By Amanda Estes
Staff writer
    As the senior minister of West Scarborough United Methodist Church (WSUMC), Rev. David Calhoun is expected to be actively involved in the community surrounding his congregation. In the five years that Calhoun has been minister at WSUMC, however, he has found his own ways to contribute to the community he now calls home. 
    Calhoun did not plan to settle in Scarborough, but rather he said it was “one of those God things.” A native of Colorado, Calhoun attended college and seminary in Denver. He received a doctor of ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. He was ordained in Nebraska, where he lived for 13 years.
    While living in Nebraska, Calhoun and his wife were asked to start a church in Dublin, Ireland. Prior to leaving, the couple discovered that they were having a baby and the plans to go abroad were postponed. At a friend’s suggestion, Calhoun applied to the New England Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. As an elder in the United Methodist Church, the bishop guaranteed Calhoun a position within the church. The church sent him to Scarborough.  Calhoun said he and his wife honeymooned “out here and loved it” so moving to Maine was a welcome proposition.
    “It has been a very good move for us here,” he said.
    He added that two of his five children were born in Scarborough.
    When Calhoun first arrived, he said, “I didn’t know a solitary soul.” He said, however, that in this situation it is “easier being a pastor because you have an automatic community.”
    The WSUMC currently has a congregation of 185 members and 65 constituents, which are people who attend the church but have not officially become a member. Calhoun said it took some time to adjust to the New England church culture.
    “One church in Nebraska can have 5,000 members and you don’t see that here. It has been a learning experience to learn how church is done out here and to learn the cultural mores. There is a great sense of history in Scarborough and you have to have respect for people’s history,” he said. “At the same time, there is this tension because as pastor, I am called upon to set a vision.”
    Calhoun said this type of conflict could be good for a community because it initiates conversations. For his part, he said, he has had to do a lot of “deep listening.”
    After settling in with his family, Calhoun made efforts to involve himself in the community outside of the church. He currently serves as the primary chaplain for Scarborough’s and Old Orchard Beach’s Fire and Police Departments. Calhoun said he volunteered “when the need presented itself.”
    As a certified bereavement counselor, he is on call for the departments, ready to counsel families and people in need. Calhoun said he has “really enjoyed working with both departments” and he thinks of it as a “different way of ministering to people.”
    When an opportunity to aid Scarborough’s senior community arose, Calhoun was ready and willing to help. He chaired last year’s Senior Advisory Committee, which formed with the purpose of creating a short-term and long-term plan to provide more resources for seniors. Calhoun volunteered his services for the chance to put his “skills and knowledge to work.” While living in Nebraska, he had served as the state’s delegate to the National Council on Aging and was offered a teaching position in the University of Nebraska’s gerontology department.
    Calhoun said the committee spent a lot of time “listening to people and there were a lot of different opinions out there.” He said the ultimate goal is the creation of a senior center, but that certain “steps need to be put into place before that becomes a reality.” He said the Senior Services Implementation Committee is currently determining how to put the plans into action.
    “I feel for folks who would like to see it tomorrow, but a lot of work needs to be done before it becomes a reality. I can respect people being impatient because (they) have waited a long time in this community,” he said. 
    He added, “Senior services is doing a phenomenal job of offering senior programs and they are outgrowing the facility they were meeting in.” He said that is a good sign in that it demonstrates that an active senior community. Another good sign, he said, is that the town hired a senior coordinator, Cecelia Duchano, which was a short-term recommendation from the advisory committee’s report.
     “As one of the grayest states, we have the opportunity to lead the way,” he said. “This is a really important time in the life of our state to take a look at the future. It will be an interesting statement about Scarborough and Maine about how we dignify the lives of people who have given so much.”
    In order to prepare for an influx in Scarborough’s senior population, Calhoun said, “We need to take a look at senior services, affordable housing, senior life enhancement, for people looking for it, and transportation. What will we have in place for people who can no longer drive?”
    With Calhoun’s passion for improving the lives of Scarborough residents, it may not be surprising that he was once “preparing himself for a career on the political scene.” As a distant relative of John C. Calhoun, vice president to both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, he said, “politics has always been in my blood, so to speak.”
    Calhoun was also a senatorial intern in college and he worked at the “grass works level” for both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns. He had the opportunity to meet Carter in Colorado when he first announced his plans to run for president. Calhoun was extended invitations to both inaugurations, but he was unable to attend either one. The invitations hang on the wall in his office. He said he still follows politics and he “enjoys it very much, but his love for politics has been tempered” by his love of the ministry, which he calls his “heart work.”   
     Calhoun has found an innovative way to adapt his ministry to an increasingly web savvy congregation. He has embraced the blog culture by starting his own blog, which can be accessed through the church’s Web site.
    “It is an opportunity to reach out beyond the parish,” he said. “I was blessed to have a techno-guy in the congregation.”
    Calhoun started the blog while guiding a youth mission trip to help hurricane Katrina victims in Mississippi. He said blogging has been a lot of fun so far.
    For people who would like to write about their own experiences, Calhoun teaches a class on how to write your life story. He has been teaching the free class in his churches for the past 19 years. When asked if he would like to write a book about his own life, he replied that he would like to do that someday.
    “I’ve lived a rich life and a full life and I’m certainly not done yet,” he said.