Author Archives: smaxreisert

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About smaxreisert

I'm a United Church of Christ pastor serving the small, faithful Old South Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Hallowell, Maine. I was ordained in Massachusetts in 1995, moved to Maine in 1997 and have served the Hallowell church since 2005.

In the Farewell

Posted on September 3, 2026 by smaxreisert

Old South finally sold its sanctuary building, after a very long, arduous process. The closing was yesterday. In anticipation of the sale, I spent some time alone in the sanctuary Tuesday afternoon. I had a Spotify playlist of traditional Protestant … Continue reading →

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May the Words of My Mouth Land Maybe Sometimes Somewhere Near Your Brain

Posted on August 31, 2026 by smaxreisert

There’s a small bit in Monty Python’s Life of Brian that shows the crowds gathering to hear Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. The Python gang, including the titular Brian, are in the back of the crowd and can’t hear very … Continue reading →

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When the Work Is Plentiful, But the Laborers Are Few and Tired

Posted on July 25, 2026 by smaxreisert

There are many different dimensions to the life of a shrinking church, from difficult budgeting decisions to dealing with property that stubbornly refuses to shrink alongside the congregation to a sense of bewilderment around how the shrinking started and why, … Continue reading →

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A Certain Kind of Testimony

Posted on June 15, 2026 by smaxreisert

At the beginning of May, I traveled to New York City to attend the retirement party of a good friend. As the large group gathered before dinner, I realized that except for the retiree and her spouse, I knew only … Continue reading →

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Through the Ages

Posted on May 31, 2026 by smaxreisert

Confession:  I’m an audiobook addict.  I listen to a lot of them, using two separate audiobook apps.  I listen to a wide variety of genres—detective stories, spy stories, police procedurals, literary fiction, historical fiction, nonfiction, memoir, young adult, and even … Continue reading →

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Codes, Contracts and Community

Posted on April 30, 2026 by smaxreisert

At the end of last week, as I was perusing newspaper and magazine headlines, and reading (or listening to) pieces that caught my attention in such a way that felt like they might be worth my time, I finally clicked … Continue reading →

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The Public Face of Faith

Posted on April 17, 2026 by smaxreisert

I recently found myself in a lengthy conversation with a former parishioner, a man who left Old South in response to my “politics.” In the conversation, which was actually much less a conversation and much more of a monologue, this … Continue reading →

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Nearing the End of a Long Journey, and the Start of a New One

Posted on March 27, 2026 by smaxreisert

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through … Continue reading →

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The Great Big Terrible Awful Slide

Posted on February 28, 2026 by smaxreisert

Olga Tocarczuk’s novel, The Empusium,”a health resort horror story,” is set in the early twentieth century, in Poland, at a “guesthouse for gentlemen” suffering from tuberculosis. On the surface, the novel possesses qualities of a thriller: mysterious deaths, tension, and … Continue reading →

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Mercy for Me, But Not for Thee

Posted on January 31, 2026 by smaxreisert

In our current state of affairs in the United States, it’s hard to know how to make sense of it all, in striving to appreciate various facets and layers of what makes it into the news, and in attempting to … Continue reading →

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