HCC Weekly Word

April 10th Weekly Word

Beginning next week the HCC Weekly Word

will be sent out on Thursdays at 3pm.

Join Us This Sunday To Celebrate

Chris McCune

MANY THANKS to Chris McCune!

This Sunday 4/14 we will be recognizing the many years Chris has dedicated to the Operations & Communications Teams.

Join us for a special coffee hour after worship to express our gratitude.

Rev Paige's Corner: Lenses We Use to See Ourselves

Part of the work that congregations do in times of transition is to do some self-assessment. There are three core questions:

Who are we? (What are our values? What is important to us?)
Who is our Neighbor? (Who is around us? Who is missing? What sort of Ministry opportunities do we have?)
What is God calling us to do?

Of course, these are not new discussions. They happen in an ongoing way in most congregations. But transition time and preparation for a new pastor invites intentional reflection.

There are lots of wonderful tools and resources to help us think about these questions in ways that might bring new insight. One that is new and interesting has been created at the national setting of the United Church of Christ. The tools is the "Marks of Faithful and Vital Local Churches in the UCC". You can see the full version here: Marks of Faithful and Vital Local Churches

Local churches come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but how do we assess if they are faithful and vital? This is a conversation that is about something different than numbers. (How many are in worship? Does the budget balance?) It has more to do with spiritual growth, a healthy community, and faithful engagement with the community and world. So this list of marks (which is similar to a list of Marks for Pastors that was developed some years ago), tries to identify practices, attitudes and qualities of local churches. This list isn't meant to create a report card. It is meant, rather, to inspire reflection and conversation.

There are 48 marks in these 6 categories:

Exhibiting a Spiritual Foundation and ongoing Spiritual Practice

Engaging Sacred Stories and traditions

Shaping Church Community

Organizing Community with Intention

Building Leadership Skills within local churches

Caring for the Wider Community

Working Together for Justice and Mercy

Living into United Church of Christ Identity

I would invite you to take a look at the marks when you get a chance. They can be a lot to think about all at once, but I think they offer a useful lense for discussion in the days ahead.

Blessings!

Rev Paige Besse-Rankin

Discipleship Conversation

The Discipleship team has planned a tentative conversation about future plans for children's ministries and intergenerational activities in the days ahead. The discussion is scheduled in the library for this Sunday, April 14 following Coffee Hour. All are welcome to join us!

Worship This Week

Please join us

in the Sanctuary

or online at 10am for the

Third Sunday of Easter

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: Fred Malcolm

Coffee hour host: Joann Klawitter

Baptism of Tatum Brian Lee

Special Fuel Offering

Spring is here according to the calendar, but Old Man Winter continues to hang around. Despite the so-called mild winter, the church heating bills through the remaining current winter season are expected to exceed 70% of the amount that Operations budgeted for 2024. Therefore, we are asking you, our members and friends to consider a special fuel offering this month to offset our heating costs.

Special envelopes will be included in the bulletins. If you mail your donation, please indicate with a note or on the memo line.

In appreciation,

Operations Team

A Message for Plant Enthusiasts

Despite the recent weather, it is 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!

Fiber Arts Canceled for April

Fiber Arts will be canceled this month (April) so we can host the Hampstead Eats food truck festival on Saturday, April 27th.

It will resume in May as usual on the last Saturday of the month.

We hope you'll still stop by and enjoy some amazing food from the food trucks!

New Discussion Group Starting Tomorrow 4/11

This week's topic: "Who is God?"

The Food Truck Festival Needs Your Help

The vendors and the entertainment are all set for our 4th Annual Hampstead Eats Food Truck Festival on April 27th. If you can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated.

Things you can do:

Help with Setup starting at 9AM
Help with Ticket Sales - multiple timeslots starting at 10:30AM-1:30PM & 1:30-4PM
Help with Parking - multiple timeslots starting at 10:30AM-2:30PM
Help with Cleanup starting at 4:00PM

Let’s make this event a huge success! As always, thank you for your support,

Your Fundraising Team

Music Corner by Herb Tardiff

Do you have some extra money lying around?

The Messiah violin by Antonio Stradivarius is estimated to have a worth of $20 million and ranks among the most expensive violins in the world. Made in 1716, this historic instrument remains incredibly in almost perfect "like new" condition. It is a violin that has been played by many famous musicians including Nathan Milstein and Joseph Joachim. It is now part of an exhibition at Ashmoleum museum in Oxford and attracts visitors from all over the world for its excellent condition.

The Messiah Antonio Stradivari - $20 million

Save the Date! Look what is coming and mark your calendars!

April 11	The Story of God Discussion Group
April 27	Hampstead Eats/Food Truck Rally
May 12	Mother's Day Diaper Drive
June 1	Strawberry Festival

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.

4/9/2024 Newsletter

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

for the current newsletter.

Missions Opportunities:

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.

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.

Connect on Facebook

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!

HCC Facebook Page

We are now on Instagram!

If you are on Instagram, please follow us, and let your friends know about us by sharing our posts! Click this link

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