Jane and Michael Jukes share an embrace as they listen to Islands Community Church’s Valentine’s Day-themed service in the historic Bailey Island Union Church on Feb. 11. The hearts on the wall all feature Greek words for love. (Bisi Cameron Yee photo)
In 1885, a dedicated group of Bailey Islanders not only built a church, but formed an organization to preserve it. For the last 138 years and counting, the Willing Helpers have maintained, repaired and enhanced the historic Bailey Island Union Church, ensuring that it remains an active and contributing part of island life.
“I’m starting with the history, because that’s where it all begins,” said Inez Dudley, the nonprofit’s current president.
The church existed long before there was a building. In the early days, those who wished to worship met first in private homes, then in schoolhouses. As the congregation grew, the Bailey Island Sewing Circle for Social, Moral, and Religious Purposes was formed with the singular goal to build a church.
Land was donated in 1870, and the Sewing Circle began raising money for materials. The church was a community project, built by the island men with the proceeds from suppers and bake sales organized by the island women. Even the children pitched in, Dudley said, gathering stones and lugging them to the construction site by wagon.
The dedication of the church in 1886 marked the end of the Sewing Circle and the beginning of the Willing Helpers. The people were the same, but the mission had changed. Now, instead of building a church, volunteers took on the role of caring for the church — and, in 1913, for the associated cemetery.
Established in 1809 by David Johnson when his 18-year-old son drowned, the Bailey Island Cemetery allowed the community to bury their loved ones close to home. According to Dudley, there are 800 to 1,000 graves in the cemetery, many bearing family names well known on the island: Doughtys and Leemans and Johnsons. Approximately 100 veterans’ graves and more than 200 ancient stones with dates prior to World War II lie within the chain and granite fence.
The cemetery is running out of space, with only cremation plots still available. Those who wish to be interred there must demonstrate island lineage or long-term residency.
Sandi Merrill-Bisson, a Willing Helper and member of the organization’s Cemetery Committee, first visited the cemetery as a child. She often accompanied her great-grandmother, Harriet “Winona” Johnson, a member of the original Sewing Circle. Now she brings her own grandchildren to introduce them to their family history.
She also comes alone. She likes to sit on the stone bench near her grandmother’s grave and look out over the water.
“It makes me feel closer to those that loved me and took care of me and made me who I am,” she said.
According to Dudley, the cost of basic upkeep for church and cemetery is around $12,000 annually, most of which comes from fundraisers and donations. That ongoing community support also has allowed the Willing Helpers to take on a number of significant improvements over the years.
A new ceiling and wainscoting were added to the sanctuary in the 1930s, Dudley said. A sound system came later, and a fan to alleviate the summer heat.
A big push in the 1960s brought a steeple, complete with bell and weathervane. Around the same time, the island men hand-dug the foundation for the vestry and built the imposing front landing using local stone, bed frames and sand. Sunday School children gathered rocks at Pebble Beach for the mosaic plaque that marks the church entrance.
“Everybody had a hand,” Dudley said. “They had to — that was the way of life. If somebody needed a fish house built, you built a fish house.” The same applied to a church.
As the congregation aged, the Willing Helpers took on more projects that addressed issues of mobility and access.
“We are the first to acknowledge that the needs of the community are changing,” Dudley said. Reviving a plan from previous organization President George Johnson, Dudley put out an appeal to fund the installation of a lift in May 2013, knowing it would likely take five years to raise enough money. They broke ground on the $150,000 project a mere 10 months later.
With the installation of a generator and a small kitchen, “We have the ability to house people in the event of a disaster,” Dudley said. “We can put them here and keep them warm and safe.”
“This is now a working community church,” she said.
Islands Community Church members make valentines in the vestry of the Bailey Island Union Church on Feb. 11. The valentines were included in the week’s deliveries from Harpswell Aging at Home’s Meals in a Pinch program. (Bisi Cameron Yee photo)
The Willing Helpers lease the building to the Islands Community Church for Sunday services and pastoral care. A variety of groups use the vestry for meetings, yoga classes, game nights, even pingpong on Tuesday afternoons. Funerals are held at the church. And weddings.
But perhaps the most eagerly anticipated activities are the fundraising suppers that have been organized by the Willing Helpers since the very beginning. The traditional pinnacle of the summer season is the annual lobster stew supper in August. According to Dudley, people are known to book their vacations around it.
Local fishermen donate the lobsters, which are steamed on the church grounds, then brought into the vestry, where volunteers pick the meat.
The suppers have been on hiatus since the start of the pandemic, but the Willing Helpers hope to bring them back this year. Dudley is not yet sure if the lobster stew supper will be possible.
“COVID really ravaged this community,” she said. “And now, with these last two storms — it takes a long time for a lobsterman to recover and I don’t know that I can in good stead ask for a donation. I mean, some of those men gave 90 pounds of lobsters. … That’s a lot to ask of someone who’s trying to recover their business.”
With or without the lobster stew, the work of the Willing Helpers is ongoing. The low stone wall that surrounds the church is being repaired, with care taken to preserve the original materials. Gravestones in the cemetery are being cleaned of lichen and mold at a cost of $50 per stone.
“You have to be so careful with ancient stones,” Dudley said.
That care, that sense of responsibility and duty, is foundational to the Willing Helpers, and its members are proud of all the organization has achieved through its long history and all they have done to make the Bailey Island Union Church an invaluable resource for the next generation.
“You’re welcome to come on a Sunday and witness what has been created,” Dudley said.
The Willing Helpers meet at Bailey Island Union Church on the first Tuesday of every month. Dudley encourages anyone interested in joining or in just being involved to come.
“I think there will always be a need for Willing Helpers,” she said.
Bisi Cameron Yee is a freelance writer and photojournalist based in Midcoast Maine whose work has appeared in The Lincoln County News, the Bangor Daily News, the Boothbay Register, and The Maine Monitor. Cameron Yee holds an associate degree in photojournalism.
