Category Archives: Doomed

If a Church Falls in a Small City, Does Anyone Care?

Posted on November 24, 2020 by smaxreisert

Hallowell, Maine is a very small city in the middle of the state, just south of the capital, Augusta.  The mighty Kennebec River serves as the boundary on the eastern edge of the city that is home to about 2500 … Continue reading →

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Identity Crisis

Posted on January 31, 2020 by smaxreisert

Last Sunday’s sermon was on unity, focusing on the lectionary passage from the beginning of First Corinthians. The title of my sermon was “Give Me a U.” The plan was to talk about Paul’s encouragement regarding unity, to remind us … Continue reading →

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Living in the Midst of Dying

Posted on August 15, 2019 by smaxreisert

It’s a hard time to be a traditional Mainline church. It feels harder still to be a traditional church in a part of the world that often feels not only indifferent to organized Christianity, but sometimes even hostile. Such is … Continue reading →

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A Church on Fire: A Confession

Posted on April 16, 2019 by smaxreisert

  The scenes from Paris were (and are) startling and heartbreaking. When part of the spire of Notre Dame fell into the huge cauldron of flames, I gasped. It was hard to take it all in from the vantage point … Continue reading →

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The Dreaded Funeral and Its Dreadful Portents

Posted on March 22, 2019 by smaxreisert

It doesn’t happen often, thank goodness, and less often than it happened in my first years at Old South: leading a funeral/memorial service for someone I’ve never met. In the almost fifteen years of serving Old South, I occasionally discover … Continue reading →

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Lessons from the Lord (& Taylor)

Posted on November 29, 2018 by smaxreisert

In the dim light of late afternoon and amid the crushing movement of countless, busting human beings, the large “store closing” signs adorning every window of a very large building didn’t seem all that extraordinary. I was just trying to … Continue reading →

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The Strong, But Dangerous, Allure of Denial

Posted on June 27, 2017 by smaxreisert

At Old South, I’ve started talking to the leadership team about beginning to discuss the process (just the process and not yet the content) of considering the future of Old South. How should we talk about, consider, make decisions about … Continue reading →

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Agenda for the Last Day

Posted on June 11, 2016 by smaxreisert

It’s almost impossible these days to ignore the undercurrent of worry and concern at Old South, especially on Sunday mornings as we wonder how many people will join us for worship. The numbers keep going down. After a couple of … Continue reading →

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Getting a Grip on the Numbers

Posted on April 2, 2016 by smaxreisert

Just before Easter, the website realclearreligion.org included a link to a blog post from the Institute on Religion and Democracy entitled, “Financial Crunch Hits the United Church of Christ” (written by Jeffrey Walton). The post described the crisis in the … Continue reading →

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What We Do with What Remains

Posted on March 1, 2016 by smaxreisert

Old South held its annual meeting at the end of January. As has become our tradition, the meeting was well attended, informative, and thank goodness, free from controversy. We elected a new moderator and made adjustments to our new governance … Continue reading →

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