603.225.6647
Please Note:

Conference Office Staff will not be working on Monday, July 4th, 2022
to have some time to spend with family and friends in observance of Independence Day.

We will resume normal business hours starting 
Tuesday,
July 5, 2022
at 8:00 am.
Upcoming Events

Clergy Convocation
Sep 19-21, 2022
Register now at:

Annual Meeting
Oct 15, 2022
Thank You for Your Support!

Our Churches Wider Mission Basic Support, Association Dues, and Friends of the New Hampshire Conference Annual Appeal make this communication possible.
Special Focus E-Newsletters Available

Did you know that the New Hampshire Conference has other periodic newsletters that are distributed by subscription? In addition to receiving The Weekly News, you may also enjoy reading:
  
HC Happenings
A publication that keeps campers, parents, churches, and volunteers up to date on all things Outdoor Ministries and Horton Center. 
 
CE News
The monthly newsletter focusing on Faith Formation for all ages, upcoming Christian Education events, training opportunities, and resources for Christian Educators.
News from the Wider Church

Keep updated on happenings at the national level:
Local News




Conference Center Hours:
Monday - Friday
8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Administrative Assistant

Office Manager
The Weekly News
June 28, 2022 - Volume 14 No. 26
Are Your Faith and Your Heart Calling You to Be in Support of the Immigrants in Our Midst?
The Immigrant and Refugee Support Group (IRSG), one of the Mission Groups of the Conference's Justice & Witness Ministry, is looking for several additional individuals to join our team of dedicated volunteers. We meet by Zoom once a month (right now our meeting time is 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon on the first Thursday of the month). We are also looking for a Portuguese speaker, either to join our group or to be an adjunct to our group to take on a once-a-month phone communication task. The IRSG is a robust group doing important work in support of our immigrant neighbors, particularly those seeking asylum who face the brutal headwinds of a cruel and broken immigration and asylum system in the U.S.

If this sounds like something YOU are called to do, please email [email protected] -- or feel free to call Meriden UCC Worker Justice Minister Gail Kinney at 603-381-7324. If you are a church pastor, please share this need with your congregation!
06-D
How's Your Ukama? 
The extraordinary relationship between churches of the New Hampshire Conference and the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe thrives because partnered congregations and devoted persons in the partnered churches make use of creative strategies for sustaining relationships. 
 
The Ukama Mission Committee wants to gather those good ideas and share them with other congregations and individuals who are looking for ways to nourish their relationships. Perhaps you keep in touch using social media. Perhaps you have a person-to-person prayer meeting. Perhaps partnered congregations share videos of worship or ministry. Perhaps you have some traditions connected to your celebration of Ukama Sunday. There are plenty of good ideas worth sharing with others.  
 
We invite you to share your ideas by sending an email to David Keller, chairperson of the New Hampshire Conference Ukama Mission Group. We hope to compile a collection of good ideas to share in August as churches get ready for their fall programs. 
 
David’s email is [email protected].
06-D
NHCUCC Board of Directors June 11, 2022 Meeting Summary
The New Hampshire Conference Board of Directors met via Zoom on Saturday, June 11, with all but one member in attendance. The meeting opened with prayer by Ms. Nancy Layton, who prayed for the victims and families of recent mass shootings, and for God’s blessing on our work together as a Board of Directors. After a review of the agenda, Mr. Phil Warren presented the Treasurer’s report, which showed nominal progress toward our budget for the year, but also a need to raise additional funds to pay down our short-term credit line. Phil also reported that our outside auditors have completed their review of the Conference’s 2021 finances and presented a report for the Executive Committee to review and approve at their next meeting on June 27th.

Other business addressed on Saturday included:

  • A presentation on the principles of good governance and how it can enhance our ministry, given by Heather Kimmel, General Counsel for the United Church of Christ national setting in Cleveland
  • A review of the Conference Minister's report which highlighted Horton Center camper registrations for this summer, activities related to the search for a new Associate Conference Minister, and an update on Annual Meeting plans
  • A review of a proposed bylaw amendment to allow voting to take place both in-person and virtually
  • A review of two resolutions recommended for Annual Meeting

06-C
Fredrick Douglass Statewide Readings
In partnership with the Racial Justice Mission Group and the Black Heritage Trail, the Congregational Church of Amherst Invites You to Reflect on the 4th of July.

