Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for September 24, 2023

All things bright and beautiful,

all creatures great and small,

all things wise and wonderful,

the Lord God made them all.

Upcoming services, meetings, events, and opportunities

Community Blessing of the Animals Service

Sunday, September 24 at 10:00 AM

Hancock Town Monument Lot

Corner of US Route 1 & Point Rd.

All types of pets are welcome!

Outdoor Service.

Dress for the weather. Bring your chair.

In case of rain, service will be at the church.

Next week we will return to our Sanctuary at 10:00 a.m. plus Facebook Live.

You will be able to watch the service on Facebook Live in real time

or watch the recording on Facebook or YouTube .

Find us at Hancock UCC | Hancock ME | Facebook or

on YouTube at Hancock UCC - YouTube

Choir Rehearsals are held on Sunday mornings at 9:15 am. All are welcome!

No Choir Rehearsal this Sunday, Sept. 24th.

Squirt and Squeak need to find a new forever home. Please contact Myrna for info @ 422-6888.

During the month of September we will be receiving Our Church’s Wider Mission (OCWM) Offering. This is one of the 5 for 5 offerings supported by the Maine Conference. OCWM provides funding from congregations for Conferences and the national ministries of the United Church of Christ (Wider Church Ministries, Local Church Ministries, Justice and

Witness Ministries, General Ministries, and Pension Boards).

Our meetings are open to all. If you would like to attend a meeting, please let Vicky know and she will provide the Zoom link, or you are welcome to attend in person.

Pastoral Relations Committee meets on Friday, Sept. 22 at 9:00 a.m.

Council Bylaws Sub-committee meets on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 9:00 a.m.

Stewardship Campaign for 2024

Stewardship Promise Cards for 2024 are now available!

Accurately projecting church income is key to formulating the balanced budget our By-laws require. Designating your pledge now will make the budget formulation process more precise, and for those leaving soon for winter homes, it will avoid the need and hassle of soliciting your pledge long distance.

Stewardship is not just about raising money. It’s also about spending our resources wisely to accomplish what we, as a church, want to do. Please think about what you can do to help support our church family and the work we hope to accomplish in the coming year by committing to your Stewardship Promise now.

Stewardship Promise Cards are located in the back of the Sanctuary. You can also see David Wildes after church or contact him at 422-3739, or return the one you received in the mail, by mail or putting it in the offering plate Sunday morning.

Annual Reports are due in the office NO LATER THAN October 15th. Thank you!

Come see what Amelia Ashmore and Elza Cahn have been doing for their Girl Scout project.

Gordon Thomas Ward Concert in Hancock

The Union Congregational Church of Hancock is pleased to host

Winter Harbor native, singer-songwriter-author, Gordon Thomas Ward

Saturday, October 14th, at 3:00 pm for a program about his book,

“Tracing Infinity: Bridging the Gap Between Earth and Heaven”

All attendees will receive a copy of the book and are invited to stay

for a potluck following the program.

Endorsed by Greenfaith, a NYC grassroots, multi-faith movement for climate justice, and New Jersey Audubon, Tracing Infinity will take you on a journey through meadows, mountains, gardens, coastlines, and open rangeland to explore how close our lives are to heaven and the source of our existence. We are always in the presence of the eternal, existing in the present and following our futures in the same breath, literally tracing infinity.

The church is an Open and Affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ, at

1368 US HWY 1 in Hancock.

For more information about the event, please call the church at 422-3100.

Everyone is welcome. There is no charge for admission.

A free will offering to benefit the Schoodic Food Pantry will be accepted.

October Birthdays and Anniversaries

01: Gina Tansey 1: *Tom* & *Marge* Severance 02: *Sue* Bonner

03: *Everett* Espling 06: *Judi* Crowley 07: *Jaimie* Wood Harrell

08: *Richard* Lewis 08: *Will* & Sharon Stephenson

09: Chris & *Rohanna* Smullen Madigan 09: Aaron & *Meghan* Philio Scott

12: *Brandon* Perry-Hudson 13: *Liz* Bunker 14: *Peggy* Karns

18: *TJ* Mack 19: *Bonnie* Ross 20: *Ruth* Dietze

29: *Ron* McGlinchey 30: *Chris* & *Melissa* Nowell

Fall Handbell Ringing Because of travel and Play commitments this Fall, handbell practices won’t start until mid October. Here’s the plan: Rehearsals Sundays after church 11:30–12:15ish Oct. 22, 29 and Nov. 5th playing a Thanksgiving tune on Nov. 12th (Annual Meeting date). Then resuming rehearsals Nov. 19, and Dec. 3, and 10th, playing our Christmas selections on Sunday, Dec 17th . (We can discuss playing on Christmas Eve, but Pat S. will be gone.) We need 7 participants to commit to a majority of these rehearsals to be able to ring. Please call Pat Summerer at 963-7182 if you are interested. Thank You. Please consider joining us. It’s fun and rewarding to be part of a group playing to the Glory of the Lord without being judged for your expertise. Again, please call Pat if you would like to try ringing!

Book Group beginning on Wednesday, October 25th from 7:00-8:00 p.m.

