Maine School of Ministry (MESOM)
Theological education for the life of the church
We work with students practicing congregational leadership and those discovering a path to pastoral ministry. Our programs combine classroom learning and ministry competencies, devoted to God’s call.
Our primary program is based on a solid and innovative curriculum leading toward a certificate in Christian Studies, Pastoral Leadership, or Word and Sacrament. “Non-traditional students” will find a welcome here!
We also offer mentored-practice fieldwork serving congregations in Maine and beyond. Some “traditional students” fit here. Whether on an academic path, an alternative path, or something in-between, your progress with the Maine School of Ministry will be unique. And you will contribute something new to our learning community.
Our work and our vision grew up alongside the 21st century UCC Manual on Ministry. By promoting and cultivating a culture of call, adding academic resources and mentorship, we affirm God’s gifting and guidance in every generation – including toward more remote or rural congregations. Beginning in 2012, MESOM has affirmed students on their way to authorized ministry (lay or ordained) in the various associations of the Maine Conference.
See current course info below.
For more information, contact MESOM Advisory Team members: Bill Bliss, Rebekah Choate, Nick Davis, Leslie Foley, David Heath, Beth Hoffman, John Lacey, Sarah Mills.
Email: Dean – Rev. Dr. Malcolm Himschoot
Upcoming Courses & Offerings
January Term 2026 – UCC History, Polity and Theology – Fee $400 ($550 beyond Maine)
Spring Semester 2026 – Intergenerational Spiritual Care and Nurture – Fee $375 / Organizing for Relationships and Repair – Fee $400
January Term 2026
UCC History, Theology and Polity
Instructor: Shernell Edney Stilley
Certificate Credit: (Leadership)
Requirements: Internet access for real-time Zoom. Written paper will be required.
Course Description:
Do you thrive with interactive courses where you are engaging the material in real time? Throughout, we will have live conversation with real sojourners of the denomination, such as: Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, the current and first woman General Minister, President and CEO of the UCC; Rev. Dr. Yvonne V. Delk, the first African American woman ordained in the denomination; and Rev. Dr. JJ Flag, a disability theologian. This course fuses present possibilities in church life, future vision for UCC expressions, and content from past centuries leading up to the last 60 years of “being church” as a denomination. We will cover governance and decision-making, authorization of ministers, and theological praxis from a unique standpoint. Taught by a neuro-diverse professor, the approach in this class will be one that focuses on a variety of ways to learn but also an opportunity to have a great experience! The United Church of Christ lives in a space of creative tensions, responding in faith across generations. Come join us as we visit some of those creative tensions together where we will learn more about ourselves, each other, and how to BE the United Church of Christ.
Course Objectives:
This course is a focused version of polity courses that support requirements for a Member in Discernment or one seeking Privilege of Call to serve in an authorized ministry capacity on behalf of the United Church of Christ.
Course Fee:
$400 tuition ($550 beyond Maine)
Scholarships:
Partial scholarships are available. To apply for a scholarship in a specific amount, please email Dean Malcolm Himschoot: mhimschoot@maineucc.org by Dec. 4.
Course Syllabus:
Course syllabus will be emailed to paid registrants after Dec. 4th.
Class Meetings:
Four Saturdays: Jan 3 / Jan 10 / Jan 17 / Jan 24 from 9:00 – 3:30 Eastern time. All sessions on Zoom.
Spring Semester 2026
Intergenerational Spiritual Care and Nurture
Instructor: Debbie Gline Allen
Certificate Credit: (Pastoral Care)
Requirements: Internet access for real-time Zoom.
Course Description:
Many of our churches do not have a ‘specialist’ in children’s education but serve small towns where a full life span is present in relationships across generations. This course will engage participants in developing ministry to all ages, centering the times and places where that of God in one person meets with that of God in another. With pastoral and lay leaders in mind, background will be provided in theology, developmental growth, spiritual practices and pastoral care. Practical application will support a congregation’s intergenerational spiritual life.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the course, participants will be able to incorporate spiritual care into their ministry of forming faith across the lifespan.
For those serving as pastoral leaders in rural and remote congregations, this course will develop project ideas to demonstrate “The Marks of Faithful and Effective Authorized Ministry” as generated by the United Church of Christ:
– Exhibiting a Spiritual Foundation and Ongoing Spiritual Practices
Understanding the power of the Holy Spirit at work through the elements of Christian worship to nurture faith.
