Raymond Village Community Church, a United Church of Christ is pleased to announce the installation of its new minister, Rev. Nancy Foran.
The installation service will be held on the Mar. 12 at 2 p.m. at the Raymond Village Community Church, 27 Main Street, Raymond. The public is welcome to attend.
The installation service affirms the covenant between Raymond Village Community Church and Rev. Foran, which began in September 2005. The beginning of Rev. Foran’s tenure at RVCC ended a period of approximately two years of interim ministry as the congregation searched for a permanent pastor.
Caryl Gilman, chairperson for the church’s Pastoral Search Committee, said “One of our challenges was to understand who we are as a small community church, including our needs and priorities. This was a necessary step to preparing to enter joint ministry with Rev. Foran.”
Rev. Foran received her Masters of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, where she was also awarded the Downs Preaching Prize. She also holds a Masters of Arts in Human Resources Management from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton College in Minnesota. She brings her skills and enthusiasm to Raymond and has already launched a “Fair Trade Coffee Project” at the church. Now parishioners and quests drink “fair trade” coffee, which guarantees a fair price to coffee farmers throughout the world. People can purchase a pound of regular or decaffeinated fair trade coffee for $6 each at RVCC before or after church on Sundays.
“Part of the blessing and challenge of being a community church and a United Church of Christ is that we have a diverse range of beliefs and spiritual needs. We knew we had to find a minister that could reach the entire congregation, and we’ve found just that in Rev. Nancy,” said Shannon Nichols, Church Council member.
Rev. Foran is an ordained minister in the Cumberland Association of the Maine UCC Conference and lives in Cumberland. Prior to joining Raymond Village Community Church, she served at a Portland-area UCC church with responsibility for elderly counsel and visitation. She also led adult education classes and Bible study. Before that, she served as the Interim Pastor at Stevens Avenue Congregational Church in Portland, ME. Additionally she has served as director of Children’s Ministries at various churches and ran a preschool in Freeport.
Raymond Village Community Church welcomes all visitors to worship Sunday morning from 10 to 11 a.m. Sunday school classes and a nursery are offered at the same time as the worship service. The sanctuary is handicap accessible. The church was built in 1879 and has been an important part of the Raymond community ever since.
Visit www.raymondmaine.org/Religion/raymondvillagecommunitychurch.htm to learn more.
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