Pause to pray!    Monday - Thursday 5:30 a.m. - 6:30 a.m. at the church with Pastor Naomi.    Located on the corner of School and Military Streets.      Everyone is welcome!

Our Mission Statement:
By the power of God's Holy Spirit,
we are bridging the gap between young, old, the broken, the lost and Jesus Christ
so that Christ's love is experienced, Christ's teaching is understood, and Christ's healing is a reality.

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Pastor Naomi will be leaving Houlton to pursue more time with family. She has blessed
many lives at Houlton United Methodist Church and in the greater Houlton community.
Her closing message will be on Sunday, June 3rd, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. at HUMC, located
on the corner of Military and School streets. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Please note:  If you would like to send Pastor Naomi a note with memories, good wishes, etc.,
you may send an email to secretary@houltonumc.org
or you can send mail to HUMC, Attention: Secretary, 28 School Street, Houlton, ME 04730.

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The following article will appear in local newspapers near the end of May.

                                     Houlton United Methodist Church Says Farewell to Pastor Naomi

   After eight years at the Houlton United Methodist Church, Reverend Naomi Sam-Kpakra will say farewell to Houlton in   June.  She answered the call to ministry in Sierra Leone, West Africa, was ordained in 1988, and served there for seven years.  Pastor Naomi served in Danielson, Connecticut, for four years before coming to HUMC.

   Pastor Naomi recalled highlights of her time in Houlton. “Getting to know and being a part of lives within and beyond our own faith community has been my greatest blessing!  Northern Maine is remote from my former home in New Jersey, yet has a feeling of home for me. 

   “I celebrate the heart of this town which reaches out and supports its own through local events and benefit suppers for persons in need!  I have been blessed and refreshed by this praying community through ecumenical Lenten services hosted by the Southern Aroostook Ministerial Association (SAMA), the World Day and National Day of Prayer gatherings, and a time of early morning prayer with the Greater Houlton Christian Academy staff and student body.

   “My first outdoor worship service was with HUMC on a summer Sunday.  We gladly included members of other churches for an ecumenical worship experience.  Children, some now teenagers, received Gideon New Testaments and grew in their faith. Their testimonies will long remain with me!” 

   Pastor Naomi is pleased to have been one of the founders of Celebrate Recovery, a recovery support group for scores of young adults affected directly or indirectly by substance abuse, and that HUMC could offer CR a home in its fledgling years.  Now hosted at Military Baptist Church, CR continues to grow.

   “It has been an honor to walk alongside the bereaved through the annual Compassionate Friends tree lighting at Cary Medical Center, to serve as a reader for the children at Cary Library, to conduct Bible studies at Madigan Estates, to offer service time for the Hope and Justice Project (formerly the Battered Women’s Project), and to just be present for those in need.  Some ministries and agencies I was delighted to encourage and/or participate in were Head Start - Presque Isle, Brave Heart - Island Falls, Adopt-A-Block, St. Mary’s “Life in the Spirit” retreats, Empowering Life, S. W. A. M. (Signs, Wonders, and Miracles), Backpacks for Kids, and the Cancer Prayer and Support Team.”

   Future plans do not include pastoring, yet ministering the gospel of Christ is foremost in Pastor Naomi’s heart.  No longer a twelve-hour drive away, she will minister first to her family, which includes six children, two sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, five grandchildren, four siblings, aging parents, and a host of nieces and nephews, even as her ears and heart stay attuned to where and what God would have her go or do next.

    Administrative Board Chairman Jim Blois said, “After reflecting on what she has quietly done in her ministry, I have come to the correct conclusion that Pastor Naomi’s life has been and continues to be all about her love of God and her service to his children. God blessed us with her presence, and she will be greatly missed.”

    Pastor Naomi will share her closing message at HUMC at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 3. Everyone is welcome to attend. The church is located on the corner of Military and School streets.

A Welcome Message To You From The Pastor...

God bless you and welcome to the website of the Houlton United Methodist Church! Thank you for taking time to visit with us. My name is Naomi Sam-Kpakra. I love to tell God’s grace through the church’s story! It was built during the Civil War years 1861/62. Those were difficult and discouraging years for our country as a whole, but our church came alive then. When a devastating fire leveled much of the town in 1902, the following year, the members of the congregation came together and rebuilt our church completely to the beautiful edifice that it is today.
 

HUMC has the distinction of having arisen from the ashes as the legendary phoenix. Our story has such a richness and excitement to it that is not a big step to see how God has shaped and molded our church and congregation throughout the years. One hundred years later, we the church again take stock of our situation and are determined to come alive for God. In the face of the societal upheavals which have brought a lack of employment and migrations out of the area, and domestic and substance abuses, we believe God has a purpose for which we have a part to play!

 

As you visit with us, you will see our heart to learn and grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Understanding that whatever we do we have done unto our Lord, we seek to uncover the needs of our neighbors and make ourselves available to relieve suffering and pain. We share with you here our projects and missions both home and abroad. We share with you our love for God and our desire to be Christ’s witness in word and deed to a world needing God’s compassionate, loving touch! Why not come and visit us in worship and you will find that we do, indeed, share with you!

 

Love and Grace through our amazing God and God’s Son, Jesus Christ,

 

Pastor Naomi

pastornaomi@houltonumc.org

 

©2012 Houlton United Methodist Church
Contact: secretary@houltonumc.org