Rev Paige's Corner: Love Letters from God

I had a friend who liked to call Lent "sin, death, and blah." I understood where she was coming from. As we think about the death of Jesus on the cross and how our own human brokenness contributes to the pain of the world, we may find the season of Lent to be heavy, serious, and even negative. Outsiders often associate Christianity with guilt instead of joy.

In a Lenten planning meeting some years ago, we talked about setting a tone for that season that we more positive. We looked at the scripture readings (the same we are using this year.) We found they were filled with stories of Covenants that God made with humanity over time. And with Ash Wednesday and Valentines overlapping, it was easy to make the connection between some of these ancient stories and God's expression of love for us and God's commitment to us.

The question, then, is how we are the recipients of these love letters will respond! And that is a question that is worthy of Lent.

With Blessings!

Rev Paige Besse-Rankin

pastorpaigebr@gmail.com

Fiber Arts This Saturday 2/24

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!

A number of people received a text from someone claiming to be Pastor Paige. The text said it was urgent and to text back.

Thankfully, a number of people emailed, texted and called Pastor Paige to see if it was legitimate.

Just a reminder that Pastor will never send a text message like that.

If there is an urgent matter, she will always call you and leave you a message, or give you a text with pertinent details. And, if you ever have any doubt, please contact the office and/or email/call/text to make sure it is a legitimate communication.

Thank you all for being diligent. It is unfortunate that we have to be so alert and cautious, but it is an increasing reality.

Worship This Week

Please join us

in the Sanctuary

or online at 10am for the

Second Sunday of Lent



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: Kari Allard

Coffee hour host: Pam McGravey & Linda Tilden

One Great Hour of Sharing

Beginning on March 10th, we will be collecting monies to be given to the UCC special offering, One Great Hour of Sharing, which helps people in deep need.

When you give, you help families around the world become stronger, healthier and better equipped to address hardships and catastrophes that would otherwise leave them destitute and hopeless. 

HCC will be receiving donations for One Great Hour of Sharing through March 24th. You can put money in the special offering envelopes at worship, or make checks out to the church (designating “One Great Hour of Sharing”). Thank you, as always, for your continued support of these important mission opportunities.

To learn more about OGHS, watch the video below or visit, here.

Lenten Discussion Group

Begins Tomorrow 2/22

A new Lenten Study, "Living Well Through Lent" will begin on February 22nd and will be held in the library off of Hadley Hall.

It will meet every Thursday during Lent starting at 10am. Booklets are available in the foyer entrance of Hadley Hall. Please read the dates 2/14 to 2/22 for the first study. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Christmas “No Child Wet Behind” Diaper Drive 

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  Once again, we asked our congregation to donate diapers, wipes and other baby items to the Manchester Diaper Pantry and you all outdid yourselves -- yet again! Our Christmas “No Child Wet Behind” Diaper Pantry Drive was a tremendous success.  

We collected and delivered: 

3,420 Wipes  

1,640 Diapers in sizes 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 

5 cans of formula 

3 portable cribs with mattresses and sheets 

1 car seat 

$400  

Gabi Teed, who runs the Manchester Diaper Pantry, was so grateful for our continued generosity. This donation will help support so many families in need of these basic items. Check out their Facebook page here for more information or to see their thank you post to our church. 

Thank you so much for supporting this wonderful cause and for continuing to answer our missions call! 

New Upper Room Booklets Available

We have copies of the

March/April

Upper Room devotional

available in the foyer to Hadley Hall.

If you need a copy mailed to you, please contact the main office.

Steeple Lighting

Steeple Lit

in Loving Memory of

Jackie McCusker

Steeple Lighting

Steeple Lit

in Loving Memory of

Bob & Lois Chase

& Son Gary Chase

From Lauren & Scott

New Electric Rate Savings

Eversource has reduced its supplier electricity rates for the winter period (February 1st to July 31st) to 8.295 cents per Kilowatt. Many of us changed to Direct Energy when their last winter rate was over 22 cents per Kilowatt. It is now time to look at the rate you have

with Direct Energy and go back to Eversource. This will save you on your electricity bills for the next 6 months.

The process is quite easy. All you need to do is call Eversource and say you want to

return to them as your electricity provider. They will take care of the change and you do

not have to contact Direct Energy. The customer service telephone number is 800-662-

7764. It is located at the front of your latest bill.

If you want to talk to me about this my telephone number is 603-571-3434.

Happy Savings;

Al Lake

A Word from Peace & Justice

There is an article from the University of Colorado Boulder about rising national suicide rates starting in the 1990s after a long, steady decline. The standard explanations include “generally declining mental health, increased social media exposure, and heighted access to firearms”. But a study out of UC Boulder has uncovered two more drivers - increased access to lethal prescription opioids and a shrinking federal safety net.

The study analyzed records of more than 16 million deaths among adults between 1990 and 2017,

separating the suicides by intentional poisoning versus non-poisoning and found two spikes in the data. In 1997, one year after OxyContin became available, women’s suicide rates began increasing. The states without prescription drug monitoring programs had the highest increases. The researchers concluded that the easy access to prescription opioid-based pain relievers is a structurally preventable means of suicide.

The second was in 2007 during the housing and financial crash to begin the Great Recession. The researchers looked at state level data and found that suicide rates strongly correlated to the states’ economic conditions – stagnating wages, higher unemployment and increased poverty. They then compared this to data from an economic crash in Sweden from 1990 – 1994 and found that suicide rates did not increase. Sweden has strong social safety net programs that minimize the economic strain and

resulting health effects. A similar effect was seen in the US during the Great Depression after the New Deal was passed when suicide rates began to drop. But during the Great Recession, policymakers put priority of programs on market stabilization while cutting social safety net programs and suicides increased.

The conclusion of the study is that a weak regulatory oversight of the pharmaceutical industry and tattered social safety nets have significantly shaped US suicide risk. The head researcher, Daniel Simon, said, “Suicide hotline crisis numbers and efforts to help people at the individual level are all amazing and necessary, but our work shows that higher-level, institutional interventions are also critical in addressing this crisis. Giving a person a job or proper health care can also be a suicide-prevention tool.”

Full article.

Music Corner by Herb Tardiff

BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS

Words by John Fawcett

Music by H.G. Nageli

“Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love.”

Dr. John Fawcett was the pastor of a small church at Wainsgate, and was called from there to a larger church in London in 1772. He accepted the call and preached his farewell sermon. The wagons were loaded with his books and furniture, and all was ready for the departure, when his parishioners gathered around him, and with tears in their eyes begged of him to stay. His wife said, “Oh, John, John, I cannot bear this.” “Neither can I,” exclaimed the good parson, “and we will not go. Unload the wagons and put everything as it was before.” His decision was hailed with great joy by his people, and he wrote the words of this hymn in commemoration of the event. This song, and “God be with you till we meet again,” are the most useful farewell hymns in the world.

1. Blest be the tie that binds

our hearts in Christian love;

the fellowship of kindred minds

is like to that above.

2. Before our Father's throne

we pour our ardent prayers;

our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,

our comforts and our cares.

3. We share each other's woes,

our mutual burdens bear;

and often for each other flows

the sympathizing tear.

4. When we asunder part,

it gives us inward pain;

but we shall still be joined in heart,

and hope to meet again.

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.

2/20/2024 Newsletter

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

for the current newsletter.

St. Anne's Food Pantry

The pantry is currently in need of the following:

• Coffee
• Large bottles of juice
• Spam
• Salad dressings
• Sugar free items
• Cereal
• All Condiments

Please drop off any donations in the foyer of Hadley Hall

Please, no expired items.

Thank you for all your support!