By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

 Reverend Alfred Gagnon said moving into the parsonage at the First Congregational Church in Scarborough felt like “coming home.”

“My heart has always been in Maine,” he said. “I’m 1.3 miles from my parents and my in-laws live in South Portland. The opportunity just blessed me.”

After considering more than 40 candidates for the position following nearly 22 months without a leading minister, the church’s Pastoral Search Committee announced Gagnon’s acceptance early last month. Gagnon said he was in his 15^th year preaching at the Conway Village Congregational Church in Conway, N.H., when he saw the chance to return to Maine, where his interests in religion and God originally blossomed.

“I’ve always been in love with God,” he said. “But it wasn’t a light bulb kind of idea.”

Gagnon, now 52, said he struggled with a number of different disciplines, including journalism and psychology, at University of Maine Orono – where his daughter is now attending classes – for two years before deciding to attend the Bangor Theological Seminary at the urging of several local ministers.

 “I was trying to find a niche and wasn’t really getting it,” he said. “I was a lost soul.”

Gagnon said he was raised Roman Catholic by his family and “always enjoyed going to church,” but deciding to become a Congregational minister was still a surprise not only to his parents but to his wife as well.

“She didn’t expect to be a minister’s wife,” Gagnon said. 

Gagnon said he was immediately drawn to a faith that was a little more flexible than the one he had grown up with.

“Roman Catholics have a certain set of beliefs that are definitely different. [Congregationalists] try to teach each other the basics but don’t have to subscribe to any particular belief, which I think is a good thing. It can get messy, but I still think it’s good.”

Still harboring a desire to write and possibly teach, Gagnon said he relied on his studies to determine if being a minister was the right path for him.

“If I passed Greek, I was supposed to continue. I had doubts, and that’s OK. I think it’s healthier than people putting on the blinders and going headlong into something,” he said. “I’m a fairly good writer, enjoy public speaking and am a good listener. It just seems to be the profession that utilizes me best.” 

While working part-time at a K-Mart store in Bangor and shortly after completing his seminary studies, a coworker told Gagnon a church in East Millinocket was looking for a new minister. For the next five years, Gagnon called the United Church of Christ in East Millinocket home, and got to cut his teeth in his new career. 

“My first funeral was a baptism by fire. The family was very nice, but I could have done better,” he said. “My first wedding I had the bride and the groom in the wrong places during the rehearsal.” 

Being a minister is about more than correct procedure, however. Gagnon, following the advice of another local minister, said he quickly learned the key to connecting with members of the community was to “just love.”

“I accept and love [people] for who they are. If you can do that, you’re going to be OK,” he said. 

While members of a community may share the same faith, Gagnon said he soon discovered ministers are often required to deal with controversies among different church members. 

“Sometimes I think people have this image that everybody tends to get along, which is not always the case,” he said. “That’s normal and it’s OK. [Another minister] told me it was like making a patchwork quilt, everybody has their own color.”

One surprising pitfall of being a minister is that they very rarely develop close relationships within their congregation, Gagnon said.

“I’ve found ministers have a lot of acquaintances but few close friends. I don’t know why,” he said. “Accepting the fact you might know a lot of people but only be close to a few is tough. It can get a little lonely at times.”

Gagnon made the move from the northern reaches of Maine to the Conway Village Congregational Church in 1993 to be closer to his family in the Scarborough area. He said a difference in attitude between the two religious communities became apparent during his time there.

“There was a different atmosphere in New Hampshire,” he said. “It was primarily a retail area, and the stores were the primary focus.”

Although he has been in Scarborough for less than a month, Gagnon said he has already noticed “more of a commitment” to religion in the community. 

“Everyone is very enthusiastic,” he said. “We’ve found a new vision and the church is renewed in spirit. There’s a new thing happening and we’re excited about it.”

In getting to know his new congregation, Gagnon said most members are increasingly concerned about the state of the economy, a tough problem to solve through faith, he said. 

“I don’t subscribe to the belief that God is behind everything and makes things happen for his plan. I do believe God is present in any situation,” he said. “People want to know what to do and why things happen, and there is a certain amount of anguish in that I don’t know.”

Gagnon said the church has recently created a fuel assistance fund with the help of the “Clynk” recycling program, which has raised nearly $1,300 for those in need.

“We’re hoping [the fund] will grow to the point where we can expand it more,” he said. “These are tough times, we just can’t do enough.”