Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for May 17, 2026

Hail the day that sees Christ rise, Alleluia!

to God’s throne beyond the skies. Alleluia!

Christ, the Lamb for sinners given, Alleluia!

enters now the highest heaven. Alleluia!

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

There will be NO Meditation Group Friday morning, May 15.

During the month of May, we will be receiving the Strengthen the Church (STC) Offering This is one of the 5 for 5 special offerings supported by the Maine Conference. The STC Offering reflects the shared commitment of people across the United Church of Christ to cooperatively build up the UCC. Conferences and the national setting equally share the gifts given by members and friends through their local congregations. The funds raised support leadership development, new churches, youth ministry, and innovation in existing congregations. Your generosity to this offering builds up the Body of Christ. Envelopes are available in the back of the Sanctuary.

Our meetings are open to all. Please let Vicky know if you would like a link to attend via ZOOM. Upcoming April meetings:

Council will meet Friday, May 14 at 11 am via Zoom only

Outreach will meet Thursday, May 21 at 4:30 pm

Save the Dates

●     Monday, May 25^th – Hancock Memorial Day “Breakfast on the Green”. This fundraiser is sponsored by the Christian Education Team, with much help from the Outreach Group. Enjoy breakfast sandwiches and burritos, muffins, coffee, water, and more while attending the Town Memorial Day event. Your support creates Pilgrim Lodge Camp scholarships for Hancock UCC members & friends.

●     Sunday, May 31st will be an opportunity to hear our Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola preach in our congregation. A great morning to be in the pews or online!

●     It is time to start planning our retreat to Pilgrim Lodge for Lighten Up Loosen Up (LULU) camp for adults, June 17-20.

We always have a wonderful time. Stay all three nights or only one or two. Join Pastor TJ and others for the schedule that works best for you. Let’s spend time with old and new friends at PL!

May Birthdays

18: Fran Courschene          22: Brendan Bonner           23: Debbie Ehrlenbach       24: Erva Pinkham           26: Vicky Espling       27: Andrea Bernard      29: *Sally Knapp

The Outreach team is curious about your interest in a "Crafting Circle"!  Once a month at the church and open to the public, these casual gatherings would provide the chance to share and connect and have snacks!  Just bring your sewing, knitting, quilting, painting, felting....whatever it is that you do....and enjoy the company of cool, creative friends!  We are still working out the details so if you think you might be interested, please reach out to Tamara and let her know! 

Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:

Prayers for all God’s creation, that peace may prevail here and around the world. Our prayers remain with Aaron & Ashley, Lincoln & Debbie, Alex & Savannah, Andrew & Tamara, Tyler Crabtree and all of their families. We pray for all those who live and work at Golden Acres. Prayers for BJ. Prayers for Tracey Arsenault and Joe MacKay as they both await test results. Prayers for Sonny recovering from shoulder surgery. We pray for all those who are saddled with grief, ancient or new. And for Charlotte and others struggling with depression. Prayers for Jeanne and her brother Clem. We pray for Sarina’s dad James, David; Dean; Don; Dexter B.; Cynthia W.; Judith C.; the Raymonds; Hollis & Debbie; Ira & Ginny; Bruce’s sister Lynn; Kirk; Ruth & Peter; Patrice’s step-sister Patricia; Herbie Lounder; Sandy Phippen; David Mack; Sue Davies; Sue Davenport; and James B. Prayers for all in Hospice Care and for all caregivers. Prayers for all that are unsafe, unhoused, hungry & in need of care & compassion. Prayers for individuals and families affected by addictions. Prayers for those who are experiencing family conflict; and prayers for all that is in your heart…

As you know, Pastor TJ is going on Sabbatical this July, August, and September.

The Deacons and Church Council have planned for this since 2019 when TJ was called. Offering our Pastor a sabbatical every five years is a provision in our church bylaws. We have been setting aside money in our budget every month since October 2019 to ensure the ability to compensate a sabbatical pastor while TJ is away. This is a time of renewal for TJ—and simultaneously a gift to the entire congregation. As Pastor TJ rests, reflects, and reconnects with their calling, they return refreshed, spiritually nourished, and better equipped to lead with clarity and compassion. In the meantime, the church community is given opportunities to grow in meaningful ways, with members stepping into new roles, deepening their faith, and strengthening relationships with one another. This shared season of renewal can ultimately bring fresh energy, perspective, and unity to the whole congregation. Your additional questions about what to expect are always welcome.

