Wiscasset resident Rev. Gregory Foster has joined the pastoral ministry of the United Methodist Boothbay Region Cooperative Parish, which serves East Boothbay, Southport and Boothbay Harbor United Methodist Churches.

Foster began his ministry with the churches in July with Pastor Ami Sawtelle, who has been serving as pastor for the region for the past several years.

“I am excited to be a part of an overall supportive Boothbay area community which has been so responsive to many needs of the region,” Foster said. “There is much more work to be done to bring hope and healing to so many people, residents and visitors alike, who need the church to reach out to them with the love of God and the Gospel.”

After earning a Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., Foster was ordained through the American Baptist Churches of New Hampshire where he served as pastor before coming to Maine to serve American Baptist Churches and non-denominational fellowships. He has standing with the American Baptist Churches of Maine.

In more recent years, Foster has served as a bi-vocational minister, employed as a news reporter for the Lincoln County News and is currently staff reporter for the Wiscasset Newspaper. Prior to seminary, Foster worked as a reporter/editor for newspapers in the Boston area, New Hampshire and Maine, having received a journalism degree.

While a pastor in New Hampshire, Foster began a prison ministry at the Vermont Correctional Center in Windsor, Vt. with members of his congregation who have since carried on the endeavor to serve both inmates and family members.

While serving various churches in Maine and New Hampshire, Foster has participated in several continuing education events, including clinical pastoral training for Lewiston area pastors through Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston and numerous seminars and conferences.

Currently he is a member of the St. Matthew’s Church chapter in Lisbon Falls of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, a ministry to encourage the healing ministry in the Christian church and participates in the ministry of the Farmingdale branch of the International Association of Healing Rooms.

Foster and his wife, Carolyn, have five children, three girls and two boys, four of them graduates of Wiscasset High School.