Our Board

Lincoln J. Merrill, Jr.

Chairman

Linc lives in North Yarmouth with his wife of nearly 40 years. They are members of the First Parish Congregational Church of Pownal where he is Moderator and sings in the church choir. He has been an insurance professional since graduating from the University of Southern Maine in 1979 with a B.S. in Business Administration. Linc is President & CEO of Patriot Insurance Company in Yarmouth.

He has a history of community service including positions on the boards of North Yarmouth Academy, the University of New England, Maine Historical Society, North Yarmouth Historical Society, and the United Society of Shakers.

Linc is a former chairman of the North Yarmouth Board of Selectman and currently serves on several town committees. He has an interest in agriculture and land use and is a member of the Cumberland Farmers Club. He co-chaired a successful capital campaign to preserve 1800 acres of land in New Gloucester and Poland that border on Sabbathday Lake and are owned by the Shakers.

He has three adult daughters and three grandchildren. 

Scott C. Mitchell

Vice Chairman

Scott is a small business owner and has served on the Boards of Public Companies, start-up high tech firms, and also for national non-profits and values the role of the CCL in maintaining a leadership role in the continuing public debates revolving around issues of Faith and Politics. He also serves as the Rector for Christ the Savior Orthodox Mission in Bangor, a Parish of the Orthodox Church in America. He has four children: one in business locally who lives next door, one in the last year of Medical School pursuing Neurosurgery, and two in middle school. As a happy and busy member of the sandwich generation, he believes in strong families and lives on Pushaw Lake with his wife of 40 years, next to his father and his oldest son, and with the two youngest still under foot at home. A believer in life long education, he has a BA in Political Science, an MA in Colonial Religious History and an MDiv in Orthodox Theology.

Sydney Dunlap

Sydney Dunlap earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Education from Pensacola Christian College and loved her seven years teaching secondary students English, history, and speech. In 2010 she was reconnected with a college acquaintance who immediately swept her off her feet. She moved to Maine after marrying him the next year.
Having joined the CCL board in 2013, she relishes the opportunity to support the League’s mission to bring the light of God’s Word and the gospel to public policy.
She is currently raising three leaders for the next generation as a homeschooling mom.

Brett Baber

Brett Baber has practiced law in the State of Maine since 1985. Currently, a partner at the Bangor firm of Lanham Blackwell & Baber, Brett’s practice focuses on personal injury and employment discrimination litigation. From 1999 to 2009, Brett served on the Board of Directors for the Maine State Bar Association and was the organization’s President in 2008. In 2009, Brett received the Lew Vafiades Award from the Volunteer Lawyers Project for his vision in developing a legal aid clinic for residents of Penobscot County of limited means.

Brett ran as a Republican candidate for the State Senate in 2016. From 2017 to 2019, Brett served as the chair of the Penobscot County Republican Committee.

Religious and civic involvement is a focal part of Mr. Baber’s life.  Brett grew up in the mid-west and the mountain west as a member of the Presbyterian Church. After meeting his wife of 35 years, Gayle, Brett converted to the Roman Catholic Church and moved to Maine in 1980. Brett has been actively involved in the Knight of Columbus religious charity where he served as the local organization’s Grand Knight from 2009 to 2011. Serving as a reader/cantor at Sunday Mass and as a member of the St. John’s Church choir are examples of Brett’s devotion to his faith. Brett has authored various letters to the editor on Pro-Life issues, he has testified in the Legislature on issues of concern to Christians and he is a frequent commentator on religious liberty during his regular radio segment, Legal Briefs, on WVOM radio. He received the 2015 Beacon Award from the Christian Civic League for these efforts.

Brett and Gayle live in Veazie. They are blessed to have four adult children.

Jeffrey G. Tounge

Jeffrey has been a lifelong resident of Portland, Maine and is very active in the local business and non-profit communities. Jeffery lives in the Rosemont neighborhood of Portland with this wife Jerri. When he is not running his full-time consulting business, he enjoys spending time with his eight grandchildren, volunteering and is a struggling artist focusing on Maine landscapes and seascapes.  He is a committed Christian serving the Lord wherever he is called to serve and attends Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland.

He founded Tounge Associates in 1988 with the purpose of providing regional businesses assistance with mergers and acquisitions as well as brokering real estate transactions. Tounge Associates and Gledhill Investment Group LLC benefit from his 30+ years of real estate industry experience. Jeffrey has also worked at Anania & Associates since August of 1998 where he was the Managing Director for eight years and currently serves on the Board of several of the Anania portfolio companies.

Non-Profit Work

• Board member of CLIMB (Christian Leaders in Maine Business)
• The Root Cellar Board Member (a non-profit inner-city ministry)
• Various school athletic booster programs
• Review Committee for the emerging outcome-based education program in the City of Portland
• Art teacher at Greater Portland Christian School