– Building Transformational Leadership Skills
Strategically creating the future of God’s Church.
– Engaging Sacred Stories and Traditions
Leading faith formation effectively across generations.
– Working Together for Justice and Mercy
Building relationships of mutual trust and interdependence.
– Strengthening Inter- and Intra-Personal Assets
Understanding and ministering to stages of human development across the life span.
Course Fee:
$375 tuition. Students may invite a guest to a class session for $25.
Scholarships:
Partial scholarships are available. To apply for a scholarship in a specific amount, please email Dean Malcolm Himschoot: mhimschoot@maineucc.org by Jan. 8.
Course Syllabus:
Course syllabus will be emailed to paid registrants after Jan 8th.
Class Meetings:
ONLINE Tuesdays evenings: Feb 3 / Feb 10 / Feb 24 / Mar 3 / Mar 10 / Mar 24 / Apr 14 / April 28 / May 5 / May 19 (6:00-8:30)
Organizing for Relationships and Repair
Instructors: Wabanaki REACH, Malcolm Himschoot, and Chrissy Cataldo
Certificate Credit: (History / Ethics)
Requirements: Internet access for real-time Zoom.
Course Description:
As led by Wabanaki REACH, part of this course will feature “Decolonizing and the Role of Faith Communities” – a 6-hour experience split between two Saturdays, Feb. 28 and Mar. 7. Any and all church participants in Maine are welcome and encouraged to attend.
For MESOM certificate credit this semester course continues with sessions utilizing the “Sacred Reckonings” curriculum for organizing faith communities in response to issues of historic injustice, by drawing on the Open and Affirming model.
Background:
In 2001 the state of Maine adopted new educational goals for students K-12, incorporating Wabanaki heritage and indigenous perspectives on current issues. In 2026, adults affiliated with the Maine School of Ministry will incorporate Wabanaki history and UCC indigenous issues into their studies of church history and ethics. Part of this course (the first two sessions) will be led by Wabanaki REACH, a curriculum developed for faith communities. The full course (five total sessions) will integrate current learnings from faith-based response to calls to address historic harm.
Course Objectives:
Participants in the Wabanaki REACH-led workshop will achieve a better understanding of history that led to present-day relationships across the Dawnland (Wabanaki homeland). People of faith will explore the role of churches in the colonization of the US, learn about the harmful impacts of colonization on Wabanaki people, and identify strategies for repair, justice, and healing. Students in the full semester course will further apply in church life those elements that contribute to moving relationships toward repair – imagining not just individual steps toward repair, but practical steps of organizing together with others in faith communities.
Course Fee:
$50 workshop fee. $400 tuition (includes workshop as part of full course).
Scholarships:
Partial scholarships are available. To apply for a scholarship in a specific amount, please email Dean Malcolm Himschoot: mhimschoot@maineucc.org by Feb. 14.
Course Syllabus:
Course syllabus will be emailed to paid registrants after Feb 14th.
Class Meetings:
Five Saturdays: Feb 28 / Mar 7 (9:00-12:00) Mar 21 / Apr 25 / May 16 (9:00-3:30). All sessions will be on Zoom.
MESOM Faculty
AbbyLynn Haskell
Instructor: Preaching
Rev. Dr. AbbyLynn Haskell loves eating ice cream, the smell of campfires, and the sound of laughter. She has been delighting in the joy and ministry of preaching since graduating from Bangor Theological Seminary in 1999. She has served churches in New Hampshire and Maine as an associate pastor, director of program development, and lead pastor. AbbyLynn earned her Doctor of Ministry in Semiotics, Church, and Culture from Portland Seminary of George Fox University in 2022.
Passionate about equipping others in the art of preaching, she finds great joy in helping preachers cultivate their craft with theological depth, creativity, and prayerful presence. She shares her storytelling ministry at retreats and conferences, as well as on summer Sunday mornings through the Sunrise Boat Church YouTube channel. A USCG-licensed captain, she and her husband run Broad Reach Ministries, a coastal sailing, fishing, lobstering, and eco-tour charter business based in Saco Bay, Maine.
