Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for August 10, 2025

Give to the winds your fears, / hope, and be undismayed; / God hears your sighs and counts your tears; / God shall lift up your head. / Thru' waves and clouds and storms / God gently clears the way. / Wait now this time, so shall this night / soon end in joyous day.

During August in addition to the 10:00 Worship Service in our Sanctuary, Pastor TJ and a small contingent of volunteers are offering an alternative contemplative service inspired by John Philip Newell prayer books. These outdoor Sunday services begin at 7:00 a.m. at Tidal Falls (rain or shine) and last 25-30 minutes. Please join us!

Pastor TJ will be at Pilgrim Lodge co-Deaning Pride Across the Ages August 8th -10th and then on vacation and working from Wisconsin August 11th through August 22nd. Peter Schay will deliver the message on August 10th and Pastor TJ will preach from Wisconsin on the 17th via Zoom.

Our guest lay preacher for Sunday, Peter Schay, resides in Burlington, NC, and works as a cybersecurity operations manager, having 53 years of professional experience in information technology and consulting. His extended family has owned a home on Jellison Cove Road in Hancock since the late 1980s.

Mr. Schay has been an active member of UCC churches in Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut,

and North Carolina. He has served as both chair of the Board of Deacons and chair of the Board

of Trustees at United Church of Chapel Hill, NC, which he joined in 2014. He has also been

active in the UCC above the local church, serving as a lay member on the Committees on

Ministry of the Fairfield West Association (Southern New England Conference) and Eastern

North Carolina Association, President of the Board of Directors of the UCC Southern

Conference, and as a voting delegate from the Southern Conference to the UCC 2023 and 2025

General Synods. Mr. Schay has a BS from Yale University, MS from Northwestern University, and MBA from Boston University.

Our meetings are open to all.

Trustees will meet on Wednesday, August 13 at 4:00 p.m. via Zoom

Council will meet on Friday, August 15 at 11:00 a.m.

The Outreach Committee will meet on Thursday, August 28 at 4:15 p.m. Knitters are invited to come to the Fellowship Hall at 3:00 p.m. to knit scarves for an Outreach Project.

We are still collecting pajamas for Comfort Cases. Deadline for donations is August 25, 2025! See your Weekly Messenger for more information.

Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:

Our prayers remain with Alex & Savannah and Andrew & Tamara; and Tyler Crabtree and his family. We pray for David M,; Donald B.; Kenny V.; Brian; and Jane of Golden Acres. Prayers for  Jim Snyder and all in Hospice Care. Prayers for Everett’s sister Arlene; Cynthia W.; Judith C.; Eleanor A.; Hollis & Debbie; Ira and Ginny; Bruce’s sister Lynn; Sally’s friend, Sue Barger; Herbie Lounder; Ruth; Marie; Jonathan Holmes; Sue Davies; Sue Davenport; Kenny Stratton & Joy & David & Lori & Melissa; Debbie & Lincoln & Aaron, Ashley, & Brielle; and Sandy Phippen. 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; those who are grieving loss or change; and prayers for all that is in your heart…

HANCOCK POINT CHAPEL

Summer 2025 – Services at 10:00 a.m.

August 10:  Rev. Kristi Zabriskie – Chaplain, The Pines Senior and Assisted Living, Richfield, MI

 August 17:  Rev. James Gertmenian – Minister Emeritus, Plymouth Congregational Church,

Minneapolis, MI   (Communion will be served)

August 24:  Rev. Alice A. Hildebrand – Retired Pastor Deer Isle-Sunset Congregational Church

                     and Women’s and Children's Chaplain at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME

August Birthdays and Anniversaries 

14: Amelia Ashmore       14: Jane Lennon          15: David Wildes & Cynthia Wood

Orrick E. Damboise

      May 10, 1957 — June 25, 2025

     Caribou

Orrick E. Damboise, 68, died June 25, 2025 at a residential care facility in Hancock. He was born in Caribou, March 10, 1957, the son of the late Edmund Owen and Evelyn Mary (Doucette) Damboise. Orrick was a member of the Caribou High School class of 1976 and served with the United States Army. He was employed by several area construction companies. He was predeceased by a daughter, Erica Fox. Private family graveside services will be held at a later date.

News from our Maine Conference

       A Letter from our Conference Minister

                     Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola

How do I help? How do we help together?

As the months have gone by since the new government in Washington has been established, I vacillate between alarm, deep concern, and—frankly—numbness. As your Conference Minister I wonder “how do I help?” the churches and faith settings of our conference as we follow the call of Jesus to care for the poor, welcome the stranger, and offer a warm and large welcome to the shunned and neglected?

I was at Mission Congregational Church in West Paris yesterday and one of the lay leaders said a simple and profound statement (this is a paraphrase). “There’s a lot of meanness in the world and in our country. Let’s not us be mean.” I have recently had disgruntled ministers ask me “what is the UCC doing about the situation in our country—specifically the ok from the IRS to promote a particular candidate from the pulpit?” Even churches that provide as much as they can for immigrants recognize that there’s not much they can do when ICE comes to their doorstep. It breaks my heart that folks who are seeking asylum and those who are here legally are as threatened for deportation as those who have entered our country and perpetrate crime. And that due process for all is slipping through our fingers.

