Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for April 28, 2024
Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found;
Brought here together by Christ’s love, by love are we thus bound.
Upcoming services, meetings, events, and opportunities
Join us for Worship in our Sanctuary or on Zoom at 10:00 a.m.,
or watch the recording later on Facebook or YouTube
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 822 2425 2518 Passcode: 755650
Find us at Hancock UCC | Hancock ME | Facebook or
on YouTube at Hancock UCC - YouTube
Choir rehearsals are Sunday mornings at 9:15 a.m. All are welcome. Please, join us!
Pastor TJ will be on vacation and working from WI April 22nd – May 2.
On April 28 Rev. Linette George will lead our worship service.
During the month of May we will be receiving the Strengthen the Church (STC) Offering. As God calls our congregations to be the church in new ways, your generous donation to the STC offering will plant new churches, awaken new ideas in existing churches and develop the spiritual life in our youth and adults. Envelopes are available in the back of the Sanctuary.
Our meetings are open to all. If you would like to attend a meeting, please let TJ or Vicky know and they will provide the Zoom link, or you are welcome to attend in person.
Deacons meet Friday, May 10th at 3:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall and on Zoom.
Church Council meets Friday, May 17th at 11:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall and on Zoom.
Thinking about joining the church? Talk with Pastor TJ or a Deacon
if you are interested in knowing more about becoming a member.
The Sunrise Association Spring Meeting is at Pilgrim Lodge Saturday morning, May 4th
An option for overnight camping is available on Friday, May 3rd.
Breakfast and lunch options are available on Saturday.
Let’s mix business with pleasure and gather together at our beloved camp.
Installation Service & Reception
Installation Service for Minister of Faith Formation, Kiah Baxter Sunday, May 19th @ 3 p.m.
at the Bar Harbor Congregational Church UCC; 29 Mount Desert Street; Bar Harbor.
More details to follow closer to the date.
Join us for a four-week Study of the Psalms beginning Wed. May 8th at 2:00.
We will meet in the Fellowship Hall and on Zoom May 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th.
Let Pastor TJ or Vicky know if you are interested in participating. All are welcome.
Celebration of Life Graveside Service to honor and remember Jane Preble
1:00 p.m. on May 25th, 2024 at Simpson Cemetery in Sullivan
(across from the Charles E. Sumner Learning Campus)
Please note: Worship Time Change
For the past couple of years we have experimented with a 9:00 Worship Service start time the Sundays between Memorial Day and Labor Day and then meeting at 10:00 the rest of the year. It is challenging to find a time that everyone can agree on. Some find 9:00 in the summers too early whereas others find 10:00 to be too late when summer activities beckon. Many desire the consistency of a time slot that remains all year long.
In light of these concerns and following thoughtful discussions, our Deacons have opted to begin a trial period of starting the Worship Service at 9:30 beginning June 2 (the Sunday after Memorial Day). We hope that this compromise will benefit everyone. After giving this a try for the summer months we will bring the matter to a congregational vote prior to Labor Day.
