On Sunday, June 17, the Reverend Maria Hoecker, rector of St. Columba’s in Boothbay Harbor, will open the All Saints summer season. Together St,Columba’s and All Saints represent the Episcopal presence on the Boothbay peninsula, and work closely together to provide outreach support in the Boothbay region. People of all faiths are invited to attend the 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services of Holy Communion. A social hour with refreshments will follow the 10 a.m. services. At 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 19, Rev. Hoecker will lead a discussion group on the church porch.

A native of Kansas, Hoecker received her master’s of divinity from the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Upon graduation from seminary she served as associate rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Brevard, North Carolina and served on the diocesan council of Western North Carolina. Hoecker came to St. Columba’s in 2011.

In the summer of 2017, Hoecker embarked on a four-month study sabbatical fully funded by the Lilly Foundation. This highly selective grant provides clergy and parish renewal opportunities both at home and abroad. In August 2017, Hoecker traveled to England with her daughter Chloe, a rising senior at the University of Maine, Farmington, and son Max who will be a freshman at Rochester Institute of Technology this fall. Together they visited cathedrals and historic sites throughout the United Kingdom. After Chloe and Max returned home, Hoecker traveled to Salisbury-Sarum College, Lindisfarne, Durham, Edinburgh and the Isle of Iona for sabbatical studies in Celtic Christian Spirituality with noted theologian John Philip Newell. (Last Sunday at St. Columba’s, Hoecker celebrated the feast of the Irish missionary who gave his name to the Boothbay Harbor church, by wearing a stole from Iona). With the Lilly grant funding St. Columba’s has been able to host an ongoing series of retreats, worship and concerts with a Celtic Christian focus.

Hoecker is currently serving as president of the Standing Committee for the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, working closely with Bishop Stephen Lane as chair of his Council of Advice. As president she is also shepherding various diocesan committees through the two-year process of electing Maine’s new bishop in 2019. Hoecker is also a founding member of the steering committee for the Maine Episcopal Network for Justice. In July 2018 she will represent the Diocese of Maine as an alternate clergy deputy at the General Convention of The Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas. Closer to home, in addition to sharing ministry in Christ with members of All Saints by-the-Sea and St Columba’s Church, Hoecker is a board member for the Boothbay Region Community Resource Council and serves as chair of the Governance Committee.

All Saints by-the-Sea is on Southport Island on All Saints Road about two miles on your left as you drive south on Route 238 (look for the Episcopal Church sign by the side of the road). Parking is available along Route 238, or if necessary, in the limited number of handicapped parking spaces off All Saints Road. A golf cart will ferry persons from the handicapped lot to the church steps. You may also come to church by private boat or by the tour boat Novelty, which leaves Boothbay Harbor from Pier 8 at 9 a.m. Novelty picks up passengers from the church dock at 11:40 a.m. for the return trip. The very beautiful and simple wood chapel is open for quiet prayer and meditation during the week.