THE WEEKLY NEWS
April 2, 2024 | Volume 16 No. 12
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On March 31, Easter, International Trans Day of Visibility was recognized. In the spirit of love and resurrection promise, all of us at the New Hampshire Conference want our beloved Trans community to know we stand in solidarity with you. You are our brothers, our sisters, our siblings. You are our partners, our spouses, our friends. You are our co-workers, our mentors, our students. You are our parents, our children, our family. You are our community and you are in our hearts. We will stand beside you as together we work to make this world a place of love, acceptance and pride for all God’s children. | | |
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NHCUCC's Second Annual Anti-Racism Lecture
With Guest Speaker Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson
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SUNDAY, APRIL 7th 5pm
BROOKSIDE CHURCH, UCC
2013 ELM STREET, MANCHESTER, NH
Come hear Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, the first Black female General Minister and President of the UCC, present the second annual lecture sponsored by the Anti-Racism Ministries group of the New Hampshire Conference, UCC. The lecture will begin at 5pm on Sunday, April 7th at Brookside Church in Manchester, NH. The Sacred Ally Quilt Ministry will be available for viewing in the sanctuary before the lecture beginning at 4pm. Following the event there will be an opportunity to meet and greet Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson during the reception in the Fellowship Hall.
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Lay Preaching Class - Rescheduled | |
Did you miss the lay preaching class at Prepared to Serve? Presenter The Rev. Dr. Deborah Roof will give an encore presentation at First Parish in East Derry on Saturday, April 20, from 9 to 12.
All are welcome to join us for this morning of preaching for the layperson. Please plan to arrive early so that we have a full three hours together. Email pastordeborah@fpc-ucc.org to reserve your spot! We are located at 47 East Derry Road, East Derry.
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Join the Mental Health First Aid Course in Laconia | |
Date: Saturday, April 20, 2024
Time: 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Location: The Congregational Church of Laconia, “Church Hall” (Basement area of the Church)
Who: Open to the public (Must be 18 years old or older)
Learn how to recognize and respond to mental health events or substance use issues using the ALGEE action plan.
Learn more here...
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Church Administrative Professionals Gathering | |
Wednesday, April 24th, 10am – 2:00 pm at NH Conference, 140 Sheep Davis Rd, Pembroke.
The Local Church Support Ministry (LCSM) is hosting an event for church administrative professionals.
- Learn about Local Church Support Ministry and how they are assisting our churches.
- Meet other church admin professionals.
- Chat with staff and learn how each of them assists our churches, our pastors, and you!
- Network with other pros about great ways to tackle tasks and organize information.
- Allow the LCSM and NHCUCC to celebrate you, your work, and your ministry to our local congregations.
To register, please contact Susanne McCarron via email, smccarron@nhcucc.org.
This event is free of charge to participants. Boxed Lunch will be included (more details to come). Churches are encouraged to compensate their professionals for this workday.
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Calling All Clergy!
Register for Clergy Day of Replenishment and Renewal Now
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All clergy of the New Hampshire Conference are invited to “Come to the River” for a day away from work to restore, connect, and explore. Many clergy are experiencing tremendous depletion, fatigue, and weariness these days. The Clergy Support Ministry recognizes this weariness and offers this respite day.
We invite you to join us on Tuesday, April 30th, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Congregational Church of Hooksett. The day begins at 8:30 a.m. with a light breakfast and will end with lunch.
If you cannot attend in person, we are offering a Zoom Retreat option on Wednesday, May 1st, from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
The Rev. Steve Miller will lead the retreats and offer an enriching time of spiritual exploration involving voice and movement, silence and rest, and community connection.
The cost for the retreat (whether in person or on Zoom) is $20.
You can register and learn more about the day and schedule here: https://nhcucc.regfox.com/clergy-day-2024
The registration deadline is Thursday, April 25th. Come away and rest for a while!
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Churches’ Ongoing Engagement
Amid Middle East Crisis
| As the crisis in the Middle East continues, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ remain deeply engaged in prayer, public witness, advocacy, and solidarity with partners. View the latest articles on our Global Ministries website to see highlights of our churches’ most recent witness and ways you can be involved. | | |
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New Website Pictures
We need your help!
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We are redesigning our website and want to represent as many of our churches as possible. Pictures speak a thousand words, so we want your help gathering pictures of our churches. If you have high-quality images of your church building, send them our way! To submit photographs, email tsieverding@nhcucc.org.
Some things to keep in mind:
- We need high-quality images (Unfortunately, we can't accept pixilated, grainy, or blurry pictures)
- We need express permission from the photographer
- If you have pictures of people, we need written consent from anyone seen in the picture. (Here is a photo release form you can use)
We are collecting pictures till the end of April. We would love to see your church represented on our new website!
