REMINDER: This week's worship begins at 10am in order to celebrate A New Covenant for the Yoking of Atkinson Congregational Church & Hampstead Congregational Church.

This Sunday beginning at 10am.

Rev Paige’s Corner: The Strength of Covenant

     We throw the word “covenant” around a lot in the United Church of Christ. It is deeply embedded in our congregational tradition. But we don’t always talk about how a covenant is different from other sorts of promises we make such as contracts. 

     For the United Church of Christ, the covenant consists of God-initiated promises made to knit us together in relationship for the mutual flourishing.

     One of the places I often try to explain covenants is in the context of weddings. The vows and promises a couple make to one another in the context of worship and in the presence of a community are covenant promises. They are not just between the two people but instead they invite God to be a third party to the promise. I often take 2 pieces of ribbon and wrap them around each other, but they don’t stay wrapped and often become tangled. But if you add a third piece of ribbon, you can make the ribbons into a braid - a beautiful form of weaving together pieces into something sturdy. I believe that is a gift God gives us when we invite God into covenant promises.

     This Sunday, Atkinson and Hampstead Congregational Churches come together for worship and to celebrate a covenant we are making to share a pastor and to collaborate in ministry in new ways. The celebration will begin with worship at Hampstead Congregational Church at 10 am. We hope everyone will join the celebration!

Neighbors in Need Offering

October 5, 2025

Rarely have I seen a church without some form of ministry that helps feed people. From community meals to food pantries, churches across the country make sure people have enough to eat. But I always wondered, wouldn’t it be better if none of these services had to exist. What if everyone simply had enough to eat?

Our churches share compassion by not only providing for the basic needs of our neighbors but also asking deeper questions of why these inequalities exist in the first place. Our immediate call to alleviate the suffering of those around us is paired with a prophetic witness calling for systemic reform.

All congregations in the United Church of Christ are invited to take part in the Neighbors in Need offering to address just this. Two thirds of the offering support justice and witness ministries of the United Church of Christ with one third of the offering given to the Council for American Indian Ministries (CAIM). Your gifts directly fund the Neighbors in Need grant program. This grant, for UCC congregations and partners, offers funding for both direct service and advocacy projects.

Thank you for your generosity!

The Rev. Rachel McDonald works for the National Ministries of the UCC as Generosity Officer, OCWM and Special Mission Offerings.

Seeking Help with World Communion Celebration

Last year we celebrated World Communion by having the bread from various countries in the world. Everyone seemed so pleased with this that the worship team would like to do it again.

If you have a family connection to another country and a bread recipe you are willing to make for the Oct 5 service let Paige or the office know. This will give Paige a chance to put together information about the countries.

Blessings from the Worship Team

Volunteer Recognition

As we continue to recognize our volunteers, this month we would like to acknowledge Jane DeRosa, Sue LaFleur, Ellen McCune and Shannon West of the Missions Team.

During the year, Missions takes on several opportunities to raise money for the various organizations/causes in our community. They have raised money and food for several local food pantries, funds for erasing medical debt, money and diapers for the Manchester Diaper Pantry, items and funds for Isaiah 58 NH, etc., etc. I don’t know that I could list all that they do as it would probably take up half of the Weekly Word. And all of this is done as part of their quest to “affect true, lasting and positive change throughout our local, national, church and world communities”.

Many thanks to the Missions Team for their tireless work and the help that they have provided to those less fortunate than others.

Bible Study Starts at Atkinson

You are invited to join the Atkinson Congregational Church Weekly Bible Study on Wednesdays at 6:45 pm.

The group meets in the parlor at ACC. We will gather to study and discuss the scriptures for the coming Sunday with our Interim Pastor. All are welcome on a “come as you are able” basis!

The Music Corner

by Herb Tardiff

These are some of the world records in music

Longest tour

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Live from Dodger Stadium, USA / 2022)

Taylor Swift holds the record for the highest grossing tour of all time, nearly doubling the record held by Coldplay. But they’re both a long way behind Elton John on the number of shows played in a single tour, with his Farewell Yellow Brick Road show on the road for a full five years across 330 concerts, nine legs, three continents, one global pandemic, a headline slot at Glastonbury and a command performance at The White House. By the time Elton rode his final escalator up into the clouds (how he ended every show) in Stockholm on 8 July, 2023, the tour had been seen by 6.1 million people.

Biggest audience (Live Modena Park 2017)

The city of Moderna, in Italy, is home to 185,000 people. Imagine what it felt like when 225,173 people showed up to watch Vasco Rossi play the city’s Enzo Ferrari Park in 2017. 35 special trains were laid on. 900 speakers were set up. One fan camped out for an entire month before the gig started to make sure they had a good spot. Unsurprisingly, no contemporary accounts of the show make any mention of the toilet queues. 

Saint Anne's Food Pantry

Thank you all who continue to donate food for St. Anne’s Food Pantry! 

They have updated their needs list: Ensure, Coffee/Tea, Tuna Fish, Mayo, Jelly/Jam, Hamburger Helper, Protein Soups, Saltines/Ritz/Triscuits, Rice Pilaf, Spices, Salad Dressing, English Muffins, Brownie/Muffin/Cake Mixes, Nutrigrain Bars, Maple Syrup, Canned Chef Boyardee Items, Spam, Lunchbox Snacks.

St. Anne’s Food Pantry has also updated their

 Amazon Wish List

in addition to listing items here.

Please no expired items. Non-perishable items only.

Drop off is in the foyer of Hadley Hall.

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.

9/25/2025 Newsletter

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

for the current newsletter.

Our Mailing address:

61 Main Street

Hampstead, NH 03841

Church Office hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00am to 3pm