History

 

All Souls Congregational Church was created in 1912 by the union of the First and Central Churches of Bangor. It is a church of the Congregational Tradition, meaning it is self-governed and therefore not subject to outside control of its property or ministries.

 

In 1911 downtown Bangor suffered from a great fire, destroying 100 businesses, nearly 300 homes, and 7 churches. The First Congregational Church and the Central Congregational Church were both destroyed, and the two congregations decided to unite upon rebuilding. The new church was built on the First Congregational Church's original land, on the corner of Broadway and State Street, facing Stetson Square. Ground broke for the new church on May 20, 1912, and the new building was dedicated on November 30, 1913. The history of the church structure and furnishings portion of the booklet is located on the Our Building page of this website. 

 

When this union took place in 1912 there were 576 members. The name All Souls Congregational Church developed after a committee member stated “All Souls stands for the ideal of democracy in religion.” Since 1913 our church has undergone a series of renovations and additions, all which are outlined in the Extended History.

 

Today our congregation is made up of approximately 350 members and not only provides church services and educational programming, but runs a dynamic mission program. Our mission program has been serving the local community for many years, and the Assist-JC program began in 2000, now organizing mission trips domestically and abroad to locations such as Eastport, Maine, Black Mesa, Arizona, Guatemala, and Honduras.