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The Association Restructuring Task Force
Wants to Listen to You
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Please join us for a Listening Session about the possible Association restructuring plans. We need your feedback, concerns, and hopes. There will be 5 Zoom sessions at different times of the day and week. We hope that one of them will be convenient for you.
The Zoom link will be available closer to the events. Please keep the Task Force and its work in your prayers.
Wednesday, April 24 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 27 10:00 am
Sunday, April 28 7:00 pm
Tuesday, May 14 7:00 pm
Thursday, May 16 1:00 pm
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53rd Annual NEAUCE Conference
Keeping Sabbath Sacred, Finding Rest for the Soul
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Dynamic keynote speaker Matt Carriker promises an engaging experience. Debbie Gline Allen will explore intergenerational learning and offer a special pre-retreat session. Debbie Ringen, RN, BS, will address vital Suicide Prevention topics. And with Rev. Dr. Beth Follum-Hoffman as the worship leader, expect anything but boring church!
Learn more and register here!
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UCC Earth Summit
Featuring Bill McKibben and Award Winning Activists
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The UCC's second annual Earth Summit will feature celebrated author and activist Bill McKibben delivering the Jim Antal Keynote Lecture with the title, "Energy from Heaven or Energy from Hell?" Additionally, the following panel of award-winning activists will speak about the multi-national struggle against the pollution of Formosa Plastics, one of the world's largest plastics producers. Both Sharon Lavigne and Diane Wilson have won the Goldman Prize which is often referred to as the “green” Nobel Prize. They will be joined on the panel by Nancy Bui from the International Monitor Formosa Alliance and Justice for Formosa Victims. The two-and-a-half-hour summit will also feature the announcement of the Dollie Burwell Prophetic Action Award winner, a celebration of the UCC's newest Creation Justice Churches, and a video showcasing the environmental ministries of our host congregation, The Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. Even if you cannot make the event on April 20th at 1 pm ET, still sign-up, and a recording will be sent to you. Register now!
Please feel welcome to join us in-person at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. No registration is required for in-person attendance.
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UUCMA 2024: Uniting Music and Faith
Experience Inspiration and Connection at the National Church Musicians Conference
| Join the UCCMA at their National Conference from July 10-13, 2024, in Greenwich, Connecticut, for a transformative experience designed for church musicians and worship leaders. Engage with renowned presenters like Tom Shelton and Nathanial Gumbs in workshops and networking events centered around the theme "A place at the table." Scholarships are available for first-time attendees in need of financial support. For more details and to register, visit their website. | | |
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Cultivating Refugia: Building the Resilient Church
A Small Church Leadership Community for congregations in Northern New England
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The BTS Center invites you to recruit a team of 4-5 from your congregation, including the lead pastor (or functional equivalent), to apply to participate in this 10-month community of practice. Six congregations will be selected.
As an expression of The BTS Center’s commitment to the health and vitality of small faith communities, this Small Church Leadership Community is offered as a gift to Northern New England congregations, without an enrollment fee.
Learn more...
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"Come to the River" Clergy Day of Replenishment and Renewal | |
Tuesday, April 30th, from 9am-1pm at the Congregational Church of Hooksett. Light breakfast and lunch provided.
Zoom Retreat Option: Wednesday, May 1st, 12:30-2pm.
Leave work behind for a day of spiritual exploration involving voice and movement, silence and rest, and community connection.
The retreats will be led by The Rev. Steve Miller, Pastor of First Church in Jaffrey.
Registration will open April 2nd. Cost is $20 to attend either in person or on Zoom.
Please mark your calendars for a day away. All clergy welcome!
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Register Your Youth Now!
New England Regional Youth Event
| The New Hampshire Conference is planning to have a delegation of youth from across the state attend the Regional Youth Event July 28-31. Significant scholarship support will be offered (details to be announced in the next couple of weeks.) If you would like to be a part of the New Hampshire team attending the Regional Youth Event, please go ahead and register (https://www.silverlakect.org/campsession/18183657) and then please send a copy of your registration confirmation to grankin@nhcucc.org. | | |
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Applications for New Office Administrator
Now Open
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The New Hampshire Conference seeks candidates to serve as our Office Administrator. The Office Administrator is the primary host and hospitality provider for events held at the Conference Office, maintains the Conference directory database and calendar, completes bank deposits, provides administrative support for the Conference Annual Meeting and Prepared to Serve events, arrange for periodic bulk mailings, and many other administrative tasks to support the mission and ministry of the Conference. A position description is available upon request.
The Office Administrator position is a 37 ½ hours a week, non-exempt position. Salary information available on request. Full benefits (health and dental insurance, pension, etc.) are provided.
