Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for January 25, 2026 

“So My Word returns not fruitless; does not from its labors cease Till it has achieved My purpose in a world of joy and peace.” God is love! How close the prophet to that vital gospel word! In Isaiah’s inspiration it is Jesus we have heard!

Join us for our annual Installation of Officers and Committee Members at our   10:00 Worship Service on Sunday, January 25th.

The Meditation Group will meet Friday mornings, at 9:00 am in the Fellowship Hall. Reach out to Pastor TJ or Alison Boden with any questions.

(revtjmack@gmail.com, 207-323-6743 or aboden3321@gmail.com, 609-865-3236)

Join Pastor TJ and others in support of our local actors and musicians at The Grand in Ellsworth this Friday at 6:00 p.m. for a live theatre production of Peter and the Wolf.

Lucy Ashmore has the role of Peter. Cynthia Priem is in the orchestra.

This version is a parody of Chekhov's Cherry Orchard that shows a child's confusion when faced with the adult world. Adults become animals with colors and dispositions matched from human to animal. The Sergei Prokofiev score is incorporated in its entirety throughout the second act.

Directed by Moxie McBreairty, Orchestra Direction by Rebecca Edmondson

$15 Adults, $10 Youth (12&under) General Admission

Liturgist & Refreshment Sign-Up Sheet:

 As you can see, there are still many spots where your help is needed!

One of our church members, Gina Tansey, is offering a Workshop on Compassionate Conversation on Thursday, February 5th from 10:30 am to 12 noon (on Zoom). This 90 minute workshop “will offer a brief, experiential introduction to Compassionate Conversation based on the work of Marshall Rosenberg and his book titled “Non-Violent Communication”. Gina will “guide us in learning about practicing relationship skills that foster a greater sense of connection between humans, rather than disconnection, whether those humans are your family, your neighbors, your fellow church members, or even yourself.. Please join us on Zoom, February 5th and connect with us.” If you are interested, please sign up for the workshop,with Nick Davis at ndavis9940@gmail.com or Vicky at hancockmaineucc@gmail.com . Vicky will send the link to the registrants.

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. Our meetings are held in person and virtually on Zoom.

Deacons will meet on Friday, February 13th at 4 pm

Trustees will meet on Wednesday, February 18th at 4 pm via Zoom

Outreach will meet Thursday, February 19th at 4:30 pm

Council will meet on Friday, February 20th at 11 am

Pastor TJ is going on Sabbatical

Our Deacons are planning with Pastor TJ for her upcoming sabbatical in July, August, and September of this year. While TJ is volunteering at Pilgrim Lodge in July, seeking refuge in Wisconsin during the month of August, and hiking and traveling on the Eastern Seaboard in September, our congregation will be led by Rev. Hannah Mondrach who is an active member of our Sunrise Association.

Hannah’s Bio: Outside of ministry, Hannah Mondrach is a science teacher at MDI High School (teaching Chemistry and Outdoor Science), the Training Officer for MDI Search and Rescue, an Ultimate Frisbee coach, clarinetist, cyclist, world traveler, and mother to her goldendoodle Appa. Within ministry, she is the pastor for Worship in the Wild, an outdoor ministry in partnership with the Somesville Union Meeting House and the Sunrise Association of the Maine UCC. The goal of the ministry is to reconnect people to Creation through tangible experiences in nature. Worship in the Wild meets at a different trailhead twice a month, and participants engage in conversation and community as they hike, with a short reflective worship service along the way. Current worship experiences are in the MDI area, but Hannah is looking to expand to the entire area served by the Sunrise Association. Let her know if you know of a good walking or hiking spot!

Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:

Our prayers remain with Alex & Savannah and Andrew & Tamara, and with Tyler Crabtree and his family. We ask prayers for Sarina and her Dad as he recovers from a major stroke. And we ask for prayers for Norm Bamford recovering from a minor stroke. We pray for David, Brian, Brad, Donald, Kenny V, James, Marie, Charlie, Jonathan and Jane of Golden Acres. Prayers for Jeanne’s brother Clem, Kate W.; Mike & Carol; Dexter B.; Cynthia W.; Judith C.; Eleanor A.; the Raymonds; Hollis & Debbie; Bruce’s sister Lynn; Patrice’s step-sister Patricia; Kirk; Ruth; Morgan; Herbie Lounder; Sandy Phippen; Sue Davies; Sue Davenport; Kenny Stratton & Joy & David & Lori & Melissa; Debbie & Lincoln & Aaron & Ashley & Brielle. Prayers for all in Hospice Care. Prayers for all that are unsafe, unhoused, hungry & in need of care & compassion. Prayers for individuals and families affected by addictions. Prayers for all caregivers. Prayers for those who are grieving loss or change or experiencing family conflict; and prayers for all that is in your heart…

We are encouraging “card showers” for two members of our church community.

     David Mack has recently spent time in the hospital and is spending time recovering           at Orono Commons before returning to Golden Acres.

     Sandy Phippen is living in the Memory Care wing of Orono Commons.

Please send cards of encouragement and good cheer to either or both men at:

     Orono Commons, 117 Bennoch Rd, Orono, ME 04473-3620

January Birthdays

25: Holly Harriman    29: Jen Remick

February Birthdays

02: Lucy Ashmore        03: Roberta Scott      03: Liz Awalt     08: Cynthia Johnston 09: Phil Devenish         10: Jack Hirschenhofer       10: Ethan Hunt                            

12: Xyerra Harriman     13: Amy Philio            15: David Stratton       

16: Will Stephenson            18: Sara Beth Denoncourt           21: Pat Summerer         24: Heath Hudson          25: Michael Hodgdon          27: Antonio Blasi

From our Conference

A Prophetic Call for Justice in response to the killing of Renee Nicole Good

Our faith as followers of Jesus’ life and teachings tells us that every being is Beloved of God and is held as a sacred member of God’s creation. We hold that each one is holy and is to be treated as God’s beloved. We stand against the intimidation and lethal force used against Ms. Good as violations of our faith that upholds the dignity and humanity of all God’s children.

A large part of living and acting our faith is to follow God’s call for peace and justice. We cannot have peace or justice when there is a lack of transparency or a perceived manipulation of information.

 Eyewitness accounts indicate that Renee Nicole Good may have been subjected to contradictory commands by agents before being fired upon through her windshield while attempting to maneuver her vehicle away from the scene. Others who viewed a cell phone video concluded that she posed no immediate threat to the agents involved.  Getting to the truth in order for peace and justice to be maintained must involve all levels of law enforcement. Unfortunately, this is not part of the investigation.

A Call to Action for Maine Leaders

 In solidarity with people of faith across this nation, we, the undersigned members and friends of the Maine Conference UCC, call upon our elected officials and all those in positions of power to act swiftly to:

    1.    Publicly Condemn the Use of Lethal Force: We ask our Congressional delegation to demand a full investigation into all federal law enforcement agencies and their policies and trainings in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in Barnes v. Felix (2025), a ruling which unanimously rejected a “moment of threat” justification for lethal force and which addressed “officer-created jeopardy” where an officer’s actions contributed to real or perceived danger.

   2.    Protect Due Process: We urge our leaders to reject rhetoric (such as labeling citizens/residents as “domestic terrorists”) that inflames misunderstanding and also threatens to undermine constitutional protections in what appears to be an attempt to avoid accountability.

   3.    Demand Transparency: We ask our Congressional delegation to demand a full, transparent investigation into the actions of ICE and other federal agents involved in this incident.  We call for the immediate restoration of independent, state-level investigations into the death of civilians at the hands of federal agents.

 (The “call to action” information in this statement draws heavily from a statement made by the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ.)

 Here is the link: https://forms.gle/76etCxrPH1L6CFzL8

Signed undergirded by God’s love and Christ’s call for peace and justice,

Conference Minister Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola

Social Action Committee

Board of Directors

[Pastor TJ has signed this document and will be joining faith leaders from across the state in Lewiston on Saturday to stand up for peace and justice for our immigrant neighbors. Please support this effort through your prayers or presence or in whatever ways resonate with you.]

