  

The four families we hosted were very grateful and appreciative of all we did and that they had a safe, warm place to sleep and play in the evenings. The children loved to color, play games, sing and dance. The children are like children all over the world even though the language barrier made it hard to communicate verbally. They have now moved to another church and more faith groups are figuring out how they can host. 

I am so grateful to all the Woodfords people who volunteered in whatever capacity they could. It makes me proud that we were able to quickly make a difference for these families. We truly embodied the Advent Season by welcoming those new to our community.

If you are inspired to get involved with Family Promise, there will be new training occurring. Contact myself, Amy Johnson, Kristin Crean or Linda Anderson for more info or gpfamilypromise.org  



Joanne Bartlett for Championing Justice

Woodfords 150th Anniversary

Missions at Work at Woodfords

After consulting Meriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of mission is a specific task with which a person or group is charged. The Seven Day Adventists believe the definition of mission is to spread the word of God and Jesus. It appears that Woodfords Church falls within both categories. In the beginning, the members of the church came together to build a new permanent church building at 199 Woodford Street. The men came together to clear, till, and dig the foundation of the church. The women provided them with nourishment via turkey dinners. The women also made pew cushions and other things necessary for the church.

 As the church grew and there were other needs within the church, neighborhood, city and country, the congregation stepped up. The growing population of Woodfords had numbers causing members to reach out to find ways to expand. Between 1888 and 1891, the congregation grew by 390 members and the church building was enlarged. It took fund raising; however, word spread about Woodfords. By 1912, the membership had grown to 467, and the Sunday School rooms needed to be enlarged during that summer. The need for expansion continued and the Harmon house, the present site of the Parish House, was purchased. The church continued to reach out to the community. During the 50^th anniversary, two former pastors were recalled for an evening service. For another evening service a quartet from Opportunity Farm participated.

In the tenure of Dr. Fredrick Thompson, he felt “Missions always were a vital concern.” He felt that a church has a task at home as well as in other parts of the country and the world. For several years he arranged to have the Missions World Fair held at Woodfords. Here other countries had representatives attend, as well, our other American missions attended. He also wanted to make the community church conscience. This was done by promoting the Parish House to provide programs for young people and the gymnasium was used for indoor sports. Also looking at high school graduates and college students who had left the area to look for work, encouragement was made to have them return to the community and the church. The Gate was established at State Street Church for college students to have a safe place to meet and shop. Many other organizations were formed such as, in 1967, the Woodfords School for Trainable Children, now known as Woodfords Family Services Maine. SERRV is another organization that was supported for years.

While Woodfords supported missionaries in other parts of the world, such as in Turkey and India, it was important to Dr. Thompson to make connections with youth groups such as high school students (known as Pilgrim Fellowship) and middle school students. He served as chairman of the American Board of Foreign Missions. Woodfords sponsored an African student from Rhodesia, named David Dhliwaje, to attend Bates College in 1961. Rev. Burger Johnson led a group of 20 students with 6 chaperones to Williamsburg, Virginia and Washington, D.C. in April 1964 during Easter break. It was an ecumenical opportunity and while in Washington the group attended services at Lincoln Memorial Congregational Temple, a leading Black church. Other pilgrimages have been held throughout the years. Twice young people and chaperones went to New Orleans with Rev. Carolyn Lambert to rebuild homes destroyed by hurricanes. In 2000 a group went with Rev. John Filmore Patrick to Honduras to build houses. In 2003, a group went to Harlem to help a food center, such as Project Feed. Several trips have been made to Cherry field, Maine to help low-income people maintain their homes. 

Other mission projects that should be mentioned are the Penny Drive led by Mrs. Elizabeth McAfee, the Heifer Project, CWS Crop Walk, A Company of Girls, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Campfire Girls to name just a few.

References: Meriam-Webster Dictionary; One Hundred Years at Woodfords Congregational Church

Submitted by Jean Koster 

New Event - Just Added

Join your WCC Friends at Merrill

For Wabanaki Stories

Saturday, Feb 4, at 3pm

The Woodfords Senior Program and The Championing Justice Committee invites you to join us at Merrill Auditorium on Feb 4 @ 3pm for Wabanaki Stories, presented by 3 Wabanaki storytellers, using puppets, native language and more. Plus Chris Newell, author of If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving, will intersperse each story with music and narration.

There will be no cost for this event to WCC members and friends. A bus will be available to take everyone to Merrill (or you can meet us there if you wish.) The cost of the bus and tickets for seniors will be covered by the WCC Senior Program and the Championing Justice Committee with pay for tickets for our “younger” members.

NOTE: We have bus space for 38 folks. 

RSVP for tickets by emailing (info@woodfordschurch.org) or calling Alexandra (774-8243) in the office or signing up on the display in the Cloister.

Questions: thomsonbg@aol.com or call Barbara @ 207-797-3193

Future Events - Save the Date

2023 Women’s Retreat

Save the Date: September 29 through October 1

We have worked with the Marie Joseph Spiritual Center in Biddeford to finalize the date of the 2023 Women’s Retreat. It will start in the late afternoon on Friday, September 29 and wrap up after worship on Sunday, October 1. Please mark the dates in your calendar. Fun awaits!

From the Church Office

Rev. Alyssa Will Be Away January 19-22

Rev. Reba Delzell Will Provide On-Call Pastoral Care

Rev. Alyssa will be out of the office between January 19-22. After a busy Christmas and Advent, she is planning to visit her niece and nephew at college before their semester becomes too hectic. Hopefully the weather won’t interfere! In Alyssa’s absence, the Rev. Reba Delzell of Williston-Immanuel United Church in Portland will be available for those with pastoral care concerns. You may reach Reba at (207) 400-4395. We thank Rev. Reba for her ministry to Alyssa and the Woodfords community.

HAPPY JANUARY BIRTHDAY

Deborah Belanger 01/03

Anne Bencks 01/04

Edward Campbell 01/05

Robert Cuzner 01/06

Thomas Hennessey 01/08

Jane Frey 01/09

Gary Baldwin 01/09

Jack Melcher 01/11

Randolph Libby 01/15

Susanna Adams 01/16

Jeffrey Wilson 01/19

Natalie Wooten 01/21

David Clark 01/21

Jean Koster 01/22

Pamela Barrows 01/22

Leon Strout 01/22

Nicholas McKee 01/24

Cindy Quinn 01/24

Helena Nelson 01/25

Amy Johnson 01/25

Edgar Jones Rev 01/25

Noah Chiasson 01/30

HAPPY JANUARY ANNIVERSARY

James & Edette Flaker 01/01 23 years

JUST IN CASE...WOODFORDS

SNOW POLICY

Sundays: a decision will be made by 7:00 am regarding the worship service.



A closing announcement will be posted on Facebook, our website (www.woodfordschurch.org), and on Channels 6, 8 and 13. 

Important Dates in January

Church offices closed and church staff holiday:

• January 16 Martin Luther King Day

Have Something on Your Mind?

Want to Talk about a Joy or Concern?

Have a Prayer Request?

If you would like to schedule time for a pastoral care conversation with Rev. Alyssa, do not hesitate to be in touch (alodewick@woodfordschurch.org). She would be happy to talk via Zoom or the phone, or to have an in-person visit.

Also, Alyssa is always open to receiving prayer requests. Drop her a line with a description of what you’d like her to pray for – and don’t forget to indicate if you would also like your prayer request to be added to the Woodfords prayer list. (Alyssa’s default is to consider all prayer requests she receives confidential, unless the requestor explicitly says otherwise.)