Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for June 21, 2026

You're the soul who understands the scars that made me who I am,

Through the drifting sands of time, I got your back and you got mine.

And when my head was in the clouds, you found a way to pull me out,

You picked my heart up off the ground, and it showed me love was all around.

If you should ever bear a heavy load, I'll be your wheels, I'll be the road,

I'll see us through the thick and thin, for love and loss until the end.

The Monteux Musicians have arrived and begin playing at our services this Sunday, June 21st. Our Music Fund needs replenishing so that we may pay them. Please donate as you are able.

Our Monteux student musicians for this Sunday will be violinists, Kiley Foxhall and  Chelsea Xuereb.

Kiley is a passionate orchestral and chamber violinist from Poughkeepsie, NY. She has played with many groups throughout New York and New Jersey, including the Woodstock Symphony Orchestra, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Westchester Symphony Orchestra, Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra of the Southern Fingerlakes. She was also recently a guest artist at the Rome Free Academy, where she spent a day working with talented high schoolers, teaching masterclasses, and giving a chamber and solo performance.

          She has appeared at venues such as Merkin Hall, performing with the Kronos Quartet, and Woodstock Playhouse. Previously, she has attended Hunter International Music Festival, Online Solo Strings Institute, Renova Festival, and Music at Port Milford, where she was able to study with Fabiola Kim, Curtis Stewart, Jannina Norpoth, Min Jeong-Koh, Catherine Cosbey, Tokai String Quartet, and Quator Saguenay. Growing up, the Jasper String Quartet would visit her high school twice a year to give masterclasses and coachings, which is what inspired her to pursue a career as a violinist instead of her other passion: theatre! She aspires to be a chamber musician and continue working with orchestras.

Kiley earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance at Ithaca College, where she studied with Calvin Wiersma and Christina Bouey. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Violin Performance at Montclair State University, studying with Michael Roth. In her graduate studies at Montclair, she fulfills her passion for orchestral music within her role as the Graduate Assistant to the Orchestra.

New York-based Maltese Violinist, Chelsea Xuereb is an active soloist, and orchestral musician. Xuereb is the First Prize winner of the June 2025 Music Talent Award Competition in the National Category, and a recipient of the Excellence in Orchestra Award and the John J. Cali Young Artist Award at Montclair State University.

        Committed to performing music from the classical canon alongside that of our time, she curates programs that bring together traditional repertoire with works by contemporary composers. Chelsea has collaborated with Maltese composer Dr. Veronique Vella as well as has recently debuted two pieces by emerging composers Kylan Hillman and Gian Torrano Jacobs. At Montclair Symphony Orchestra, Centre Symphony Orchestra, Collegium Musicum NY, she has held concertmaster, associate concertmaster, and principal second violinist positions and has also appeared with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in a Malta Youth Orchestra side-by-side concert.

       Chelsea has performed at Carnegie Hall, and at Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall with Grammy Award–winning ensembles Time for Three and the Attacca Quartet. She has shared the stage with internationally renowned pianist Lara Downes, violinist Vijay Gupta, and composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain. Chelsea holds a Master of Music from Montclair State University and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Malta. Her current teacher is Gary Capozziello. Chelsea plays on a Michael A. Daddona violin (2025).

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Angela Absher is back and the Meditation Group is meeting at the Hancock Point Chapel on Friday mornings  at 9:00 am for the summer. All are welcome! Reach out to Pastor TJ or Alison Boden with any questions. (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:

Trustees will meet Wednesday, June 24 at 11 am.

Council will meet Friday, June 26 at 11 am.

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

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…

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!    

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!

Hi Friends,

I am reaching out on behalf of the MEUCC Social Action Committee (SAC). We are putting together a social justice resolution to be presented at the MEUCC Annual Meeting this fall. The focus of the resolution is on the rights and treatment of immigrants in Maine.

We are looking for "real" people's stories in an effort to create an authentic resolution that will resonate with people in our conference.  Stories of community prejudice, experiences with ICE and law enforcement, and family trauma due to deportation are all stories we want to hear.

If you or someone you know has a story to share, please pass my contact information (see below) to them. I would be both grateful and humbled if people would be willing to share their personal stories with me.

The Social Action Committee (SAC) would keep names and places confidential to protect those involved.

Friends...your help with this would be most appreciated. Many thanks!