Upcoming May Birthdays and Anniversaries
April 30: Ruth Butters
May
01: Kelly Hudsonmm 01: Erick & Ginny Shaw Coleman 07: Liz Singletary
07:*Marge* Severance 07: Nancy Baril 07: Priscilla Jones
09: Jeanne Edwards 14: John Wells 16: Mary Alice Alley Freeman
18: Fran Courschene 18: Dick Butters 20: Dennis King
22: Brendan Bonner 23: Debbie Ehrlenbach 24: Erva Pinkham
26: Vicky Espling 29: Sally Knapp 31: Marty* Johnson
31: Clint & Eleanor Ritchie
Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:
Prayers for Pat’s niece Kate, Bruce’s sister Lynn, Sally’s friends, Sue Barger and Ginny Hamm. Prayers for Cynthia’s Aunt Barbara, and William at Golden Acres, both receiving Hospice Care. Prayers for Ruth; Marie; Joyce; Doris; Mary Angela’s mother Caroline and brother Joel and Nick’s nephew Tim; Ron & Kathy; Jim Snyder; Brandon Perry-Hudson; John Wood; Jonathan Holmes; Sue Davies; Nancy & John & Jonas; Sue Davenport; Austin’s cousin Danny; Liz & Jim; Debbie & Lincoln & son-in-law Aaron, daughter Ashley, and granddaughter Brielle; Kenny Stratton; Joy & David & Lori; Sandy Phippen; Betty & her step-daughter Mollie; Debbie & Hollis & Holly and Debbie’s Aunt Linda Reed; Patrice’s niece Erica; Amy Nickerson; Tom & Judy’s son Andrew & family. Prayers of strength and healing for all awaiting diagnoses and for all recovering from surgeries & procedures. Prayers for all that are unsafe, unhoused, hungry & in need of care & compassion. Prayers for the people of our nation and of our world; Baltimore, Kansas City, and Lewiston; Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Russia, Sudan and in so many other places experiencing escalating wars, conflicts, and disasters. Prayers for all individuals and families experiencing addictions; prayers for all caregivers; and prayers for all that is in your heart…
Let’s sign up for Pilgrim Lodge! Registration is open for Family Camp, Labor Day Weekend, Friday through Monday, August 30, – Sept 2. Sign up for all four days or choose a shorter stay. Let Pastor TJ know if you are interested.
From Our Maine Conference
Spirituality and the “R” Word
Rev. Dr. Malcolm Himschoot, Dean of the Maine School of Ministry
The Maine School of Ministry is offering a June Intensive in-person course featuring the spirituality of identity, new beginnings, and community at a major life transition. In a word: “retirement.” Anyone on the threshold of retirement, or in an early phase of retirement adapting to something different, is welcome to participate in this retreat-format course, plumbing the resources of Christian spiritual practices listening to the call and care of God. Taught by former Bangor Theological Seminary instructor Carol Kerr, and former conference ACM Deb Jenks, this June 7th -9th course will take place at Pilgrim Lodge with food and lodging provided, from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.
Retirement: Exploring Identity, New Beginnings, and Community
at a Major Life Transition
Instructors: Rev. Dr. Carol Kerr, Rev. Dr. Deb Jenks
Dates: June 7-9, 2024 Location: Pilgrim Lodge, West Gardiner, Maine
Fee: $350
This three-day course is for anyone interested. It may apply credit toward a MESOM certificate in Christian Studies and Leadership. It can also (with approval of a Committee on Ministry) satisfy the educational Boundaries requirement for ordained leaders. Topics to be covered span personal values and positive psychology, dimensions of grief and loss, dilemmas and possibilities in role and personhood as seen through concepts of “blessing” and “vocation.”
In our lifetimes, what the R-word “retirement” means has shifted a great deal. In Maine some are living out a retirement which is full of activity, relationships, and generativity not based on employment. Others by choice or necessity are working in a related field or different job in retirement. Retirement means a world of different things for different people.
The economic concept of retirement is distinct from the Christian concept of calling and vocation. In our lifetimes what “clergy” means has also surfaced for reexamination. Vows taken at ordination toward Word and Sacrament, prayer and leadership, are taken on behalf of the church across place and time – and do not stop when a paycheck stops. Meanwhile, lay leaders are increasingly carrying out ministry in local parishes. See Manual on Ministry for more description of the intersection between discipleship and leadership. Appropriate discernment and sacramental stewardship in the 21st century approaches something we have not seen in while, yet it lingers in the memory of our sacred tradition.
Professional trajectories aside, the promise of Christian spirituality is how God finds ways to be present with us and call to us from the future. Steadfast and creative, incarnate and loving, inspiring individuals and communities, God’s mysterious ways provoke habits of listening and response. No better place than Pilgrim Lodge, near the lakes and forests of Maine, to practice listening and responding this June.
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