Wiscasset First Congregational Church’s new interim minister Susan Craig believes mission work can be done anywhere, close to home or far away.

For 11 years, she served with an evangelical reform church in Honduras that built a medical clinic and that helped provide people with housing, clean water and nutrition.

The New Jersey-raised, longtime pastor is now focused on helping members of the First Congregational look to the church’s future. That’s a key function of the interim post.

John Potter retired as minister in November 2014; Craig gave her first service there Jan. 4.

Craig comes to the pillared church on the hill after serving as associate conference minister for United Church of Christ’s Maine Conference. Before that she spent about 20 years as a church pastor in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. She welcomed the opportunity to serve in a local church again with the position in Wiscasset. It’s a type of work that she has great affection for, she said.

It’s a temp job, but likely a lengthy one. She anticipates serving a year to a year and a half, long enough for the church to determine what it’s looking for in its next minister and find that person.

“Interim ministry is very exciting work and very important work, as a church gets ready to take a next step in its history. So I was thrilled to have a chance to do it.

“An interim minister helps a church come to know who they are today. So often we think about who were we 20 years ago, or who were you when when you joined the church, but to discover who you are today and be excited about that as you seek a new minister, that is sort of a voyage or a journey of discovery.”

Along the way, she’ll be asking the church’s members questions, such as why they came to Wiscasset, what excites them most about their church, what their hopes are for its future, and what needs they’re seeing in the Wiscasset community. Members might surprise one another with some of their answers, Craig said.

Craig, 67, likes to spend her off-time cooking and taking walks. She and husband Bradley Craig live on a former horse farm in Jefferson. They do a lot of volunteer work; he, for Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association, and both of them for Homeworkers Organized for More Employment (HOME) Co-op in Orland.

The nonprofit helps with literacy, firewood and more for rural residents in need in Hancock County, Susan Craig said. “That’s really what brought us to Maine, and developed our affection for the state,” she said about the organization.

Every year, the Craigs bring about 40 people north from Connecticut to serve with the nonprofit.

Susan Craig said First Congregational has welcomed her warmly. Asked for her early observations, she said she is finding it is a congregation that loves its church.

“I really feel like I’m going to be walking with this congregation, and having a chance to love them and learn from them, and I look forward to seeing what that’s going to mean.”