Church Cohort Program

Becoming the church where all God’s children belong (and know it)

collaborative, intergenerational ministry for congregations in western Maine and eastern New Hampshire

Learn more about The Hub

Interested in joining a year-long, collaborative community of practice with other churches committed to innovative, inclusive, intergenerational ministry? Your church is invited to apply for the Peace Cohort! Check out the Church Cohort Program informational packet– click here to learn more.

Applications for the Peace Cohort are open now! Applications must be submitted by June 15, 2026 to be considered.

APPLY for the peace cohort

The Hope Cohort: 2025-2026

Since September 2025, these four churches– the Hope Cohort– have journeyed together through a year of collaborative programming and facilitated congregation-led projects to make their churches even more accessible, welcoming, and inviting for people of all ages. Each church will receive $15,000 in sub-grant funding to support their projects, as well as funds for clergy coaching and support for lay leaders designed to make sustainable change for the well-being of each church and their wider community.

First Congregational Church of Eliot, ME

Team: Rev. Beth Hoffman, Karin Allard, Shelby Grondin, Lydia Hoffman, Mark Hoffman, Robert Molinaro, Dayle Shiverick, and Diane Wendorf

Project overview: Renovating a room in the church to create the Heart Art Studio, a church and community space for exploring faith through music and arts; offering creative workshops and programs

Lutheran Church of the Nativity, North Conway, NH

Team: Rev. Nathan Hall, Miriam Englund, and Laura Hall

Project overview: Replacing pews with chairs in the sanctuary to create flexible options for worship and community events; updating the Alcove Maker Space in the sanctuary to enhance creative space for children and youth; imagining non-traditional worship experiences like Jazz Vespers

Second Congregational Church of Norway, ME

Team: Rev. Sara Bartlett, Pam Davison, Susan Prindall, and Melissa Wood

Project overview: Expanding community outreach and event opportunities like cribbage night, dinner church services, and outings with the support of a part-time grant project coordinator

West Parish Congregational Church, Bethel, ME

Team: Rev. Tim LeConey, Patricia Boyle-Wight, Gretchen, Liam LeConey, Lincoln, Mary LeConey, Eileen Opie, Melinda Remington

Project overview: Building a playground to support children and families in the church and community; collaborating with accessibility consultants to make the church building and grounds more accessible for all

  • Rev. Debbie Gline Allen presents her keynote address "Faith Formation for All Ages" in the sanctuary as people look on from the pews.
  • Keynote attendees sit in sanctuary pews listening to Rev. Debbie Gline Allen's address.
  • Hope Cohort members sit around tables in the Fellowship Hall.
  • Hope Cohort members stand in a circle in the Fellowship Hall talking to one another.
  • A poster reading "A Church Where All God's Children Belong (and know it)" is covered by sticky notes with writing describing different obstacles to belonging in the church.
  • A poster reading "A Church Where All God's Children Belong (and know it)" is uncovered to show different ways the church can include people of all ages and abilities.
  • Hope Cohort members sit in a circle and sing.
  • Hope Cohort members sit in a circle and sing.
  • Members of the Hope Cohort take a selfie with program director Spencer Law.

Members of the Hope Cohort gathered on Saturday, September 13 at First Church in Bridgton for Hope Cohort Orientation. In the morning, faith formation educator Rev. Debbie Gline Allen presented a keynote address on spiritual formation for people of all ages, suggesting churches have the opportunity to foster meaningful, mutually transformative relationships across generations in ways that are often inaccessible in the digital age. You can watch a recording of Debbie’s keynote in our video vault.

In the afternoon, we kicked off the Hope Cohort program year and the entire Church Cohort Program with 18 representatives from churches across western Maine and eastern New Hampshire. Together, we spent time considering the needs of our churches and communities, the different roles each person plays in creating change in and through the church, and how each congregation might use $15,000 in sub-grant funding to create or support a project, program, or some creative approach to intergenerational ministry in their unique context.

From now until June 2026, these four congregations will journey together through the process of designing, implementing, evaluating, and developing their own intergenerational ministry projects, all working toward the goal of creating a more welcoming, accessible, and caring environment for people of all ages in our churches.

Don’t forget to join our swap shop!

Visit our Swap Shop to request materials your church needs or offer what you have to other churches in northern New England. Have Sunday School materials your church no longer uses? Looking for new-to-you worship resources? Offer and request all kinds of materials in our Facebook group! Please include in your post what you’re offering or requesting, your location, who to contact about your listing or request, and a picture of the material(s) if applicable.

Swap shop

About the Church Cohort Program

This year, the Hub is welcoming our first cohort of churches interested in developing their own innovative practices and spaces for children’s and intergenerational ministry. Cohorts will consist of four to six churches from any denomination that seek to become more welcoming, inclusive, accessible, and nurturing places for people of all ages and backgrounds, and that are prepared to undertake a congregation-wide initiative working toward that vision with the support of the Hub and our staff.

While there will be limited space in each of our cohorts, the possibilities of collaboration with and through the Hub are boundless. Churches and other organizations are invited to attend our orientation and summit events, audit group consulting sessions and workshops, and use all of our online resources.

Applications are currently closed and will re-open again in May 2026.

What are cohorts?

Discover what it means to be in a cohort

Information Packet

From 2025 to 2029, the Hub will accept applications for a new cohort of churches each May, welcome cohorts at an orientation in September, collaborate and consult with cohort churches through the spring, and host a celebratory summit for all Hub churches at Pilgrim Lodge, the Maine UCC summer camp, in May or June of each year. We will welcome a total of four cohorts to the Hub: the Hope Cohort (2025-2026), Peace Cohort (2026-2027), Joy Cohort (2027-2028), and Love Cohort (2028-2029).

What to expect

Sub-grants

Each church in a cohort will work with the Hub and their whole congregation to develop a project that will create or support some kind of innovative, intergenerational ministry.

These projects are supported by sub-grant funds of at least $10,000 per church, and can take any shape a congregation imagines, from putting new furniture in Sunday School classrooms and removing a pew in the sanctuary for accessibility to starting an all-ages ukulele choir and buying new Sunday School curriculum, or something else entirely.

Participation

Cohort participation will require a team of church members and staff to attend several Hub events during their cohort year. Cohort churches will be invited to attend events in the years following their program year, though they will not receive the same individualized consultation or sub-grant funding after their cohort year has ended. Below, you can find a provisional timeline for the first 18 months of the Hub cohort program. Exact dates are subject to change.

Provisional timeline

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