Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for December 7, 2025

As a green bud in the springtime is the sign of life renewed,

so may we be signs of oneness ’mid earth’s peoples, many hued.

As a rainbow lights the heavens when a storm is past and gone,

may our lives reflect the radiance of God’s new and glorious dawn.

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

Sunday we will share Holy Communion.  For those who will receive the sacraments at home, please prepare a piece of bread or a cracker, and a cup of juice or wine and join us at the table. Also, we will be receiving non-perishable food items, toiletries, and pet food for the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry. Envelopes are available at the back of the Sanctuary for monetary donations as well.

Please plan on joining Pastor TJ this Advent Season for this lively study focusing on Advent scriptures and the wonders of birds. We will meet on Thursdays Dec. 4, 11th, and 18th at 2 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall and on Zoom.

Chris Ross has a hometown show happening in our sanctuary on

Saturday, December 6^th.

Doors open at 6:30, music at 7:00. Suggested donation of $20 but all are welcome regardless of ability to pay. Invite your family and friends and come and enjoy the music.

The Wreaths Across America convoy leaves Downeast on Sunday, Dec. 7th.  It's due at the YMCA in Ellsworth before 9 am so it would pass the church in the 8:15-ish time frame. All are invited to gather on our church steps to wave them onward.

Sunday, Dec. 7, from 4 – 6 pm: People of all ages are invited to join us in our Fellowship Hall for a Pizza and Pie Party!

“Get to know you” games, like “I Wonder”; story-telling; connection;

come and make some new memories…!

And, of course, Pizza and Pie! This Intergenerational Event is brought to you by Christian Education and Outreach Teams. Mark your calendars!

The Emmaus Center Christmas gifts for the tree in the Fellowship Hall need to be returned to the church,  unwrapped and with the tags attached by Sunday, December 14th. The Outreach Committee will deliver the gifts on Monday, the 15th.

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’s Dad who is recovering from a major stroke. We pray for David, Brian, Kenny V, Brad, James, Marie, and Jane of Golden Acres. Prayers for Yvonne; 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; Cathy C; Kirk; Ruth; Herbie Lounder; Sandy Phippen; Jonathan Holmes; 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…

December Birthdays

15: Frank Dorsey        16: Ashley Ehrlenbach Johnson      17: Sue Croteau         

18: Barbara Reeve       20: Sheila O’Neill       21: Mary Angela Davis        

27: Jennifer Ashmore

Upon the advice of our Trustees and with the approval of our Church Council we undertook a $65,000 Building and Parsonage Repair Campaign to pay for some much needed maintenance to our properties. These include: 1) the parsonage has recently received a new metal roof, 2) the sanctuary ceiling has recently been re-painted, and 3) the exterior of the church, including the belfry will be painted in the Spring of 2026. Contributions included $5000 from the Betty Lewis Memorial Fund, a $10,000 matching donation offer, plus many other donations and pledges that have brought us to our current balance of  $67,580. Thank you to everyone that helped us reach, and slightly exceed our goal! This is truly an amazing community!

Christmas Poinsettia Plants

Poinsettia plants wrapped in foil will be available to order for the Christmas Eve Service.

  The poinsettias will be $15.00 per plant.

Please place your order with Vicky by Sunday, December 14^th by completing the order form below, calling 207-422-3100 or 207-266-9493, or emailing hancockmaineucc@gmail.com      

Cash or checks made payable to Union Congregational Church will be accepted. 

Your Name:________________________________________ Your Phone:______________

Please indicate if your poinsettia is in honor of or in loving memory of someone

or multiple someones and how you wish to have this listed in the bulletin.

In honor of ________________________________________________________

In loving memory of ________________________________________________

From the Maine Conference

A Letter from our Associate Conference Minister

                         Rev. John Fiscus

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,

How Jesus the Savior did come for to die.

For poor simple people like you and like I...

I wonder as I wander out under the sky. - John Jacob Niles

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippopotamus will do

Don't want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy

I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy! - John Rox 

   If you were to ask me what my favorite Christmas song is, you would get one of two answers based on how we know each other. If you are part of my church life and vocation it is clearly, I Wonder as I Wander. Among my closest friends and family my answer is I Wanna Hippopotamus for Christmas. I completely understand how very different these two songs are in tone and meaning. On the surface one strikes a chord about considering the very nature of who Christ was and the meaning of Christmas. The other song is on its surface a tale of Christmas commercialism at its worst. But I would ask you to consider how both songs ask us to ponder the seemingly impossible at a season celebrating the possible made real.

   Christmas invites us to engage the world through a lens of wonder. Both songs I love are at their deepest level thinking about things that are intangible. No one I have ever met or known has owned or received a hippopotamus for Christmas or any other occasion. The reality of hippo ownership is very intangible for us. In that same way it is often hard to consider how Jesus the Christ came into the world to change it and call all generations to come and see what God has for humanity. We must engage the unknowable through our sense of wonder. Astronaut Neil Armstrong wrote; “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.” Are we still good at embracing the mystery and allowing ourselves to wonder?

   As the season of Advent continues to unfold through Christmas, I invite us all into the realm of wondering. Already anchored in hope we will press on to embrace Peace, Joy, and Love. Each step of the journey is an invitation to wonder. All four of these concepts are both knowable and intangible. I cannot hold Peace, Joy or Love in my hands, but I know when I experience them in my heart and soul. I too know that I will never get a hippopotamus for Christmas, yet the silly joy of wondering what a pet hippo could mean to me is enjoyable. Pondering and giving into wonder is the gateway to understanding.

   As you wonder as you wander, may mysteries unfold and attend your journey,

Rev. John Fiscus, ACM