About Us

We are an emerging faith community in Portland, Maine. We are rooted in the Anabaptist (Mennonite) tradition, but you don't have to be Mennonite to join us!

We are guided by Anabaptist values, meaning that we appreciate simplicity, caring for the world and one another. We value theologies of peace and the words and works of Jesus. We care about being neighborly. We like to eat together and most of our gatherings include a meal.

We value children being a part of our community and want them to be themselves in our gatherings.

We believe that every person is made in the image of God and are committed to having no restrictions in membership, leadership, involvement in community, or anything else based on sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, class, or ethnicity.

As a new community we are at the exciting stage of discerning who we are and what we hope to be, join us as we imagine together!

Leadership

Christie Dahlin (Pastor) took many winding roads before landing in her vocation as a Mennonite Pastor and a mama of two little ones. She got her Masters of Divinity at Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry, and then had the joy of pastoring at Hyde Park Mennonite Fellowship in Boise, Idaho for two years. She is ordained in the Mennonite Church USA and is now exploring beginning a Mennonite church community in Portland, Maine. Christie is often taking walks with her family in the woods by their house or biking their family bike with two kids along for the ride.

Julia Baker (Theopoet in Residence) announced to her family some years ago, “I am a poet!” They all told her that they had known this her whole life. Her poems usually form on walks in the woods, along the sea, and salt-marsh rimming her home. Most are written with her kitten Fern in her lap. When not outdoors or at her desk, Julia works as a hospital chaplain.

Julia and Christie collaborate on a Substack - The Pastor and The Poet

Lynn Baker (Godly Play Director) Godly Play acknowledges that children’s play is their work and that children have an innate spirituality. During Godly Play, space is offered where children begin to develop a faith vocabulary, where they engage with story and symbol through listening and wondering and play. It is my joy to engage with the children of Peace by the Waters Mennonite Church in this dynamic setting where the ancient Story becomes alive in their sense of wonder.

I am a grandmother, a former children’s piano teacher, hospital chaplain and now a spiritual director, it is a joy to walk with the children who come to Peace by the Waters Mennonite Church as they discover the aliveness of God’s love through the Church year!