News & Events
News & Special Events at Union Church
We hold many events during the year that offer opportunities to gather, share a meal, enjoy a special holiday, and we always welcome those in the wider community to join us.
Upcoming Events
The Skit – High Hopes
On August 26th Nancy Bancroft presided at our Sunday worship using the theme of hope. Members of the congregation helped with the ministry to children
Summer 2020 Speaker Series
Our 20th Annual Summer Speaker Series 2021, Rekindling Our Love for This Living Earth, will take place again this summer as we welcome great thinkers, writers, and activists to participate in our 20th Anniversary celebration of earth. As with every series, 100% of proceeds go directly to charitable partners . . .
Blessing of the Animals 2019
The Annual Animal Blessing occurred August 21, 2019. About a dozen dogs received a blessing from Pastor Paula and some gifts for each were given.
21st Annual Speaker Series
at Biddeford Union Church
Union Church is delighted to present our 2022 roster of exciting speakers, representing a range of creative expression, including storytelling, memoir, fiction, poetry, and photography.
Please save the following dates, all Thursdays.
July 14
The Telling Room. Nationally recognized literary arts non-profit; empowers youth, Maine- and foreign-born, to write stories about the urgency of their lives and futures, and to tell the world.
July 28
Kerri Arsenault. Award-winning author of bestseller Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains. Maine Literary Book Award for Nonfiction; Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award.
August 11
Susan Conley. Critically acclaimed, best-selling author (Landslide; Elsey Come Home; Paris Was the Place; The Foremost Good Fortune; Stop Here, This is the Place). Co-founder, The Telling Room.
August 25
Meg Weston. Poet, writer, and photographer, with a reverence for the earth and obsessed with volcanoes. Co-founder, The Poets Corner. Retired President, Maine Media Workshops + College. Former President, Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram. Former Chair, Trustees of the University of Maine System.
- Events will be in-person at Union Church, if possible, consistent with prevailing guidelines.
- Virtual attendance via Zoom will be provided for every event.
- The events will start at 7:00 PM and run to approximately 8:30 PM.
- Advance tickets will go on sale, online-only, beginning May 1. Watch for more information.
- $60 for a series ticket; $20 for a ticket to an individual event.
- As always, 100 percent of our proceeds benefit Union Church Mission Projects.
Thank you for your past and continued support of the Union Church Summer Speaker Series.
We look forward to seeing you!
Summer Speaker Series Committee, Union Church
Blessing of the Animals
Each year in the late summer, early fall, we hold a Blessing of the Animals at our church. We welcome all in the community to join us and bring their animal companions for a blessing. We collect donations to benefit the local Animal Welfare Society and other groups who care for animals.
Holiday Gatherings
We hold wonderful and fun suppers and parties to celebrate time together, including Mardi Gras, Cinco de Mayo, Easter Breakfast, and our Advent Fireside Chats. Friends from the wider community are always welcomed at these events.
Retreats
We have hosted retreats for Advent and Lent, a Women’s Spirituality Retreat and A Spirituality for the Second Half of Life
Mental Health Support Group and Wellness Group
We have offered opportunities for ongoing support and conversation around topics of wellness, living with or loving someone who is dealing with mental health concerns, and other gatherings to support one another in mind, body and spirit.
Previous Events at Union Church
Union Church has observed some important moments in recent years, including the Memorials of beloved members of our church community as well as the retirement of the long-serving Pastor Jan Hryniewicz.
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS
The Annual Animal Blessing occurred August 21, 2019. About a dozen dogs received a blessing from Pastor Paula and some gifts for each were given. . . .
The Skit - High Hopes
On August 26th Nancy Bancroft presided at our Sunday worship using the theme of hope. Members of the congregation helped with the ministry to children in a skit–High Hopes.
Please enjoy the dramatic transformation of all the grounds around Union Church that just occurred in late June 2020. . . .
Palm Sunday at Union Church featured a parade of all in attendance, waving palms and making music.PASTOR JAN – 15 YEARS OF FRIENDS AND MEMORIES
On Sunday, January 17, 2015 Pastor Jan led her last Worship Service as Pastor of Union Church. Watch this memory-filled video in celebration of her years at Union Church
Marjorie Jamback
June 7, 1933 – December 4, 2019
On December 4th a dear friend of Union Church, Marjorie Jamback, died suddenly at the age of 86. Four years ago she gave this sermon in church.
Tom Bancroft
Union Church and the Bancroft family celebrated the life of Thomas R. Bancroft, who died in February 2020, with an outdoor Memorial Service on a beautiful summer day. Later in the day on that August 26, 2020 a Zoom Memorial Reception occurred so that nearly 90 friends from near and far could come together to celebrate his life and our collective memories of Tom.
Tom Bancroft gave a very personal sermon to us about his life journey exactly two years before we celebrated his life in the Remembrance Garden at Union Church where his ashes are now interned.