Celebrating Classroom and Contextual Education

Rev. Dr. Malcolm Himschoot, MESOM Dean

MESOM Sunday Feburary 22nd - Giving to MESOM

Last fall we celebrated a new school year for the Maine School of Ministry. We celebrated the 13th cycle of the academic calendar, even though students are welcome to start anytime, and even though there is little ceremonial about our non-traditional school year. If anything, our instructors follow the same scriptural encouragement to ‘pray continually’ and apply themselves to the same challenge as students. Many have mixed livelihoods, multiple settings for ministry, and calendars that keep them busy in different ways each season.

For instance, Rev. Dr. AbbyLynn Haskell, who spends much of the year on a boat, leading excursions as a small business, whose first call to ministry led her to decades in the parish, then went for doctoral work in hermeneutics, and now promotes teaching and ministry development among future leaders, alongside a vocation of care for family. MESOM students were delighted that Haskell could spend time with them this fall cultivating a circle of scriptural interpreters as prayerful storytellers, with an expanded sense of preaching through interacting with Bible stories in all places and times. When Haskell talks about Jesus’ stories of fishing in a boat – or leaving a boat behind – people pay attention! They ask themselves what they hear the Spirit saying. Stories shape lives.

Rev. Dr. Paul Shupe is another current MESOM instructor, who while pastoring Blue Point Congregational UCC, started this year’s round of contextual education. His class meets twice monthly on the model of practice and reflection, with a class of four students in pastoral ministry or preaching in a UCC pulpit. Together they study lectionary texts and their own context for ministry, asking formative questions as Licensed or Lay Ministers, and they create a collegial community for spiritual and vocational journeys. This transitional class is for a variety of practitioners: those who are beginning to know the United Church of Christ, those who are exploring theological education, and those moving from a student role to a leadership role while not yet ordained.

Our third instructor in the fall was Rev. Dr. David Cleaver-Bartholomew, who is a fulltime tax accountant throughout the year, and who teaches part-time with the New York School of Ministry. The two regional ed programs (MESOM and NYSOM) combined to offer this class together to a total 18 students. Students benefitted from Cleaver-Bartholomew’s thirty years in parish leadership, wider church service through stewardship and financial ministries, and along the way his doctorate in Hebrew Bible.

Students with MESOM pursue learning for many different reasons. Last fall, several continued a certificate track in Christian Studies and Leadership. That semester was particularly exciting because of high enrollment in both classroom courses: Preaching as Prayerful Communication, and Old Testament Prophets, Psalms, and Wisdom Literature. These classes met a need and invited imagination for practical interpretation and expansive reflection. Those referred by their Committee on Ministry were supported in contextual education by MESOM’s Special Course: Ministry in Your First Parish.

To join with us in amplifying the call of God and equipping those who respond to that call, please participate in a special offering across the conference for the Maine School of Ministry on February 22nd . On MESOM Sunday, congregations can give attention to and support theological education with financial giving. Thank you for taking part in authentic, resilient and creative programs of lifelong learning and leadership development across Maine.

From Our Maine Conference Newsletter

Wabanaki Alliance “Lobby Day”

Near the end of this month (We don't have an exact date yet), the Wabanaki Alliance will be sponsoring a "Lobby Day" in Augusta. If you are so inclined to actively work for Wabanaki Sovereignty, I urge you to attend “Lobby Day” at the State House. This will be a chance for you to meet with your legislators, catch them in the halls, or otherwise connect with them around upcoming Wabanaki legislation, especially the two "big" bills coming up.

The Alliance will have a time and place to gather in the morning at the State House. We will have more detail later as to how to prepare for the event if you have a desire to attend.

The two "big bills" I refer to are:  LD 785 (previously LD 1626 in past legislature), which will incorporate all of the proposed amendments to the 1980 Settlement Act that haven't already been passed (which is the majority of them recommended by a 2019 bipartisan task force); and, LD 395 (previously LD 2004), which seeks to give the Wabanaki Nations access to all of the beneficial laws that have been passed for the other 571 federally-recognized Indigenous Nations, but which have been denied to the Wabanaki since 1980).