STATE STREET CHURCH

Portland, Maine

An Open and Affirming Church

OUR HISTORY

State Street Church,1852 to the Present

Our church building is very special to us!  State Street Church has a long, storied history and once served as a cornerstone in the Portland community. We rent space in the building as a source of income, and the organizations that use this space are crucial to the community. Our clothing closet has become a necessary resource for the community, too, especially for New Mainers and people who are temporarily unhoused. We hope to find ways to put some other spaces to good use, such as the fellowship hall and kitchen, for the community, as well.

Throughout its rich history the people of State Street Church embraced and challenged the social assumptions of their times and chose to speak and act deliberately to make the world a better place.  Beginning in 1852 a long tradition of compelling oratory was initiated espousing abolitionist and other broad Christ inspired points of view.  At State Street “the way of faith is the way into life.“ They wrestled with the challenges of the wars, several economic depressions and the moral challenges of their eras, initiated relevant evolving contemporary programs to meet basic human needs such as food and clothing, intellectual and spiritual growth and by serving the broader community.  In the 1960s and ‘70s the Church sponsored “The Gate,” a coffee house, a friendly melting pot to meet the needs of lonely and alienated people and be a “church without walls.” More recently we’ve become an open and affirming congregation welcoming GLBT members. We have welcomed the growing immigrant community of Portland providing some with a new church home.  State Street is a congregation that welcomes people from all walks of life to create a spiritual home.

Music has always been an important part of our church community. Our Roosevelt organ was installed in 1892 by a New York Firm of the same name. Under the direction of talented and dedicated music and choral directors music became featured expressions of faith.  For example, Seldon T. Crafts of Bates College commuted weekly to State Street from 1909 to 1947 to play some 2,000 services. Our music and performances have helped shape the musical life of Portland in many venues. Dr. David Maxwell, our current Minister of Music, provides concert quality experiences at every service, has inspired our choir to render professional level anthems, has brought many professional musicians for special services to our chancel, featured talented musicians from our congregation, and welcomed a newly formed blue grass ensemble “No Strings Attached” to enrich selected services and events.

 

Varied programming is a continuous part of our church life. Growth is always exciting. The Men’s Group, the Women’s Guild, the Women’s Home Missionary Circle, the Foreign Missionary Society, the Junior Guild and Bible Study were all part of this tradition. Similar groups, for example “Women of Hope, Women of Change, and the Clothes Closet continue to make State Street a rich and vital place. Church membership more than doubled in the 1920s, pew rental was abolished, and State Street became the State’s largest mission donor. In the 1950s seven classrooms were added to the Sunday School.

In the 60s and 70s the Church community worked to actively engage with the social unrest of that era e.g., the Vietnam War, women’s and human rights, and substance abuse. There was a 50 year history of direct radio broadcasting of church sermons. Three younger church members enrolled at graduate theology schools and State Street housed the 40,000 volume General Theological Library of New England and the Portland Campus Center of the Bangor Theological Seminary.

 

The move of people to the suburbs and the challenges of relevance to the main line churches are part of our history as well. In recent decades several renewal campaigns were launched with notable success in membership and capital. All of our spaces are fully occupied by others who are meeting human needs where they are found be it in preschool formation, traversing the turbulent teen years, struggling to escape life crushing addiction or seeking another cultural spiritual journey.

 

We are weathering membership issues since our Golden Years by welcoming and engaging new arrivals in many different ways that are comfortable for them. Our Pastor Rev. Bryan S. Breault makes everyone welcome. He helps create the opportunities for all to become a part of something larger than one’s self and to experience God’s unconditional love. He infuses our lives with hope, optimism, belonging, meaning and new reflections on our life experiences grounded in age-old wisdom. 

 

Recently it was asked as part of a current Bible Study class “Is it possible that “faith” is less about asserting the existence of a hypothetical Being called “God” than it is about simply accepting and being shaped by experiences of being set free and goodness coming to us from some source “out of this world?” Could the “resurrection” at the heart of Christian faith be not an assured ticket to an afterlife that enables us to “avoid pain” but rather a call to renewed life now that lives fully, daringly and hopefully towards the unknown? Is “trusting God” less a secure answer to life’s central problems than it is an empowerment to deal with them courageously? Welcome to the spiritual journey of State Street Church.

 

This historical overview by Jared Clark with contributions from others is based upon the following: “125 Years of State Street Church,” Eleanor Johnson, Editor

 

“The Golden Candlesticks, 150 Years of Faith and Service, 1852 – 2002”

Franklin Talbot Archivist, Martha Mater, Editor

 

The National Votes For Women Trail recognizes former State Street Church Parsonage.

This sign acknowledging this important history was installed in May of 2022.  You'll find the sign front of the former State Street Church Parsonage next door to the church's courtyard.   Well done, sister suffragettes!