HCC Annual Meeting

February 12th, 11am

Our 270th Annual Meeting will be held in Hadley Hall on February 12, 2023, following worship. Please attend this vital gathering, as we look back at this past year’s accomplishments and look ahead to God’s call in our congregational life this year.

A quorum of members is needed.

The 2022 annual report will be e-mailed/mailed to each member family by the end of this week.

Please take some time to read the reports and familiarize yourself with the proposed budget for 2023.

This offering cares for active and retired clergy and lay employees of the UCC by providing emergency grants and other help to those struggling.

Please watch the video above to see how important this offering can be.

HCC will be receiving donations for this UCC Special Offering from January 18th through January 31st.

Please send or drop off donations and earmark them for this purpose.

Thank you, as always, for your generosity for these important mission opportunities.

Worship This Week

Please join us in Hadley Hall

at 10am on Sunday for the

Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany

Coffee hour will be held in Hadley Hall

after the service. 

We hope you will join us in person or online.

The service will be live streamed through Facebook Live here

or on 3CX here.

artwork: "Winter Moose" © Pat Willems

www.ministryofthehearts.org. Used with permission.

Save the date for our next community dinner--

Perhaps you can bring goods or help out at the dinner itself. Sign up sheets are in Hadley Hall. Or, call or email the office to sign up. Hope to see you then!

Prepared to Serve 2023

Registration is now Open!

Prepared to Serve 2023, our conference's day of workshops to help us be a better church, will return to an in-person gathering at Pembroke Academy on February 25th, 2023 with the theme Connecting & Reconnecting.

There are a slate of workshops that will provide training and sharing on the topics most commonly asked for in this time of emergence.  

If you are interested in attending, please let Pastor Kathy know. Those who have attended in the past have found it engaging and helpful, and a great opportunity to connect with people across the state.

To register and for more information, click here.

2022 Year-End Statements

The Q4 year-end donations statements for 2022 will be emailed soon. If we don't have an email address, we will mail your statement.

If you don't get your statement, please contact the office and we will work on getting your copy to you.

A Special "Thank You" from

Project Linus

Dear Blanketeers,

Oh my! You folks have certainly been busy! I picked up your two huge bags of blankets on Sunday. Thank you, thank you! What an incredible assortment of sizes and styles. Something for everyone.

The quilts are adorable, the afghans are so colorful, soft and warm. I love studying the various stitch patterns and color combinations. You are all so talented and generous.

We have a number of requests for all sizes of blankets throughout your area, so your wonderful creations will go out very soon.

Thank you! Happy new year!

Robyn - Project Linus

Thank You For Abolishing

Medical Debt

Please let this email serve as an acknowledgment of your generosity and a receipt for your donation.

Your donation was received as follows:

 Hampstead Congregational Church 1/19/2023 $900.00

Your gift will abolish debilitating medical debt, giving recipients and their families a fresh start and empowering them to embark on a new path of greater financial stability. We, along with more than 5,500,000 beneficiaries and their families, are very grateful for your compassionate action. Your support has helped RIP Medical Debt abolish more than $8 billion of medical debt since inception. On behalf of our program beneficiaries, thank you!

Manchester Diaper Pantry Thank You

In response to our congregation's Christmas Drive, Gabbi, the coordinator of the Manchester Diaper Drive, posted this on Facebook:

Hampstead Congregational Church, you all ROCK!!!

Thank you SO much for your continued support of The Pantry and your amazing and generous donation!! 🥰🥰🥰

Looking for a New Clerk

Are you looking for a way to serve the church in the new year?

Our congregation is looking for someone to fill the position of clerk. The main responsibilities of the role are to take notes and participate at the month Ministry Oversight meetings and at the annual congregational meeting. Membership in the congregation is required for this position.

The position will begin in early February before our congregational meeting. If you are interested or would like to learn more, please contact the church office.

Please consider if you could help our church by filling this vital role.

New HCC Member & Friends

Directory Coming Soon

We are getting ready to print our HCC Members and Friends directory.

If you do not want your information published in this printing, please contact the office ASAP.

If you have a new picture that you would like to add to your profile,

please email it to hcc1752@gmail.com

A Word from Peace & Justice

The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire is taking registrations for this year’s Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talks, a series of 6 moderated panel discussions celebrating Portsmouth’s (and New Hampshire’s) “diverse and dynamic social, political, intellectual, cultural, economic, and spiritual history, from the time of the first Native American settlements to the present.”

Sunday, February 5 | 2:00 PM | Portsmouth Public Library

"Before European Contact": Changing the Ways We Present Our History

This conversation aims to foreground the silenced stories of Indigenous and African experiences on this continent before European contact. Panelists will also discuss how we can change the language we use to tell a truer history when that history is told from an Indigenous and African point of view.

Presenters:

Anthony Bogues, Brown University

Anne Jennison, New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs

Akeia de Barros Gomes, Mystic Seaport Museum

Meghan Howey (Moderator), Interim Director, Center for the Humanities, UNH

This series is available in-person or virtually. 

Read more and register here

The Music Corner by Herb Tardiff

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)

Many composers died young and yet still composed a vast amount of music. Pergolesi was no exception, for he composed several operas and instrumental works. Even though his operas were on the racy side, “The Servant Turned Mistress”, he also wrote many religious works with the “Stabat Mater” being his best known and often performed sacred motet.

Pergolesi also was an accomplished violinist and wrote many works that are performed today. Imagine if he had lived to old age?

Prayer Shawls Needed

Calling crocheters and knitters!

We are in need of some more handmade prayer shawls. These are given out when people are in need of our care.

We have given out over 40 prayers shawls and baptismal blankets in the past few years, and folks really appreciate this ministry.

Drop them off in the office or give them to Pastor Kathy. Thanks in advance!

New Hampshire Conference UCC Weekly News

We thought you might enjoy reading the NH Conference UCC weekly newsletter. You can read it with this link.

1/24/23 Newsletter

Each week, we will update this section of our Weekly Word with the new link for the current newsletter.

Food Drive to Support

Saint Anne Ecumenical

Food Pantry



 Grated cheese, salad dressing, pasta sauce, quick bread/muffin mix,

hearty/meaty soups (Chunky, Progresso), boxed crackers, hot cocoa,

cereal (Cheerios & Multigrain Cheerios).



Please drop off any donations in the foyer of Hadley Hall

Please, no expired items.

Thank you for all your support!

Scam Emails & Texts

Emails and Texts are often sent, saying they are from Pastor Kathy or another staff member. She (or the HCC staff) will never send out a generic email/text--she'll address it to your name. She will never ask you for money/gift cards over email nor via a text.

Also, any email from Pastor Kathy will always have her signature line on the bottom with her phone number/address.

If in doubt, please contact the church office or Pastor Kathy.