A Unitarian Universalist congregation on Allen Avenue in Portland, Maine: queer-affirming, justice-seeking, and welcoming liberal religion here since the 1820s. Here are the people, what we believe, the building, and how to reach us.
A congregation, not a creed
At Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church, we are growing a community that transforms lives through the power of love. We celebrate diversity, encourage spiritual growth, and promote social responsibility as we travel with care on this earth. We empower our members to share their gifts to build a world of compassion, equality, and freedom.
Unitarian Universalism is unusual in that its members are joined by common values rather than a particular creed. We have no creed you are asked to sign. People here arrive as humanists, theists, agnostics, pagans, Christians, Buddhists, and the still-deciding, and none of that is a problem to be solved.
As Unitarian Universalists, we invite you to bring your beliefs when you come through our doors. Our focus is on how we live together, both as people and as creatures sharing our living planet.
We are a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association. We are a Welcoming Congregation – the UUA’s term for a congregation that has done explicit work on LGBTQ+ inclusion, recognized in 2003 – and a Green Sanctuary, with a commitment to environmental responsibility we declared in 1993. Neither is a plaque on the wall; both are ongoing work.
What UUs believe
Unitarian Universalists put love at the center of a shared life. Love is the power that holds us together, and around it sit six values we keep returning to.
Interdependence
We honor the web of life we are part of.
Pluralism
We are enriched by our differences, not divided by them.
Justice
We work for a fair and compassionate world.
Transformation
We are willing to be changed.
Generosity
We share what we have, freely.
Equity
We aim for fairness in dignity and access.
We do not ask you to recite any of this. We ask you to live alongside it and see what you make of it.
Our minister
The Rev. Tara Humphries, our developmental minister.
Rev. Tara Humphries (they/them) joined A2U2 in August 2022 and serves as our developmental minister. Tara grew up in the greater Portland area and studied sociology at Bates College, then earned a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, a Diploma in Congregational Leadership from Andover Newton, and a Certificate in Transitional Ministry from the Interim Ministry Network.
Before A2U2, Tara worked in homeless-youth services, taught yoga, served as Associate for Community Formation at Andover Newton, and was Assistant Minister at the Eliot Church. These days you will find them running, kayaking, and volunteering with kids and horses at Riding to the Top. They write a weekly letter that is worth reading whether or not you have ever set foot in the building.
A Unitarian Universalist for more than a decade; previously DRE at First Parish UU in Kennebunk, and a lay leader in Little Rock before that.
Dale Churchill
Music Director
Plays piano for Sunday services and directs the choir, from jazz to classical. Studied at UMass Boston; has taught at the Portland Conservatory of Music and Waynflete.
MC
Mari Caminiti
Office Administrator
Keeps the office, bookkeeping, website, calendar, eNews, and building rentals running. A writer and yoga teacher.
Moe Blanchard
Sexton
Looks after the building with the Buildings and Grounds Committee; a photographer who has shown work in the sanctuary.
You can reach any staff member through the office. Contact us.
Board of Trustees
Our governance is in the hands of a seven-member Board of Trustees, elected by the congregation. Trustees serve staggered three-year terms, so up to three seats come up each year. The board meets the second Tuesday of the month, 6:30–8:30pm, and any member is welcome to sit in.
The whole congregation gathers each June for the Annual Meeting, held after a Sunday service, where members vote on the budget for the year ahead and elect officers and trustees. The decisions that steer the church, from calling a minister to taking a congregational stand, are made together this way.
Steve Hansen, President
Pam Jackson, Vice President
Naneen Chace-Ortiz, Treasurer
Kathy Neddeau, Clerk
Sue Malcolm, Trustee
Katrina VanBrugh, Trustee
Terri Grover, Trustee
To reach the board, email the office, leave a note in the board mailbox outside the office, or find one of us before or after a Sunday service – look for the red ribbon on our name tags.
Our story
We go back further than the building suggests. The congregation traces its roots to 1821, when the First Universalist Society of Portland formed; the current building on Allen Avenue was dedicated in 1971, and the congregation took the name A2U2 in 1980.
The dawn redwood now towering nearly a hundred feet over the front garden went into the ground in 1971 as a seedling — younger than it looks, and younger by far than the congregation that planted it. Two centuries is a long time to keep showing up.
We are all on one level: no stairs, no elevators. There are ramps to the entryways, an electric door opener at the sanctuary entrance, accessible parking in the circle by the sanctuary walkway, and an accessible restroom. We keep large-print hymnals and orders of service, and headsets for the hearing impaired. Service dogs are welcome. There is more on the accessibility page.
The space is also open to the wider community. We rent the sanctuary, three meeting rooms, a gathering room, and a commercial kitchen for everything from concerts and conferences to book clubs, support groups, weddings, and memorial services.
Two people shaped this congregation for a long time, and we still feel it. Rev. Dr. Myke Johnson (she/her) was our settled minister from 2005 to 2018 and was named Minister Emerita in 2018; she still lives in Portland and worships here as a member. Tirrell Kimball, our first professional Director of Religious Education, led that program from 1976 to 2001 and was named DRE Emerita in 2010. She died in July 2025, and is remembered with love.
