When Bowdoinham Church of the Nazarene opened its doors for a first-ever Wednesday evening worship on July 10, the Rev. Christina Couch saw three people she doesn’t see on Sundays.
For a church that draws a congregation of 20 worshippers or less on a given Sunday, that’s a hopeful sign.
“I think of it in terms of people who wouldn’t be in church on Sunday,” Pastor Couch said. “People work all week, then they get involved in things on weekends.”
Pastor Couch noted that holy scripture places no boundaries on a day of the week for services.
“More conservative people might think it takes away from the Lord’s Day,” she said. “But for whatever reason people have for not coming out on Sunday, we’ve lost them.”
Bowdoinham Church of the Nazarene, located at the corner of School and Main streets, holds services at 11 a.m. Sunday, and at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The church has been publicizing its Wednesday services.
“I don’t want this not to work because people didn’t know we had it,” she said.
Couch, who lives in Freeport, has been pastor at the church for a year. Despite the numbers, she said, the church is growing.
“We’re working on more community involvement, and now this new service,” she said. “We’re really kind of looking for ways to reach out and get involved, and get our message out there.”
The church building is 120 years old, and has been a Nazarene church for 60-to-70 years, Couch said.
The Bowdoinham Church of the Nazarene exists to share the good news about the relationship you can have with Jesus and his Father, the Lord God.
The church wants to help people in any way that it is able. Call the pastor to chat about spiritual needs, or email
Rev. Couch at pastor@ bowdoinham-nazarene.com or prayer@bowdoinhamnazarene.com.
The Church of the Nazarene traces its anniversary date to 1908.
The spiritual vision of early Nazarenes was derived from the doctrinal core of John Wesley’s preaching. These affirmations include justification by grace through faith, sanctification likewise by grace through faith, entire sanctification as an inheritance available to every Christian, and the witness of the Spirit to God’s work in human lives.
lgrard@timesrecord.com
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less