Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for June 14, 2026

Grant that we all, made one in faith,

in your community may find

the wholeness that, enriching us,

shall reach the whole of humankind.

The choir will be on hiatus until further notice while the Monteux students are with us.

This Sunday, June 14 our Rev. Hannah Mondrach will join us. Please plan to stay after church for Coffee Time. We will all have a chance to say hello to Hannah in the Fellowship Hall and start to get to know one another. She will lead our worship services and be on call for pastoral presence during the month of July.

The Meditation Group meets at the Hancock Point Chapel on Friday mornings  at 9:00 am, for the summer months. Reach out to Pastor TJ or Alison Boden with any questions. All are welcome! (revtjmack@gmail.com, 207-323-6743 or aboden3321@gmail.com, 609-865-3236)

Our meetings are open to all. Please let Vicky know if you want the link to attend via ZOOM. Upcoming June meetings:

Outreach will meet Thursday, June 18 at 4:30 pm.

Trustees will meet Wednesday, June 24 at 11 am.

Council will meet Friday, June 26 at 11 am.

Your Returnable Bottles and Cans Provide Easy Help for Hungry Students -

Although the school year is coming to an end, the Backpack Food Program at the Hancock Grammar School will continue to provide assistance to food insecure families throughout the summer and into the coming school year. Please continue to save your cans and bottles so we can continue this easy support of this critical food assistance program. Call David Wildes (422-3739) if you would like a bottle pickup or just bring them to the church whenever you can. A few 5 cent and 15 cent cans and bottles can add up to a significant donation to support this very worthy cause. Thank you for your participation.

June Birthdays  

              14: Clancy King         15: Roslynne Lowry   17: Ginny Shaw Coleman           

17: David Mack             19: Ron Schwizer       19: Sandy Phippen   

              21: Herbie Lounder    25: Kenny Houghton  26: Pat Shannon

Hancock Grammar School Mitten Tree

The mitten tree project is still going strong after 40 years. Sue Croteau is its longtime coordinator. Thank you, Sue. Each student in grades K-3 as well as Life Skills students get to choose a pair of mittens from the tree. Each year approximately 125 pairs are given. It's never too early to start knitting for this project. Any pattern is acceptable. Sue has patterns for those who need them. She or Linda Cunningham will  teach whoever wants to learn to knit. Kathy McGlinchey and Linda Cunningham have some extra yarn if anyone needs any. There will be a collection box in Fellowship Hall for completed m

Graduates

Nelson Edwards is graduating from Kingswood High School, Wolfboro, NH. Nelson is the son of Mark and Grace Edwards and grandson of Jeanne and Gary Edwards. He will be attending Florida Institute of Technology in the fall.

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 Bobby, recovering from a stroke. Prayers for Tracey Arsenault and Joe MacKay as they both await test results. We pray for all those who are saddled with grief, ancient or new; and for Charlotte and others struggling with depression. We pray for Sonny & Gerry; Sarina’s dad James, Scott; Dean; David; Don; Dexter B.; Cynthia W.; Judith C.; Hollis & Debbie; 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…

David Mack, long-time Choir member, has a birthday on Wednesday, June 17th. Please join us

at Orono Commons, 117 Bennoch Rd, Orono at 1:30 p.m. to help him celebrate his 77th birthday. We will supply the cake and party favors - you bring the love and presence. Let Pastor TJ know if you want to carpool from the church. Hope to  see you there!

Lesley Robinson writes, “While I won't be packing Comfort Cases in my shed this summer, I am going to do a pajama drive for pjs to include in Comfort Cases for children in Maine. My hope is that if each person who sees my flyer (see below), buys one pair of pajamas, then we will have a great donation and make a significant impact. Pajamas can be donated at locations indicated on flyer, or brought to the Fellowship Hall and Sue Croteau will get them to Lesley. Thanks!

July 5th will be our first Sunday back at Tidal Falls this summer. Join us at 7:00 a.m. for a 25-30 minute contemplative service grounded in the prayer books of John Philip Newell. No experience needed. All are welcome!

A Letter from our Conference Minister

 Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola PhD.

Joy and Celebration…even though…because…

We read in the 3rd chapter of Lamentations:

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well    remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness.

Today I invite you to celebrate and rejoice in God’s steadfast love and hope…

Even though our world is filled with much that can squash celebration and leave us steeped in sorrow:

An endless and entrenched war in the middle east, higher and higher inflation; election results that didn’t go your way; story after story of the poor, food insecure, Trans folks, new Mainers feeling shunned by their fellow citizens, (you fill in the blank)…

Yes, Beloved Ones, I invite you to celebrate and rejoice for God is with you and surrounding you with good things.

Even though our personal lives may threaten to overwhelm us:

Health issues that do not abate, painful conflict in families, grief that does not ease, loneliness that may overwhelm, (you fill in the blank)...

I could quote scripture upon scripture about God’s unending love and faithfulness amid every trial and tribulation—if I were to do that here, this message would be several pages long—

And each scripture could end with “joy and celebration…even though…because…”

If we were all sitting together I would invite each to share their joy and celebration. For those who are not at a place where they could share, I would hope that being with each other in our love for each other, emanating through us from God, could help to bring joy to every heart—and maybe even celebrate.

Allow me to share my celebrations for this week:

Our new Conference office at the renovated Farmhouse at Pilgrim Lodge

Such joy to know that all our ministries will be housed together by late October

Our Annual Meeting this October 2 and 3 where we will:

Celebrate our new offices

Celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Pilgrim Lodge

Celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Maine School of Ministry

Celebrate that our General Minister and President Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson will celebrate with us with her presence, conversation, key note, and sermon at our final worship

Celebrate our theme: Courageous Love: Nurturing Connections for a Just World

Celebrate our Capital Campaign for the Farmhouse renovation that has reached almost $50,000. One donor has paid for the Anne Hodgman Memorial Library

If you haven’t yet joined us with celebratory donations, please do.

I could list so much more that I celebrate about our beloved Conference and each of you, the ministers and laity who are alive and thrive as we continue to look to our promised future spoken by God in the 29th chapter, through the prophet Jeremiah: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

And finally dear ones of God, I invite you to take a few moments to contemplate and ponder your joys and celebrations. If you are so moved, please send them to me (mlaviola@maineucc.org) and let me know if you would like to include them on midweek news. These joys and celebrations can be for personal moments, moments in the life of your faith communities, moments in the midst of a troubled world, or a thought of joy, or an ineffable experience of celebration.

I rejoice every time I think of you, and I hold you in prayer,

Marisa