Bath UMC hosts drive-thru church dinners

BATH — The Bath United Methodist Church is offering free, hot meals to go every Wednesday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at 340 Oak Grove Ave. in Bath.

Staple groceries, winter produce, and spiritual nourishment are also available. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, orders will be taken at a safe distance and food brought to you outside the church doors.

The Rev. Gwyneth Arrison, pastor at Bath UMC, said that the church had been hosting monthly free community meals with an informal time of worship as a way of meeting physical as well as spiritual needs. While the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the church to temporarily suspend its monthly in-person community meal and church suppers, their outreach team decided to start serving meals to-go every week to help through this difficult time.

Only a couple of people are inside the building preparing the food. They are careful to maintain the 6-foot physical distancing requirement as well as serve-safe procedures. When a vehicle pulls up around the circle the order is taken from their car and passed to the food preparers inside. The brown-bag meal and any requested groceries are brought to the car. So far, the church has been serving about 20 meals per week, but expects that number will rise.

The Drive-Through Dinner Church is made possible by donations from the Bath Area Food Bank, the Merrymeeting Gleaners and individual donors. The church has also moved all times of prayer, worship and Bible study online as well.

The Bath United Methodist Church is streaming their worship on YouTube every Sunday at 10:15 a.m., and posting times of prayer and meditation there as well. The church can be reached at bathumc@me.com or (207) 443.4707, or online at bathumc.org

Brunswick Baptist church names new pastor

BRUNSWICK — Maine Street Baptist Church has named the Rev. Mike Balos as its new pastor, following the retirement of Pastor Dale Morell’s at the end of 2019.

Pastor Balos comes to Maine after serving as pastor at CrossCountry Church in Wasilla, Alaska, for the past 12 years.  Previously, he had served in Maine as an education and church growth consultant.

Mike and his wife, Angela, have one son, Michael, who will be attending Liberty University this fall.

Maine Street Baptist Church is located on Upper Maine Street, across from the Parkview campus of Mid Coast Hospital.

During this time of “social distancing” worship services can be streamed online at mainestreetchurch.com.