Event: July 1st, 2022 from 12:00 -2:00 PM

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist and heroic orator for liberty, delivered one of his most famous speeches in which he asked, “What to the slave is your Fourth of July?” In addressing an Independence Day observance in Rochester, New York, his speech was a blistering indictment of an American idealism that ignored and accepted the inhuman treatment of enslaved African Americans as part of the country’s identity and economy. Ironically, even though Douglass’ words spoke directly to this moment in history, they still ring with an unsettling power today.

On July 1st, 2022, the Black Heritage Trail has organized community members and organizations all over NH to read Douglass’ historic protest speech and reflect on its meaning. If you would like to participate in or attend one of these readings at a UCC church, join us at the Congregational Church of Amherst! Reading will take place on the front lawn of the Congregational Church of Amherst, NH, United Church of Christ opposite the Village Green from 12:00 -2:00 PM. Come and listen to part or all of the speech and then join us for refreshments and discussion in the church’s Memorial Garden. Please contact [email protected] if you are interested in joining in this event.
06-C
Wartime Threat: Increased Fossil Fuel Production at Home
Free UCC Webinar - July 6, 2022 1:00 PM
The fossil fuel industry is using the war in Ukraine to push for ramping up production in the United States. As a result, communities on the frontlines of the industry face the wartime threat of more pollution and more harm to their health. In this webinar, we will learn about the history that shapes the threats faced, and we will hear directly from those fighting at the grassroots to protect their families and communities. Featured speakers will include Roishetta Ozane from Healthy Gulf, Lois Bower-Bjornson from the Clean Air Council, and David J.X. González from the University of California-Berkeley. Even if you can’t make the scheduled time of 1:00 PM ET on Wednesday, July 6th, still sign-up, and we will send you a recording. Register now!
06-C
Act Now to Join a Pastoral Leadership Development Group in the Fall of 2022
Brene Brown defines resilience as “…the ability to practice authenticity when we experience shame [or other emotions], to move through the experience without sacrificing our values, and to come out on the other side … with more courage, compassion, and connection than we had going into it” (Daring Greatly, p.76). The practice and experience of ministry, especially in these demanding times, can be overwhelming, confusing, and even painful. Cultivating resilience is a key spiritual practice for clergy.

To foster this trait, the NH Conference and PCS in Manchester offer Pastoral Leadership Development Groups (PLDGs). Meeting ten sessions per year, each group provides a setting to develop resilience personally and professionally in various ministry settings.

All PLDGs are led by skilled trained facilitators. You will see groups for active parish pastors, clergy newly called to ministry and/or the NH Conference, members-in-discernment, retired clergy, and minsters in specialized settings such as chaplaincy, pastoral psychotherapy, spiritual direction, etc. The NH Conference underwrites this program through the Grace Scott Fund, and each participant pays $250 annual tuition (no fee for retirees).

To join a PLDG starting this fall, contact the facilitator of a group that interests you. For general questions about the program, reach out to PLDG Administrator David Reynolds at (603) 533-8377 or [email protected].

Now is the time to join a group, as they fill up quickly. Come and nurture your resilience in a PLDG!

06-C
Please Remember in Your Prayers...
Let us offer prayers for the many people of Afghanistan who lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods as a result of a powerful earthquake.

Let us remember in our prayers the Search Committee appointed to select a candidate for the position of Associate Conference Minister.

Let us finally offer prayers for the well-being of our authorized ministers serving in parish and non-parish settings as they attend to the needs of our people in a time of adversity, and endeavor to bring renewed vitality to our congregations in these waning days of the pandemic.

O God, in your tender mercy,
Hear our prayers!
Across Our Conference
The Rev. Dr. James Young Sr., pastor of the New Rye Union Congregational Church in Epsom, has retired from active ministry effective the end of May 2022. The congregation has called the Rev. Raymond Godin to serve as their Pastor and Teacher.

The Rev. Kirsty Depree will conclude her ministry as Interim Minister of the Congregational Church of West Lebanon, United Church of Christ, on July 17, 2022.
Conference Minister
Associate Conference Minister

Sunday Schedule: July 3, 2022

The Rev. Gordon Rankin will be preaching at the Congregational Church of Amherst, United Church of Christ, where Rev. Maureen Frescott serves as Senior Pastor.
Weekly News
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 [email protected].The deadline for submitting items for the next issue is Thursday at 12:00 PM.
Having trouble viewing this email? Click here to view it in a web browser.