Pastors of Peoples Number 10
1999 Charlotte Nachbar With the departure of the Schusters our new appointment was the first female pastor in the history of Peoples, considering that Wanda Stahl had been serving in the role of Growth Coordinator prior to this. Charlotte came to us from Newport, Rhode Island. She and a sister and brother had been raised in Manchester, NH. She had been employed as a speech/language pathologist in Manchester. She had worked both for the school system and also worked privately. Charlotte had been brought up in the Jewish faith and while she had been converted to Christianity and entered ministry in the Methodist Church her husband, Bob, and their two daughters remained as strong members of the Jewish faith. Bob and Charlotte also were the proud grandparents of 3 boys and one girl. Charlotte brought a different perspective to our understanding especially, but not exclusively of the Old Testament. She had been trained in the Disciple program and began leading a second group since another had been previously established and led by Andrea Hodgkins Harvey and Diane Yoshua. Sadly Charlotte became very ill within a few months and would not be able to return to the pulpit. With her early departure the District Superintendent needed to assist the Staff Parish Committee in finding a suitable replacement.
Two interims would serve out the time until a permanent replacement might be made at the June New England Conference of 2000.
2000 Sherwood Treadwell Most of Reverend Treadwell’s ministerial career had been in the former New Hampshire Conference. The most recent appointment that he had served was actually at the Church on the Cape located in Cape Porpoise, Maine. In the short time that he was with us the congregation really gained a great deal of love for he and his wife Nancy. He was an outstanding preacher, easy to work with, and spiritually led. I know that all concerned would love to have had him stay at Peoples for a long time. Unfortunately Sherwood had serious back problems and had to resign due to his health.
2000 William Doughty Bill Doughty was also a retired pastor who had come to live in the Portland area with his wife Shirley after serving for many years in the Western Massachusetts/Northern Connecticut area. He would serve from April to June at Peoples. Even after his appointment to Peoples he and Shirley would often attend church. In more recent years they had been faithful in serving the Lord as members of Clark Memorial in Portland. One of their children, Bill Jr. was and educator and for some time served as one of the Assistant Superintendents of Schools in Portland. In more recent times Bill Jr. has been on the staff of the Education Department at UNE.
2000-2005 William Beedie The New England Conference in 2000 appointed Reverend Doctor William Beedie and his wife Cynthia to the parish at Peoples. What Peoples was looking for was a Pastor that would understand the"revolving door" feeling that members of Peoples had been experiencing for the past few years. Bill had lost his first wife to cancer. Cynthia had lost her first husband to the same disease about the same time. Bill and Cynthia had been married on June 17, 1989. He had had two children, Bill and Laura and Cynthia also had two children, Ginny and Ken. Between them they have 9 grandchildren. Beyond preaching one of the passions that the two shared was the game of golf. Together they also traveled extensively. In a newsletter article that Bill wrote for the church he introduced Cyn as having grown up in Malden, MA. She had been employed by Craig Supply as an Accounts Payable/Receivable Clerk for 24 years. Eventually she was named Systems Manager. Cyn is the possessor of many talents. She has done sewing and knitting and a lot of baking. Cyn’s quilts are prized possessions by members of the family and others. More information will follow in a printed edition of Roots of Peoples.
2005- Jamie and Gwyneth Arrison The appointment of a co-pastorship for Peoples was a first. Both are graduates of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Gwyneth graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Jamie in Electrical Engineering. They moved to the Camden area where they found employment. They also became active members of the John Street United Methodist Church. It was through their involvement there that they both were inspired to pursue the Christian ministry. Both sought and were accepted as theological students at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Completing their program of studies they returned to the New England Conference where they were appointed to serve at Peoples. They are among the very few pastors that were appointed to Peoples before ordination or having served other churches. Both have continued to meet requirements of full ordination with Gwyneth having achieved the status of Elder on June 20, 2009. The Arrisons are the parents of three young children, Faith, Dena and Alexandrew.