Welcome to HopeGateWay in Portland, Maine. Inspired by the words of Micah 6:8: our mission is to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. We envision a world that embraces community, celebrates inclusivity, expresses creativity, seeks transformation, and practices simplicity. We invite you to be challenged and inspired by this podcast of previous Sundays' messages.
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Di Phil Worster
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Di Ophelia Hu Kinney
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Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Christie Dahlin, HopeGateWay’s community and administrative coordinator, presents the sermon for the third Sunday of Lent. “Sometimes it feels safer, easier, wiser,” she says, “to do acts of love and care that show love in subtle ways rather than to proclaim them boldly with our words.” In a world that misunderstands or distorts his message, it is …
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill’s sermon for the first Sunday of Lent encourages us to take a leap of faith and follow Jesus, even when we don't know what the future holds, and reminds us that Jesus will always be with us on the journey.Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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In a co-created sermon, facilitated by Ophelia Hu Kinney, people of the HopeGateWay community noted that belonging is prioritized over belief, mirroring Jesus's approach with his followers. Members are committed to creating a just and transformative world through service, witness, and advocacy. They value diversity and inclusivity, striving to crea…
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Ophelia Hu Kinney, Robin Jellis, Wanda Stahl, and Allen Ewing-Merrill discuss HopeGateWay’s core values: community, inclusivity, creativity, simplicity, and transformation. They share personal experiences and insights on how these values have deepened their spiritual lives and impacted their relationships within the church. The discussion highlight…
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"Our mission is to become fully human, to become who we are meant to be," said Rev. Sara Ewing Merrill, in the beginning sermon of the "Belonging" series. "I hope that in the next few weeks you'll feel challenged" as we look at our core values through the lens of Micah 6:8.Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Di Rev. Diane McClanahan
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Welcome Home to 515 is an open house for our new neighbors of the Woodford/Rosemont community as well as an opportunity for HopeGateWay folks to experience our new ministry center. Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill joins Dr. Arthur McClanahan in a conversation, about what to look forward to during Welcome Home and what help is needed for it to be an exciting…
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Di Rev. Dr. Allen Ewing-Merrill
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Di Margaret Menger
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Di Rev. Wanda Stahl
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Di Rev. Melissa Yosua-Davis
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Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Di Ophelia Hu Kinney
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Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Rev. Don Rudalevige continues the “Kindlig Kindred” sermon series with a message that highlights the lessons we can learn from the relationship between Jesus and Zacchaeus.Di Rev. Don Rudalevige
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Focusing upon growth Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor challenges us “to be transparent and honest with someone in your life about your struggles and our dreams, your desires to be different.”Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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“What sustains your kinship? What are the languages of care your kin show you?” Questions that Ophelia Hu Kinney asks in the first message of the six-part sermon series entitled, “Kindling Kinship.”Di Ophelia Hu Kinney
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor, in her sermon for Pentecost Sunday, asked, “May we seek to build a community and a world where all are valued and seen as worthy…May the Spirit flame in us and may we feel her fire enlivening for the work of today and the hope of tomorrow.”Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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The story of the encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus is really one of reparation and transformation suggests Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor. “Transformation might not repair the whole world,” she adds, “but it’s a small step.”Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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“Can I be rooted and grounded in the divine?” asks Rev. Littlefield Grenfell as she continues “The God Who Riots” series. “Maybe while tending the messiness of a wild meadow…we will recognize ourselves in the others who do so as radical protestors who welcome diversity of life and hope and love.”Di Rev. Linda Littlefield Grenfell
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“The last and least are the first and the greatest in the radical, rioting religion of Jesus,” said Rev. Jane Field, Executive Director of the Maine Council of Churches, in her sermon for April 23, 2023, at HopeGateWay. “Did Jesus ask his followers to be doormats” she asked. “Absolutely not.” Jesus’ way “leads to liberation and freedom.” Rev. Field…
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“Christ is Risen! Indeed!” Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor, led the community with that joyou exclamation on Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023. Hearing together the Gospel story (John 20:1-18) of Jesus’ resurrection, all were invited to not hold onto the Jesus of the past, bur rather, let him be free to transform our lives, and the wo…
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“Who do you need to tell that you’re here?” That’s a question that Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor, asks in her March 26, 2023 sermon in the “Good Enough” series. Connecting with Mary Magdalene, Rev. Ewing-Merrill invites the community to think about “What do you need to be fully present even if you don’t feel like you have what …