From What Is To What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want, by Rob Hopkins, was one of the guiding texts of our 2022 Fostering Imagination program facilitated by The BTS Center (the successor to the Bangor Theological Seminary).

Join us as we gather to discuss ways this book speaks to us, our church and our evolving

place in our communities. Please let Pastor TJ if you would like a copy of the book.

Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:

We pray for earthquake victims, survivors, and relief workers in Morocco;

We pray for flood victims, survivors, and relief workers in Libya;

Prayers for John Wood; Jane Preble; Sue Davies; Sue Davenport; Liz & Jim;

William in hospice care; Coulter; Debbie & Lincoln & son-in-law Aaron, daughter Ashley, and granddaughter Brielle; Margaret B; Amy Nickerson; Prayers for Kenny Stratton; Joy & David & Lori; Sandy Phippen; Norm; Betty & her step-daughter Mollie; Debbie and Hollis Maddocks and her Aunt Linda Reed; Bruce’s sister Lynn; Renata’s sister-in-law Joanne; Tom & Judy’s son Andrew & his family; Prayers of strength and healing for all awaiting diagnoses and for all recovering from surgeries; Prayers for all individuals and families experiencing addictions; for all caregivers; Prayers for all that are unsafe, unhoused, hungry & in need of care & compassion; and prayers for all that is in your heart…

Pastor TJ is looking for volunteers to offer rides and companionship for a few of our community members that do not drive and could use some help navigating their way through an in-person banking transaction, or a Motor Vehicle Department request for I.D. renewal, a trip to the grocery store, or various other life necessities. Please consider if this is something

you may be able to do while you are running your own errands.

Don’t hesitate to ask TJ about this if you might be interested in helping. Thanks.

From the Sunrise Association

On behalf of the Sunrise Association Committee on Ministry, we are pleased to invite you to the Ecclesiastical Council for Hannah Mondrach, Saturday, September 30 at 3:00 PM at Seaside UCC (the Union Church Building, 21 Summit Rd., Northeast Harbor, ME).

Your participation in this joyful, momentous occasion is important, both because we need a quorum of churches to be represented and because the Ecclesiastical Council is an important threshold in the path to ordination. The Council is the final stage in the Member-in-Discernment process, and culminates in a decision to approve a candidate for ordination pending a call.

From the Maine Conference

Joys, Glitches, and Blessed Work

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside our God’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matt 10:29-31)

The older I get, the more tolerant I am of glitches. The older I get, the more I see glitches as a part of blessed work: glitches in technology just as folks are registering for our annual meeting, glitches in scheduling when I work so hard not to overbook, glitches in remembering every little detail of our upcoming annual meeting and installation--and I could go on. And I would imagine you can relate to glitches in your personal lives, your church lives—when the best laid plans don’t always turn out the way we plan.

And I imagine God’s response to our glitches and to our dismay around our glitches. I can just hear God saying, “my child, don’t you know? I care about the sparrows. I care about you. Your imperfections remind you that you are human and I am God.” And I am comforted. Ah, so many opportunities to take in and rest in the grace that God offers us—to receive true joy.

Throughout this almost one year of serving as your Conference Minister, I have visited and had deep fellowship and conversation with many people in many churches from all over Maine. And I have heard you speak of glitches: decreased numbers and revenue because of COVID and less folks choosing to come to church, not enough folks to fill a slew of committees that once were teaming with presence, challenges in finding pastoral leadership, to name just a few. And I have witnessed a deep thirst for joy and hope as we have gathered, many eagerly waiting for a new word from God about leadership that may not include ordained ministers; a new awareness that folks in the pews could be called by God to rise up and serve in ways we would not have imagined even 10 years ago, a renewed faith that is filled with serving those beyond the four walls into the greater community—and discovering those folks value our church more than we thought.

Glitches, joys, and blessed work. It all goes together in our humanness, doesn’t it? As God surrounds us with the grace that beckons us to be fully human and to allow God to be God. Can we give ourselves the grace God offers? Can we give it to one another?

Beloved, as I enter into my second year with you this coming November, I hope we can continue to worship together, have sacred conversations together, share our glitches, joys, and blessed work. And as we do, also share faith that as much as we are imperfect humans, God is our perfect God: our God who is holding our future and beckoning us to discover it for ourselves. Where does God’s future lead us? Only God knows that answer fully. We are invited to continue to receive from the still speaking God all the love, wisdom, and willingness to continue to discover and follow God’s ever-present guidance for our times. And in all the glitches of blessed work, may we know deep joy.

2023 Annual Meeting of the Maine Conference UCC

October 20th and 21st, 2023 at Pilgrim Lodge!

Everyone is invited to attend AM92 in person. Those who cannot can attend via Zoom.

Friday October 20

Registration opens 8

Workshops 9-10:30 and 11:00-12:30 and 1:30-3

Lunch 12:30 - 1:30

3:30 - 5 - Fellowship Time & Optional Events

5:30 - 7 - Dinner

7:30 - 9 - Campfire & S'mores

Saturday October 21

7 - 8 - Breakfast & Registration

8 - Noon - Business Meeting

Noon - Lunch

1 - 2:30 - Installation of our new Conference Minister with Reception to follow

Lodging - at Pilgrim Lodge or at two area Hotels