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Worship This Week
Please join us
in the Sanctuary
or online at 10am for the
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Mother's Day
Coffee hour will be held
after the service.
The service will be live streamed
on Facebook Live here
or on 3CX here
Reader: Debra Sawyer
Coffee Hour Hosts: Linda Tilden
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This Weekend!
Spring Clean-Up
Saturday, May 10th, 9am-12pm
Rain or shine, our church clean-up will go on as scheduled for this Saturday, 9am-12pm. At best we can work between light showers or occasional raindrops. If you prefer, to avoid getting wet, there are a number of indoor tasks.
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COFFEE HOUR OPENINGS
We still have two unfilled dates for COFFEE HOUR volunteers:
Sunday, May 25th
Sunday, June 15th
Any takers? Please contact Judy Dobson
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Rev Paige's Corner: Hearing some good old stories
I will confess that I was not much of a history fan prior to seminary. What history meant to me was a lot of names and dates that needed to be memorized for a test - something I did not particularly excel in. It wasn't until seminary that I had some wonderful history professors who were amazing story-tellers. That was when I began to get interested in history a bit - when I recognized it was all about stories!
One of those professors once told us that the church's understanding of its history often feels like an airplane flight - taking off in the second or third century and looking down on tiny things until we come in for a landing close to modern times. In other words, most of us know little about what has shaped the church over 2000 years!
Of course what stories we chose to tell and how we tell them in important to consider! And while it is well known that "history gets written by the winners", I believe the work of historians to explore the stories of people who are not necessarily the ones with the most power and success is very important as well.
As a pastor, I am always interested in the stories that churches tell about their history - and the stories they have forgotten. Digging around in histories and records can bring out some interesting understandings.
Through the years, I have struggled with how to teach church history to confirmation students effectively. The program I have created is a sort of time-travel adventure where students meet some famous characters in the history of the church. Truthfully, I don't know if I have chosen the right people for this journey. I tried to select those who are important in our congregational heritage and those whose names they might have heard like Joan of Arc and St Patrick. But I know I have not done well at expanding the stories beyond the traditional characters of the European centered story of the Western Church. (Of course, in 90 minutes, the best one can really do is plant some seeds and inspire curiosity!)
Below, you will find an invitation to journey with our students on a "Walk through Church History" If you choose to come along, I would welcome feedback as we struggle with how we tell the stories of the mothers and fathers of our faith.
With blessings!
Rev Paige Besse-Rankin
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Join the Confirmation Class for a Journey Through Time
Sunday, May 18 following Fellowship Time
Our Confirmation Class is taking a quick journey through 2000 years of Church History, meeting some interesting characters and hearing some good stories! All are welcome to join us for the journey. We are also looking for some volunteers to help with this program!
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MOTHER’S DAY DIAPER DRIVE
In honor of Mother’s Day, Hampstead Congregational Church will be collecting diapers & wipes (especially sizes 4,5,&6) to benefit MANCHESTER DIAPER PANTRY
Please drop off donations in the foyer of
Hampstead Congregational Church
61 Main Street, Hampstead, NH
We will be accepting donations throughout the entire month of May*
*Recent government cuts and loss of storage space has Manchester Diaper Pantry currently raising money for a mobile storage unit that will allow them to continue to purchase, collect, and store their donations and also help them reach more families in need. If you would like to make a monetary donation, please make a note that it is for the Diaper Drive.
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Atkinson Congregational will be hosting Vacation Bible Camp June 23-26, 8:30-12pm each day. They are currently looking for teen and adult volunteers.
Click here for Camp Registration
Click here for Volunteer Sign Up
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Volunteer Recognition
In our ongoing efforts to recognize a group of volunteers each month, this month we
would like to recognize our Fundraising Team. This group, consisting of Barbara Wallack, Ellen McCune, Linda Tilden, Roxanne McGaffigan and honorary member and all-around helper Kari Allard, coordinates events such as The Strawberry Festival, The Christmas Craft Fair and the very popular Food Truck Festival.
Quite a bit of time and effort goes into the planning of each event and then making sure
everything runs smoothly the day of the event. The Church and its members
acknowledge and appreciate the amount of work that happens behind the scenes to
make each event successful. We see you.
Many thanks to the members of our Fundraising Team!
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A Message for Plant Enthusiasts
It is finally spring, and the young perennials are popping up in the gardens. Consider dividing your perennials now and potting up a portion of them for sale at the Strawberry Festival. Right now, the tops are small, and the roots are strong. Potting them now and caring for them will give us full, beautiful, unstressed plants for the sale. Please label your plants with any information you can: type, variety, color, anything is helpful.
Houseplants are also popular now. Do you have something from which you could take cuttings and start new little plants? Succulent type plants like Christmas Cactus, should be cut, then let to air dry and callus over for a few days before sticking them into a well-drained soil. If you know the name or color of your plant, please label it. If you have questions about propagating, feel free to ask me. Kariallard1@msn.com Maybe you have more houseplants than you need these days. Consider donating healthy plants that are taking up too much room, or of which you have duplicates. All donations of healthy plants are appreciated.
