Fund Helps Maine Churches
Serve Their Neighbors
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The challenge of impacting the cities and villages of rural Maine with the Gospel “can seem out of reach,” according to Michael Nerney, who leads the Maine Baptist Association, part of the Baptist Churches of New England (the new name of the BCNE). The associational leader says he “experienced firsthand the challenges faced by most of our churches and pastors” during the nine years (2002–11) he was pastor of Living Water Community Church, Oakland, ME.
Financial and relational hurdles, he recalls, can “easily result in discouragement” for pastors and leaders of many of the association’s twenty-six churches and mission congregations. The churches often have insufficient income to sustain their ministries and facilities. Planting or leading a small, aging congregation are often solo and lonely assignments.
After a decade serving as associate pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Bel Air, MD, the Massachusetts native accepted the “tremendous blessing” of being asked to return to Maine, in December 2021, to succeed long-time associational director Keith Lawrence, who retired. “Looking back on my time in the pastorate in Maine, we witnessed blessing after blessing in the form of one need after another being met in amazing ways,” Nerney said.
“One year our Vacation Bible School was underwritten by a grant from a Christian organization. Many community events were funded in part by various local businesses and individuals pitching in because they saw that the church was adding value to the community. When we were finally able to purchase our own facility, the remodeling project was initially overwhelming. Once again, some big gifts of materials and labor were combined with many smaller gifts that enabled the project to come to fruition,” Nerney commented.
The “bottom line,” he noted, is that “every gift is vital for the churches of Maine to impact our state with the Gospel.” Nerney recently received a text from a pastor asking for a list of churches to contact for donations of used children’s Sunday School material because his church cannot afford to purchase new curriculum. “Imagine this need being met by a grant from the Baptist Foundation of New England!”
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Mike Nerney (left) and Kelsey Presley (shown with her family) serve the Maine Baptist Association |
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A lifelong Mainer, Kelsey Presley is married to the pastor of Lakeside Community Church, Waterboro, and serves as a foundation board member. “During my years in ministry in Maine I have not had a great awareness of how the Baptist Foundation of New England could be a part of supporting my ministry. Over the last year as I have served on the BFNE board, I have been delighted to learn all the ways the foundation is serving churches and helping them fulfill the Great Commission.”
Each state, she said, has a special projects fund; in this case it is the Maine Special Projects Fund. These funds are given in the form of grants for a variety of needs that help the church fulfill its mission of bringing the Gospel to all people.
Some examples of projects the foundation supports, she added, include building a community playground on a church property to help the church reach their neighbors more effectively, fixing a building that otherwise would prevent the church from meeting in their property, and funding community outreach events and projects so churches can minister to their neighbors.
“It's a joy to see the innovation and excitement churches have to reach their neighbors; and it’s a privilege to be a part of getting them the funding they need to reach their goals,” Presley observed.
Building the Maine Special Projects Fund up so that it can offer grants is important because Maine has many small churches that could use financial support to reach their goals. “I have many friends here in Maine who have big dreams to reach their communities for Christ, but they need financial support to see their plans come to fruition. This fund would allow churches to apply for grants and receive funding to help reach their goals for outreach and ministry in the places God has called them,” she challenged.
“I am praying fervently for God to grow our fund to $10,000. Once the fund has that amount, we can offer grants to Maine churches to help them fulfill the Great Commission in their communities. For the glory of God, may He do it and I pray He would use you to help us get there!”
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History lesson: Few Southern Baptist realize that Maine, the easternmost state, known for its snowy winters, and a rural way of life, played an important role in Baptist history. The first Baptist church in the South was organized on September 25, 1682, in Kittery, Maine, under the sponsorship of the First Baptist Church of Boston. Late in 1696, Pastor William Screven and twenty-eight members of the Kittery congregation immigrated to Charleston, SC. By 1708 the membership numbered 98. For details: www.fbcharleston.org/history.
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A Word from the
Executive Director
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God loves your generous giving
When I served as pastor in Washington, VT, an older couple living on a limited retirement income came to me distraught about the money they were sending to a national non-profit organization to sponsor a child in an impoverished country. They had been sponsoring a girl for some years and always enjoyed the cards, pictures, and notes they received from her. They were blessed when they prayed for her when she experienced a medical problem and had to be hospitalized for several weeks.
When they heard that the organization had received a grant thousands of times larger than their small, monthly sponsorship, they wondered if they should continue to give. Did the non-profit really need their meager gift?
“Will the person or foundation who gave the large grant ever know this girl’s name? Will they pray for her when she is sick? Will she be more than just a statistic to them?” I asked as I held up the girl’s pictures. When the couple expressed their doubts, I replied, “But you know her name. Your prayers and financial gifts matter to this little girl.” With tears they thanked me for reminding them of an important truth.
Years later they emailed to say the girl had graduated from high school. Even though the official sponsorship had come to an end, they were still helping her in a small way with her university education. The relationship was one of the greatest joys of their lives.
This conversation reinforced in my mind why it is important to give faithfully to the causes we care about regardless of how much we can give or how much others give. When we think of places like Maine, it is easy to see the small towns, and the small churches, and wonder if our giving really makes a difference. Giving is not just about dollars and cents. It is also about prayer, relationships, and caring. We are blessed when we give our heart to others. The money we give flows out of that generous heart. That is why Maine needs our financial support, regardless of how big the churches are, or how much others might also give.
If God has put ministry in a place like Maine on your heart to support, do it with passion, and don’t be dismayed what others might do or might not do. Just do what God tells you to do and rejoice in how God uses your gift. Your gift matters.
Dr. Terry W. Dorsett
Executive Director
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While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” Luke 21:1–4, NLT.
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