Conference Minister Corner

Read the whole message on nhcucc.org

Rev. Gordon Rankin | Conference Minister

In a recent blog post, the Reverend Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, our United Church of Christ General Minister and President, reflected on some of the happening of the past few weeks. This week I share the end of Dr. Thompson’s blog reflections...

“The resistance and the fight for justice is ministry for this moment, to create a future where freedom can be realized and experienced by all. This is the call in every age to resist the powers of Empire and emperors... Read More on nhcucc.org

The New Hampshire Conference is accepting up to 10 Speak Out Videos to be played during the Annual Meeting. All videos must be sixty (60) seconds or less and adhere to these protocols. The deadline for Speak Out Video submissions is September 12, 2025. These Video Speak Outs will be the only speak out opportunity at this year's Annual Meeting.

Churches that are celebrating an anniversary (in increments of 25 years), are invited to submit anniversary videos. All videos must be 120 seconds or less and adhere to these protocols. The deadline for submission of Church Anniversary Videos is September 12, 2025.

The New Hampshire Conference takes particular pleasure in honoring its authorized ministers on the occasions of their 25th and 50th anniversary of ordination or authorization. If you hold standing in the Granite State Association/New Hampshire Conference and are celebrating in 2025 either your 25th or 50th anniversary of ordination, please let Cameron Keller (ckeller@nhcucc.org) know. Thank you.

Saturday, June 28, 2025 | Noon | Various Towns Across New Hampshire

The Manchester NAACP is hosting a public reading of Frederick Douglass's "To What to the Slave Is Your 4th of July" speech on June 28th as part of the NH Black Heritage Trail's annual reading event. We invite anyone from the community to read a portion of the speech. The signup for readers at the Manchester location can be found here: https://forms.gle/VUJuoyHSQsFVhLW. This event will take place on the Manchester Library's lawn next to the pollinator garden.

The same event will be happening all across the state. Click the link below to find a location near you!

(https://blackheritagetrailnh.org/frederick-douglass.../).

I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for everything you have done in my life. When I was in jail, you visited me. I was not able to call my family. You put money in my commissary so I could call my family. You helped me get a lawyer. You supported me and prayed for me. …Now I am working and supporting myself. Most important, you gave me hope. You are amazing. …There are many people who need your help. Please continue.

–A message to the IRSG from an individual previously in ICE detention in Dover who has been struggling since 2020 to attain asylum

To help the IRSG continue this work, please donate online via https://bit.ly/Donate2IRSG or mail a check to NHCUCC, with “Immigrant Support” in the memo line, to 140 Sheep Davis Road, Pembroke, NH 03275

Any NH UCCer who follows the current news in any form certainly should be aware that life is very different these days for many asylum-seekers, refugees, temporary protected status holders, international student visa holders and other immigrants in our midst, especially for those who are black or brown. Fears about “what next” are very real and are growing. As part of a welcoming denomination grounded in love, our Conference’s Immigrant & Refugee Support Group (IRSG) is working to adjust our focus accordingly while our immigrant kin face unconscionable and often completely random governmental actions cruelly designed to foment confusion, anxiety and even outright terror among immigrants in the U.S. What remains the same is the financial need of our ministry as carried out through expenditures from the IRSG’s Immigrant Bond and Support Fund. Here are just two examples of the need:

Jail Commissary Support: As ICE agents face quotas for seizing immigrants no matter how flimsy or false the rationale, the ICE detention areas of the Strafford County Jail in Dover now seems consistently packed (over 130 immigrants per a recent report). These are real people with lives and families and hopes and dreams and potential for doing good things. Even as “strangers” to most of us, those in ICE detention are our neighbors – part of our human family. And now in the clutches of ICE, their despair is palpable; their needs are real. For years, the IRSG has provided intermittent $25 deposits on the jail commissary accounts of those detained by ICE in Dover so they can pay for phone calls (a human lifeline!) and other purchases such as personal care items, supplemental food to assuage hunger and sometimes articles of clothing. Especially because needs are heightened and phone calls are more essential than ever, we have increased our modest deposits to $35. Just during April and May, our payouts for Jail Commissary deposits totaled over $2,900 for 83 individuals. Again, jail commissary support touches individual children of God. It matters. And the IRSG can provide this support only with ongoing donations from the UCC family and allies. So please give as generously as your circumstances allow!

Legal Fees: For most (if not all) of our immigrant siblings ensnared by ICE, the only hope of attaining freedom or simply being heard in legal proceedings is through the intervention of an experienced immigration lawyer. Therefore, the IRSG is now placing a high priority on providing legal fee support as we are able. In May alone, the IRSG was pleased to be able to provide $5,500 in such essential assistance. Ongoing generous support from NH UCCers and allies makes this support possible! (https://bit.ly/Donate2IRSG)

To learn more or to schedule an IRSG presentation for your congregation, email irsg.nhcucc@gmail.com or contact IRSG Chair Ron Schneider at ron7249@gmail.com.

