October 27th Weekly Word
Worship This Week

Please join us in the sanctuary or online at 10am for
A Special Service of Lament and Remembrance

We will remember all those loved ones who have died and to grieve for all that we have lost over the pandemic--special events postponed, the grief of separation from our friends and loved ones, not being able to hug or be with one another, losing our "normal" lives and living in transition for so long.

As we pledge in our covenant, we recommend that everyone who attends in-person worship on Sunday mornings wear a mask during the entire service. 

The service will be live-streamed through Facebook Live here or on 3CX here.
Outdoor Coffee Hour

The Worship Team is doing its best to continue to provide our congregation with in-person worship and a chance for connection and conversation.

Given the continuing high rates of Covid in our area, it is not prudent to hold coffee hour indoors at this time. So—we are planning to continue to offer an outdoor coffee hour as long as it is possible.

If there is inclement weather, coffee hour will be cancelled that week. Please plan to bundle up (we are hearty New Englanders after all!) and join each other outside for a warm drink, tasty snacks, and good conversation.
It's Back - The Christmas Craft Fair!
Save the Date: December 4, 2021

We missed 2020, but we are back for 2021. Our annual Christmas Craft Fair is on the books for December 4th from 9 am to 3 pm.

This year we will have our bake table as well as the “cookie walk”, and a raffle.

Linda Tilden has graciously volunteered to organize the raffle. We need one or two people to organize the bake table. We also need volunteers to run the church tables during the event on December 4th.

Beyond volunteers, we need baked goods and raffle items. Raffle items can be gift cards to restaurants, hair dressers, local stores, etc. We can also take items like a backpack, items for children, or themed baskets such as a movie theme, a Christmas theme, spa theme, etc.

There will be sign-up sheets in Hadley Hall. You can also contact Barbara Wallack at 603-548-8326 or bsw91@comcast.net, or speak with one of our team members if you have any questions.

Our church craft fairs are some of our biggest fundraisers. In the past we have made about $1,400 on the raffle table and bake table, we need your help to make this a success.

As always, thank you for your support.

Your Fundraising Team
Lora Manning, Ellen McCune, Barbara Wallack, Roxanne McGaffigan, Nancy Cheyne
A Future With Hope - Thank You from Your Stewardship Team

We invited you to send or bring your annual pledge to worship this past Sunday, our annual Stewardship Sunday service. Many of you answered our invitation.

The many pledges received and presented at the service were given a symbolic blessing of our faithful financial gifts given in covenant. For this, your Stewardship Team is thankful.

If you have not made a pledge for next year, we welcome your consideration to support the many ministries your planned commitment will fund. Additional pledge cards are available by contacting the church office.

Generous, Intentional, and Proportional sharing of our abundance provides funding to maintain and create a better world for all as God intended.

Thank you,
Your Stewardship Team
Upper Room -- Thanksgiving Baskets

Now through November 15, we will be collecting the items below for Thanksgiving Baskets for the Upper Room.

This year the Upper Room will be supplying between 100 and 150 Thanksgiving baskets to those in need. They are looking for donations of items from the list below. You can leave your donations in the foyer of Hadley Hall through November 15.

Thank you as always for your generous donations to the Mission Team’s food drives!
Please no fresh items – only shelf-stable, non-expired products.

Cranberry Sauce
Quick Bread Mixes (Pumpkin, Apple, Cranberry, Corn)
Canned Corn
Boxed Potatoes
Cheer Each Other On
an offering from the HCC Staff Relations Team

So many of us are tired, tired of Covid, of suffering, of the anger that abounds. We want to share a poem by the Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes that inspired us. May it inspire you too.


Our niece ran the Boston Marathon yesterday,
her ninth marathon; her fourth in Boston.
The marathon is like unto the Realm of God.
Everybody cheers for everybody.
No teams, no sides, no winners and losers.
(One person wins; the other 30,000 just run.)
Andrea wasn't trying to win; she was just running—
though she ran an alarmingly steady eight-and-a-half-minute mile.
One year she nearly collapsed from dehydration,
staggered into the medical tent at mile 22,
and eventually was able to walk the rest of the course.
Yesterday I tracked her, passing the tent, running on.

At the finish line some people raise their arms
as if they've won. Some kiss the ground
as if returning from Mars. They have indeed won.

Every day people around you are bearing unseen burdens,
overcoming invisible challenges,
completing a story you don't know.
You can't judge their pace, or how far along they are.
Your job is to cheer them on.

Heaven, you know, is actually empty.
They're all down here, unseen, crowded around,
yelling like crazy, cheering you on.
Upper Room Devotional




We have copies of the November/December Upper Room devotional available in the foyer to Hadley Hall. If you need a copy mailed to you, please contact the main office.
A Word From The Peace & Justice Team

We have information about an opportunity to participate in a restorative racial justice learning opportunity for those interested in or searching for a faith-based path toward anti-racism. It could be an extension of our study a couple of years ago on the book, "Waking Up White", but is appropriate for anyone looking for more information or understanding of the concept of anti-racism. Here is the information we received:

CENTERING GOD, DECENTERING WHITENESS
Alternate Wednesdays, Beginning November 3, 2021 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm

This is a Restorative Racial Justice learning opportunity. It is a gift to anyone searching for a faith based path toward anti-racism. Decentering one’s whiteness is potentially liberating and personally transformative because it allows each of us to find our humanity and be the precious image of God.