Jim Gertmenian
Instructor - Preaching
The Rev. Dr. Jim Gertmenian
Jim Gertmenian is a retired UCC minister who has served churches in New York, Connecticut, and Minnesota. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and Union Theological Seminary (New York)
From 1996 to 2015 he was the Senior Minister of Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis where he helped to establish Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative which created over $200 million worth of housing in the Twin Cities. Jim has been involved in Faith in Public Life and The BTS Center. He is a hymn writer whose works appear in The New Century Hymnal and other collections. He and his wife, Susan, live in Cumberland Foreside during the year and on Great Cranberry Island, off the Maine coast, in the summer.
Debbie Gline Allen
Instructor: Intergenerational Spiritual Care and Nurture
Rev. Debbie Gline Allen has previously served as a Minister of Faith Formation for the Southern New England and New Hampshire Conferences (UCC) where she administrated faith formation training programs for local church lay leaders and clergy. She also has served in five United Church of Christ congregations, and as well as a resource and curriculum writer in a wide variety of UCC settings. She has held leadership positions in the local, regional, and national settings of the Association of United Church Educators. She is passionate about guiding congregations in ensuring that their children are nurtured in the Christian faith through corporate worship and intentional intergenerational relationships, that they may grow up keeping their faith and a church community at the center of their adult lives. Debbie lives in Derry, New Hampshire with her spouse, two sons, and beloved cat.
Shernell J. Edney Stilley
Instructor: UCC History, Polity and Theology
Rev. Shernell Edney Stilley holds a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Communications from Drexel University, a Master of Divinity from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, as well as a Master of Science in Health Psychology from Touro University. For six years, Rev. Shernell has served the United Church of Christ at the Conference level as an Associate Conference Minister. She focuses on a portfolio in the Illinois Conference that includes, but is not limited to, journeying with churches in the areas of Search & Call, Revitalization, Open & Affirming Discernment, Mental Health Wellness and Education, and Community Rediscovery. She has also previously been an adjunct Philosophy professor, Communications professor, and UCC History and Polity co-Teacher with Rev. David Gaeweski of the New York Conference.
Rev. Edney Stilley is currently a member of the United Church of Christ Board of Directors where she serves as the first appointed Chaplain to the Board; as well as Chair of the Governance Committee. Rev. Shernell’s favorite activity is to travel, especially internationally, and see as much of God’s world as she can.
Anne Dunlap
Instructor - Applied Christian Ethics
The Rev. Anne Dunlap
Anne is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a co-founder of the Liberating Lineages Collective. She is a consultant partner with the Jewish Bridge Project, and worked for 8 years as the Faith Organizer for Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), where she curated the podcast for anti-racist white Christians, “The Word Is Resistance,” and led the creation of the SURJ-Faith Community Safety for All: Congregational Action Toolkit. She has taught courses at the Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver, and is the co-editor and a contributor to Building Up a New World: Congregational Organizing for Transformative Impact.
The founder of FierceRev Remedies, Anne offers herbal consults, workshops, and mentorship with the goal of racial justice and collective liberation sourced in healing practice with the land. She is proud to be from Arkansas, currently living in Buffalo, New York, with roots in the Central America solidarity movement of the 1980s.
Aida Mansoor
Instructor: Introduction to Islam
A Community Chaplain in the Greater Hartford area committed to building bridges of understanding, Aida has been educating about Islam and the Muslim world since 1999. She serves on the executive board of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut (serving as president of that organization from 2011-2015) and the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford. She is also a board member of the Connecticut Council for Interreligious Understanding, the Coalition for Elder Justice in Connecticut and the State of Connecticut’s Commission Against Hate Crimes.
Aida Mansoor has served as affiliate faculty of the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace.
Holly Morrison
Instructor: Ecology and Faith in Christian History
Rev. Holly Morrison serves as full-time pastor of Phippsburg Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. She has a passion for rural ministry and has previously served congregations in Maine, Colorado, Washington State, and Alaska. She and her wife are the stewards of Tir na nOg Farm, an educational farmstead devoted to restorative agriculture. In farming as well as ministry, she draws inspiration from her Celtic roots. Her writing may be found in Greenprints and two anthologies: There’s A Woman In The Pulpit (Skylight Paths, 2015) and The Smeddum Test: 21st Century Poems In Scots (Kennedy & Boyd, 2012).