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill has a conversation with Masey Kaplan of the Loose Ends project. Kaplan and Jennifer Simonic, both avid knitters, realized that they had a shared experience: Friends would often ask them to finish blankets, sweaters, or other projects left undone by deceased loved ones. In just six months there are now over 7,000 volunteers, …
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay's lead pastor introduces the journey of A Good Enough Lent and cites Dr. Kate Bowler's book, Good Enough as a guide for the lenten sermon series and study group.Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor, introduces the new sermon series, “Counterfactual.” In her message she asks, “What does it mean to start over spiritually?” She adds, “I believe that living together in spiritual community is how we can be born of the Spirit. I believe that living as the body of Christ-connected to one another in …
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor, introduces the new sermon series, “Audacity.”Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Maine Needs is making a difference in the lives of people in the greater Portland area and throughout the 16 counties of the State. Located at 332 Forest Avenue, the organization, founded in 2019, strives “to help individuals and families…[to] meet their basic,mmateriao needs by providing donated clothing, hygiene products, household items, and oth…
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Remembering the life of Rev. Ruth Cail Williamson, January 13, 1930, to November 6, 2022. Rev. Virginia Fryer, Pastor of Bow Mills UMC, Bow NH, led the service that included readings and remembrances from family members and music from the choir of the New Brackett Church, Peaks Island ME. Highlights include: Poem of Love (begins at 15:26); Family R…
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Remembering the life of Rev. Ruth Cail Williamson, January 13, 1930, to November 6, 2022. Rev. Virginia Fryer, Pastor of Bow Mills UMC, Bow NH, led the service that included readings and remembrances from family members and music from the choir of the New Brackett Church, Peaks Island ME. Highlights include: Poem of Love (begins at 15:26); Family R…
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In this episode of HopeGateWay Conversations, Ophelia Hu Kinney, HopeGateWay’s worship coordinator, talks with Dr. Art McClanahan about a new way of co-creating worship together. She says, “we’ll be bringing back an old HopeGateWay tradition by gathering around tables for worship” at 509 and doing something similar in the virtual space of the Zoom …
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“It’s precisely because we live in consistently, unprecedented, tumultuous times that our choices start to reveal our values. Our decisions are points of self-definition,” Ophelia Hu Kinney, HopeGateWay’s worship coordinator, observes in her sermon for October 23, 2022. “It is in this blessed everyday that faith gives us the opportunity to follow o…
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“Hope is rooted in the belief nthat our actions on behalfof justice and restoration have implications beyond those we can see,” notes Wanda Stahl, in her sermon for October 16, 2022. Sharing in the “What Good is Faith” sermon series, she adds, “practicing hope is as much about changing us as it is about changing the rest of the world. The two are i…
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor, speaks about community in this message, part of sermon series, “What Good is Faith?”Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Ophelia Hu Kinney, HopeGateWay’s Worship Coordinator, in her sermon for October 2, 2022, says, “faith is good because through it we get to encounter ritual” and ads, “ritual forces us to slow down and to observe carefully.”Di Ophelia Hu Kinney
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Rev. Diane McClanahan HopeGateWay’s Community Care Coordinator notes, in ser sermon for September 25, 2022, that faith “opens us to mystery. It enables us to see our place in the Universe - it grounds us.”Di Rev. Diane McClanahan
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor, concludes HopeGateWay’s “Water Water Everywhere” sermon series with this message from August 28, 2022.Di Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill
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Rev. Larry Kalajainen focuses on the biblical story of Jonah in this message for HopeGateWay’s “Water Water Everywhere” series. He reminds us that while Jonah waited for God to come around to his way of thinking God is still waiting for a whole host of Jonahs to come around to God’s way of loving.Di Rev. Larry Kalajainen
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Ophelia Hu Kinney, HopeGateWay’s worship coordinator, presents the message for August 14, 2022, as part of HopeGateWay’s “Water Water Everywhere” series. She asks, “What is the river that God has parted in your own life? What is the river that God has ferried you across? Were you alone? What is the story that is coming to life through you?”…
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Rev. Sara Ewing-Merrill, HopeGateWay’s lead pastor, believes, “when we value the individual over the many in economics, in public health, or salvation, we fail to see the way that Jesus is inviting us into. Solidarity calls us to be willing to lay down our lives for the sake of our friends and our enemies.” Her message, for August 7, 2022, is prese…
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Margaret Menger, chairperson of HopeGateWay's Leadership Team, presents the concluding sermon in the "Queering Genesis - Joseph" seriesDi Margaret Menger
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In this episode of HopeGateWay Conversations, Sean McConnell, of Episcopal Relief and Development, talks with Dr. Art McClanahan about the tragic impact that the war in Ukraine is having on the more than 7 million who have fled their country and nearly as many who are internally displaced persons. McConnell urges the HopeGateWay community to contin…
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In this Children's Message, Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill reminds us that whatever we face in life, God is with us, every moment.Di Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill
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