Interested candidates should submit a resume (with references to contact) to the Reverend Gordon Rankin, Conference Minister, at grankin@nhcucc.org.
The New Hampshire Conference is a Racial Justice, Just Peace, Open and Affirming Conference of the United Church of Christ.
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Applications for New Communications and Programs Coordinator
Now Open
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The New Hampshire Conference seeks candidates to serve as our Communications and Programs Coordinator. The Communications and Programs Coordinator provides logistical organization for Conference events and programs include Annual Meeting and Prepared to Serve, maintains the Conference technology infrastructure, publishes Conference communications including the Conference website and Weekly News, and oversees upkeep and maintenance of the Conference Office. A position description is available upon request.
The Communications and Programs Coordinator position is a 37 ½ hours a week, non-exempt position. Salary information available on request. Full benefits (health and dental insurance, pension, etc.) are provided.
Interested candidates should submit a resume (with references to contact) to the Reverend Gordon Rankin, Conference Minister, at grankin@nhcucc.org.
The New Hampshire Conference is a Racial Justice, Just Peace, Open and Affirming Conference of the United Church of Christ.
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UPCOMING CONFERENCE EVENTS | |
| The NHCUCC Women's Fellowship Spring Program on Cultural Diversity in New Hampshire.
Plymouth Congregational Church | April 20 9:30 - 3:30
Save the Date | | |
PRAYERS FOR THE ASSOCIATION RESTRUCTURE | |
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There is a lot of discernment and creative thinking going into developing a new model for our Association structure. 6 out of 7 of our Association voted to move forward with creating a model which will have one Association, with the Conference acting as Association
What we need is prayer to guide us. Every week in the Weekly News there will be a specific request for prayers reflecting where we are in the process. So, please pray so that this work will be guided and grounded in God’s Spirit.
Here is what we need you to pray for this week:
A creative spirit which can see beyond how things are to how things could be. And in all we do to honor the will of the people who will be affected by this change.
A Spiritual Director once shared that when asking for prayer; the prayer is our desire, the prayer entrusts it to God, which serves as our hope going forward. In this mindset, we see the honesty of speaking to God of what is on our heart, a trust in God, and a faith that no matter the outcome, God will bring us hope. In that spirit, please pray without ceasing for the work of Association restructure.
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Our pastors and clergy. God, we give you thanks for all those who lead churches, who work as chaplains, spiritual directors and in the many different forms of ministry where your love is felt. We thank you for the amazing ways they bring your story of love and resurrection to life, leading our congregations with grace and skill, teaching and preaching how to be church, to love like you do, holding with tenderness and care all those who suffer and need to hear your words of hope. May you grace them with rest in this first week of Eastertide, and the knowledge that they are held with love by their congregations and those they serve, by their Conference, and especially by you O Holy One. | |
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It is with saddened hearts and yet the hope of resurrection promise that we share with you that the Pastor Maureen Adams passed away on March 25, 2024. Pastor Adams was serving the United Church of Acworth, UCC and the Third Congregational Church, UCC in Alstead.
On Sunday, April 7 at 5pm the 2nd Annual Anti-Racism Lecture will be held at Brookside Church, UCC in Manchester.
On Sunday, April 14 the Rev. Jared Rardin will conclude his service as Pastor and Teacher of South Congregational Church, UCC in Concord and retire from active ministry.
On Sunday, April 14 at 2pm at the Congregational Church of North Barnstead, UCC the Merrimack Association will hold their Spring meeting
Following the Spring Meeting at 3:30pm the Merrimack Association will install the Rev. Kate Kennedy as Pastor and Teacher of the Congregational Church of North Barnstead, UCC
On Sunday, April 14 at 3pm at the Deering Community Church, UCC the Rockingham Association will hold a Service of Ordination for Karen Landry.
The Rev. Donna Muise will serve as the Transitional Pastor for the First Congregational Church of Rochester, UCC, beginning June 3rd.
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Sunday Schedule: April 7, 2024 | |
The Conference Minister will preach at Plymouth Congregational Church, UCC. | |
The Conference Minister will preach at the United Church of Acworth, UCC, and the Third Congregational Church, UCC, in Alstead. | | |
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Monday - Friday | 8:00 am - 4:30 pm | |
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The Weekly News is published to promote the mission and ministry of the New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ.
These announcements are intended to be brief, timely, and of a general interest to our Conference readers. Supportive links are provided whenever they are available. We encourage you to forward these materials to others in your church using the link below and to share them in your bulletins and local church newsletters.
Send your items to Communications@nhcucc.org. The deadline for submitting items for the next issue is Thursday at 12:00 PM.
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