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Worship This Week
Please join us
in the Sanctuary
or online at 10am for the
Seventh Sunday of Easter
with Communion
Coffee hour will be held
after the service.
The service will be live streamed
on Facebook Live here
or on 3CX here
Reader: Barry Sargent
Coffee Hour Hosts: Nancy & Bill Cheyne
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The CROP Hunger Walk is back on this Sunday June 1st! Walkers: Please plan to arrive at St. Christopher’s Church (187 East Road, Hampstead) by 12:45 to sign in. Also, anyone who has not signed up online may still do so or you can sign up on Sunday at St. Christopher’s. THANK YOU WALKERS AND DONORS!
The Crop Walk is a wonderful event that helps raise funds to provide meals for people in our local communities as well as around the world. It will be a fun day with the walk starting at 1 pm at St. Christopher’s. Light refreshments and a silent auction with items such as local gift cards, gift baskets, and art items will be offered at the walk.
We have a team and it’s not too late to join. 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
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Rev Paige's Corner: Challenged
As many of you know, I spent most of a week at the "Festival of Homiletics" in Atlanta. (Homiletics is the fancy word for preaching.) This event has some of the best preachers from around the country and even some international preachers. It is not so much about learning how to preach as it is about spiritual nourishment for preachers.
The first evening, we heard Allan Boesak preach. Rev Boesak is South African and a pastor fo the Dutch Reformed Church. He was a leader in the anti-apartheid movement and a church leader in many international settings. His sermon challenged and inspired. He spoke about the divide of social inequalities around our world. He shared that the top 10 richest people in our world have more net worth than the bottom 95% of the combined networth of the world's people. (Let that fact settle in!) The Oxfam inequality report calls this the decade of Division pointing at the unequal access to jobs, education, health care, and essentails for basic living. According to their data, social economic inequalities cause 22000 deaths every single day - or a person every 4 seconds.
These sorts of statistics are difficult to wrap our minds around and can leave us feeling grief and a sense of burden. In those moment, Rev Boesak told us, we run to Jesus. In Jesus, we find a man born as a Palestinean in an occupied land where it was a struggle day after day to survive. Jesus lived and ministered in the midst of those who were struggling. Their pain was his pain. To take up the burden of Christ is to be engaged in the needs of those who are suffering from the cost of the inequalities and injustice in our world. And, Rev Boesak told us, this is not an easy thing to do. But taking the hand of Jesus is to find courage and to walk with him.
Rev Boesak preached to us with passion and fire. He spoke hard truths. But grounded in faith, he inspired us to take up the challenge rather than turning away. And for that I am thankful!
With blessings!
Rev Paige Besse-Rankin
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Strengthen the Church Offering
on Pentecost Sunday, June 8th
The Strengthen the Church (STC) Offering reflects the shared commitment of people across the United Church of Christ to cooperatively build up the UCC. Conferences and the national setting equally share the gifts given by members and friends through their local congregations. The funds raised support leadership development, new churches, youth ministry, and innovation in existing congregations. By your generosity to this offering, you build up the Body of Christ.
As God calls our congregations to be the church in new ways, your generosity will plant new churches, awaken new ideas in existing churches and develop the spiritual life in our youth and young adults.
Click here to watch the video.
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HELP WANTED
STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL - JUNE 7, 2025
We are just a few weeks away from our annual Strawberry Festival and our volunteer sheet IS starting to fill up. If you have already signed up to help, we thank you. If not, we still have some empty spaces that could use your help. They are as follows.
MANNING TABLES
Saturday Bake Table: 12-3pm
Plant table 830am to 12 pm and 12 to 3pm
Strawberry Short Cake Table: 12 – 3pm
Games and Yard Sale table: anytime between 8:30 and 3pm
Clean up:3pm
We also need plants, bake sale items, raffle items, and yard sale items.
So far no one has volunteered to coordinate the yard sale table. Basically, your job would be to price the items. You don’t even have to man the table. Pricing can be done at any time before the 7th. Someone from the Fundraising Team will help if needed.
Please contact the office to sign up for any of these slots or call/email Barbara Wallack at 603-548-8324 or bsw91@comcast.net Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Fundraising will be having a meeting this Sunday after worship in the Library. All are welcome!
The Fundraising Team
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Summer Office Hours Begin June 9th
Just a reminder that the summer office hours will begin on Monday, June 9th until August 31st.
Office hours will be:
Monday 9am-12pm
Wednesday 9am-12pm
Thursday 9am-12pm
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In keeping with our monthly recognition of volunteers, this month Staff Relations would like to recognize the Peace and Justice Team. This team, consisting of Deb Sawyer and Kari Allard, brings to light the social and environmental issues facing not just our country, but our communities as well. And more importantly, they are providing us with the necessary steps that we can take to help out with these issues, not only as a church but as individuals, and showing our love for one another as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus. I know that speaking for myself, I hear of these issues and automatically think, “But what I can do to help?”. But their suggestions bring forth a way for us to be able to do something tangible, instead of simply feeling there is nothing that we can do.
Many thanks to the Peace and Justice 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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Peace & Justice
A few weeks ago I read an inspiring story about a daycare that found a way to stay open for their families in the face of all the obstacles childcare facilities are facing currently.
NHPR posted the story of the Somersworth children's center, Early Steps Learning Center, where families were suddenly facing a 50% tuition increase. That would result in tuition of $475 per week instead of $315 per week. The owner was PMC Medical Group and gave no response to questions. Then, at the end of January, the owner abruptly closed.
The families banded together and divided the 26 remaining children and infants into 4 groups, rehired the teachers, and held classes in the homes of 4 of the parents - an emergency solution that everyone knew would not be sustainable.
So more parents got work and created a business plan and started raising $40,000 to cover expenses for a nonprofit run by a board. Salaries for the teachers would be paid by the tuition. When they approached PMC Medical to give or sell them the toys and equipment they were told that all of it was discarded. So they tracked down the dumpster company and we're given permission to dumpster dive for whatever they wanted.
In the end, they successfully opened Thriving Roots Childcare in the same space with the same beloved staff. What a story about how powerful a group of determined and loving people can accomplish in the face of daunting circumstances.
Blessings, Debra
Full article
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Music Corner by Herb Tardiff
A Brief History of Musical Instruments in Ancient Egypt
Have you ever heard about “Heset”? Heset means “Music” in ancient Egyptian language. As music highlights the importance of the events and creates the proper emotion, ancient Egyptians have long valued music in their daily lives, and it was a key aspect of our Egyptian history; from religious ceremonies and personal celebrations to worship.
Musicians and vocalists were frequently depicted on the walls of the temples and tombs, singing and performing; temple musicians were the ones who held the highest positions. They played on various instruments; chordophones, aerophones, Idiophones, and membranophones. Have a glance at our ancestors’ musical instruments below.
Harp
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Yes, harps are that old! The Egyptian harp, or “Benet”, is one of the oldest and most popular musical instruments in ancient Egypt. Harps were often made out of precious materials, they consisted of a long wooden neck with a curved soundbox with strings attached, producing tunes by plucking the strings; the number of the strings varied according to the size of the harp ranging from 5 to 7 strings.
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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.
5/27/2025 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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