December 14th Weekly Word

Worship This Week


Please join us at 10am on Sunday for the

Fourth Sunday of Advent and

New Member Sunday


Coffee hour with a reception for the new members will be held in Hadley Hall

after the service. 

We hope you will join us.


The service will be live streamed through

Facebook Live here or on 3CX here.

artwork: Advent Mary © Mary Southard

Meet Our New Members!

Sam & Bernadette Longbook

Sam and Bernadette Longbook have been residents of Hampstead for 36 years.


They have 2 sons and one daughter and 4 wonderful grandsons.


They are very active in helping those in need in our community and are proud members of the Hampstead Lions Club for over 30 years.


They hope, in the future, to become active members of the Hampstead Congregational Church.

Judy Ross

Judy Ross lives in Hampstead with her dog, Teddy. She has two sons, one daughter and three grandchildren.


Several years ago she attended Hampstead Congregational with her friend, Juanita, who most of you know.


She looks forward to Pastor Kathy's Sunday sermons, as they are relevant and uplifting in difficult times.


Members of the congregation are most welcoming and dedicated to supporting the church. Judy is happy to become a member of Hampstead Congregational.

Annual Christmas Collection for Families in Need




Every year our congregation collects items to give at Christmas. This year we are collecting for the Manchester Diaper Pantry. Due to the challenging economy, what the pantry needs the most isn't gifts, but basic supplies for babies.


So--we are collecting DIAPERS, WIPES and FORMULA this year


All types of formula and diaper sizes are needed!

Please drop off in the foyer of Hadley Hall now through Christmas.


Monetary donations are also welcome--the team will buy the supplies for you.


On behalf of the Missions Team--THANK YOU!!!

Christmas Eve Service



We will have one Christmas Eve service this year on Saturday, December 24th at 4pm.


It will be an outdoor candlelight service, so please dress warmly, bring a chair (if needed), and gather in the front of the church around the luminaries. This service will also be live streamed on Facebook Live and recorded.


As a prelude to the service, we will be singing Christmas carols beginning at 3:40. Please bring your families and invite your friends to sing some carols and participate in this special service. We will have our regular Sunday service on Christmas, Sunday, December 25th. 

Prayer Shawls & Baptismal Blankets Needed


Calling crocheters and knitters!


We are in need of some more hand made prayer shawls and baptism blankets. These are given out when people are in need of our care, and when a child is baptized at HCC.


We have given out over 40 prayers shawls and baptismal blankets in the past few years, and folks really appreciate this ministry.


Drop them off in the office or give them to Pastor Kathy. Thanks in advance!

Capital Campaign Update


The Capital Campaign has received an additional $10k in donations and pledges since September, bringing our total to date to $130k or 37% towards our goal of $350k. 


The team is currently preparing an outreach campaign targeting the wider community including local businesses which is planned to start after the first of the year. 


The steeple repair planned for this year has been delayed until next year as our chosen contractor was not able to perform the repairs we had hoped.  


It is our hope that we can encourage additional pledges and/or additional donations over the next two years. Your Capital Campaign Team also encourages anyone to consider donations before the end of this year that might provide potential tax savings. If interested, you have a few weeks before December 31 to contact your tax or financial advisor.

Upper Room Devotional


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.

Advent

Blue Christmas Recording


For the past three years, we have offered a Blue Christmas Service of Loss and Remembrance--recognizing that the holiday season can be a time of great grief, loneliness, and heart ache for some.


This year we are offering a recording of a previous service. All are invited to take some time to reflect and watch the service here. May it comfort and bring solace to those in need.

Members That Dress Together

Stay Together




Joann Klawitter captured this great picture of Ken Gilson and Al Lake twinning at Sunday's service.



If you take a fun photo, please send it our way!


Pastor Kathy Vacation


Pastor Kathy will be out of the office starting on 12/26 and returning on 1/2.


If you have a pastoral need during the week Pastor Kathy is out of the office, please contact the Rev. Linda Lea Snyder, ph. 203-927-5387.


Our January 1st worship service will be a special informal potluck breakfast held in Hadley Hall with lots of Christmas carol singing.

Christmas Craft Fair Success


The Fundraising Team would like to thank everyone who helped make the Christmas craft fair a success!


It is a lot of work to make the craft fair happen, but divided amongst many it’s so very doable. Whether you helped to set up or breakdown the classrooms, baked some goodies, made soup, donated raffle items, made greens and/or donated your time at the tables you were part of the success! Without you, it would never happen. Thank you all so much.

Steeple Lightings


This week's steeple is being lit

in memory of

Juanita & Maurie Randall

Love, The Girls



The steeple will be lit

December 18th-24th in loving memory of

Joshua Janvrin

from his family.

A Word from Peace & Justice


Next Wednesday is designated as Homeless Persons Memorial Day 2022.


In past years we have held a candlelight service of remembrance by naming and lighting a candle for those who passed away while experiencing homelessness in Manchester. Because of the business of the season, we held the service in January, but this Day of Remembrance is held nationally on the winter solstice – the longest night of the year.


