St. Brendan the Navigator Parish was born out of the new wind of change that resulted from the clustering and amalgamation of parishes, due to the decline in the number of seminarians and vocations to the priesthood and Religious Life, decline in the number of Christians leading to financial difficulties in most of the Parishes in the Diocese of Portland, Maine. Because of the above and other factors, by the Decree effective January 2009, the Bishop of Portland, Most Reverend Richard J. Malone, merged the Parishes of St. Francis of Assisi, Belfast, Our Lady of Good Hope, Camden, and St. Bernard Rockland into a single, vibrant parish with a new name, St. Brendan the Navigator. Father Mark Reinhardt was appointed First Pastor of the new parish. A brief history of each of these parishes is thus especially important to appreciate the roots of St. Brendan the Navigator.