Church and State

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that:

" no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under the United States."

The modern concept of a wholly secular government is sometimes credited to the writings of English philosopher John Locke, but the phrase "separation of church and state" in this context is generally traced to a January 1, 1802 letter by founding father Thomas Jefferson , addressed to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, and published in a Massachusetts newspaper.

Jefferson wrote, "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and state."

The good people of Ellsworth, Maine also believe in the separation of Church and State. Not by a wall, but by a distance of about 40 feet...

First Congregational Church - Ellsworth's Most Prominent

Ellsworth City Hall