|
What an amazing day for the Strawberry Festival!
Perfect weather and an amazing day!
Thank you to everyone who volunteered to make this day a huge success!
| |
|
Many Thanks for All You Do
The Fundraising Team would like to thank everyone who worked at, donated to, and
attended last Saturday’s Strawberry Festival. This was not a team effort; it was a whole
church effort. Not only did we break a fundraising record, but we also provided a
community event enjoyed by all.
We don’t always know how our actions are perceived or how they impact others, but the
following letter that was left under the church door gives us a glimpse into what others
may see. The Fundraising Team is so very proud of and grateful to our church and all its members.
| |
|
Lost Black Visor
A crafter lost a black visor with the word Abenaqui on it. It was a gift from her deceased father, and she was hoping someone found it. If anyone has seen it please contact Maria in the office.
| |
|
Worship This Week
Please join us
in the Sanctuary
or online at 10am for the
Third Sunday
after Pentecost
Coffee hour will be held
after the service
in the Sanctuary.
The service will be live streamed
through Facebook Live here
or on 3CX here
Reader: Debra Sawyer
Coffee hour host: Bob & Marge O'Brien
| |
Rev Paige's Corner: Waiting on God
The Psalm for this week, Psalm 130, has a line about waiting for God.
Perhaps you are the exception to the rule, but most folks - myself included - really hate waiting! Waiting on a line to be helped, waiting for test results, waiting for an appointment, waiting for a package to come.... it can feel frustrating and difficult.
I might have mentioned that my husband and I love going to Disney world. Well one thing that is part of a visit to Disney - as with most amusement parks - is waiting in long lines for attractions. Disney has come up with a variety of ways to avoid lines, but one thing they began doing a number of years ago was "entertaining the line". In some cases, there was a "preshow". In other cases, as you move thorugh the cue, you come across all sorts of exhibits and things to look at. They even have attraction related games on their app to pass the time. I greatly appreciate the effort - especially if I am in line with a kid. In fact, a few of the "pre-shows" are so good that you are almost disappointed to miss them if you can quickly get into the attraction. It is almost as if the line is part of the experience.
Now every church that I have served as an Interim pastor has greeted me with variations on: "we are really glad you are here, but we want to move through the search as quickly as possible so we can get our new pastor." I want to say that "I get it". Most pastoral candidates feel the same way! (On average, a pastor searching for a new church is in the process for 18 months - 2 years. It might move more quickly for candidates these days with the clergy shortage, but it is by no means fast. My friends in other professions tell me they spend two weeks looking and then start a new job and I laugh.) Remember that part of why it takes this long is that in our church polity, we pick our own pastors. Denominations that have a bishop to move pastors around manage these transitions much more quickly, but the congregations have very little say in who their pastor is. Let me also say that there is no one who is trying to slow the process down for the sake of making the church wait. (That includes me. I have plenty of opportunities to serve when you have a new pastor - whether that is next month or 2 years from now.) The process takes time for a lot of reasons, but some of that is the time it takes the church to do its work - to reflect on where God is calling, what it is hoping for in a pastor, and what its goals are. The biggest struggles I have had as a settled pastor have come when the church didn't know itself well or represent itself well in the search process.
So how do we cope with waiting? The author of Psalm 130 says: "O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem." One reason that waiting can be so hard is that we can fill the time with all sorts of worries and worst case scenarios in the uncertainty. But for the Psalmist, waiting in hope and in faith in God's steadfast love makes it more manageable. We can live in uncertainty because we have faith that God's love is powerful and will help us with whatever might come next!
The second things that helps me wait is to consider how the waiting time might be a time of blessing, opportunity and growth. I keep thinking back to the story of the Exodus. The Hebrew Slaves are freed from Egypt and on a journey to the promised land. While I am sure there were many cries of "are we there yet?", I also know that the journey through the wilderness redefined them and drew them closer to God. The journey and the waiting were important. As an Interim pastor, I hope that this transition time - much as you might wish to get through it quickly - will be meaningful and helpful and bring some blessings.
Peace!
Rev Paige Besse-Rankin
| |
Transition Talk rescheduled to June 23 following worship
Our second Transition Talk has been postponed to June 23 (so people won't be tired out from the Strawberry Festival.) It will take place over Pizza lunch in Hadley Hall.
Who is our neighbor? A program called "Mission Insite" gives us a lot of demographic information, but it also tells us about what marketing groups are here (age, household type, economic realities and more). And then it gives us information about the trends of those groups with regards to what they are seeking in churches! Looking at this information can give us information about possibilities for ministry moving forward (which will also have an impact on the qualities we hope to find in the next pastor!)
So come and learn about our neighbors!
| |
Questions From the Transition Team (week 2)
Friends,
The Transition Team continues to look at who we are as a church, the opportunities for
enhancing our mission within our local community and beyond. As mentioned in our previous
Weekly Work updates, your input and involvement is very important. When the Search Committee prepares the Local Church Profile, the information included will have a significant effect on the types of individuals who respond to the profiles as applicants for the settled pastor position. Your feedback will help provide an accurate picture of our church and where it is going.
