St. Maximilian Kolbe Church

St. Maximilian Kolbe Church
150 Black Point Rd
Scarborough, ME 04074

Parish History

The headline of the June 23, 1988 edition of Church World declared: "New parish in Scarborough is named St. Maximilian Kolbe." Bishop Edward C. O'Leary issued the following decree on June 15, 1988:

"For the Glory of God and in honor of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, I, the undersigned Bishop of Portland decree the erection of the parish of St. Maximilian Kolbe to be effective on the first day of July in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight. I certify that I have heard from the Presbyteral Council and I further declare that this parish is to be coterminous with the town of Scarborough, Maine. As of July 1, 1988 the Mission Church of St. Jude, formerly entrusted to the parish of Saint Margaret, Old Orchard, is entrusted to Saint Maximilian Kolbe."

It had been years in the making. Catholics living in Scarborough were scattered and attending church in surrounding towns. Many wanted their own parish in their own hometown. Others had become loyal to the parish they were attending, and couldn't envision Scarborough being able to support a parish on its own. So when a group organized to raise money for a Scarborough parish, the rumblings around town were: "We don't need this." When the plans were drawn up, and the scope and magnitude were unveiled, the sentiment was more clearly pronounced: "This is crazy!"

Under the direction of Fr. Steve Concannon, the group rented temporary space while fundraising efforts to raise $1.8 million dollars went underway. Fr. Concannon would later reflect that financially, spiritually, and emotionally, the creation of Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a leap of faith. By the time the church was dedicated on May 27, 1990, the saint for whom it was named for, and the construction and design, had some firsts in history to go along with it. Amazingly, $1.2 of the $1.8 had been raised when the doors opened.

For architectural firm, Archtellic of Portland, Bangor, and Boston, taking on the physical structure and designing all the liturgical furnishings of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish was their first major church project. Architect David Lloyd worked very closely with the building committee, which sought the input of the church community at large. Parishioners noted: "We didn't always get what we wanted, but we always knew what was going on." From the location of the church to the feel of the pew, the parish community was involved. Though many sites had been considered, 17 acres of land located at 150 Black Point Road seemed the most pastoral for the parish church and center that they envisioned.

Indeed, by the time the church was dedicated, the community had an impressive new church and parish center to unveil: a stepped ceiling from 12 feet to 48 feet that crested in the center at 85 feet. With seating capacity of 550 people, padded pews and kneelers, and a 74-foot long aisle, this large worship space would quickly become a blessing for Scarborough's Catholics.

Beyond the physical structure were sacred art and liturgical furnishings. Statues of St. Joseph, the Blessed Mother, the crucifix, and the stations of the cross are the original works of the renowned sculptor Arcangelo Cascieri. Cascieri studied under Ernesto Pelligrin in the Italian style and was the apprentice to Johannes Kirchmayer, the German Gothic wood carver.

Twelve years after the church dedication, 1600 families had registered in the parish. Fr. Stephen Concannon served as pastor until 1997, followed by Fr. Thomas Murphy who served just one year, with Fr. James Morrison being assigned to the parish in 1998. By that time, some in the church community felt that the parish community had already outgrown the space. Talks for the next five years, under Fr. Morrison's direction, would lead to a major church expansion in 2002 which included a free standing rectory on the property, a new wing for religious education classrooms, an expansion to the parish hall, kitchen and parking lot, and a parish courtyard. This expansion would later prove to cause substantial financial hardship to the parish community. The economy had changed and the parish was short on funds to pay for the $1.4 million dollar addition.

As the Diocese of Portland began consolidating parish communities into clusters, parish priests were assigned to more than one parish and some church properties were being sold. St. Maximilian Kolbe embarked on a major fundraising effort to reduce some of its debt. By June 2006, St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish was to become one of four churches in a parish cluster that would include St. Bartholomew's in Cape Elizabeth, St. John's in South Portland, and Holy Cross in South Portland. Efforts were underway to sell St. Jude Mission Church at Pine Point, which was in need of significant maintenance. The sale of the Pine Point property would help reduce the debt the parish had incurred as a result of the St. Maximilian Kolbe Church expansion. Some liturgical furnishings from St. Jude's were placed in the chapel at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church.