Many thanks in advance from the Strawberry Festival Plant Table Team!
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Strawberry Festival - Saturday, June 7th
We need your help!
Are you ready for some Strawberry Shortcake? Our annual Strawberry Festival is happening soon. If you can help in any way on Friday, 6/6 and/or Saturday, 6/7, it would be greatly appreciated.
Another way to help--donate baked goods--they can be dropped off Friday, 6/6.
Things you can do to help:
- Friday--Help with Setup starting at 4PM
- Saturday--Help with Games - multiple timeslots starting at 8:30AM
- Saturday--Help with Bake Sale Table - multiple timeslots starting at 8:30AM
- Saturday--Help with Grilling - multiple timeslots starting at 8:30AM
- Saturday--Help with Serving the Shortcake - multiple timeslots starting at 8:30AM
- Saturday--Help with Plant Table - multiple timeslots starting at 8:30AM
- Saturday--Help with Cleanup starting at 3:00PM
Signup Sheet is in Hadley Hall, or you can contact the office at 603-329-6985 and we will help get you signed up.
Let’s make this event a huge success!
As always, thank you for your support,
Your Fundraising Team
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The CROP Hunger Walk is back on Sunday June 1st! We are happy to announce that, after a hiatus, the Hampstead/Atkinson/Plaistow CROP Hunger Walk is coming back. HCC was a longtime supporter of this event and we are looking forward to being involved again.
We have started a team if you would like to walk and/or fundraise. You can also get involved by making a donation to our team to support this wonderful cause.
To make a donation or find out more about the walk please visit https://events.crophungerwalk.org/crophungerwalks/event/hampsteadnh
In the coming weeks we will be talking more about this wonderful event that helps raise funds to provide meals for people in our local communities as well as around the world. Stay tuned for more details about the walk and how you can help.
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HCC Today and Tomorrow! May 31 at the Meetinghouse
As we continue our Interim work and begin preparations for our pastoral search, we want to take time to focus in on our visions and goals for the church in the days ahead. We are hoping to have a broad conversation involving as many stakeholders in church life as is possible.
We promise fun, fellowship and food will be part of the mix!
HCC Today and Tomorrow will be held on May 31st at the Hampstead Meetinghouse. More details to come very soon.
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Save the Dates! Upcoming Events
May 10th – Spring Clean Up at 9am
May 31st - HCC Today & Tomorrow Retreat at the Hampstead Meetinghouse
June 1 – Crop Walk at 1pm
June 7 – Strawberry Festival at 9am
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Peace & Justice
May is Mental Health Awareness Month with the theme SPEAK OUT, SPEAK UP. GIVE HELP. GIVE HOPE. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, is celebrating with the In Every Story, There’s Strength Campaign. They encourage anyone who can to share their personal mental health journey. The goal is to remind others that they are not alone. This action celebrates the power of storytelling to fuel connection, understanding, and hope for those navigating their own mental health path. Each story is a testament to the possibility of recovery and reminds us that strength lies within us all.
You can share in the form of a video, an audio recording, or written story posted to social media with the hashtag #MyMentalHealth. Se the campaign link below for more details and suggestions. If you don’t have social media, you can submit your work on this page as well.
Reminders: NAMI Helpline is available M-F 10am – 10pm by
phone 800-950-6264
text “Helpline” to 62640
online chat name.org/help
In Crisis, call or text 988 (available 24/7)
Blessings, Debra
More about NAMI and the Every Story Campaign
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Music Corner by Herb Tardiff
The roots of Southern Harmony singing, like the Sacred Harp, are found in the American colonial era, when singing schools convened to provide instruction in choral singing, especially for use in church services. This practice remained popular with Baptists in the South long after it fell from use in other regions.
In 1801, a book called The Easy Instructor by William Smith and William Little was published for the use of this movement; its distinguishing feature was the use of four separate shapes that indicated the notes according to the rules of solfege. A triangle indicated fa, a circle sol, a square la and a diamond, mi.
To avoid proliferating shapes excessively, each shape (and its associated syllable) except for mi was assigned to two notes of the musical scale. A major scale in the system would be noted Fa – Sol – La – Fa – Sol – La – Mi – Fa, and a minor scale would be La – Mi – Fa – Sol – La – Fa – Sol – La.
Southern Harmony was one of the first American hymn books published in the 19th century. The following manuscript is what we sing for our Doxology today. You will notice that the melody is in the third part (the tenor) and the note notation is similar to the ancient Gregorian chant from centuries ago.
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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: Salad dressings, Coffee, Mayonnaise, Cans of Grated Cheese, Flour, Sugar, Gluten Free Items, Juice Boxes, Spices, Cereal (no oatmeal).
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.
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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.
5/6/2025 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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