Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for June 2, 2024
The corn that makes the holy bread by which the soul of man is fed, the holy bread, the food unpriced, your everlasting mercy, O Christ.
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
Please note: Choir and Worship Time Changes
Choir rehearsals are Sunday mornings at 8:45 a.m. until their summer hiatus begins mid-June. All are welcome. Please, join us!
This Sunday, June 2nd, we will begin a trial period of starting the Worship Service at 9:30. We hope that this start time 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.
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.
Trustees will meet Wednesday, June 5 at 12:00 noon in person and on Zoom.
Council will meet on Wednesday, June 12 at 1:00 p.m. in person and on Zoom.
The Outreach Committee will meet on Thursday, June 13 at 4:15 p.m. in person and on Zoom.
Deacons will meet on Friday, June 14 at 3:00 p.m. in person and on Zoom.
A Celebration of Life service to honor and remember Carolyn Mae Clough, lifelong resident of Franklin, Hancock, and Lamoine will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 1st in our Sanctuary with a reception to follow in our Fellowship Hall.
A Celebration of Life service to honor and remember Jensen Lorna Kimmel-Noschese will be held on Sunday, June 9th at 1:00 in our Sanctuary with a reception to follow at 618 Point Rd.
A Celebration of Life service to honor and remember Betty Lewis will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, June 10th, 2024 in our Sanctuary with a reception to follow at “The Big House.”
The Lewis family would welcome our help in providing a reception following the celebration of life honoring Betty. If you are willing to provide something towards this reception, please give Mary Beth a call at (207) 532-3768.
Upcoming June Birthdays and Anniversaries
01: Jim & Liz Singletary 02: David Wildes 05: Debbie Riley
08: Doug Kimmel 10: Catherine Genn 12: Eleanor Ritchie
12: Gary & Bobbi Hunt 13: Bob Schmid 14: Clancy King
15: Roslynne Lowry 17: Ginny Shaw Coleman 17: David Mack
19: Ron Schwizer 19: Sandy Phippen 21: Herbie Lounder
22: Jack & Priscilla Hirschenhofer 23: Steve & Mary Beth DiMarco
25: Kenny Houghton 26: Pat Shannon 29: Ted & Ann Atkinson
Local Girl Scouts earn Silver Award for signs
Ellsworth American — Cadette Girl Scouts Amelia Ashmore and Elza Cahn earned their Silver Award for constructing and placing trail signs to help hikers stay on proper trails within Whitcomb Woods. The Girl Scout Silver Award — the highest honor a Cadette can earn — is achieved when Girl Scout Cadettes focus on an issue they care about in their community and take action to make a difference. After noticing that one of their favorite trails, Whitcomb Woods, was lacking in easily marked signs and clear directions, Ashmore and Kahn decided to collaborate to devote their Silver Award project to fixing that. Since the trail is near a gravel pit, the two Girl Scouts decided to construct and place trail signs to keep hikers on the correct path. They also created a kiosk complete with trail maps and important information about the local area. Learn more about their Silver Award project by visiting the Girl Scouts of Maine website.
Photo: Eliza Cahn, Lucy Ashmore, Amelia Ashmore
Handy Woman for Hire!
Personal care; Food preparation and cooking; Shopping;
Gardening; Interior and Exterior Painting
Lori Stratton
Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:
Prayers for Bruce’s sister Lynn, Sally’s friend, Sue Barger; Ginny Hamm. Prayers for Orrick Damboise, Jennie, and Cathy C. Prayers for Cynthia’s Aunt Barbara, and William at Golden Acres, both receiving Hospice Care. Prayers for Ruth; Marie; Joyce; Doris; Mary Angela & Nick’s son Joshua; Ron & Kathy; Graham; 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; Judith C.; 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 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…
Yay for us! We have been selected to participate in a program called “Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World.” Amelia Ashmore, Alison Boden, Nick Davis, and Pat Summerer will represent our church as our team embarks on a journey along with eleven other congregations from Northern New England.
Participating congregations will:
● Enter into a rich time of community building, learning, and vocational formation with theologians, scientists, and indigenous leaders.
● Learn about the unique role that the Christian tradition and your congregation can play in a climate-changed world in offering care and advocating for justice in the places you call home.
● Engage in place-based formation with the grounds of Acadia National Park as your classroom.
● Build supportive community with members of your congregation, as well as with like-minded leaders from other congregations across New England.
● Worship, sing, and play in one of the most beautiful outdoor settings in New England.
● Integrate what you’ve learned by participating in a Community of Practice from July through October 2024, including taking on a “small experiment with radical intent,” supported by a community of peers.
From the Sunrise Association…mark you calendars
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 3 nights or choose a shorter stay. Let Pastor TJ know if you are interested. Scholarships are available. Camp is for everyone!
Ellsworth Pride. Are you or someone you know interested in donating some time on Sunday, June 9 at Knowlton Park for Pride Fest? Fest starts at 11:30 and goes until 4:30. They need help with set up starting around 10 AM, during the festival, and cleaning up at the end. Let Pastor TJ know if you are interested and she will put you in touch with one of the Pride Fest coordinators. Thanks!
