Christmas Eve Worship Service

We will have one Christmas Eve service this year on Sunday, December 24th at 4pm. It will be in the sanctuary and will also be live streamed.

The service will be live streamed

through Facebook Live here

or on 3CX here

Please bring your families and invite your friends to participate in this special service. We will not have a morning service that day. 

artwork: "Cosmic Birth - Sacred Moment in Time" © Mary Southard

www.ministryofthehearts.org. Used with permission.

In Loving Memory of

Ellen C. Little

Ellen was a longtime member and served as Sunday School Supt. and on the Christian Education and Stewardship Teams for many years.

Ellen passed away on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023 after fighting cancer for six long years. There will be a Celebration of Life for the family at some point in the future.

Rick and the rest of the Little family ask that any donations in memory of Ellen be made to Ellen's "Giving Page" at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. 

http://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/goto/ellen

Celebration of Baptism of

Emma Kathleen Montgomery,

daughter of Alanna Montgomery and granddaughter of Tommy Bastian

And the children's moment--

Fiber Arts this Saturday 12/23

The Fiber Arts group (knitting, crochet, hand work, etc.) meets the 4th Saturday each month from 10am-noon in Hadley Hall.

All skill levels are welcome and no commitment is needed. Just drop in when you can and enjoy the company and crafting. We hope you'll join us!

Pastor Kathy Vacation

Pastor Kathy will be on vacation from December 25th to January 1st. She will return on January 2nd.

If a pastoral emergency arises, please contact the

Rev. Dr. Deborah Roof, at 585-472-4284.

New Meditation for Wellbeing Series

Begins January 4th

Please join us for this four-week series, as we will experience several meditation practices, using easy breathing techniques and guided imagery. These practices will help us enjoy a state of general relaxation for healing, and the promoting and sustaining of mind and body health.

Meditation is a key component of all the world’s religions, as it slows our minds and bodies and allows us to be open to the divine. This series will come from more of a health and wellness perspective. No prior meditation experience or knowledge is required.

Sessions will be held on Thursday mornings at 10am upstairs from Hadley Hall, beginning on January 4th, 2024. The meditation leader will be Karen Galipeau, a long-time Hampstead resident and friend of HCC. She draws on her personal practice with meditation, in addition to much training and coursework in a variety of mind and body techniques, as well as her professional nursing experiences over 35 years. We are grateful for her willingness to share her time and gifts in this way! We hope you will consider attending. 

New Upper Room Booklets Available

We have copies of the

January/February

Upper Room devotional

available in the foyer to Hadley Hall.

If you need a copy mailed to you, please contact the main office.

The Manchester Diaper Pantry has been low in supplies for months. They give out upwards of $1000 worth of supplies a month to families in needs. Any support you could give to this drive will make a world of difference to families in need! Thank you!

A Word from Peace & Justice

I have heard that many individuals and families that are unsheltered and homeless in New Hampshire

are sleeping in their cars at various Park & Ride locations. This week I saw in Isaiah 58 that a staff

member, Michael, went to a local park & ride to see the situation and give gas cards to those who were

in this precarious state. He was able to talk with some of the people to learn their stories and take down

information so that Isaiah could see what assistance is available.

Many of them have jobs that they drive to and come back to the park & ride to sleep. They use gyms and rest stops for restroom and shower facilities. He also discovered that there are people who work near the park & ride that have taken to bringing the families hot meals on a regular basis. That was the heartwarming part of the story.

So Isaiah has decided it would be a great idea to put together “grab and go” bags with shampoo, razors, band aids, etc. to hand out to these families and others in the area in need. They will also take donated food items to help the folks (angels) that are cooking meals. If you are able to donate and would like to, please drop off items at Isaiah’s Hampstead office at Unit J 102 in the Village Square complex or a staff member can come to you to pick items up: (603) 952-8000.

At this time some of us on the Mission Team and Peace & Justice group are looking into coordinating an ongoing effort through Isaiah 58.

The Music Corner by Herb Tardiff

Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol to the hymn tune "Gloria" from a traditional French song of unknown origin called "Les Anges dans nos campagnes", with paraphrased English lyrics by James Chadwick. The song's subject is the birth of Jesus Christ as narrated in the Gospel of Luke, specifically the scene outside Bethlehem in which shepherds encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child.

"Angels We Have Heard on High" is generally sung to the hymn tune "Gloria", a traditional French carol as arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes. Its most memorable feature is its chorus, "Gloria in excelsis Deo", where the "o" of "Gloria" is fluidly sustained through 16 notes of a rising and falling melismatic melodic sequence.

In England, the words of James Montgomery's "Angels from the Realms of Glory" are usually sung to this tune, with the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" refrain text replacing Montgomery's. It is from this usage that the tune sometimes is known as "Iris", the name of Montgomery's newspaper.

Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o'er the plains

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains

|: Gloria in excelsis Deo! :|

Shepherds, why this jubilee?

Why your joyous strains prolong?

What the gladsome tidings be?

Which inspire your heavenly songs?

|: Gloria in excelsis Deo! :|

Come to Bethlehem and see

Him whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

|: Gloria in excelsis Deo! :|

See Him in a manger laid

Whom the choirs of angels praise;

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,

While our heart in love we raise.

|: Gloria in excelsis Deo! :|

Steeple Lighting

Steeple Lit the week of

December 16th - 21st

In loving memory of

Joshua Janvrin

From his family.

Steeple Lighting

Steeple Lit the week of

December 21st - December 31st

In loving memory of

Steve Mills

Love, His family.

New Hampshire Conference UCC Weekly News

We thought you might enjoy reading the NH Conference UCC weekly newsletter. You can read it with this link.

12/19/2023 Newsletter



Each week, we will update this section of our Weekly Word with the new link

for the current newsletter.

St. Anne's Food Pantry

The food pantry is currently

collecting for their

holiday distribution.

Donations are appreciated.

 Current needs:

Hearty Soups

Salad Dressings

Spam

Muffin mix/quickbread mix

Pie Filling/Pudding Mix

Jelly

Cereal

Brownie Mix



Please drop off any donations in the foyer of Hadley Hall

Please, no expired items.

Thank you for all your support!