Yours in faith,

Kathy Woodside    Email: woodsidekat@gmail.com

MEUCC Social Action Committee Member

85 Ridgeway Drive

Bar Harbor, Maine

Home phone: 207-288-5160           Cell phone: 207-266-4660

Circles of Welcome

A Message from Liz Charles McGough, Pilgrim Lodge Director

Hospitality Prayer by Rev. Naomi King

Beloved, teach us to open our shuttered hearts and our portioned and boarded up spirits with bold generous and with courageous hospitality.

 Greetings from Pilgrim Lodge where we just completed nine days of staff training to prepare our team for incoming campers! We began our very first session of training, as we formed our own community at camp this summer, with this Hospitality Prayer by Rev. Naomi King (quoted throughout this letter).

As the summer staff, we learn the nuts and bolts of our role in making camp run smoothly: washing dishes, lifeguarding, what to do in case of an emergency and facilitating program. At the same time, our training places a special emphasis on how we do our jobs. We talk about protective factors and best practices for supporting campers with marginalized identities, seeking to make this an inclusive space for people of diverse identities and lived experiences.

They are concrete strategies that support our efforts to live into our Statement of Faith as we seek to ensure that “all who come in love have a seat at our table.” We seek to offer “bold generous” and “courageous hospitality.” 

Estranged and alienated so often and from so much, sustain us in making circles of welcome out of gatherings of strangers. Around the table of wonder, meet us in abundance, drawing out our stories

 and showing us how to weave together community with steadfast love.

We are excited to welcome campers today as our regular camp season gets underway. Our adult program “Lighten Up, Loosen Up” begins today and we’ll also welcome participants for an “Our Whole Lives” Facilitator Training. From now until mid-August, we’re bustling with campers at Pilgrim Lodge every day (while some programs are full, there is still room to register in many of our programs!).

 While running camp is our primary focus, I believe that the retreats that we host in the shoulder season in the spring and fall are the most overlooked part of our ministry at Pilgrim Lodge. From early May until mid-June and again from mid-August until we close in October, we host other organizations for their programming at Pilgrim Lodge. In my earliest days as the Director, I used to think of this as source of income to sustain our camp ministry (…and it is). Now, I see it as another part of our identity as Pilgrim Lodge: a way that we create space to make “circles of welcome out of gatherings of strangers.”

When we welcome churches or external organizations for their programs, we don’t provide our own programming, but we do partner with them to help people feel welcome and get the most out of the environment that we have to offer. It has led to building relationships that help Pilgrim Lodge connect beyond UCC churches to organizations that align with our own mission and values.

 Recently we hosted the Vajra Dakini Nunnery as they facilitated a 10-day Shrivasti Meditation Retreat at Pilgrim Lodge. Their program focused on holding silence for 10 days. Our staff at Pilgrim Lodge held silence in their presence, passing notes back and forth if there were questions about food or maintenance needs. This past weekend, we were honored to be the site for the “Hope Summit” of the Western Maine Children’s Ministry Hub, a ministry of First Church, Bridgton. Participants from all five churches of their first-ever, year-long cohort gathered to share the energy of their projects with one another and celebrate the experiences of building inclusive ministries in their communities. Camp was full of music and drumming, joyful sounds of children, and the buzz of people connecting with one another.

 “Around the table of wonder, meet us in abundance, drawing out our stories and showing us how to weave together community with steadfast love.”

The wells of life are our responsibilities; teach us to care for them together, with forbearance, forgiveness, gratitude, and rejoicing… Amen.

When the work of hosting these external retreat groups moves from a contract to a relationship, we believe that we’re finding relevance and connection in the broader context in which we operate. For three summers, Pilgrim Lodge has hosted the culmination of summer programming for the kids of Tree Street Youth. Tree Street Youth is a Lewiston-based community of youth and adults who use their diverse lived experiences and collective empowerment to co-create youth-centered programs and partnerships that encourage leadership, learning, exploration, and growth.

Earlier this month, Lydia and I were honored to attend their 15th Anniversary Celebration and to receive their Sapwood Award. They shared with us that, “the Sapwood Award recognizes a new supporter and partner to Tree Street Youth. Each year our staff team votes on the award winner, and this time the team collectively chose Pilgrim Lodge! Over the past several summers the experience Pilgrim Lodge has provided for our youth has been transformative and has become something our kids look forward to all summer! Our staff felt compelled this year to recognize you all for opening your space to Tree Street and enabling our kids to enjoy the beauty of Maine summers in a safe and welcoming environment.”

Whether youth come to Pilgrim Lodge on our roster or through another organization, it is a privilege to hold the space for experiences of wonder and community. “The wells of life are our responsibilities; teach us to care for them together.”

 “…with forbearance, forgiveness, gratitude, and rejoicing…”

Liz