11/23/25 Bulletin
- Feb 11
- 9 min read
UNION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF HANCOCK
We respect tradition — and we welcome inclusive language about people and expansive language about God. Please pray using words most meaningful to you.
Open and Affirming of ALL God’s Children
Welcoming our Associate Conference Minister - Reverend John Fiscus
November 23, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. - Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 839 3635 9115
Passcode: 776780
The first pew in front of the pulpit has books and quiet activities for people of all ages.
Please find something that suits you, take it to your pew, and return it after the service.
Silent Prayer
You are within us and among us, O Christ, / as the one who is alive for ever. / In the sorrows and sufferings of our lives you are with us / as the one who holds the keys of new beginnings. / There is no ending in the world, / there is no fear in our lives, / there is no despair in our hearts, / that your living presence cannot unlock. / You are within us and among us, O Christ, / as the one who is alive forever. ~ J. Philip Newell
* Indicates points in the service when we stand in body or spirit
Announcements
Prelude Come, Ye Thankful People, Come By G. Elvey/ Mary McDonald
Tune: St. George’s Windsor
Welcome
*Introit We Gather Together R. #23 We gather together to ask for your blessing, you chasten and hasten your will to make known;the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing. We praise your name, O God; forget not your own.
Beside us to guide us, O God, with us joining, ordaining, maintaining redeeming our world;so from the beginning the fight we were winning; Lord, you were at our side; we trust in your word.
We all do extol you, our leader triumphant, and pray that you still our defender will be.Let your congregation escape tribulation. Your name, O God, be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
*Call to Worship B. #824
Leader: Beautiful are the works of God!
People: Beautiful also are the skins of God’s people!
Leader: Beautiful is the mind of God!
People: Beautiful also are the hopes of God’s people!
Leader: Beautiful is the heart of God!
People: Beautiful also are the souls of God’s people!
Leader: God made the heavens and the earth!
People: To God be the glory for the things God has done.
*Passing of the Peace (ASL) and Lighting of Peace & Justice Candle
*Hymn Great Is Your Faithfulness B. #423
Great is your faithfulness, O God, Creator / with you no shadow of turning we see.You do not change, your compassions they fail not; / all of your goodness forever will be.
Refrain:
Great is your faithfulness! Great is your faithfulness! / Morning by morning new mercies I see; /All I have needed your hand has provided, / Great is your faithfulness, God, unto me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, / sun, moon and stars in their courses above, /Join with all nature in manifold witness / to your great faithfulness, mercy, and love
Refrain:
Great is your faithfulness! Great is your faithfulness! / Morning by morning new mercies I see; /All I have needed your hand has provided, / Great is your faithfulness, God, unto me!
Pardon for sin and a peace so enduring, / your own dear presence to cheer and to guide. / Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, / blessings all mine with ten thousand beside.
Refrain:
*Invocation (spoken in unison) B. # 829
O God of the morning and of the evening hours, let your Spirit come on us here gathered. This is a holy place where we, your people, call on you in faith, joining heart and voice in thanksgiving and praise to your name. Amen
Children’s Message
Scripture Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 New International Version
3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Special Music Autumn Carol Russell Schultz-Widmar
Message Rev. John Fiscus
*Hymn For the Fruit of All Creation B. #425
For the fruit of all creation, thanks be to God. / For God’s gifts to every nation,
thanks be to God. / For the plowing, sowing, reaping, silent growth while we are sleeping, / Future needs in earth's safe-keeping, thanks be to God.
In the just reward of labor, God's will is done. / In the help we give our neighbor, God's will is done. / In our world-wide task of caring for the hungry and despairing, / In the harvests we are sharing, God's will is done.
For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God. / For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God. / For the wonders that astound us, for the truths that still confound us, / Most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God.
Prayers of the People – Sharing Joys & Concerns
Unison response: God in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Our Father (Creator, Mother) who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen
Lead me Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make my way plain before my face. For it is thou Lord, thou Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.
Invitation to Offering - B. #842 Having received new life through the generosity of God and the hope Christ brings, let us give thankfully and abundantly that we may be called God’s generous people.
Offertory We Gather Together Tune: Kremser/ Roberta Rowland-Raybold
*The Doxology
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God for all that love has done; Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen .
