The Boothbay region became a home in December 2016 to Christians looking for a new way to serve the Lord. The Anchor Church began with a mission to reach out to Christians who did not attend regular church services. A man who has devoted his life’s work to establishing new churches was hired, first to establish the church, and later, to lead the new congregation. 

Pastor Roger Ferrell, 49, has spent the last 24 years helping communities establish new churches. He was assisting a Belfast project when he received a call from Daniel and Teri Bates about helping to establish a new church. Ferrell accepted the call to come to Boothbay. He  planned only a short stay, but was convinced to become the full-time pastor.

“I asked about who they planned on being the pastor, and they responded, ‘Well, we thought you would.’ So I’ve been here ever since, and this is my favorite place.”

In the past four years, Ferrell has led a congregation ranging between 40 and 75 members in a 4 p.m. Sunday service, weekly Bible study groups and volunteerism in community projects. What makes the Anchor Church unique is there is no church building.

Four years ago, the church began holding indoor services in Boothbay Harbor at The Gallery, which is now Farm 23, and later, at the Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor’s clubhouse. In the spring, the church holds outdoor services at Barrett’s Park in Boothbay Harbor. This year, the church remained outside a little longer due to the coronavirus. The local Rotary Club closed its clubhouse due to the ongoing pandemic. So this left the church to either find a new temporary winter location or return to online services.  

In October, the church believed it had found a winter home. Edgecomb Eddy School officials agreed to rent the gymnasium for Sunday services. But a few days later, school officials received several complaints about the decision and rescinded their invitation. So the church has returned to online services. In its short existence, the church has focused more on spreading fellowship than finding a permanent indoor location. “Not having a building is more of an intentional choice. It frees us up by not having to take care of a building and we can focus on doing a lot of volunteer work in the community,” Ferrell said.

The church has regularly participated in several Boothbay region community events for Boothbay Region Land Trust, Food 4 Thought, Set for Success, Rebuilding Together, Pumpkinfest and Regatta and Boothbay Railway Village. The church’s commitment to volunteerism attracted member Nancy Van Dyke. She joined at the church’s inception. “It was new and sounded interesting so I joined,” Van Dyke said. “I firmly believe in getting out into the community and serving God. That’s what a church is all about. I just love this church.” 

Van Dyke is happy she joined. Ferrell is equally happy with his decision to stay with the new church.

His passion is establishing new churches in areas with traditionally low church attendance. Years ago, he read Maine and Vermont had the lowest attendance in the country so he focused on bringing the word of God to New England and eastern Canada. In 1997, he had never performed a wedding, baptism, or funeral, but Trinity Baptist Church in Portland reached out to him. The then 24-year-old brought his family to Maine to serve the Lord with an $800 per month starting salary. “The church was about to close. They called me by phone and told me they were looking for someone to save their church,” he said.

The former Christian rock musician has dedicated his life to starting new churches. “I was doing what I wanted to do (being a musician). I had briefly served as a youth pastor working with teens. I never thought about devoting my life to starting new churches until one night when I was called by the Lord,” he said.

Ferrell has worked on establishing eight other Midcoast Maine churches, for a total of about 75 new churches in Maine, South Carolina, Georgia and Canada.

Ferrell said all the Boothbay region church’s sermons are on Facebook Live or online with a consistent audience from St. Andrews Village and an occasional international audience which has reached 905 visits.