Reserve a Place Now!



Would you like to experience mutual support in your ministry? Do you wish that you had a safe community to talk about ministry’s challenges? Do you feel the need for spiritual grounding when you feel the earth move beneath you?

These are a few of the lived realities that participants experience in the Pastoral Leadership Development Groups (PLDG). For 17 years, the PLDG program has been providing space for clergy to process struggles, name strengths, gain insights and support others.

Groups are available for parish pastors, licensed ministers, retired clergy, newly called (to the parish and/or to the NH Conference), and members-in-discernment. Facilitators of the groups are Licensed Pastoral Psychotherapists, CPE supervisors and/or clergy with advanced studies in Bowen theory.

The PLDG program is a partnership between the NH Conference and Pastoral Counseling Services in Manchester. It is underwritten by the Grace Scott Fund of the Conference. The program year starts in September for the Parish-Based groups and the other groups have a rolling entry to join at any time.

Contact Rev. Dr. David B. Reynolds at dbr@pcs-nh.org or 603-518-7751 to sign up for a group or if you have questions. Watch for the fuller descriptions of the groups and facilitators in the July and August “Weekly News” of the NH Conference.

TIME for YOU to TAKE ACTION

Starvation is being used as a weapon of war in Gaza. This genocidal torture of the already beleaguered Gazans is being done with the support of the U.S. It must end, humanitarian aid for all must start Now.

The Peace with Justice Advocates is calling us all to show solidarity with the people of Gaza, raising awareness of the starvation they are being subjected to, and inspiring people to pressure elected representatives to call for a ceasefire and to restore food supplies to Gaza.

Specific to NH, thanks to Sen. Shaheen & Hassan for cosponsoring Senate Resolution 224 calling for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Please call and thank them for that action and ask them to take further action.

Also call and ask Rep. Pappas & Goodlander to cosponsor the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) to block the sale of specific offensive weapons to Israel. U.S. weapons have been used to wage this war, which in addition to killing thousands and displacing millions, has razed entire communities, destroying hospitals, schools, and homes. Ask them to also support H.R.2411 – the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2025.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen: Call (202) 224-2841 / 603-647-7500

Sen. Maggie Hassan: Call (202) 224-3324 / (603) 622-2204

Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01): Call (202) 225-5456 / (603) 935-6710

Rep. Maggie Goodlander (NH-02): Call (202) 225-5206 / (603) 226-1002

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How is Your Church Working for Gun Violence Prevention?

Is your congregation talking about the reality of gun violence in your church and your community?

In 2023, 43,000 people in the U.S. were killed by gun violence, including 650 mass shootings. That number includes the 27,300 people who died by suicide using a firearm. The issue is real and all around us.

There is a 50 page Gun Violence Prevention Resource guide for you and your congregation. It includes a 6 session discussion guide. If your congregation is talking about the reality of gun violence and planning to take action, please email the Peace with Justice Advocates (janet.zeller@gmail.com). We want to share your leadership with other churches in the NH Conference UCC.

Clergy Convocation: Just Eucharist: Communion and the Church's Public Witness

On September 15 - 17, 2025 at the Pilgrim Pines Camp and Retreat Center in Swanzey, NH, Rev. Mary Luti will guide us as we consider "the many ways Communion can 'communize' us for just and courageous living in the world."

The Rev. J. Mary Luti, Ph. D. is a retired seminary professor and pastor, having taught for 20+ years in the fields of Christian History and Worship at the former Andover Newton Theological School (now Andover Newton Seminary at Yale), where she also served as Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Director of the Wilson Chapel. From 2000-2008 she served as Senior Minister of First Church in Cambridge, Congregational, United Church of Christ, in Harvard Square (MA). In retirement, she has served as the sabbatical or interim pastor in several churches in the greater Boston area. A member of the United Church of Christ Stillspeaking Writers Group, she is a regular contributor to the UCC Daily Devotional, and the author of books and articles on various aspects of Christian life, most recently editing a resource for the SSWG entitled, Do This: Communion for Just and Courageous Living. 

There are 46 spots available; please register here.

The Rev. Walt Hampton has announced his resignation from serving as pastor of First Church of Christ, Congregational, in North Conway. Rev. Hampton's last day will be August 31, 2025.

The Rev. Dr. Andi Lloyd has been called by the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College to serve as Co-Pastor with the Reverend Mandy Lape-Freeberg. Rev. Lloyd will start her service at CCDC on October 19.

The Rev. Lynn Wickberg has announced her resignation as pastor of the Westmoreland United Church. Rev. Wickberg's last day will be December 31.

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