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Worship This Week
Please join us
in the Sanctuary
or online at 10am for the
Third Sunday After the Epiphany
Coffee hour will be held
after the service
in Hadley Hall
The service will be live streamed
on Facebook Live here
or on 3CX here
Readers: Kari Allard
Coffee Hour Hosts: Linda Tilden
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Fiber Arts This Saturday
January 25th
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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Call for Nominations for HCC Officers
HCC Members: One of the key agenda items at our upcoming Annual Meeting is the election of officers for 2025.
The officers include Collector; Treasurer; Auditor; Clerk; and Moderator.
Please prayerfully consider whether you have the time and skills to fill one of these important roles and indicate your interest to me ASAP. Our Bylaws require a 2-week posting period prior to Annual Meeting for the slate of officers.
It’s important that we have representation across our membership and not to continue to rely on the same leadership.
Thanks!
Fred Malcolm, Moderator
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THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Our 2024 Christmas Diaper Drive to benefit the Manchester Diaper Pantry was a fabulous success thanks to all our donors!
The Manchester Diaper Pantry (https://www.facebook.com/manchesterdiaperpantry/) offers free diapers to parents who are in need once each month. While diapers cannot be purchased by 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 $225 in donations which will be sent directly to the Manchester Diaper Pantry as well as:
300 Wipes
880 Diapers in various sizes
Thank you so much for supporting this wonderful cause and for continuing to answer our missions call!
The Missions Team
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Rev Paige's Corner: Questions of Faith
Our "Living The Questions materials that the Thursday morning book group is discussing included this wonderful story: "Harry Emerson Fosdick,
the celebrated preacher at New York’s Riverside Church, was fond of telling of
the day a distraught student exclaimed, "I don't believe in God!" Fosdick replied,
"Tell me about this God you don't believe in; chances are I don't believe in that
God either.""
I loved this quote because it reflected my own experiences. As a pastor, people sometimes feel they have to justify to me why they don't go do church and I have had a few discussions through the years where people have said things to me like: "I can't be a Christian because I believe in science and I don't believe...." And when they get to the end of the sentence I often shock them and tell them that as a pastor I also value science and often agree with what they said they don't accept. (Think things like rejecting evolution and the presence of dinosaurs.) People not engaged in the Christian faith often have a very narrow view about what Christians believe. Sometimes that view is based with encounters with people of particular sects of Christian faith that are not reflective of the majority of Christians. Other times it is based on hazy memories of Sunday school classes.
This is a real challenge for us as 21st century Christians who are, frankly, pretty shy about talking about our faith. I believe that if we are going to draw in the younger generations to the church we need to find ways to get the word out about who we are and whose we are!
Blessings and Peace!
Rev Paige Besse-Rankin
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St. Anne’s Food Pantry 2024 Thanksgiving
and Christmas Drive
Thanks again for such a generous outpouring of food items for St. Anne’s Food Pantry over the Holiday Season!
For the Thanksgiving and Christmas Drive, Hampstead Congregational Church donated over 100 items – including over a 21 boxes of stuffing, 25 cans of cranberry sauce and 21 jars of gravy for their Holiday Baskets. Also donated were: over 25 cans of vegetables, pasta & meat, beans, soup, milk, chili and canned meats and fish, beef jerky, condiments, coffee, tea and 25 individually wrapped tooth brushes! St. Anne’s Food Pantry is very appreciative of our ongoing support.
Current pantry needs include: Au Gratin Potatoes, coffee/tea, Tuna, Mayo, Hamburger Helper, Crackers (Saltines, Ritz, Triscuits), Pancake Mix, Maple Syrup, Rice Pilaf, Chef Boyardee items, Salad Dressing and Jam.
Again, THANK YOU for your caring and generosity.
The Missions Committee
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Wildfire Relief: Call to Prayer and Action
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is actively responding to the devastating wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles County since January 7, 2025. With nearly 30,000 acres consumed and 180,000 people displaced, these fires represent the largest disaster in the county's history.