Using Bible study, personal anecdotes, articles, videos, book excerpts and the Course Booklet we will unmask White Privilege and show how it perpetuates systemic and personal racist policies and behaviors which are anti-Gospel. Participants will be guided through the course using a cycle of reflection, reaction, response, and re-envisioning.

Participants will be encouraged to journal and document personal progress and change over an 8 session period of re-learning history, politics, and religion to unmask the racist teachings and policies which benefit(ed) people of European descent.

Materials for the course:
The Course Booklet, your Bible (NRSV), a journal, and good internet access.

Dates:
November 3 and 17, 2021
December 1 and 15, 2021
January 5 and 19, 2022
February 2 and 16, 2022

Contact: Dr. Harriet Corean Ward @ harrietcward@comcast.net

The Course Facilitator: Barrick Stees
Barry is a member of the Federated Church in Chagrin Falls, OH. He is a leader of the church's Social Justice Advocacy Ministry. Certified as a trained facilitator in the UCC's Sacred Conversations to End Racism, he facilitates engaging and challenging discussions on Restorative Racial Justice with many groups.

Barry is the author of “Centering God, Decentering Whiteness,” a transformative curriculum which helps people learn how the construction of Whiteness has separated us from God. It helps them remove Whiteness as the default in their faith and in society by restoring God to the center of our being as the One “in whom we live and move and have our being".

Your P&J Team
Missions Opportunities:
Next month we help serve on Wednesday, November 24 . If you are interested in volunteering next month, please sign up here.
Volunteer @ Soup Kitchen
The Sonshine Soup Kitchen needs volunteers to prepare and package the food for "To Go Meals." We partner with Atkinson Congregational Church once a month on the 4th
Wednesday of the month to help out from 3-6pm.
Clothing Drive to Support
Epilepsy Foundation and HCC
Now Thru November 23rd

The Fundraising and Missions Teams have joined together to host a Clothing Drive Fundraiser to support Epilepsy Foundation New England (EFNE) and also raise funds for our church.

Simply clean out your closet and ask your friends, family, and neighbors to do the same. You will be decluttering, recycling, and doing good all at the same time!

Clothing drives account for more than 50% of the EFNE budget so they can really use our help. We in turn get paid for every pound of clothes we collect!

Wondering how much can be raised through used clothing? Global Goods Foundation raised $650 for community-based projects. Weare Middle School raised a whopping $6,700 for their 8th grade class trip. And thanks to Barbara Dennis, we already have 191 pounds of clothing donated to us from the Hampstead Library Thrift Store.

What are we looking for? First and foremost, all items must be clean and in good condition. They include the following:

  • Clothing
  • Outerwear
  • Footwear (shoes, boots, heels, etc.)
  • Accessories (belts, socks, ties, scarves, hats, etc.
  • Backpacks and handbags
  • Costumes & dress-up clothes
  • Household fabrics (bedding, sofa covers, tablecloths, towels, etc.)

Please place items in trash bags and leave them in the foyer of Hadley Hall at your convenience now thru the 23rd of November. If you have a large quantity of bags, contact Barbara Wallack at 603-548-8326, and she will do her best to pick them up.
As always, we thank you for your support--
Fundraising Team and Mission Team

Blankets for Project Linus

For those of you who have been busy sewing, quilting, knitting, or crocheting, we have an new opportunity to donate those handmade items!

We located a national organization that has local chapters called Project Linus (https://www.facebook.com/projectlinussouthwestnewhampshire/). This organization's mission is "to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans". Blankets are given to children in need through NH.

*We welcome all styles of blankets made in child-friendly colors/prints. 
*Crocheted, knitted, quilted (100% cotton or flannel), fleece….you don’t have to be an expert! 
*Blankets must be NEW, HANDMADE and WASHABLE. 
*Fabric blankets can be quilted by machine, hand or tied. If you are tying the blanket make sure the ends are trimmed to 1” and the knots are secure. 
*Please do not add any embellishments to the blankets such as buttons that could be swallowed by a child. 
*If you are using a no-sew fleece pattern, please be sure to trim off both selvages FIRST. Not sure what selvages are? Ask the clerk who is cutting your fleece to please show you, they’re those odd looking edges at the top and bottom of the piece you have, sort of raggy looking.
*We accept all sizes of blankets. We donate to children, infants through teen years, so any size is appropriate. Baby blankets are typically 36”X36” or 36”X42”, toddler-pre-teen are typically about 40”X60”, and teen blankets are at least 60"X72".

Blankets can be dropped off in the entry way of Hadley Hall.

Thank you for your support of this project!
Connect on Facebook
Are you on Facebook? Do you follow Hampstead Congregational Church? Please like our page to know about all the great events in the church. Liking also supports our church when people check us out. If you are already connected, share our good news!

Rev. Kathy also has a page for all who are interested to follow.

We are now on Instagram!
If you are on Instagram, please follow us, and let your friends know about us by sharing our posts! Click this link
Scam Emails

Emails 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--she'll address it to your name. She will never ask you for money/gift cards over email.

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

If in doubt, please call the church or send an email to pastorkathyucc@gmail.com.
Want to get the word out about what’s happening at HCC? If you want to publicize your event or remind the congregation about something, please email the office (hcc1752@gmail.com) by Wednesday at noon so that your information can be included in that week’s Weekly Word. Feel free to send in information up to three weeks in advance of an upcoming event. We want all of the congregation (not just the Team leaders) to be empowered to get the word out about all the activities that are happening at Hampstead Congregational Church!
Our Mailing Address:
61 Main Street
Hampstead, NH 03841

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Hampstead Congregational Church Website