Hancock UCC Tote Bags are available for $15. Made of durable canvas, they are attractive and eco-friendly, with a side pocket for a water bottle, and two interior pockets for cash, driver license, or credit cards. Great as grocery or book bags!

On Friday, June 5, at 7:00 pm the Historical Society and Hancock Women’s Club will present a program about the two cabarets held in the 70’s and 80’s. A film of the later group will be shown. Participants from both cabarets will be present. Myrna Coffin will lead the panel discussion. You do not want to miss this!

KEYNOTE ADDRESS • MUSIC • CURATED

FARM TOURS

INSPIRED WORKSHOPS • GENERATIVE GROUP TIME

Saturday, May 30, 10 am - 4 pm

Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment

Freeport, Maine

Green Teams Gathering is an annual opportunity for faith communities from across New England to come together in a spirit of bold collaboration and vision.

Ceding Conquest • Seeding Justice

   Our religious traditions hold in common the importance of covenant, of justice as wholeness, and of sacred responsibility to creation. Thus, our faith calls us to understand Indigenous sovereignty as essential to ecological well-being — and ecological well-being as essential to Indigenous sovereignty.

   Colonial dispossession of our bioregion was not only a human rights catastrophe; it was an ecological one, too, severing the reciprocal relationships between specific peoples and places. Over thousands of years, the people of the Dawnland have developed sophisticated relational technologies for the thriving of humans and the more-than-human world. Within mere centuries, colonization has ruptured much of that symbiosis.

   We invite you and your faith community to a day of un-learning and learning how our faith communities can respond to the vision of Indigenous and ecological thriving.

   During this full-day offering, we will engage in dynamic dialogue and inspired workshops, create meaningful connections, and develop skills to live prophetically amidst difficult times.

   Our day at Wolfe’s Neck will also include song, curated farm tours, inspired workshops, and generative group time.

   Bring your fellow congregants! It will take a team.

Cost: Individual: $50    Congregational teams of 3 or more: $35.

From our Maine Conference

A Letter from Associate Conference Minister

 Rev. John Fiscus

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

For the record this is not my Pentecost sermon being rolled out as a Midweek news offering. However, the scripture you just read is one of the scriptures from the lectionary for Pentecost Sunday. I can say, Pentecost has been on my mind for weeks. As I visit churches, attend association meetings, and work with committees in the Maine conference, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude at the way the spirit is moving in our churches. Today I want to especially thank and lift all the diligent laity in our conference.

We are in an interesting moment of the church. We have multiple locations that are thriving without having ordained clergy regularly serving the church. They thrive due to the hard work and dedication of lay people listening to and responding to the call of the Holy Spirit. Lay-lead churches are becoming more normal and successful. The strategy uses pulpit supply, lay centered worship, and innovative worship models to sustain the body of believers in these locations. I recently had the good fortune of preaching in one of these churches. The good people of Centre Street Congregational Church in Machias welcomed me to preach and offer communion there. Joy and connection were present from the moment I entered until I finally had to reenter the world. This spirit-filled church is not without its worries and concerns, but they have chosen to work together to form a new way in our complex world.

Centre Street is not the only example of the spirit moving in our churches, Associations, and Conference. Lay leaders carry and work diligently in our shared missions. I serve four of the seven Committees on Ministry for the Maine conference. These groups are made stronger by the presence of laity guiding and leading the efforts. Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth talks about the way in which the Holy Spirit gifts individuals with specific skills to form the body of Christ. I see this from my committee work as spirit fills some with administrative skills, some with deep compassion, and others with healing as they deal with wounded pastors and churches in their care. Lay people have always been essential to the way we come together.

One final way I see you is the passion that you bring to our prophetic witness and connection to the world. I know many of you are focused on helping and protecting those on the margins of our communities. Whether through rallies, marches or testimony, laity is at the front of our witness. But we are also meeting needs through practical channels. Thrift stores, food pantries, and durable medical equipment libraries are some of the ways we find ourselves ministering in our world. So much of this work is being done with hundreds of hours of work by members and friends of our churches.

For me the spirit of Pentecost has always been about God expanding those called to be present in the world. It was a moment when spirit enters a community and overflows into the world. Pentecost met the people on the streets in words that they could hear and in response were drawn into the connection. Our churches are filled with spirit filled witnesses to the connection and love we experience in relationship to God. I am eternally grateful that God is still speaking and the loudest voice is echoed in all that you the body of Christ says and does. “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

   Rev. John