How The Hill is reaching people of all walks of life in Portland, Maine
“I’ve been watching your marriage on Facebook, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before” and “I’ve never met anybody like you. You are who you say you are” are just a few of the comments Eric Wood, pastor of FEC’s church plant, The Hill, is hearing from people in Portland, Maine. “Jesus reclined with tax collectors and sinners,” says Eric, “and I was one of them. I want to recline with people the way Jesus reclined with me.” In Portland, Maine, that means getting to know people from all walks of life—and alternative lifestyles—a mission that Eric and his wife, Mandy, have embraced since moving to Maine a little over a year ago. Through Bible studies, public speaking events, barbeques in parks, and Sunday evening worship, they’re seeing relationships blossom as they reach this largely un-churched region for Christ.
“We are becoming missionaries who live in our culture and love in our culture,” says Eric. “I like to tell people that I’m conservative theologically but liberal in how I love people.” The approach is working. Whether he’s speaking about race, hatred, pride, or current events at a public speaking forum, taking immigrant children on a canoe trip, or ministering to people with alternative lifestyles during his shift as a public school bus driver, Eric is seeing people respond to the investment he and his wife are making in the community.
