The Refuge Church finds a niche among Windham worshippers

The founders of The Refuge Church gather for a
group photo last week in Windham. Clockwise from left
are Tanay Herald, Rev. Adam Herald, Graham
Herald and Anna Herald.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Ed Pierce

It takes more than faith to launch a successful new church and for the Herald Family, their determination, desire to help others and a bit of divine inspiration has led to the creation of The Refuge Church in Windham.

The church was originally conceived by the Rev. Adam Herald and his wife, Tanay, who first met while attending a class in bible college in Massachusetts. After serving as a youth pastor in Illinois for a number of years, the Heralds moved to Windham in June 2016 and began realizing their dream of founding a church in town.

“While I was a youth pastor at Orchardville Church in Centralia, Illinois, our pastor got cancer and passed away,” Rev. Herald said. “When he did, we felt God stirring our hearts saying that it was time to head back to New England to plant a life-giving church.” 

He said this was something that the couple had been praying about throughout their ministry because it was undeniable that there were more churches in the Midwest where Adam is originally from than in New England, where Tanay grew up.

“We decided to partner with the Association of Related Churches of Birmingham, Alabama,” Rev. Herald said. “ARC is one of the leading church-planting organizations in America planting over 900 churches since 2000.”

The Refuge became the very first ARC church in the state of Maine and the couple say that they chose Windham as the location of their new church because they loved the rural feel of Maine as it reminded them of the parts of the Midwest that they loved.

“As we searched for a house, we prayed that God would give us a town that he felt needed a life-giving church,” Rev. Herald said. “While searching for a house, we met a realtor named Carol Kline that told us about a house she owned in Windham that she would be willing to rent to us. That was the only sign we needed, and the rest is history.”

The Refuge church was launched on March 5, 2017 and a little more than three years later, about 150 people typically attend its 10 a.m. Sunday non-denominational services conducted at the Windham High School Auditorium.

According to Rev. Herald, The Refuge strives to create five cultural values among its congregants. Those include being dreamers and risk takers not settling for their dreams to remain dreams; they will be in the town, for the town, fiercely loving people they haven't even met yet; they will be known for what they are for and not what they are against; they will laugh as much as they breathe, as hard they we can stand, and a little louder than normal; and they will be excellent in all things, because excellence honors God, and inspires people. 

Like every other church across America during the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus has presented some formidable challenges for The Refuge this year.

“It's been challenging to gauge metrics of growth in this season. Where normally we count attendance, we are now looking at views and engagement online,” Rev. Herald said. “Now we are able to be involved in small groups or what we call "micro-gatherings" where we meet in houses to watch the service together. I believe God works through relationships because ultimately that is what he desires for us, a relationship with him. Relationships can be challenging in a season of social distance."

Despite the obstacles that COVID-19 has posed for the young church and its congregants, Rev. Herald says that The Refuge has risen to the occasion.

“Our church has responded tremendously to the financial needs in this COVID season,” he said. “We were able to donate $6,000 to the Lunch4Kids Windham Raymond Nutrition Program, as well as raise a fund of $5,700 to be able to give to people that are financially struggling in this time. We've sent money to Pakistan, the Dominican Republic and Nepal, as well as given to local families that were in need.”

The success that the Heralds have found with The Refuge Church has prompted ARC to plant a second church in Maine to be called The Pines Church in Bangor which is scheduled to open in March 2021 and led by Rev. Matt Gioia.

The entire Herald Family is involved with The Refuge Church including the couple’s daughter, Anna, 14, who will be a freshman at Windham High School, and their son, Graham is 12, who will be in seventh grade at Windham Middle School this fall.

Because of the pandemic, The Refuge has been streaming services online at www.refugemaine.church or on The Refuge Maine Facebook page. 

Rev. Herald said The Refuge is deeply honored to be included among the other churches in Windham.

“We want to come in standing on the shoulders of those who have done it before us,” he said.

And his message for those looking for a place to worship is simple.

“If you are searching for belonging, we believe that The Refuge is a place where all people can belong because sometimes you have to belong, before you believe,” Rev. Herald said. “Know that our goal at The Refuge is to move everyone, regardless of where they are to one step closer to Jesus. We want people to be where God wants them. If that is at The Refuge, then come on” <

Cinco de Mayo Fundraiser Fiesta planned to help families impacted by fire by Elizabeth Richards

The community is pulling together to support families affected by the fire on April 19^th at A La Mexicana restaurant in Raymond with a Cinco de Mayo Fundraiser Fiesta.
 

The event is coming together very quickly with an outpouring of support from people throughout the local area, from Bridgton to Portland, said Laurie Mason. Mason and her husband Bob own the

building that A La Mexicana was housed in.

Mason said they plan to rebuild as soon as possible, but working with insurance is a long process. This fundraiser isn’t about the rebuilding the property, though. The money raised will go towards helping the families - owner Jose Chavez and his family, along with staff members and their families. “For us, it’s a building,” Mason said of the impact the fire had. “But for Jose and his family, it’s his life.”

“Jose and his family have been tenants for many years now. They are awesome tenants,” Mason said. “They are hard-working, family oriented, honest and produce a much-loved product for the community. Everybody around here loves them,” she said. An outpouring of well wishes and comments on the restaurant’s Facebook page shows just how popular the restaurant is in the

community.

An announcement for the event on the Maine Mayhem Women’s Football Facebook page read, “We never know how quickly our lives can be impacted by tragedy. It could happen to any of us . . .  in an instant. On Wednesday, April 19th the A La Mexicana Restaurant caught on fire. There were numerous families impacted by this tragic loss. When tragedy hits there is nothing more beautiful than an entire community rallying together to help bring a little peace to all the chaos.”

