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Join us this Sunday, July 28th, for outdoor
Worship & Picnic Sunday
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Rev Paige's Corner: A Walking Prayer
Over the last 40 years, the meditation practice of Labyrinth Walking has spread widely in the United States. Labyrinths can be found in parks, churches, prisons, schools, retreat centers and more. Some are outdoors and others are on floors or on canvas that can be spread out.
The tool of the labyrinth goes back 3000 years. It had a resurgence in Christian communities in Medieval times when labyrinths were built into the floors of cathedrals. In the 1980's at the height of the Aids epidemic, Episcopal priest, Lauren Aurtress, serving at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, was looking for a spiritual tool that would offer peace. She began to study, to write about, and to teach about labyrinths and started a movement that has resulted in thousands of labyrinths being created around the US and the world.
A labyrinth is a path that moves to a center. Unlike a maze that is meant to confuse and get one lost, a labyrinth is a single path that draws one into the center. There are many ways to walk a labyrinth both as an individual and as a group. This practice of walking prayer often brings a sense of peace and wellbeing. It can calm the mind and offer a chance for release and renewal.
The imagery of a labyrinth is very much about faith in motion. It is about being on a journey. What I especially appreciate about the imagery of the labyrinth is that it reflects the two dimensions of the Christian journey: the journey inward and the journey outward.
This week, I offered a workshop on walking the labyrinth and as part of that I put down a "classical" labyrinth on the floor in Hadley Hall using painter's tape. Feel free to stop by and walk the labyrinth at your convenience before we remove it next week. Or sign up to join us on a labyrinth field trip to a local outdoor labyrinth. There is even a labyrinth at Horton Center if you would like to explore it on our end of summer picnic.
Blessings & peace!
Rev Paige Besse-Rankin
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In Loving Memory
It is with deep sadness and great love that we announce the passing of Ginny Duston, longtime member of HCC, just shy of her 102nd birthday. Ginny has been a member of the congregation since 1937 and was a beloved and active part of our community. Rest in eternal peace, Ginny. You will be missed.
To view Ginny's obituary, click here.
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Outdoor Worship This Week
Please join uson the lawn
or online at 10am for the
Tenth Sunday
after Pentecost
Picnic Lunch will be held
after the service
on the Historical Society's lawn
Dress casually!
The service will be live streamed
on Facebook Live ONLY here
Reader: Brad Robie
Coffee Hour Host: Outdoor Picnic/Potluck Picnic
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Fiber Arts This Saturday 7/27
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!
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Emerson Village Crafters Donate
16 Blankets to Project Linus
A very special thank you to Marcia Kneeland and the incredibly talented ladies from Emerson Village for donating more blankets to Project Linus!
HCC Missions Team collects blankets of all types and sizes to pass on to this great ministry.
Project Linus' 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.
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THANK YOU!" THANK YOU” THANK YOU!
Once again, we asked and your generosity was overwhelming! Our Mother’s Day Diaper Drive to benefit the Manchester Diaper Pantry was a fabulous success! The Manchester Diaper Pantry offers free diapers to parents who are in need once each month. A little known fact is that diapers may not be purchased with SNAP or WIC and diapers are required to be supplied by parents to daycares for their children. This ministry allows parents the ability to leave their children in daycare and work by supplying these expensive necessities!
We received $75 in donations and the items purchased with that donation as well as the items collected at the church were:
1,620 Wipes
1,347 Diapers in various sizes
The Diaper Pantry posted this on their Facebook page a few hours after the diapers and wipes were dropped off! Please visit the Diaper Pantry’s website to see more info on their ministry: https://www.facebook.com/manchesterdiaperpantry/
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New UPPER ROOM Devotionals
We have copies of the
July/August Upper Room devotional available
in the foyer to Hadley Hall.
If you need a copy mailed to you, please contact
the main office.
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Peace & Justice
There has been an increasing number of cyanobacteria warnings in NH lakes over the last few
years. The warmer summers have driven the blooms earlier and later into the summer as well.
But there are things that we can do to minimize the possibility of blooms. This article from In
Depth NH describes how the residents around Lake Kanasatka with the help of LakeSmart Program and the Winnipesaukee Lake Association have turned around the frequency of the toxic blooms. The 353-acre lake feeds into Lake Winnipesaukee and its cyanobacteria levels were causing blooms in the big lake. Alum was used to treat the Lake as well as shore improvements to slow runoff from adjacent properties. The alum treatment is immediately effective but very expensive. The shore improvements can lessen the need of another alum treatment in the long term. LakeSmart can also alive lake property owners and associations on the specific improvements to prevent the cyanobacteria outbreaks and the more costly alum treatments as well as grants to offset the costs.
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Music Corner by Herb Tardiff
Louis Armstrong
As many of you know, Louis Armstrong was one of the greatest musicians and showman of the 20th century. In the early 1960s, I was very fortunate that my parents took me to a free concert by him in Queens, New York. Even though the concert was more than 60 years ago, I can still vividly remember the whole event. Unlike concerts of today, Armstrong and the All Stars played for two and a half hours non-stop. I also have some recordings of him during this time in his career.
Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, into a poverty-ridden section of New Orleans nicknamed “the Battlefield.” His father abandoned the family when Armstrong was a child, and his teenaged mother was often forced to resort to prostitution to make ends meet. Young Louis spent much of his boyhood in the care of his grandmother, but he also found a second home among the Karnofskys, a local Lithuanian-Jewish family who hired him to do odd jobs for their peddling business. The jazzman would later write that the Karnofskys treated him as though he were their own child, often giving him food and even loaning him money to buy his first instrument, a $5 cornet (he wouldn’t begin playing the trumpet until 1926). As a sign of his gratitude to his Jewish benefactors, Armstrong later took to wearing a Star of David pendant around his neck.
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Steeple Lighting
Steeple lit July 22nd – July 30th
Steeple lit
In memory of
David R. Copeland
One Year Anniversary
We Miss You Every Day
Love, Diane & Family
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Steeple Lighting
Steeple lit July 22nd – July 28th
Steeple Lit
in loving memory of
Ginny Duston
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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.
7/23/2024 Newsletter
Each week, we will update this section of our Weekly Word with the new link
for the current newsletter.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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Our Mailing Address:
61 Main Street
Hampstead, NH 03841
Church Summer Office hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00am to Noon
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Hampstead Congregational Church Website
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