Bill Bliss
Instructor - Applied Theology
The Rev. Bill Bliss
Bill’s work as a community organizer, musician, and television producer led him to Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he received the Master of Divinity degree in 1988. After moving to New Mexico to study Native American spirituality, he was guided by his teacher to embrace his pastoral vocation by becoming an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ in 1992. He served congregations in Santa Fe and suburban Chicago before moving home to Maine in 1999 to serve as Pastor of the Neighborhood United Church of Christ in Bath, from which he retired in 2024.
As a member of the Board of Directors of the Maine Conference, Bill takes a particular interest in the Maine School of Ministry, which is developing new pathways for equipping individuals who are called to Christian ministry.
Stephen Hastings
Instructor: Ecology and Faith in Christian History
Dr. Stephen Hastings has been a UCC minister since 1991, serving in the Maine Conference since 1995. He has led the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church UCC toward carbon neutrality which has included the construction of a solar energy system that offsets both the church facility and the parsonage. He helped create the Maine Conference Earth Care and Spirituality Resource Team and arranged for Matthew Fox to speak on creation spirituality at the Annual Meeting in 2012. Dr. Hastings has Ph.D in Environmental Ethics and Creation Spirituality from Boston University; a M.Div from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; a MS in Resource Systems and Policy Design from Dartmouth; and a BS in Physics from Towson. He authored the book entitled Whole-Earth Ethics for Holy Ground: The Development and Practice of “Sacramental” Creation Spirituality.
Carol Kerr
Instructor: Spirituality and Leadership
Rev. Dr. Carol Kerr, LCPC is a UCC minister and clinical counselor in private practice. She has worked many years as an interim minister and settled pastor along with her counseling practice. She is very interested in transitions, positive psychology, and identifying our values to find purpose and meaning in our lives.
Deb Jenks
Instructor: Spirituality and Leadership
Rev. Dr. Deborah Jenks is an Ordained Ministerial Partner (Disciples of Christ) and is retired having served in the Maine Conference UCC for 28 years as a pastor, and for the last 10 years in intentional interim and transition ministry. Deb’s experience also includes work as a Hospice Spiritual Advisor and Grief and Bereavement Counselor.
Rev. Dr. John Holbert
John Holbert was ordained to the United Methodist ministry in 1970, and served from 1974-76 as pastor of University United Methodist Church, Lake Charles, LA. He then was Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Texas Wesleyan College, Ft. Worth, TX, from 1976-79, finally returning to Perkins School of Theology in 1979, teaching there until retirement in 2012 as Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics for the last 16 years of his faculty appointment.
He has preached, lectured, and taught in over 1000 churches and conferences in nearly every US state and 20 countries. He has published 11 books, including a novel, King Saul (2014). His scholarly books are primarily concerned with the intersection of the Hebrew Bible and homiletics. In his retirement he was given a festschrift in honor of his years of teaching, Parental Guidance Advised: Adult Preaching from the Old Testament, wherein 9 scholars offered articles celebrating his scholarly work through the years.
Contact the Maine School of Ministry
Rev. Dr. Malcolm Himschoot
Dean - Maine School of Ministry
Email: mhimschoot@maineucc.org
Cell Phone: 1.207.458.7836
Work Phone: 1.207.530.9594
More About Malcolm
Rev. Dr. Malcolm Himschoot, Dean, celebrates the possibilities of classroom and contextual education where faith and leadership meet.
He worked for seven years with the UCC’s Ministerial Excellence, Support, and Authorization Team when the Manual on Ministry and Ministerial Profile were updated in a nationwide conversation about a theology of ministry for the 21st century. During that time he earned a DMin in Transformational Leadership from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and participated in consortium gatherings among regional theological education programs across the life of the church. His commitments reflect the diversity, equity, and inclusion at the heart of Christ’s gospel.
Malcolm lives in Orono where he co-pastors the ecumenically-minded Church of Universal Fellowship. He is known as an out trans man, an activist and transgender educator, a sometimes-professor at the University of Maine, and a dad of twins. He also has an MDiv from the Iliff School of Theology, and a B.A. from Amherst College.