From Our Conference
All Who Come in Love Have a Seat at the Table
A Message from Liz Charles McGough, Pilgrim Lodge Director
My earliest memories of learning about concepts of social justice come from time as a camper at Pilgrim Lodge. One summer for the mission project, we walked as a camp to the farmhouse, about a mile up the camp road, to understand the experience of needing to walk to get water or food. As a small child, that felt like a long distance (it is a long distance to carry food and water!). Beginning in my college years, I had the opportunity to participate in trips to Honduras through the Maine Honduras Partnership and spent a year working in Honduras on behalf of the Maine Conference UCC. It was during those years that I bore witness to issues of justice….or injustice, in so many cases. I followed that time by over a decade working on access to health care for migrant farmworkers in Maine through the Maine Mobile Health Program.
For me, it was a mission of social justice in my home state of Maine and through which
refined my understanding of justice through the lens of equity. Through all of these experiences, I have come to understand that we do not all have access to a level playing ground. This image has become a way for me to understand that when we treat everyone equally, some people get left out, but if we think about equity, we’re building opportunities to address the systems that leave people behind.
For me, I can trace a thread from my early childhood learnings about justice at camp to my current role as the Director as I think about this statement we use to describe our invitation to camp: “All who come in love have a seat at the table.” That word “all” is simultaneously big, lofty and important to pay attention to. Jesus demonstrated for us a spirit of radical welcome that pointed out the societal systems that left people out. As we open camp for the season that is unfolding and prepare to welcome campers back, this radical welcome to “all” is on my heart and mind.
As the person with my eyes on the budget, I got an important message from a retreat leader who is coordinating a fall meditation retreat at Pilgrim Lodge. “Thank you for preserving a space for spiritual practices,” she said. She went on to explain that, since the pandemic, she’s been trying to find a location for a meditation retreat, but felt that every place suitable had become a resort and, therefore, too expensive. If you’ve been to Pilgrim Lodge, you know that we are not a resort, nor are we trying to be. We are, however, a space that lends itself to coming together, living simply in relationship with one another, in proximity to nature. She was reinforcing the important opportunity that we have, as the Outdoor Ministries site of the Maine Conference UCC, to be accessible. “All.”
Already, retreat groups have come to Pilgrim Lodge to open our season. As I witness the energy of people spending time together at camp, it reinforces for me the importance of spaces for community. Whether building relationships, deepening spiritual practices, or exploring faith traditions, I witness the value of intentional periods of time together outside our normal routines. The concept of “all” guides my thinking about how to make these opportunities accessible. My hope is that our very model of camp ensures that we can be authentic in our invitation to “all.”
Pilgrim Lodge has a long and rich tradition of volunteers who serve as counselors, care for the site, and support our camp programs. This amazing work helps us keep the cost of camp accessible to campers. Churches provide incredible support to campers with scholarships or contribute to Pilgrim Lodge to support our ministry. Our Friends of Pilgrim Lodge are donors who help us keep our ministry vibrant. We work to ensure that our scholarship funds remain robust so that we can address any financial barriers to camp. We are doing creative grant-writing to local and national funders to make sure that we consider issues of equity so that when we say “all,” we mean it.
Here are some important messages about this summer at camp. I hope you’ll help us to spread the word as we seek to share our invitation to “all:”
• There are still scholarship funds for the 2024 camp season! Children, adults and families are eligible. Don’t miss an opportunity to come to Pilgrim Lodge based on financial barriers.
• It is not too late to register for Clergy Praycation (June 3-5 with a single-day option of June 4). The Maine Conference UCC seeks to support authorized ministers, members in discernment and retired clergy of the Maine Conference in their wellness through offering “Vitality Funds” to eliminate financial barriers to participation. All the details are here.
• There are opportunities for campers to come for FREE thanks to partnerships and funders who commit to purposeful and relevant programming for our campers. The BTS Center is partnering with Pilgrim Lodge for our first ever Climate Justice Camp (July 21-27 for campers entering grades 9-12 and new graduates). Funds from the Carpenter Grant support access to Camp Pride for LGBTQ+ Youth and Allies (June 23-29 for campers entering grades 7-12 and new graduates) as well as Pride Across the Ages for families, adults and individuals (August 9-11).
• There are still opportunities to volunteer as a counselor for the upcoming season. You can start the process here.
• You can be part of ensuring that another generation of children gets to grow up at camp.
Last weekend at camp during our Sabbath, Stories and S’mores Retreat, I could stand on the
boardwalk at camp and hear both English and Lingala spoken in equal measure as our camp community included new Mainers alongside folks who have been coming to camp for generations.
I know we’re a long way from achieving a world of liberation, but we can keep our hearts and minds set on this goal in our invitation to camp.
Come, the table is set… ….
All who come in Love have a Seat at the Table.
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