Welcome to Lewiston, Maine!  We want to invite you to the journey of starting a church in Maine.  For the next year or so I will be posting the progress of our church restart.  Yes, we already have a 5 year history, so I have some explaining to do.   But we want you to enjoy our journey with us.  Welcome to Maine!

Pathway Community Church is located in Lewiston, Maine.  Lewiston is about 35 miles north of Portland.  We’re about 30 minutes from the ocean and 30 minutes to the mountains in western Maine.  Lewiston and Auburn are twin cities sitting on the banks of the Androscoggin River.  All of Auburn is on the west bank and Lewiston on the east.  Both cities are in Androscoggin County.  We have a couple of exits of I95 and the Maine Turnpike to our south.  In some surveys, Lewiston is the second largest city in Maine, but others prefer Bangor.  It’s a very close race.

The predominant influence in Lewiston is its French Canadian heritage.  In the early 1900’s workers from Quebec flooded the area to get work in the shoe and textile factories.  They settled in for the duration of our manufacturing history.  When the jobs went south, and eventually overseas, the younger generations were so tied to our area and were now Americans, that they just stayed in the area.

This influence is seen all over our cities.  About 40% of the population claims a Catholic belief system.  There are Catholic churches, very large church buildings, all over our horizon.  There are triple decker flat top apartment buildings in downtown Lewiston where the French Canadian workers lived close to their factories.  This architecture is very prevalent in the province of Quebec.

One can still hear French being spoken in the stores, churches, and restaurants in the area.  We even have a French Canadian Heritage Center (museum) that is getting national attention.  The largest parish in town still has some masses in French.  (My French vocabulary is still under 20 words.  When, as a native Texan, I tried to learn the language, they all told me to stop before I hurt myself…)

By the way, my name is Mary Beth Caffey.  It has been my special privilege to live in Maine and Massachusetts for about 24 years now.  18 months were in Gloucester, MA while I worked in downtown Boston, but the remainder has been in Maine and most of it in the Lewiston/Auburn (L/A) area.  This is truly my adopted home.  I’m a native Texan and most of my family still lives in the Corpus Christi area.  My parents are still living, and my dad is a retired Southern Baptist pastor.  He’s currently the interim pastor of First Baptist Church of Sinton, TX.

We have much to explore together.  I’ll be writing often here at the first.  After we get to know each other pretty well, I’ll drop back to writing every week or so.

Come join the Maine journey.  We’re the only CBF church in Maine, and we’re looking for new friends.

Mary Beth Caffey