Williston-West Church

AGE: 28

WHAT: New pastor at Williston-West Church, UCC

ADDRESS: 32 Thomas St., Portland 04102

PHONE: 774-4060

WEB SITE: Williston-West Church

E-MAIL: pastorgina@gwi.net

ABOUT SHOPTALK:
SHOPTALK allows people to describe in their own words the rewards and challenges of their jobs. In doing so, they reflect the energy, imagination and hard work that characterize the workplace in Maine.

THE QUESTIONS for Shoptalk are compiled by staff writer John Rolfe. Do you know of someone who would make an interesting candidate for Shoptalk?

SEND YOUR suggestion to jrolfe@pressherald.com

Q: Have you held other jobs, if "job" is the word ...?

A: I was an associate pastor at First Congregational Church in Madison, Conn., for more than five years. That church has more than 1,000 members, much larger than the one I'm at now.

I've been working since I was 5. I also served as youth adviser at Union Baptist Church in Mystic, Conn., while I was in divinity school.

I actually grew up in a local tax and accounting office in Methuen, Mass.

I've been balancing bank statements since I was 5. That's how my parents entertained me and dealt with sibling rivalry, taking me to work and laying out a big project on the floor. It would take me all day.

I also used to work at Canobie Lake Park in southern New Hampshire, when I was in high school. My favorite job at the park was selling balloons. And when I was in college and high school, I worked in the admissions offices. At one point I was going to go into admissions (as a career). I also worked as a chiropractor's office assistant for a year while I was in divinity school (at Yale), and thought about becoming a chiropractor for a while.

Q: That's a pretty wide range of stuff.

A: And actually as I was growing up my mom opened a retail store doing monograms and embroidery. So I have retail experience as well.

Q: No doubt it all plays into your position now, one way or another ...

A: I think that having a broad employment background has been a good thing. Partly because I've been exposed to people from all walks of life, and also because I've been interacting with adults on a professional level since I was very little. People often think I'm much older than I am. Some of that social ease comes from being 12 years old and telling a client they owe $50,000 to the IRS. You grow up fast.

But the thing about ministering that I love is, when I wake up I never know what the day will look like, because things are always changing. I might be in the office or making a hospital visit or having a committee meeting at night ... This morning I had an appointment, then went through the books trying to find a baptismal record from 1955.

Q: Did you find it?

A: I did, and I also found the letter of resignation from a previous pastor to the leaders of the church, back in the 1950s. He was stepping down and writing that the only way forward was for him to resign, and wishing them well in the future. It was a very eloquent letter, but was less than kind. A little skeleton in the closet there.

Q: So, in the succession of Williston-West pastors ...

A: I am the 15th, and the first female. This church was originally the Williston Congregational Church, which was founded in 1873. It merged with the West Church in 1970. John Calvin Stevens designed the parish house, in 1904.

Q: And you've been here . . . >A: I started on Nov. 1. I'd moved from Connecticut in mid- October, and found a place to live ... No, the church does not have a parsonage, but a portion of the compensation is allotted for housing.

Q: How big is the congregation? Are you seeing the nationwide trend of a huge falloff in church attendance?

A: About 150 people. Smaller than 50 years ago, certainly. I have not been here long enough to really get a handle on things, but attendance has spiked a little since my arrival. That's par for the course. Attendance tends to drop when people are waiting to see who the next pastor will be, then when someone comes, there's a surge -- and you hope the honeymoon persists.

It is different, coming from a church in which we'd see 200-300 people every week. But we've averaged between 70 and 80 at 10 a.m. on Sundays the past few weeks, with 120 on my very first Sunday. Out of 150, that's pretty great.

Q: Mostly older people, or -- ?

A: Actually, by my assessment, it's a relatively young congregation. Lots of young children, kids under high school age. We have older folks, of course, but there's... a lot of energy here.

Q: And you knew Maine -- ?

A: I have family and friends in North Berwick, and had come to Portland for a couple of days two summers ago. I had been looking at churches in three different areas, from California to Maine ... But I wanted to stay in New England, and yes, I definitely made the right choice.

Q: To get rich, I assume. Did you take a vow of poverty?

A: Protestant clergy don't take a vow of poverty! Your values and your beliefs are going to determine your decisions. I don't know of any churches who pay their clergy so much they get rich.

I grew up Roman Catholic, and left the Catholic Church my junior year in college (Mount Holyoke), so this has been an interesting shift for my family. My dad did say, 'Gina, I can't support you for the rest of your life!'

Q: What's hard or challenging about the position?

A: I've been in the role of pastor and minister long enough to know that some of the challenge for me is really coming to care about people I pastor for, to, with ... and it's hard to say goodbye. It's hard to have people move on, die, leave.

And then there's the challenge of keeping up with an aging building in a dwindling community. We live in an age when there are many benevolent organizations, like Oxfam or Habitat for Humanity, doing good in the world, which is great ... but a challenge of being a clergyperson can be to convey how the church is different and how people can factor the church's place into their lives.

I sometimes think of myself as more like a GP (general practitioner) who isn't a specialist but needs to know a little bit about everything -- have people skills, know how to run a small nonprofit and a capital campaign, manage budgets, work with staff, know Holy Scripture backwards and forwards, and have a developed relationship with the Divine. All of which are things I love about the job, but as a whole they can be a challenge.

Q: What would you be doing in another life?

A: I'd be an opera singer. I sing here, and I have soloed and sung with a number of choirs, and actually cut a CD a few years ago -- I sang with Robert Gass & On Wings Of Song. He was in Portland last Sunday night, at 1 Longfellow Square, and I sang with him. I've often said, when the going gets tough I'm going to run away and join the opera.