In this time of crisis, the UCC's Global HOPE team is collaborating with local conferences and ecumenical partners to provide immediate relief and plan for long-term recovery. Tragically, the Altadena Community Church, United Church of Christ, has been destroyed, underscoring the profound impact on our faith communities.
We invite you to join us in prayer and support. As Rev. Shari Prestemon offers in "A Prayer for Those in the Path of Fire":
"Steadfast God, we watch in horror as fires rage in Southern California, and we pause to raise these humble petitions to you. For all those forced to evacuate, who leave so much that is precious behind and know not what the future holds, surround them with your gentle presence in these hours of tortured worry and waiting."
To read the full prayer and learn how you can contribute to the relief efforts, please visit the UCC's California Wildfires 2025 Appeal page. (https://support.ucc.org/california-wildfires-2025) Your support and prayers are vital in bringing hope and healing to those affected by this disaster.
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Grow Your Faith at Horton Center and Prepared to Serve!
There are two amazing opportunities offered through the NH Conference UCC to grow and learn!
Coming on February 22 is “Prepared to Serve” – an event with all sorts of workshops, worship, displays, and fellowship. You can see all the workshops and get more information here: https://www.nhcucc.org/events/pts-2025 (Let Rev Paige know if you are going and we will see if we can set up a carpool! It is a great day with something for everyone!) https://www.nhcucc.org/events/pts-2025
Horton Center Summer registration is open now! (Yes it is hard to think about warm days on the mountain with snow on the ground, but it is worth the effort!) Ready, Set, Summer Camp! Sign yourself and your loved ones up for an amazing camp experience at Horton Center this summer. With expanded offerings for all ages and stages, everyone is sure to find something to thrill or chill - whatever you're searching for! Check out the summer schedule here: www.hortoncenter.org/sessions Summer staff and volunteers are also being recruited if you or someone you know is interested.
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Peace & Justice
New Hampshire was faced with the duty to get rid of thousands of gallons of firefighting foam that has been collected from around the state. The problem is how to get rid of something that is known to last forever? That is of course PFAS.
The state decided to not try to contain this dangerous substance and place the foam in landfills, but rather use a “PFAS Annihilator”. The annihilator, based in Ohio, is run by the science and technology based nonprofit Battelle. It processes the foam to well above the boiling point under pressure sufficient to dissolve the chemicals. The first batch was sent for processing with the processed foam sent to a lab for analysis to see which specific PFAS chemicals remain and at what levels.
The results have not been reported yet, but the hope is that the treatment has brought the instances of these chemicals down to acceptable levels for disposal. If it works, we will finally have a way to get rid of these “forever chemicals”.
Full NHPR article
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Music Corner by Herb Tardiff
Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony:
Dvořák wrote the symphony in the 1890s while living in New York City. His experiences in America, including discovering Native American and African-American melodies, influenced the symphony.
The symphony was originally titled Symphony in E minor, but Dvořák added the words "From the New World" to the title page the night before it was to be performed. The symphony was heavily influenced by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha. The English horn theme from the symphony's Largo has been compared to Hiawatha traveling with his wife, Minnehaha.
Dvořák intended the symphony to bring an American musical sensibility to European classical music. He believed that Native American communities and African-American spirituals were at the core of an American sound.
The symphony premiered at Carnegie Hall on December 16, 1893.
The symphony's significance
The symphony was a major milestone in the validation of American music as a source material for classical composition.
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Saint Anne's Food Pantry
It's a new year and the food pantry has new needs: Au Gratin potatoes, coffee/tea, tuna fish, mayo, cereal (no oatmeal), Hamburger Helper, crackers (Saltines, Ritz, Triscuits), maple syrup, rice pilaf, strawberry jam, pancake mix, Chef Boyardee items, spices, salad dressings and English muffins.
Thank you to everyone who helped out during the holiday season and thank you in advance for any donations.
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.
Please no expired items. Non-perishable items only.
Drop off is in the foyer of Hadley Hall.
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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.
1/21/2025 Newsletter
Each week, we will update this section of our Weekly Word with the new link
for the current newsletter.
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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 Office hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00am to 2 pm
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Hampstead Congregational Church Website
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