The United Church of Christ is committed to do all a denomination can do. At General Synod the delegates voted two resolutions of witness that advocate for immigrants and that condemn the genocide in Gaza. Those resolutions give direction to the leaders in our Washington DC office as they lobby law makers. Just recently we received a communique from Heather Kimmel, General Counsel to the UCC, about care when accepting Federal Grants that prohibit DEI language and any language that speaks of boycotts against the Israeli government (not the people). We may feel ham strung, we may feel our ministry is threatened and stunted. And we’re left with the questions:

How do I help? How do we help together?

I want to first say that we ARE already helping together. When I think back on the myriad number and variety of faith settings I have visited in my first 2 ½ years, your ministry is making a difference—small and large, clergy led and lay led, pulpit supply or pulpit supply plus, rural and urban. Our churches are alive and thriving no matter the size, as they look to their greater community as a mission field and welcome the stranger, care for the poor, envelop the shunned and marginalized into the fold of their love and care. I am humbled and inspired every time I am with the beloved of any of our churches.

Do we all agree politically? No. Do we all agree on how Jesus is calling us to serve with peace and justice? No. That’s the beauty of embracing diversity within the unity of our oneness in Christ. No matter our differences, we deep down believe that ALL are beloved children of God, loved with an unconditional love—even when we disagree or are dismayed by the other’s behavior.

My friends, I’ll leave you with these musings I have been praying on lately, musings I will share now, and may lead to more musings as we all continue our ministry in the name of the risen Christ:

I think back on all of the times that governments, empires, throughout history have not advocated for or cared for those most in need; have not welcomed the stranger or cared for the poor. For now, I’ve been revisiting examples in our Judeo-Christian history—specifically some of the prophets that spoke warnings: to the northern kingdom of Israel that fell to the Assyrians; to the southern kingdom of Judah that feel to the Babylonians that led to exile. The prophets warned these empires that they would fall because they were not seeking God’s justice. And it has led me to muse: throughout history, empires rise and fall, come and go; unjust governments rise and fall, come and go. And in some strange way that comforts me. The unjust practices of the current government will have their time and then will cede to other practices. But, how many will be harmed in the meantime?

I think that’s where we come in. God’s people can make a difference when our government eschews values of God’s making—that eschews protections for the poor, the shunned, the marginalized, the stranger. The difference we make may seem small to us. The impact we have may seem minimal. BUT IT’S NOT small or minimal. As we continue to embrace a God of unconditional love, the Christ of resurrection life, and the Jesus who teaches us how to live in the midst of any government, WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE. And as the old saying goes, we may plant seeds that we will not see sprout in our lifetime, but they will sprout.

How do we help? We stay close to the God of love and take in, bathe ourselves in God’s love. We offer that love to all—WHOEVER they are. We pour over the Gospels for Jesus’ words and actions that guide our words and actions. We continue to pray—especially together. We continue to believe that each faith setting has a vital ministry. We continue to support one another and our ministries.

Reflections on General Synod From our Delegates

For the next few weeks you will read the reflections, thoughts, and musings from our Synod Delegates. This week we hear from Spencer Law, delegate from Oxford-Union Association.

Do you know how your church is connected to more than 4,500 other congregations across the country and the world? As part of the United Church of Christ, you belong to a denomination with more than 650,000 members. But unlike many other denominations, we don’t have a hierarchical structure– there’s no UCC pope or archbishop who sets standards we all have to follow. Instead, our governance happens at the congregational level. Every UCC church, like yours, is free to call and release ministers, choose your own Sunday School curriculum, and decide how to spend your money at the discretion of your members.

Still, it’s difficult to address the more pressing problems we see in the world on our own, and we know that our individual congregations don't have a monopoly on the Spirit of God. So, we partner with thousands of other churches through the UCC to do global mission work like disaster relief, to advocate for justice and peace in our legislature, and ultimately to work together toward “a just world for all.” That’s just one of the UCC mottos I heard recently when I went to Kansas City, MO for General Synod, the triennial, national gathering of UCC members and church leaders.

Through the process of General Synod, delegates representing every regional association of the UCC learn about, discuss, revise, and recommend resolutions written by church members like you and me that speak to some of the most important issues facing our world today. I served on committee 11, which heard a resolution titled “A Declaration for an End to Genocide in Palestine.” Over the course of the week, we heard from outside experts who educated us about the history of the conflict and its present reality, we worked through our resolution line by line, and eventually recommended it for approval by the General Synod, which happened after extensive discussion on the floor.

If you want to read more detailed reflections I wrote during Synod, you can find those here. If you’re curious about all the resolutions heard and passed at General Synod 35, this article provides descriptions of each one. You can also watch all the recorded sessions here, including the keynote address by Rev. Jennifer Butler. Rev. Butler’s address highlights how Christian nationalism is a dangerous threat to both our free expression of faith and our democracy, but reminds us that “the whole Bible is a handbook for resisting tyranny.”

How might your church connect to what happens at Synod? Take a look at the resolutions linked above to explore how conversations in your congregation connect to those happening in our denomination at a national level, and find out what steps each resolution recommends your church take as we work together to create a just world for all.