Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill

Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill (he/him) serves as Executive Director of The BTS Center. With roots dating back to 1814, The BTS Center is a private foundation in Portland, Maine, building on the legacy of the former Bangor Theological Seminary. Today The BTS Center seeks to catalyze spiritual imagination, with enduring wisdom, for transformative faith leadership. Guided by the vision of human hearts renewed, justice established, and creation restored, The BTS Center offers theologically grounded programs of continuing education and spiritual formation, including workshops and retreats, learning cohorts, public conversations, and projects of applied research, all focused around spiritual leadership in a climate-changed world. Ordained in the Methodist tradition, Allen served local churches for 20 years, and as founding Executive Director of Hope Acts, a Portland, Maine nonprofit focusing on housing asylum seekers and helping immigrants succeed. A graduate of the University of Maine and of Boston University School of Theology, Allen is continuing his studies in a Doctor of Ministry program through Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. Allen has extensive experience in advocacy, direct action, and faith-based organizing around issues of justice and equity. In addition, he is deeply engaged in conversations about progressive Christianity, about faithful responses to the climate crisis, and about the future of the church. In 2020, Allen was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni of Boston University School of Theology. Allen lives in Portland with his spouse, Sara, and they are the parents of three daughters.