Several agencies, including the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, are hosting an online vigil at 3:30 pm on December 21.


This vigil will remember those who have died and will help us “resolve to work for a world where no life is lived or lost in homelessness”.


You can register on this website for the event and see a collection of stories of those without homes who passed away. There is also a document of facts about how and why these deaths occur as well as event organizing information. Homeless Persons Memorial Day registration.

The Music Corner by Herb Tardiff


I often listen to many different interpretations of Christmas music. There are so many fine musical artists offering their unique settings of traditional and newer carols.


One example is “Mary, did you know?”, performed by Pentatonix. This vocal quintet offers many different vocal sounds including percussion and bass produced by two of its singers.

 

I find that Youtube is an excellent source of music and the link for this performance is Pentatonix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE

candle

Lights of Hope


The Hampstead Lions Club will again be selling luminaries which benefits local charities. This annual community-wide event, now in its fifth year, will take place on December 24.


The current times have brought about big demands from our community locally and globally, including helping to fund our own food pantries, disaster relief, vision testing, and more. By lighting up Hampstead we bring light to the issues that face us along with hope, healing and joy.


Please help us to help others by purchasing the candle kits. The cost for the kits is $10. Each kit includes six candles and six bags with directions. Purchasers supply their own sand or alternative such as dirt, kitty litter, rock salt, etc.


To order, please go to Hampstead NH Lions Club website: http://hampstead.nhlions.org.

You can also purchase luminaries by mailing payment with a contact name, address and phone number to: Hampstead Lions Club, PO Box 171, Hampstead, NH 03841 or by emailing Roxanne Schloth at lightsofhampstead@yahoo.com.


Luminaries can be purchased any time of year for any occasion.

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.


12/13/22 Newsletter


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

Missions Opportunities:

Food Drive to Support

Saint Anne Ecumenical Food Pantry


Holiday Needs





 Grated cheese, salad dressing, pasta sauce, quick bread/muffin mix,

hearty/meaty soups (Chunky, Progresso), boxed crackers, hot cocoa,

cereal (Cheerios & Multigrain Cheerios).




Please drop off any donations in the foyer of Hadley Hall

Please, no expired items.


Thank you for all your support!

Next volunteer opportunity will be Wednesday, December 28th. If you are interested in volunteering contact Jane DeRosa via email at janederosa@comcast.net.

Volunteer @ Soup Kitchen

The Sonshine Soup Kitchen needs volunteers to prepare and package the food for "To Go Meals." We partner with Atkinson Congregational Church once a month on the 4th Wednesday of the month to help out from 3-6pm.


Blankets for Project Linus

For those of you who have been busy sewing, quilting, knitting, or crocheting, we have an new opportunity to donate those handmade items!

We located a national organization that has local chapters called Project Linus (https://www.facebook.com/projectlinussouthwestnewhampshire/). This organization's mission is "to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans". Blankets are given to children in need through NH.

*We welcome all styles of blankets made in child-friendly colors/prints.
*Crocheted, knitted, quilted (100% cotton or flannel), fleece….you don’t have to be an expert!
*Blankets must be NEW, HANDMADE and WASHABLE.
*Fabric blankets can be quilted by machine, hand or tied. If you are tying the blanket make sure the ends are trimmed to 1” and the knots are secure.
*Please do not add any embellishments to the blankets such as buttons that could be swallowed by a child.
*If you are using a no-sew fleece pattern, please be sure to trim off both selvages FIRST. Not sure what selvages are? Ask the clerk who is cutting your fleece to please show you, they’re those odd looking edges at the top and bottom of the piece you have, sort of raggy looking.
*We accept all sizes of blankets. We donate to children, infants through teen years, so any size is appropriate. Baby blankets are typically 36”X36” or 36”X42”, toddler-pre-teen are typically about 40”X60”, and teen blankets are at least 60"X72".

Blankets can be dropped off in the entry way of Hadley Hall.

Thank you for your support of this project!
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Scam Emails & Texts


Emails and Texts are often sent, saying they are from Pastor Kathy or another staff member. She (or the HCC staff) will never send out a generic email/text--she'll address it to your name. She will never ask you for money/gift cards over email nor via a text.


Also, any email from Pastor Kathy will always have her signature line on the bottom with her phone number/address.


If in doubt, please contact the church office or Pastor Kathy.

Want to get the word out about what’s happening at HCC? If you want to publicize your event or remind the congregation about something, please email the office (hcc1752@gmail.com) by Wednesday at noon so that your information can be included in that week’s Weekly Word. Feel free to send in information up to three weeks in advance of an upcoming event. We want all of the congregation (not just the Team leaders) to be empowered to get the word out about all the activities that are happening at Hampstead Congregational Church!
Our Mailing Address:
61 Main Street
Hampstead, NH 03841
Church Summer Office hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00am to Noon
Hampstead Congregational Church Website
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