207 348-6602 | Worship every Sunday @ 10 a.m. Zoom available.
207 348-6602 | Worship every Sunday @ 10 a.m. Zoom available.
Building connections by living lives of hope, purpose, and service; guided by God’s Word.
We are a welcoming church. We welcome all ages, all abilities, all orientations, and all theologies. Our mission statement highlights our openness to the whole community. We do not require a uniform understanding of who God is or how God is working in our midst. Yet we believe we embody God’s love as shown in the life of Jesus and seek to celebrate that love through worship, music, education, and service. We believe the Spirit of God is present in us and among us. All are equally loved by God and equally in need of love. We have an attitude of acceptance of one another and generally believe that it is a life of faith not to have all the answers but to have a safe place where our answers may be questioned.
We aim to embrace new members, welcoming individuals from diverse backgrounds, regardless of their wealth, sexual orientation, marital status, or origin. Our mission is to support them through life’s challenges, including loneliness, addiction, anxiety, and depression, among others. Our church strives to be a sanctuary where everyone can discover hope, a sense of purpose, and opportunities for service, fostering a community of joy and belonging. Our activities primarily revolve around Worship, Music, Education, and Service, recognizing that even tasks like committee meetings and maintenance contribute to our shared mission of serving others.
Building connections by living lives of hope, purpose, and service; guided by God’s Word.
Our church has been an integral part of the Deer Isle community for over 250 years. It has been influential in the spiritual and social lives of many generations.
We are a rural church that strongly wants to serve our community’s needs. We are an Open and Affirming Church. We acknowledge God’s acceptance of every individual and Jesus’ commandment to love one another. We welcome all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, to worship and enter into the full life and ministry of this church. We strive for justice and equality for all of God’s children in our journey of faith. This means we are welcoming to all people: LGBTQ, the unchurched, the teenager, the people from away, the lonely, the elderly, the busy, the poor, and all those who feel somehow marginalized. We strive to share God’s message of love and compassion with everyone.
Today many people in our community see us as “the church on the hill that helps people pay their heating bills.” Some may have attended a wedding here, a concert, or their child’s baccalaureate. They know that either their neighbor or they themselves are welcome to call for help. Our goal is to be seen as more than “just that church on the hill,” but as a true sanctuary where all feel welcomed, safe, included, and experience the love of God.
The history of the Deer Isle Sunset Congregational Church and the history of Deer Isle itself is one and the same. They were an overlay of each other from the beginning. Several church publications have delineated this process, and they are included below because they highlight the development of the church and how it both reflects and forms the story of the island of Deer Isle. Taken together, the three publications recount the first two centuries of the Deer Isle Sunset Congregational Church, emphasizing different aspects of the church.
The first publication was written in 1973 by Hugh B. Frey: Two Centuries, the History of the First Congregational Church of Deer Isle, Maine, 1773 – 1973. The second piece was written by Barbara L H. Chesney in 2012 and was included in Delicious Deer Isle, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Sunset Congregational Church. The third piece, The Ladies Aid Society also was written by Barbara L.H. Chesney, Deacon and member of the Ladies Aid Society, in 2016 to commemorate its 100th anniversary. The Sunset Ladies Aid Society merged with the Deer Isle Ladies Aid Society in 2014 when the two churches merged. This merger enhanced both churches religiously, socially, and financially. The merger of the two churches was completed in 2023 with the sale of the Sunset church.
The essence of the church consists of the people, their families, and the community they created. The real story is in the community and the building of community. Descendants of the “first families,” or “founding families,” live on Deer Isle today, and some are members of the church. Their efforts were bolstered by tourists who were invited to Deer Isle by these same families a century later and decided to stay. Personal histories have been gathered that shed light on the development of the church throughout the 250 years of its presence on the island. It is the people and their stories, that make it all come alive in honoring 250 years of building community together! The future of the church lies in building membership, in building increased partnerships in the community, and building trust in each other.
We are currently writing the 250-year history of the Deer Isle Sunset Congregational Church which will highlight the family histories of founding families such as Haskells, Eatons, Stinsons, Sylvesters, Greenlaws, Dunhams and others who have had a profound impact on the Church and Deer Isle. We encourage anyone who has knowledge of their family history and their participation in the life of the Deer Isle or Sunset Churches to contact us and share you information through this upcoming publication.
Please contact Barbara or Alan Chesney at [email protected] or (207) 348 6494. We look forward to hearing from you.
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