Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for June 9, 2024
All are blest by gifts you give us; Some are set apart to lead.
Give us Jesus' love within us As we care for those in need.
Give us faith to make decisions; Give us joy to share your Word.
Give us unity and vision As we serve your church and world.
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!
Our Worship Service is at 9:30 a.m.. 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.
Clean, excellent condition
Spring Clothing & Linen Sale
June 7: 5-7 p.m.
June 8: 8-11 a.m.
Thank you all for donations and set up for the sale this weekend. Now, please come and shop!! Every sale ends with donating 30-40 trash bags full of our “leftovers”. There are so many wonderful clothes, there is something for everyone. Hope to see many of you there.
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!
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.
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 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
10: Catherine Genn 12: Eleanor Ritchie 12: Jackie & 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
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; Dr. John; 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!
From Our Maine Conference
How do we then live?
I was very grateful to take a week of vacation at the end of May, to plant our perennial garden and to spend a lovely weekend in Lincolnville and Camden. And then just this past weekend I was honored and blessed to be a guest at a Regional Annual Meeting of our siblings in the United Church of Canada. They, like we in the Maine Conference, are looking to God to dream their dreams for the unknown future of their churches. Last week, the staff and some of Anne Hodgman’s friends celebrated her incredibly blessed ministry with us over the past 23 years. We ate, we laughed, we cried; and I so wanted to stay paused in those blessed
moments of remembrance and send off. In each of these moments of renewing vacation, meetings with like-hearted ministers, and loving arms enveloping our beloved Anne, I wanted to remain. For I was truly honored and blessed. And I felt enveloped in God’s wide, welcoming, love.
Alas, I was not able to remain there. I came out of those moments to face the questions that are invading our living right now. And I have been contemplating my role, the role of the churches and faith centers, the role of clergy and laity, as we are in an unprecedented time of unrest in our country and our world. To say the world is in a mess would not be an overstatement. To retreat from the mess is something that Jesus would not want us to do. But, how do we stay and how do we respond, and maybe even hope to make a difference? ? How do we then live?
The most troubling and challenging dilemma in our country, and maybe even in our state, is division: division of what it means to be Christian, division of what it means to strive toward a peaceable existence and eschew the verbal and physical violence that is threatened and perpetrated. So many folks who call themselves Christian impose their beliefs on Jesus’ words, works, and actions. Instead of welcoming strangers, they are banned. Instead of humbly acknowledging that no one can know the experience of a Trans sibling, they reject. How do we who claim to heed Jesus’ words and walk in Jesus’ steps respond? How do we then live?
And not secondary to division is violence—O the violence and rumors of violence that cause me to shudder as the presidential campaign starts to heat up. O the violence that continues through mass shootings as I struggle not to become numb. O the violence that wipes out a country of innocents because one government is convinced that they can wipe out a terrorist group (that will just re-group). The pain, the fear, the devastation threatens to overwhelm me. And I ask our God How do we then live?
Beloved Friends, the purpose of my words is not to discourage us to the point of inaction. I hope that we can—together—find ways to respond with Holy action. Alas, I cannot dictate that for you as you cannot dictate that for me. BUT we can discern together. We can join together in covenant with one another, listening carefully to one another, speaking our truth in love.
I am proposing Conference-wide gatherings this September as the summer winds down. Here are the two topics I have in mind. I think we will just have one gathering.
(these two topics could be combined.)
1. Response to the possibility of violence before, during, and after election day
2. Having conversations as Christian siblings, even when (especially when) we do not
agree.
How shall we then live? Let’s gather together for holy conversation with deep honor for one another and deep care for the issues at hand.
I welcome your feedback. I hope for your presence.
Your partner in the work of Jesus for our 21st century world,
Marisa
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