Author Archives: smaxreisert

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.

Can I Ban Remember When?

Posted on June 19, 2018

Like any church with a lot of long-time members, and certainly like any church that is the midst of the Mainline decline, it’s a fairly common occurrence to hear the construction “remember when” at the start of a sentence or … Continue reading →

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Call and Circumstance

Posted on June 2, 2018

In the year King Uzziah died . . . So begins the sixth chapter of Isaiah, in which Isaiah is called as a prophet. In reading Isaiah’s call story, it’s easy to get caught up in the wild elements of … Continue reading →

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The Use and Abuse of the Bible

Posted on May 26, 2018

The New York Times recently reported that, at a rural Oregon high school, LGBT students were assigned certain Bible readings when they got into trouble. [“L.G.B.T Students in Oregon Were Bullied and Forced to Read Bible, Report Says,” May 16, … Continue reading →

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The Last Lasts

Posted on May 12, 2018

When my daughter was a senior in high school, we observed many of the elements of that last year of high school as “the lasts.” And, in a blog post during that time, I reflected on those “lasts” as they … Continue reading →

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The Changing Ways of Devotion and Worship

Posted on April 28, 2018

Recently, I spent a few days in New York City, as a mini-vacation and as a way to step away from my usual mundane life in the middle of Maine to experience a little, as we Mainers would say, “cul-cha.” … Continue reading →

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Winter’s People

Posted on April 12, 2018

In Central Maine, especially where I live on a tranquil Maine lake, it feels like we are still very much in the grip of winter.   There’s still plenty of snow on the ground, temperatures are chilly, and the lake doesn’t … Continue reading →

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Where Does Easter Start?

Posted on March 31, 2018

As I was scanning the local newspaper a couple of days ago, I stopped at an almost full-sized ad from one of the local supermarket chains. The colors of the ad, bold spring colors on a page that was otherwise … Continue reading →

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