Here are two questions for your reflection and feedback this week:
Describe several strengths or positive qualities of our congregation.
What are some of the qualities within our congregation that we can build upon?
Describe what worship is like when our congregation gathers.
What are aspects of the worship that are meaningful to you?
Thanks so much for your involvement and feedback as the Transition Team moves forward with its work.
Rick Little
(for the Transition Team)
Answer last weeks question here
Answer this weeks questions here
| | |
|
Congratulations 2024 Graduates
A big shoutout to the graduates
of the class of 2024!
| |
|
Congratulations to Thomas Manning, son of Lora and Tom Manning, who is graduating this week from Pinkerton Academy.
Good luck, Thomas!
| |
Prayers for the Lawson Family
Beverly Lawson's husband, Steve, died on Sunday, May 26 at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack. Services for Steve will take place on June 11 at 2:30 at Peabody's Funeral Home in Londonderry. Calling Hours will be the same day from 1 - 2:30. Please hold Beverly and her family in prayer during these days of grief.
Click here for his obituary.
| |
|
Thank you, Fred Malcolm, for this gorgeous picture of the
rhododendron in all its glory!
| |
|
Steeple Lighting
Steeple lit June 3rd to June 9th
In loving memory of
Debora Morin
From her loving family
| |
|
Peace & Justice
The latest report on the measure of food insecurity was released by Feeding America in May and it showed a 44% increase in food insecurity between 2021 and 2022. Food insecurity is defined as “not having consistent access to enough nutritious food to lead a healthy life”. The data found that more than 135,200 New Hampshire residents were food insecure in 2022. For scale, that is nearly 1 in ten residents. Breaking it down the report states that in that same year there was a 4.9% increase for children statewide. Again, for scale, just over 13 children per 100 were food insecure in 2022. By county, Coos has the highest rate of 21 per 100 children who were food insecure. (The USDA sites a lower figure for NH for the 12 months ending Nov. 2023.)
Local advocates such as Eileen Liponis, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank, say that there is currently high demand for food assistance. Clients report that stagnant wages and the cost of living make it difficult to pay for food. There is less strain now from COVID and more from the effect of inflation from last year. Those food prices went up but they have not gone down. The New Hampshire Food Bank has seen a 9% increase in food need for April 2023 to April 2024. Karen Hebert, who administers SNAP for New Hampshire, is seeing a similar rise. At the end of April the program had 42,385 households receiving SNAP benefits which is up 4.9% over 2023. Applications for benefits were up 7% for the same time period.
See the full story at NHPR. The full article gives information on SNAP benefits and a map of the Food Bank’s distribution sites.
| |
|
Music Corner by Herb Tardiff
The Cimbalom
There have been many strange musical instruments invented over time.
I was in a concert in which Igor Stravinsky featured these instruments in one of his works. The musicians were from the Middle East and their instruments were incredibly beautiful.
| |
|
This strange instrument is called the Cimbalom and it looks like the inside of a baby grand piano – as many as 125 strings running the length of a wooden box resting on four legs.
As well as being an unusual instrument, it’s also an incredibly old one dating back to Hungary in the Middle Ages.
To play it, the musician strikes two cotton-tipped mallets on the strings, creating a distinctive percussive sound that sounds similar to a harpsichord. The strings of the Cimbalom are grouped in threes, fours, and fives with each of these groupings are tuned to a corresponding pitch. Two or three bridges divide the string groups, creating different ranges of pitch and it typically has a range of four octaves.
Its weirdness lies in its innocuous appearance belying its complexity and sonic imperiousness.
| |
|
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.
6/4/2024 Newsletter
Each week, we will update this section of our Weekly Word with the new link
for the current newsletter.
| |
|
New AMAZON Wish List for
Saint Anne's Food Pantry
St. Anne's Pantry is seeing an increase in the number of families who shop with them. They've almost doubled the amount of families who shop weekly since this time last year. They try to keep their shelves stocked as much as they can.
They are reaching out for some help...donations are needed. They thought they would try an Amazon Wish List in addition to listing items here.
Thank you in advance for any donations.
Please no expired items and non-perishable items only please.
Drop off in the foyer of Hadley Hall.
Looking for the following: cereal(no oatmeal), coffee, tea, Ritz Crackers, Saltines, granola bars, Nutrigrain bars, cheese and crackers, peanut butter and crackers, canned Chef Boy r Dee, condiments, salad dressing, brownie/cake mix, Coffee/K-Cups, Quickbread/Muffin mixes, Easter Candy, Ensure, Scalloped/Au gratin potatoes.
| |
To sign up for the next volunteer opportunity click here. If you are interested in volunteering contact Jane DeRosa via email at janederosa@comcast.net. | |
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. | | |
Are you on Facebook? Do you follow Hampstead Congregational Church? Please like our page to know about all the great events in the church. Liking also supports our church when people check us out. If you are already connected, share our good news!
| |
|
Help Us Continue Our Mission at HCC | |
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
| |
| | | |
