Pastor Linda Smith

On June 6, Linda Smith began her duties as the new minister at the Elm Street Congregational Church, a church affiliated with the United Church of Christ. With her every Sunday is her husband Richard, whom she jokingly refers to as the “pastor’s assistant”. The journey to the Bucksport church has been a shared one for this Mount Desert couple for, singly and together, each has consciously redefined their life and their work in recent years.

Smith received her Master of Divinity degree with honors from the Bangor Theological Seminary on May 21st and will be ordained in mid-September at the Elm Street Church. Her path to the ministry has proved somewhat mystical, often mysterious, and frequently magical. Born a Catholic in Brooklyn, NY, she grew up on Long Island, but drifted away from attending church in her early teens. Always vaguely aware of an inner spiritual calling, it wasn’t until 1986 that the plan began to slowly emerge for Smith. She, her husband, and their four children rallied to support her mother during the final days of a long bout with cancer. During these difficult, but still satisfying days of ministering to her mother she began to acknowledge a wider calling to minister to others.

A decade ago, the Smiths relocated from a small community outside Albany, NY to Mount Desert, where they had spent many summer vacations. Richard Smith, chairman of the Ophthalmology Department at Albany Medical Center Hospital became a Research Scientist at The Jackson Laboratory.

Smith became very active as a lay leader at the Somesville Union Meeting House United Church of Christ, but continued to feel the need for something more. In 1998 she entered the “certificate in small church leadership program” at Bangor Theological Seminary, the goal of which is to work with active lay leaders in enhancing their leadership skills. With their four children moving into adulthood, she still wasn’t sure about that nagging call to ministry. Her husband recalled seeing a pamphlet entitled “Do I Belong in Seminary?” on her desk and finally asked her if she was sending a signal. She enrolled as a special student, planning to take a single course at the seminary in Bangor, but soon found herself taking three.

Smith, like many others who have delayed their entry into the ministry was warned, “your whole life will change when you attend the seminary”. It did. She said the ecumenical exchanges at the Bangor theological school have been transforming, and further energized her.

On December 21, 2003, just days before Christmas, Smith was invited to speak at the church on Elm Street. She said, upon walking into the church, “it felt like home…I could feel the warmth and the spirit of God there”. She describes the Bucksport church as “small in numbers, but not small in spirit”. Technically, Smith’s appointment is for three quarters time here, but both she and the “pastor’s assistant” said they’re committed to doing whatever it takes to serve the local congregation.

Smith’s zeal is clear, with one member of the selection committee describing her as “a zoom zoom woman”. Still, Smith said that while, “we’re really ready to do ministry…I firmly believe in a shared ministry approach. We’re all called to minister”. She has been spending time since the end of March, when she received her call to the church in getting to know the congregation and now, everyone is ready to be off and running. The church last year marked its 200th anniversary and is looking forward with excitement to growth of a new ministry.

Adapted with permission, from The Bucksport Enterprise, March 2004.