And rally they have. Adam Herald, pastor of the Refuge Church in Windham, said he knew Chavez’s sister-in-law, Jerica Parker, from building relationships in the community. “When I heard about the fire, I asked what we could do to help,” he said. “Any time there’s an obvious need in the community, I think the church needs to step up and say, ‘what can our role be and how can we get the community working together’?” In this case, in addition to helping get the word out for the event through Herald’s contacts, the Refuge Church secured the hall for a non-profit rate, and will be paying the cost of that rental.

While they were talking, Parker brought up the fact that Cinco de Mayo was a very lucrative day for the restaurant, Herald said. The idea to organize something around that day was born, almost without realizing how quickly it was approaching.

Mason said the fundraiser has certainly been on a fast track to organize. “We’re putting it together in a week. It’s not going to be perfect. But I keep telling everyone when you’re doing something with love, you can’t do it wrong.”

The outreach from the community has been phenomenal, Mason added.  Within hours of the fire, she said, she was receiving phone calls asking what people could do to help. She said that seeing this kind of response makes her feel good about the world again. “There’s a ray of sunshine, and hope, and an outpouring of love,” she said.

Along with Parker, Herald, Chavez and the Masons, some of those heavily involved in the quick organization of the event include Caitlin Faria, Mandy and Marty Greco, Alicia Paige, Anne and Dave Murch, Dave and Kathy Gerrish, Kathy and George Jillson, and Robin Brown. Point Sebago has donated a 5-night vacation as a door prize, and many other local vendors have stepped up to donate raffle and auction items. The Wrong Road band, who will perform at the event, also donated their time.

Click to Apply

Chavez will be providing the food for the event. He said the support they have received means a lot to him. “I never imagined it was going to be like this,” he said. “I want to say thank you so much for caring so much.”

The Fundraiser Fiesta will be held on Friday, May 5 from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Windham Veterans Center, 35 Veterans Memorial Road, Windham. The event will include a buffet dinner, live music, raffles, an auction, and more. Tickets will be sold at the door, and are free for children 3 and under, $10 for children 4-12, $15 for adults and $40 for a family of four.  For more information, contact Laurie Mason at llbmason@att.net.

Refuge church finds a home in Windham By Stephen Signor

After an extensive, exhausting search for a venue, the Reverend Adam Herald and his wife Tanya have found, at least temporarily, a home for the next three months to startup their new church - The Refuge. Just days ago the Heralds and their dream team were setting up and rehearsing for their inaugural day of worship at the Windham High School auditorium that commences this Sunday March 5 at 10 a.m.

Pastor Adam Herald rehearsing at WHS auditorium

Their names may be familiar having gained some exposure through what they call, interest hangouts. To incite awareness in their church, the Heralds have been conducting information services at locations like the Dugout, the Veterans Center, the library and for a few weeks at Pats Pizza, since moving here from Illinois just 7 months ago. As time passed, interest grew and helped set the stage for their ultimate goal of conveying a message.  “With a last name that means ‘messenger’, it’s part of who I am. As a youth pastor for 12 years and having attended Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, there was always the desire to be a church planner”, shared Herald.

The name Refuge came as a message from the obvious point that is found in the book of Psalms: Chapter 91. “The whole passage talks about refuge, but not just refuge, but making God our Refuge. He becomes that place we can run to during the storms of our lives. Our battle cry is: Never be overtaken. It’s a good mantra to have based on scripture. You can’t go wrong in my opinion,” stated Herald.  

Expect the unexpected. First impressions are important. To this end, as part of what they call a dream team, a first impression team, or parking lot crew for the layman; they will be there to greet church goers. “So many churches put all of the emphasis on the music and on the message. But what happens from street to seat, is the most important part of our first impression team,” explained Tanya Herald. To emphasize her point she added, “We tell the team - you are not parking cars, you’re parking people. By the time they’ve made it into the service, they will have made enough connections to gain our trust and listen to what we have to say. Their first impression will be made within the first 11 minutes.”

But that’s just the beginning. With a simple stage design and lighting, there is just enough to enhance the worship experience. “We know that people are used to the boring standup, sit down experience and we wanted to bring something that’s alive,” explained Adam Herald. “It’s to interact with all the senses. So many times when you go to church it’s just auditory. So if we can add visual, they start to connect and feel things more,” added Tanya Herald.

To dispel and disperse any fear out there that the Refuge may even remotely resembles a cult, Tanya explained, “Cults are more about their own agenda and we are not about that. We have credibility through our church planning organization Association of Related Churches (ARC) that has funded us, trained us and released us to this area.” ARC has planted over 600 churches in its 15 year existence all over the country. This is the first church planned through ARC in the state of Maine.

Furthermore, like most services this service is geared for everyone regardless of age. But unlike most services, the Refuge offers designated spaces by age. “We have rented the auditorium for the Bigs (adults), the cafeteria or Eagles Nest for the Middles (grades K to 5) and two class rooms for the Littles (ages 3 to 5),” shared Adam. “This is done so that parents can relax. There is no role at the Refuge that is not the most important role. To insure this, the ‘team’ has been trained for weeks and undergone background checks, done through the state of Maine; we’re going by the state of Maine regulations of adult to child care ratio. We also have different policies and procedures in place, plus there are first responders on site at all times. We’re not here to make a new church; we are here to make a new culture. We want people to say this is a church for people who don’t do church.” added Tanya Herald. 

With Easter the second largest attended service of the year, the strategic timing couldn’t be more perfect, perhaps divine. “We’re starting March 5, so that gives us six weeks until Easter.”

FMI visit: www.arcchurches.com/  and or to pre-register children, visit: refugemaine.church/