Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for October 19, 2025

Rejoice in God's saints today and all days

A world without saints forgets how to praise

Their faith in acquiring the habit of prayer

Their depth of adoring, Lord, help us to share

Choir rehearsals are at 9:10 on Sunday mornings. All are welcome!

Meditation continues every Friday morning at 9:00 am at the Union Congregational Church until next July, when it moves back to the HP Chapel. Reach out to Pastor TJ or Alison Boden with any questions. (aboden3321@gmail.com, 609-865-3236) All are welcome!

The Minister’s Discretionary Fund helps people in need whether members of our church family or people in our communities. It is a minimal church budget item, supported mainly by donations made to this specific fund. If you would like to donate, envelopes are available at the back of the Sanctuary, or notate your desired donation on your check. Thank you!

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.

Church Council will meet Friday, October 24th at 11:00 am

October 20th - November 4th: Pastor TJ will be combining vacation in Wisconsin and working from a distance. She will be preaching via Zoom on October 26th.

October 26th: We will celebrate All Saints Sunday. If a loved one has died since last All Saints Day please share their name/names with Pastor TJ or Vicky. This is also the day we will add new name plates to the Memorial Board at the back of the Sanctuary.

November 2: Rev. Linette George will lead our Worship Service and officiate Communion. Reverend Linette George is an ordained and authorized Pastor and Teacher of the United Church of Christ since 2013. A graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School, Reverend George was a paralegal for thirty years working in Bangor, Portland and Boston, prior to answering her call to ministry. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with an emphasis in American Public Policy from Stanford University, and a Master of Divinity degree from Bangor Theological Seminary. She served the Holden and Dedham UCC congregations for about ten years, and is nearing the end of time of respite. She served on the Board of Directors for the Maine Conference of the UCC, Personnel Committee, and Resourcing the Local Church Team. She is co-chair of the Anti-Racism Resource Team. Linette is a member of Hammond Street Congregational Church, UCC in Bangor. She resides in the family homestead in Glenburn, with her sister, Stacy and cat, Ella.

Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:

Our prayers remain with Alex & Savannah and Andrew & Tamara; and Tyler Crabtree and his family. We pray for David M,; Brian S.; Kenny V.; James B.; Marie; and Jane of Golden Acres. Prayers for Graham, Joey and Morgan; Yvonne; Logan & Charlie & Miranda; Dexter B.; Cynthia W.; Judith C.; Eleanor A.; the Raymonds; Hollis & Debbie; Bruce’s sister Lynn; Patrice’s step-sister Patricia; Cathy C; Kirk; Ruth; Herbie Lounder; Sandy Phippen; Jonathan Holmes; Sue Davies; Sue Davenport; Ira and Ginny; 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; those who are grieving loss or change or experiencing family conflict; and prayers for all that is in your heart…

October Birthdays

26: Joshua Davis             29: Ron McGlinchey  

November Birthdays

01: Ted Atkinson        03: Mike Summerer    14: Johanna Bazzolo

16: Marcia Nowell       16: Erin Shaw    17: Cookie Thelen          

20: Kathy McGlinchey          26: Clint Ritchie          30: Arthur Ashmore

Conference Minister Sabbatical

Marisa will be on Sabbatical from Friday October 31 through Saturday December 6. During that time, Rev. Diane Weible will serve as Interim Conference Minister. Rev. Weible is former Conference Minister for the Northern California Nevada Conference UCC. Rev. Weible now serves on the UCC national staff as Administrator for the Council of Conference Ministers. She is also a coach and consultant. Rev. Weible will join us remotely and will provide support for all of our staff and the Board of Directors.

Marisa will be attending the Annual retreat of the Council of Conference Ministers in Atlanta Georgia from Sunday December 7 through Wednesday December 10. During that retreat, she will be available by email and phone.

From Our Maine Conference

The fall colors have been brilliant at Pilgrim Lodge this season. We have had visitors at camp each weekend since the campers left and we mark the change by the cooling temperatures, shorter days, and smell of wood smoke emanating from the cabins. Some mornings, when we wake up to make breakfast, we get a full display of stars to greet us before dawn’s glow emerges.

In the life of our camp, we’re sitting between seasons. Before we have fully packed up from the summer, we’re already busy at work to plan for next. In fact, we just released our schedule for 2026. You can find it here! We have a fabulous line-up of programs and wonderful volunteers already committed to support the season. We are buoyed up by a sense of direction. We are grounded in the hope of our campers.

Today, camp is empty and still as we’re packing up supplies to move out, making sure that items don’t freeze up until our spring return. Just a few short days ago, the same space was brimming full with participants in the Annual Meeting of the Maine Conference UCC. Our collective bodies warmed the space and there was sound all-around of conversation, laughter and song among us. On the Monday morning after, during staff meeting, we shared our reflections on our time together. We lifted up highlights from workshops, the delight of having youth among us, and the joy of sharing relationship, being called by name, and welcoming new faces into the circle. We lifted up the sense of energy that we could sense in the space as participants from across the entire state came together to share in the discernment of our mission and vision, the direction of our future. While we recognized the passing of beloved among us, celebrated those who lead us now, and looked to the future together, we are sitting between the seasons of the Maine Conference. May we be steadfast in our work to join together to hear what God has in store for us next. “We hear a call…”

I hope you’ll take a moment to check out the photos from the time we shared together at Pilgrim Lodge.

You can find it here

Intergenerational Spiritual Care and Nurture

Register

Many of our churches do not have a ‘specialist’ in children’s education but serve small towns where a full life span is present in relationships across generations. This course will engage participants in developing ministry to all ages, centering the times and places where that of God in one person meets with that of God in another. With pastoral leaders in mind, background will be provided in theology, developmental growth, spiritual practices, and pastoral care. Practical application will support a congregation’s intergenerational spiritual life.

ONLINE Tuesdays: Feb 3 / Feb 10 / Feb 24 / Mar 3 / Mar 10 / Mar 24 / Apr 14 / April 28 / May 5 / May 19 (6:00-8:30)

AND

Organizing for Relationships and Repair

Register

As led by Wabanaki REACH, part of this course will feature “Decolonizing and the Role of Faith Communities” – a 6-hour experience split between two Saturdays, Feb. 28 and Mar. 7. Any and all church participants in Maine are welcome and encouraged to attend! (Fee: $50) The semester course continues with sessions utilizing the “Sacred Reckonings” curriculum for organizing faith communities in response to issues of historic injustice, drawing on the Open and Affirming model.

Presenting Sponsors: Church of Universal Fellowship (Orono), Wabanaki Allies Working Group of First Congregational UCC (South Portland)

ONLINE Saturdays: Feb 28 / Mar 7 (9:00-12:00)  Mar 21 / Apr 25 / May 16 (9:00-3:30)

Tuition fees range from $375-400. Partial scholarships available.

To sign up and share information with others, please see: https://www.maineucc.org/mesom/

Rainbows of Hope—A time for prayer and sharing

Join the Women Leaders of New England for a new monthly prayer and share zoom! We begin with time to share celebrations and concerns, followed by nature photos for reflection and meditation. We will end with spoken prayer. Stay on to share ideas that you are working on to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God in your community. It’s a fun way to learn something new and exchange ideas with new friends! Our first meeting is on Wednesday, November 5 from 7-8:30 pm.Contact Fran Bogle at fbog@aol.com and we will send you a zoom link.Blessings, prayers and keep looking for rainbows!Love, Fran and the leadership team at WLNE