Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for August 2, 2026

We that once were lost and scattered

In communion's love have stood

Taste and see the grace eternal

Taste and see that God is good 

Please remember to wear your Church T-Shirts Saturday if you are working the Fair

If you don’t have one, speak to David Wildes or Jennifer Ashmore.

Join us at Tidal Falls each Sunday morning 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! Thank you to Nancy Gourlie and Robin Stratton for volunteering to be our leaders this summer.

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 monetary donations or non-perishable food items, toiletries, and pet food for the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry.

Sunday, August 2, our guest lay preacher will be Peter Schay. Peter 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 in addition to 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.

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 Alison Boden with any questions. (aboden3321@gmail.com, 609-865-3236)

LIVE at the Milbridge Theater

26 Main St,. Milbridge

Saturday, August 8 and 15 at 7:00 pm

Sunday, August 9 and 16 at 3:00 pm

$8 – Child  $12 – Adult

August Birthdays

09: Denny Doucette            14: Amelia Ashmore              14: Jane Lennon

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. We pray for Betty Johnston; Sonny & Gerry; Scott; Dean; David; Don; Dexter B.; Cynthia W.; Judith C.; Debbie; Kirk; Ruth & Peter; Patrice’s step-sister Patricia; Herbie Lounder; Sandy Phippen; David Mack; Sue Davies; Sue Davenport. 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 mental illness and addictions. Prayers for those who are experiencing family conflict; and prayers for all that is in your heart…

PJ Open House

Sunday, August 16th from 2-4 pm

at the Hancock Community Center

1416 US Hwy 1, Hancock

Sponsored by P.E.O.

New PJs only

All sizes - infant - teen

Please click on the following link to hear a message from

our Conference Minister, Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola.   

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1bExigoTsq/

If you can’t hear her, click the gray circle in the upper left hand corner of the video.

The Summer of Campfires!

A story of the summer by Assistant Camp Director, Lydia Hoffman

This year at Pilgrim Lodge, many hands and hearts have been hard at work constructing the newest place at camp to gather, to sing, to worship, and of course roast s’mores. Our summer ‘26 curriculum, “It Only Takes A Spark” was named and written with the knowledge that campers would gather in the brand new Pilgrim Lodge campfire circle for years to come, beginning with this very first summer.Watching this new area of camp come to life has been the highlight of my summer.

In the beginning, we searched for the perfect spot. Wanting campfires to be accessible to all, we began looking for a location that was easy to access and close to the heart of camp. We settled on a nook just off of the parking lot and across from the dining hall.

Volunteers at Jumpstart Work Days began clearing out the trees to make way for what was to come. The wood from these trees will one day fuel the fires that campers will gather around in this space.  

Next came the excavators and many, many, loads of dirt. Soon the land was flattened, the dirt was packed down, and we were ready to begin drawing out plans for the fire circle. 

We began dreaming up concepts of what our new gathering place would look like. First a dirt spiral drawn into the ground, facilities team members John, Matt, and Gil began sketching out the shape of our fire circle into the dirt. It’s beginning to come together! Can you see it?

During week 1 of programming, the benches were born! Board by board, the circle began to form. With a goal to seat 130 people, we knew we wanted to have a place for everyone by the fire. 

Each session of camp this summer began with an Opening Campfire, a new tradition at Pilgrim Lodge. Every camper on the boardwalk was welcomed into this space all at once. Some saw the fire pit when it was only a few benches, and some saw it as a half complete semi-circle. Our circle grew and grew as the summer progressed.

After many hours of hard work, early mornings, late nights, and a little bit of camp magic, the circle was finished just in time for our Opening Campfire with Middler Spirit and Senior High.We joyfully fit 120 bodies into our new gathering space, with room for more. Overlooking the dining hall and the Lodge with a view of the sunset over the water, the completed fire circle felt as though it had been there all along.

Each week, we gathered in this very special place and welcomed Pilgrim Lodge campers into a new week of camp. We sang songs like “Pass It On”, “Circle of Friends”, “Turning of the World”, and “Crowded Table”. We asked campers to think about the building of our community at camp like the building of a campfire. Each one of us brings something special to our time at camp and each one of us has a role in building our community. All summer we have been asking one another, what is your spark? What is the thing that makes you glow, light up, jump up and down, and shine? Like building a community, the best part of building a campfire is when the spark shines! 

Here at Pilgrim Lodge, we believe that all who come in love have a seat at the campfire.Join us this summer, fall, and for years to come and see camp magic come to life, in the shape of a campfire circle. We’ll save you a seat!

Many thanks to all of the hands and hearts who worked to make this campfire dream come true:

John Steelhammer                          Gil Healy                                 Mark Hoffman         

Matt Casper                                     Heidi Roo                                Ben DiSalvatore         

Ben Hilton                                        Liz Charles McGough            Howard Charles         

Pam Burnham                                 Cullen McGough                    Nate Blanchard         

Bruce Burnham                               Benjamin McGough               Jon Canty

Pete Lockwood                               Nathaniel McGough 

See you at camp!Lydia

Register Today: www.pilgrimlodge.org/camps