In 1844, St. Paul’s was founded as a “mission” to serve a few local Episcopalians, with hopes of attracting more in the growing town of Brunswick. People outside of Maine joined local supporters to fund the church building. Designed by prolific church architect Richard Upjohn, the building was finished in 1845. Growth in the next 150 years was irregular, until the boom in church participation after World War II. Personnel from the Brunswick Naval Air Station and staff and students from Bowdoin College joined townspeople at St. Paul’s as our programs and activities grew.  Today St. Paul’s is the largest congregation in the Episcopal Diocese of Maine.

In 2022, parish volunteers researching our history discovered that an early Vestry member and donor to its building fund, Joseph Badger of Brunswick, owned two ocean-going vessels that engaged in the slave trade. The history of one of the ships was enacted by storyteller Antonio Rocha in A Slave Ship Called Malaga on March 25, 2023, at St. Paul’s, the first public performance of Antonio’s production. The church has funded additional performances in local schools, part of our active participation in the Episcopal Church’s anti-racism program, Sacred Ground.

The story of St. Paul’s, a parish historian wrote in 1944, is “a reflection of the humanity of its people.” By openly addressing our history, we hope to affirm the humanity of all people whose sacrifices contributed to the church’s existence. As our then-rector, the Rev. Carolyn H. Eklund, affirmed in 2023: “We can’t go back in history and make things right with the land. We can’t go back and have a ‘do-over’ with the slave trading Vestry member. But we can make a turn to acknowledge the truth of our history, shine a light on it, and make a profound turn toward the righteous justice and blessedness that Jesus teaches.”