News Blast

News

Blast!

April 24, 2026

Congregational Church of Laconia, UCC

We are in need of cookies, lemonade and ice tea

See Hollis after Church on Sunday

EASTERTIDE HOPE KINDNESS AND COMPASSION

Have you noticed the symbols of Hope that many of our church members have shared with us?

(You can see this moving and inspirational display in the garden level/ elevator entrance to our church).

Our hope project continues through Eastertide to Pentecost! With your help we will be making a prayer flag.

This is a coffee hour project ! You will be able to decorate a flag for the prayer flag with your hopeful messages of kindness and compassion.

To get you thinking about what you might wish to share here are a few quotes i have found about hope:

“ Hope is not about how things turn out, but how we see things.” Fr Greg Boyle

“ Hope is an echo, hope ties itself, yonder , yonder”. Carl Sandburg.

“We can breathe a sigh of relief as long as there is a “yonder”. Fr Greg Boyle

“ We need hope like we need air” . Brene Brown

“ Hope keeps us focused on the good things that are possible.” Anonymous

We will be offering our Hope Prayer Flag on Pentecost.

If you can’t make it to a coffee hour, give the church office a call and we will get a square of fabric for you to decorate and share your hope on the square. It then will be collected and added to the hope prayer flag.

This project is being brought to you by the Deacons and the Historical Preservation Committee.

Ride Assistance

For rides to Church or Medical Appointments contact Karen Gordon.

Ride requests must be made by text only (no phone calls, please).

Karen Gordon: 508-942-7451

Texting times:

Tuesdays & Fridays after 3:00 pm
Saturday mornings
Sundays anytime

Thank you for respecting these boundaries so Karen can best assist everyone.

In the spirit of caring for one another, we ask that ride requests be made at least 48 hours in advance whenever possible, so our volunteer drivers may plan accordingly.

The Treasurer’s Cache

A monthly update from your Church’s chief financial steward.

April 2026

In March, after approval from the Property & Finance Committee (P&F), the Church’s online payment processing was switched to Zeffy. This means the Church can now accept donor-initiated payments in a number of ways without the overhead of transaction fees. Zeffy does ask the donor for a “tip” to support their business, but it can be easily declined. If you choose to include a “tip”, it’ll help Zeffy to continue to offer their services free of charge to non-profits.

We’ll now be promoting “Scan to Pay” donations at Church events, “Tap to Pay” purchases at Pumpkin Fest, the Christmas Fair, and other fundraisers, online ordering of holiday flowers, and you can even set up secure one-time or recurring pledge payments from your bank account or credit card on our Online Giving page. With this no-fee option available, we’ll be looking to stop the “Pull” ACH transfers that Carolyn has facilitated for some to pay their pledges and, instead, encourage “Push” payments set up on our website.

Also in March, the Church was accepted into both Google’s and Zoom’s non-profit discount programs, helping us to keep administrative costs under control.

Pledges paid for March were quite close to budget, but loose offerings continue to fall short of expectations. Still, we were about 11% over budget for overall income in the first quarter of the year. Expenses for March were close to budget in most categories, though utility expenses continue to run high. Our quarterly payments to “Our Church’s Wider Mission” have been delayed to the month following the quarter end to allow a calculation based on actual income - the payment budgeted for March will be made in April. Overall, first quarter expenses were about 13% below budget.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding our Church’s finances, please feel free to contact me.

John Intorcio, Treasurer

Treasurer@LaconiaUCC.org

Treasurer’s Report Repository