BANGOR, Maine — The Rev. James Haddix has been described as looking like Moses and sounding like God due to his white hair and beard and his deep bass voice.
Haddix, 70, of Holden retired Dec. 31 after 47 years in ministry, 26 of them at All Souls Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, located at the corner of State Street and Broadway. He delivered his last sermon there on Christmas Day. The worship service on Dec. 25 is usually sparsely attended but last month the church was full for the pastor’s final service before retirement.
“I have no plans beyond retirement,” Haddix said a few days before he delivered his last sermon. “I just know that there will be things for me to do.”
One of those things will include visiting grandchildren in South Carolina and Montana.
“My wife, Fay-Ellen [Haddix], would like a sunnier, warmer climate for part of the year but I don’t want to move, so, we are negotiating,” he said.
Haddix was ordained on Oct. 2, 1971. He served the Congregational Church of Temple, New Hampshire, for more than two decades, first as a seminary student at Boston University, and then as its minister, before being called to All Souls in 1990.
His roots, however, are in the Midwest and Methodism. Haddix was raised in Shell City, Missouri, located 160 miles south of Columbia, Missouri. His gifts for ministry were identified early and by age 16, he was a lay minister and taking on adult leadership roles. Haddix wanted to be a doctor not a minister, but God’s call and the urgings of his pastor were strong.
During his more than quarter of a century in Bangor, Haddix has been a presence in the city’s faith and secular communities.
“The Rev. Haddix, technically, was the minister at All Souls but he was accepted and embraced by the greater Bangor community and ministered to all of us,” City Councilor and Penobscot County Treasurer Dan Tremble, a Catholic, said last month. “Not being from Bangor, it didn’t take him long to figure out what we’re about and how to bring out the best in all of us whether we were a member of his congregation or not.”
The Rev. Jerry Mick, senior pastor at Crosspoint Church, formerly called Bangor Baptist, called Haddix’s influence on the spiritual component in Bangor “unmeasurable.”
“His leadership goes far beyond his parish and incorporates other sectarian and non-sectarian entities,” Mick said last month in an email. “He is the most respected clergyman in the city and his longevity, perseverance, and stability is an inspiration to people of faith and people who do not profess faith. He will be greatly missed.”
Haddix was modest about his influence in the community as an individual.
He said that he occupied the office of pastor and that holds some weight in the community, in part, because All Souls is related to the founding church for the city. It had a long history with Bangor Theological Seminary, that held its closing service at the church, and, historically, its members have been important to the economics of the community.
“It’s had a great influence over the years,” Haddix said of congregations past and present.
The biggest change Haddix has seen in his nearly half century in ministry is the role faith plays in people’s lives now compared to when he was ordained.
“The influence of religion in general is more ambiguous now, I think,” he said. “Maine is among the least religious states in the union. Nationwide, people that go to church now think they have fulfilled their obligation if they show up once or twice a month, whereas, in the old days, they came every Sunday.
“So, there have been changes like that, just in habits, in trying to juggle family life and other obligations,” he continued. “And, we [at All Souls] feel that particularly strongly because our people are involved in many different institutions — medical, academic, economic, social — and many keep their focus on other very important causes so that takes a toll sometimes on institutions [such as the church]. I’ve seen that change.”
He said that All Souls’ very strong focus on mission outside its walls and the congregation’s commitment to maintaining and improving its historic building served the members well during his tenure. Membership continues to grow because of that focus.
“Mission work, that’s really the key to what we’ve done here,” he said. “We don’t just go off to foreign lands. Our people are involved in the homeless shelter, Salvation Army soup kitchen, the Street Pastor program. People are just trying to be a Christly presence, in a quiet way.”
Ben Sprague, 33, of Bangor grew up attending All Souls. A member of the Bangor City Council, Sprague said Thursday that Haddix’s focus on mission and the community shaped his own personal philosophy.
“I think the most important thing he did was give me a sense of purpose and teach me that I have a responsibility to use the gifts I’ve been given to make the lives of people better, if I can,” he said. “He also taught me that the institutions in our community matter.
“There’s kind of an anti-institutions feel nationwide,” Sprague continued. “I think one of the things Dr. Haddix believed and instilled in me is that institutions like local government, nonprofits and churches have an important role to play and really form the cornerstone of Bangor. I believe it’s important to give back to the community through those institutions.”
Councilor Sprague’s father, Jonathan Sprague, 65, of Bangor said Thursday that he began attending All Souls in 1952 with his parents.
“He’s had a tremendous impact on our family,” the elder Sprague said. “He baptized our grandchildren, married two of our children and presided over my parents’ funerals. He’s been the spiritual leader for many people in the church during those kinds of life events as he has been for my family.”
The Rev. Renee Garrett, minister of Christian nurture at All Souls for the past 30 years, is serving as interim pastor until the Rev. Chad Poland, the pastor at Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church, becomes senior pastor at All Souls this spring. The men met while Poland was attending Bangor Theological Seminary and Haddix was adjunct faculty at the now closed facility.
“Dr. Haddix and I are different people with different gifts but we share a love for the church and a commitment to those whom God calls into its fold, a commitment to make known to all people the love of God and the good news of Jesus Christ,” Poland said last month in an e-mail. “I’m honored and humbled to be given the opportunity to build my ministry upon the foundation which he has laid. Any minister would be.”