Pastors of Peoples Number 9

Pastors of Peoples Number 9

1964-1974 Louis Sylvester Staples Reverend Staples has served as a practicing pastor for longer than anyone else in the recorded history of the Maine Conference. By the time he came to serve at Peoples he had officially retired and settled for a nice cozy retirement in a bungalow near the top of Meetinghouse Hill on Margaret Street.. Once he retired, the Staff Parish Committee and Pastor Ellis asked if he and his wife Bernice might serve as visiting pastors for Peoples. All the years of experience that he had in Maine churches would bring expertise in one of his favorite means of serving to Peoples. Reverend Staples had been born in Boston, MA on October 14, 1889. He was the son of a Methodist minister, Reverend Alanson Staples. His father was also a medical doctor and had brought a unique position to the churches he had served. Louis Staples had graduated from Cony High School in Augusta and then graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in 1912. He then matriculated in the Boston University School of Theology. In time one of his sons would also become a pastor in the Southern New England District and another son took after his grandfather and became a medical doctor. Among the churches that Reverend Staples served were South Berwick beginning in 1914 and then followed by Washington Avenue in Portland, Second Church in Kittery, Livermore Falls, South Paris, Bangor, Gardiner, and Clark Memorial in Portland. Following his appoint to Clark he served for the next 6 years as the District Superintendent of the Bangor District. Before retiring in 1962 he completed his longevity by serving at Elm Street in South Portland. He and Bernice had served long and lovingly in all of his appointments. It was our good fortune to experience his care and compassion in the last 10 years of his life. He died January 30, 1975. Also his wife, Bernice soon followed him on December 9, 1975, a loving partnership to the end of this life.
Perhaps one of the little known facts about Pastor Staples was that his name was put in nomination for Governor of Maine during the 1930’s on the Prohibition Ticket.

1971-1978 Irvin (Gene) Koelker: Reverend Koelker brought yet another change to the pulpit and operation of Peoples. With Betty, his wife, and Tom and Jane their youngest son and daughter, the Koelkers brought a new exuberance to the church’s leadership. Two older sons, John and Steve, were already on their own and at least at that time still felt ties to the previous community they had served, Berwick. Tom also felt ties to that area and while finishing high school at South Portland married his high school sweetheart and moved back to the area of Berwick. Steve in time came to find employment in the South Portland School System and to this date serves as one of the system gurus on technology. Jane, after graduation for South Portland, moved away and for some time lived in the Corinna area. The first appointment that Gene had served was in Corinna even before he had finished his formal theological education. The Koelkers really opened their parsonage home on Beverly Street and a number of church celebrations were held there at the time. Following his years at Peoples, Gene was moved to Clark Memorial in Portland where he faced a number of challenging financial issues left by a previous pastor. Serving for two years, Gene was called to serve as a chaplain at the City of Faith Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was there for two years and then returned to serve in the capacity of pastor in First United Methodist in Bangor beginning in 1985. At the end of a long stint there Gene and Betty returned to Southern Maine and served at the Methodist Church in Saco. It was while there that he led the parishioners in making a decision to close the doors of the downtown church and build a new church off Route 5 on the outskirts of town. This church has been named the Cornerstone United Methodist Church. Increased growth in the church population indicates that it was a right move for the congregation. Pastor Koelker retired again this year, 2003. While retiring "again" Gene was willing to accept an appointment on a part time basis at First Methodist in South Portland. He and Betty served there until this year, 2009 retiring officially at the New England Conference in June. Gene has published two books of readings. One is titled, "Maine Things" written in 1974 and" The Gray Bench Reflections on Aging" published in 2002. Both of these little paperback books hold inspiring messages reflecting on everyday events.

1979-1996 Linwood R. Arnold "Lin" as he was lovingly called was the son on a Methodist minister, Richard Arnold, who while Lin was in high school was appointed to Elm Street Methodist Church in South Portland. Lin attended and graduated from South Portland High School. He and several of his friends belonged to the Youth Group at Elm Street. He and others such as Mike Davis (who became Lin’s brother-in-law) John Folley (Our own Andy Folley’s dad) and Ron Messer entered theology school in the early 1970’s and in time became pastors of a variety of congregations. Judy Baker was also a member of the youth group that continued into their 20’s at Elm Street. Eventually Lin and Judy were married and are the proud parents of Matt, Tim, Pat, and David. Lin and Mike both shared in their first sermons that were given from the pulpit of Peoples. Before coming to Peoples by appointment, Lin served at Newport from 1972-75 and Eliot from 1976-1978.
The appointment to Peoples was momentous for Peoples, the Arnold family and the community. Lin’s appointment was the longest in the entire history of the church. Many people who became parishioners never knew any of the other pastors of the church by service only by the historical record. Activities such as a visit to the Holy Land, Heifer Projects, more work on Ellis Hall, a growing congregation and an increased number of musical activities were noteworthy during the tenure of the Arnolds. It was also the period when the church took a very significant role in resettling Cambodians who had been displaced in their own homeland. There was an ecumenical spirit about Peoples involvement since the presiding sponsor of refugee resettlement activities was the Catholic Diocese of Maine. It was difficult for Peoples as well as the Arnolds when the new bishop and cabinet of the New England Conference wanted Lin to bring his talents to another parish. The parish that was settled on was School Street in Gorham where as of this writing Lin is still serving. Friendships remain as the Arnolds bought a home across from the old parsonage on Beverly Street. All of the children have since graduated from South Portland and have started their own families. While Lin has served at Gorham a new church has been built on a beautiful plot of land outside of the confines of downtown Gorham. The congregation since the move has seen rapid growth and service in the area.

1996-1999 F. William Schuster Bill Schuster and his wife Janet came to us from having served as an interim pastor at Thornton Heights United Methodist Church. Prior to that appointment he had served the United Methodist Church for a number of years as a Chaplain at hospitals in New England including Hartford and Deaconess in Boston. He had interned in Chaplaincy in Cincinnati, Ohio. Before entering Chaplaincy, Bill originally with his wife Janet came from the Florida Conference in 1963 and was first appointed to serve a church in Machias and then Strong. While here we hosted the Bishop Susan Hassinger for a Cluster Meeting in November of 1996. Well attended, this meeting was the impetus for an initiative at Peoples that would lead to a Focus Team that was responsible for creating new Mission and Vision statements. The group creating these statements met for nearly two years and eventually came up with much more than statements only. Bill was assisted ably by the Growth Coordinator at the time, Reverend Wanda Stahl-Hodgkins and several parishioners. Wanda would eventually become one of the Resource people for the New England United Methodist Conference. Pastor Bill Schuster was legally blind and provided a different perspective on religious and societal matters. It was also during this time frame that the church celebrated the 50th anniversary of the church location on Broadway. A gala meal and celebration was held with several former pastors and parishioners returning and participating in the celebration. In 1999, Reverend Schuster was moved to a two-point charge in Southwestern New Hampshire that included the town of Keene and the small village of Marlow. Before officially retiring Bill continued to serve the Marlow church part time. Janet and Bill have two grown daughters, one of whom had a child in 2001. The other daughter, Elizabeth, had worked for a British company with offices in the World Trade Center but fortunately was on assignment away from the building on September 11, 2001.