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. Since 2015, MESOM has affirmed students on their way to authorized ministry (lay or ordained) in the various associations of the Maine Conference.
See courses below.
For more information, please email Acting Dean – Rev. Dr. Malcolm Himschoot
Upcoming Courses & Offerings
January Term 2024 – UCC History, Polity, and Theology – Fee $350
Spring 2024 – Church History and Ecology – Fee $350 / Intro to New Testament II – Fee $350
January Term 2024 – Spring Semester 2024
UCC History, Polity, and Theology
Instructor: Rev. David Gaewski
Certificate Credit: (Leadership)
Pre-requisites: Sustained interest in understanding and conveying the unfolding traditions, practices, and understandings of the United Church of Christ.
Requirements: Internet access, Google Classrooms capability.
Course Description:
Taught by David Gaewski, a former conference minister for both the Maine Conference UCC and the New York Conference UCC, this course covers a great deal of content from 400 years of ways of being church, including the last 60 years as a denomination. Any denomination does governance and decision-making, authorization of ministers and theological praxis, from a unique standpoint. The United Church of Christ lives in a space of creative tensions, responding in faith across generations. Leaders inform themselves about the theology, history, and polity of the church and its various traditions. This course culminates in a written paper appropriate to be included in an association’s examination for authorization.
Course Objectives:
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This course is typical of graduate-level polity courses that meet requirements for a Member in Discernment or one seeking Privilege of Call to serve in an authorized ministry capacity on behalf of the UCC.
Class Meetings: JANUARY TERM
Jan 6, 13, 20, 27 from 9:00 – 3:30 Eastern time. This class meets entirely on Zoom.
Syllabus:Course syllabus will be emailed to registrants after December 5.
Ecology and Faith in Christian History
Instructors: Rev. Holly Morrison, Rev. Dr. Stephen Hastings
Certificate Credit: (Church History)
Pre-requisites: Curiosity about the past and the ways the past shapes the present. Critical thinking.
Requirements: Internet access, Google Classrooms capability.
Course Description:
How have Christian communities related to land, water, animals, and all life? This course will bring attention to Christian thought and practice regarding faith and ecology across generations and time periods from the beginning of “church” to now. Topics covered in the course include ancient scripture, medieval mystics, global church experiences, sacrament and ecology, rural life, foodways, oral tradition, the encounter of colonization and indigeneity, the church’s influence on environmental movements in Maine, and practical examples of congregations engaging their ecological legacy today.
Course Objectives:
TBA
Class Meetings: SPRING SEMESTER
Feb 17 / Mar 16 / Apr 20 / May 18 – Saturdays 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. This class meets entirely online.
Syllabus:Course syllabus will be emailed to registrants after January 12.
Intro to New Testament - Part II
Instructor: Rev. Dr. Larry Kalajainen
Certificate Credit: (Bible)
Pre-requisites: Some familiarity with Christian scriptures. Critical thinking.
Requirements: Travel to Augusta for four Saturdays, textbooks as assigned.
Course Description:
Intro to New Testament – Part II is designed to introduce and deepen your understanding of the part of the Bible that we commonly call the New Testament (NT), the collection of writings produced by some first-century Jews in response to their encounter with and/or belief about Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Messiah. That belief arose from new interpretations of their own Jewish scriptures commonly called (by Christians) the Old Testament. This course continues Intro to New Testament – Part I by engaging the epistles and other writings.
Course Objectives:
Class discussions and student presentations will combine both academic knowledge and practical use of the NT in ministry settings.
Class Meetings: SPRING SEMESTER
Feb. 3 / Mar. 2 / Apr. 6 / May 4 – Saturdays 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. This class meets entirely in-person at the Maine Conference office.
Syllabus:Course syllabus will be emailed to registrants after January 2.
MESOM Faculty
David Gaewski
Instructor: UCC History, Polity, and Theology
Reverend Gaewski served as the Conference Minister of the New York Conference for ten years. Prior to that he was Conference Minister in Maine for fifteen years. Prior to entering conference ministry Gaewski served congregations in Vermont and Virginia. He has taught United Church of Christ History, Theology and Polity for over eighteen years in various settings including as an adjunct faculty member of Bangor Theological Seminary and Union Seminary in New York City. He has served on the Board of Directors of the United Church of Christ and Common Global Ministries (UCC/DOC). He retired in 2022, and is now finding joy teaching history (US and Global) in the local high school. He is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, having lived and studied in Brazil and Argentina.
Larry Kalajainen
Instructor - New Testament
The Rev. Dr. Larry R. Kalajainen is a retired United Methodist and United Church of Christ pastor, who served fifty years in parish ministry and theological education in Malaysia, New Jersey, Paris (France), Maine, and New York. Larry has taught at Drew Theological School, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, UM Course of Study, Bangor Seminary, and the Maine School of Ministry.
Larry’s writing and teaching have combined the critical study of the scriptures and Christian history with pastoral resources for individuals and congregations, particularly in the area of spiritual formation. His books: A Lenten Journey, An Advent Journey, Psalms for the Journey, and The Bible Says. . . How Good is the Good Book? He has been a strong supporter of full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the life of the Church.
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).
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.
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, Acting Dean, 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.