Maine consistently ranks as one of the least religious states in the entire country — 49th, according to the latest report from Pew Research Center. But a couple of denominations are bucking that trend: Unitarian Universalism and Quakerism for example. In the first of a two-part series, we look at the reasons why.
On a frigid Sunday morning in January, dozens of people are grabbing popcorn and settling into their seats at the Eveningstar Cinema in downtown Brunswick. They aren't here to catch a matinee of Hamnet or Marty Supreme.
Instead, they've come to hear Reverend Dr. Kharma Amos, who steps up to the pulpit on the big screen.
"It seems like a good time to remember that we are the church together, not the building, but the beloved community that we are striving to nurture and build," Amos said. "No matter who you are, whom you love, where you are from, or where you live now, we welcome you."
Amos is the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick, whose brick-and-mortar location is just down the street.
Because attendance at Sunday worship has almost doubled — sometimes it's standing room only — the church is experimenting with live-streaming services at satellite venues like this one. The theme of the service today is resistance and acceptance.
"Many of us have been flooded with emotions as we have seen our neighbors terrified by the deployment of ICE here," Amos said. "And as we have heard the stories of people afraid to leave their homes."
Amos herself is definitely a draw. But this kind of thing isn’t just happening in Brunswick.
Reverend Jane Field is an ordained Presbyterian minister and the executive director of the Maine Council of Churches.
"We're a coalition of seven mainline Protestant denominations, that include the usual suspects, as I call them: Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregational or UCC, Episcopalians, and Methodists," Field said. "But we also have Quakers and Unitarian Universalists at our table, which is unusual."
And Field said in most mainline Protestant and Catholic churches, attendance has been declining in Maine and around the country.
But ever since the 2024 presidential election, she’s been hearing from some faith leaders about the opposite trend.
"And I found that really interesting. And so I would ask more, and they’d say, ‘Oh yes
we don't have room for everybody. And families with small children are suddenly turning up after being gone for a generation.’ And it was always Quakers and Unitarian Universalists who were saying this to me," Field said. "Not other traditions."
For some UU congregations and Quaker meetings around the state, like the Allen Avenue and Augusta UUs, and the Midcoast, Vassalboro, and Durham Friends Meetings, the growth has been more of a slow trickle, or perhaps a steady stream.
Whereas others, like the UU churches in Brunswick, Bangor, Rockland, and First Parish in Portland, and the Portland Friends Meeting, are reporting more of a tidal wave.
Some new members darkening their doors stopped going to church long ago; others had never set foot inside one, until now.
Amos and other faith leaders say they believe a lot of this recent growth has been driven by political angst.
"By people tremendously concerned with the direction our country was going in, or could go in," Amos said.
Over and over, she said she hears the same thing.
"We need community. This was a place where I could be honest about my feelings, and find others feeling similarly, with the eye towards hope. Like not to dwell in despair, but to rally one another, to support one another in gaining the energy to resist," Amos said. "And more than that, to strengthen ourselves for who the people we want to be in the world are."
Field says it makes sense that people who are seeking a spiritual anchor right now might gravitate to denominations that are non-creedal, meaning they don't require believing in strict religious dogma, like the divinity of Jesus Christ, to belong.
"It is a step removed from what some might assume all Christians think and believe and do, based on what you're seeing as represented by white Christian nationalism and the rise of the MAGA movement in the United States," said Field. "So, it's a safer door to walk through."
To be clear, Quakerism and Unitarian Universalism are distinct denominations. Quakers often gather in silent worship, and there is no designated spiritual authority.
Jim Grace, a co-clerk with the Portland Friends Meeting, says that's because Quakers tend to believe in something called “the inner light."
"The ability for every person, regardless of their background, to perceive the truth and to be guided in their spiritual journey," Grace said.
Unitarian Universalists do have clergy, and worship services tend to draw from a potpourri of spiritual and cultural traditions.
But what both denominations have in common is that they’re organized around shared values – like the inherent worth and dignity of all people. They're pluralistic — welcoming people from all different backgrounds and faiths. And they have a longstanding commitment to social justice.
"I think a lot of the new folks, we’re hearing that we were, I like to say, we do the worship and we do the work," said Reverend Norm Allen.
Allen is the minister at First Parish, a UU congregation in downtown Portland. First Parish organizes weekly community food distributions and recently hosted the city's emergency warming shelter.
Its clergy and members participate in weekly protests and prayer vigils. And Allen was one of nine faith leaders recently arrested at an anti-ICE “pray-in” at Senator Collins’ office.
He says Unitarian Universalism's focus on walking the walk, on deed over creed, is a big part of its appeal. But it's still a church, not a social action organization.
"It's a church where we talk about the big, unanswerable questions. So along with all of that other work, we take time, we take silence, we use music to explore the questions that cannot be answered," Allen said. "And there's something that's really deepening and beautiful experience. And that's the church experience."
Jane Field, with the Maine Council of Churches, says she hopes the increased visibility that the Unitarian Universalist and Quaker denominations are experiencing right now might lead to more people reconsidering their assumptions about religion.
"Maybe a trend will flow out of this, for people to give us a second chance to think about not just the damage and the horror that's been done, but the good," Field said. "Because it's there. I know it's there. I see it every day."