*Prayer of Dedication (spoken in unison) B. #844, adapted
All good gifts come from you, O God. You have given us life, and new life in Christ. As you have given us gifts, we offer our gifts to one another, as Jesus taught and lived. Amen
*Hymn Let All Things Now Living R. # 529
Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving / to God the Creator triumphantly raise, / who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us, / by guiding us on to the end of our days. / God’s banners are o’er us, pure light goes before us, / a pillar of fire shining forth in the night, / till shadows have vanished and fearfulness banished, / as forward we travel from light into light.
By law God law enforces: the stars in their courses, / the sun in its orbit, obediently shine; / the hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains, / the depths of the ocean proclaim God divine, / We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing, / with glad adoration a song let us raise, / till all things now living unite in thanksgiving: / “To God in the highest, hosanna and praise!”
*Benediction
*Sung Benediction Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing (vs. 1) R. #333
Lord, dismiss us with your blessing; / fill our hearts with joy and peace; / let us each, your love possessing, / triumph in redeeming grace: / oh, refresh us, oh, refresh us, / traveling through this wilderness.
Postlude Rondeau on “Royal Oak” Arr. M. Helman From The Dancing Master 1686
(Please remain seated for the Postlude)
If you are visiting with us today, please sign our Guest Book in the back of the sanctuary.
Support our Church Financially
Please visit Hancock (Maine) UCC on Facebook or our webpage www.hancockucc.com
or visit this link to our PayPal account: paypal.me/hancockucc
or mail offerings to:
Union Congregational Church, PO Box 443, Hancock, ME 04640 (Attention: Treasurer)
Contact Us
Vicky Jennifer TJ
207.422.3100 207.323.6743
Rev. John Fiscus comes to the Maine Conference after serving nearly ten years as the Minister and Teacher at Peace United Church of Christ in St. Cloud Minnesota. He was student clergy in Colorado and offered many churches across that state pulpit supply. Prior to being clergy, John served the churches he attended in multiple ways. He has served on boards of churches with 600 members and offered the good news to four beautiful souls in a Colorado farm community. During his tenure in St. Cloud he served the community on several volunteer Boards and as a community member on the Ethics Committee of Saint Cloud Hospital. In addition to his work at the church, John served the Conference as Chair of the Open and Affirming ministry team and has just finished a six-year term on the Committee on Ministry that serves the entire conference.
John is a second career clergy person. Prior to full time ministry John served over twenty years in management roles in several companies. His experience there was multifaceted and included financial analysis, Human Resources, and training responsibilities. His educational background is varied as well. John has a BS in Anthropology and a BA in History both from Colorado State University, Pueblo. His MDiv was completed at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He has completed the course work for his Doctor of Ministry in Prophetic Leadership from Iliff and is still working to complete his final project.
John has lived in Colorado, Texas and Minnesota. He and his husband, Rick are relocating to the Augusta area for his call. They celebrated 29 years as a couple in October of 2025. They are looking forward to a new adventure in Maine. John has made it his goal to discover the best lobster roll in Maine while Rick will seek out the best blueberry pie, muffin, or ale. John looks forward to being a part of the vision and hope the churches of the Maine Conference bring to our world.
Resources: The New Century Hymnal
Many thanks to those who make this service possible –
in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
Guest Minister -- Associate Conference Minister John Fiscus
Music Minister – Debbie Riley
Deacons – Alison Boden and David Wildes
Audio-Video Support – Ron Schwizer
Office Administrator – Vicky Espling
Settled Minister – Rev. TJ Mack
The Body of Christ – You
The New Century Hymnal (B.) Hymns of Truth and Light (R.)
Copyright © 1995 The Pilgrim Press Copyright © 1998 First Congregational
Church of Huston, Texas
"Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE,
License #A-738532. All rights reserved.
We Gather Together
Words and Music - ©2021 Hal Leonard Corporation (select catalogs)
Contributors: Nederlandtsch Gedenckclanck, Netherlands Folk Hymn, Eduard Kremser
Great Is Your Faithfulness
Words - ©1923, 1951 Hope Publishing Company
Contributors: Thomas O Chisholm
For the Fruit of All Creation
Words - ©1970 Hope Publishing Company
Contributors: Fred Pratt Green
Let All Things Now Living
Words and Music - ©1939, 1966 E.C. Schirmer Music Co.
Contributors: Katherine K Davis
Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing
Words and Music - ©pd Public Domain
Contributors: Public Domain
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