February 23rd Weekly Word
Worship and Coffee Hour Update

We are grateful that the Covid positivity rate continues to decline! It is currently at 6% in our county, which it hasn't been since last fall.

Given the continued decline and the shift we are beginning in society as a whole to "live with the virus", we are beginning our transition to resuming full worship and coffee hour. It is our hope that as soon as the positivity rate remains below 5%, we will resume singing and coffee hour. Beginning this Sunday we will have full congregational responses.

In the hopes of resuming coffee hour soon, we need people willing to run it (set up, take down, etc.). Would you be willing? Please contact the office and let them know what dates you are available.

Please consider joining us for worship in person.
We are looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!
Ashes to Go

Ash Wednesday is next Wednesday! On Ash Wednesday, March 2, we will be offering ashes to go from 10am-11am and from 4pm-5pm.

Pull into the circular driveway in front of the church to receive ashes from Rev. Kathy to mark the beginning of our Lenten journey.

The ashes we receive will remind us of our need for God, and of the call to follow God in Lent and every season.

Please consider stopping by!
Lenten Reflection Booklets Available For All!

Lent begins in just one week.

We have a wonderful daily Lenten devotional booklet available to anyone who wants one. Those who used this resource in the past have really enjoyed it.

This Living Compass devotional focuses on practicing letting go of all that gets in our way of God.

Please consider using the booklet this Lent. Copies are available in the foyer of Hadley Hall, at worship services, or contact the church office and we can send one to you.
Lenten Discussion Groups


All are invited to join our Lenten discussion groups. We will be meeting for six weeks on Monday evenings at 6:30pm (online only) or Tuesday mornings at 10:30am (online and in person) beginning on March 7/8.

The booklet "Living Well Through Lent 2022" will guide our discussions on how to let go and let God.

No prior experience in groups is needed. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Pastor Kathy.
Looking for Tech Volunteers

Do you like to work with technology?
Then we need you!

We are looking for a few more people to volunteer on Sunday mornings to livestream our services.

Currently, we have two volunteers switching livestreaming every other week. We are looking for at least two more volunteers allowing each volunteer to livestream one Sunday a month.

After 2-3 days of training, the volunteer position would be a 3-hour commitment one Sunday morning a month.

If you are interested, please contact the church office @ 603-329-6985.
Worship This Week

Please join us in the sanctuary
or online at 10am for
Transfiguration Sunday

As we pledge in our covenant, we encourage all who attend in-person worship on Sunday mornings to social distance and wear a mask. .


The service will be live-streamed through Facebook Live here or on 3CX here.
By CONE122 claver12 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83888667
Notes From Operations
Steeple Repair & Church Painting


We have a new family that will match donations designated for the building repairs up to a total of $1,000!
Please donate and watch your donation double in value.

As anyone who has looked up at the steeple can see, it is disappearing. Every time we have a storm or even a strong gust of wind, parts of the steeple are blowing off. As you drive into the church parking lot, you will notice the paint falling off of the church. We need to paint the church to keep it from rotting away.

The cost of repairing the steeple and painting the church comes to about $85,000.

If interested in creating another matching challenge, please contact Chris McCune or the church office.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated and to the two families that created the match challenges!

Thank you,
Chris, Chair Operations Team
We welcome Emma Kathleen Montgomery
born yesterday to Alanna Montgomery,
daughter of Tommy Bastian.
Mom and baby are dong well.
Congratulations!
A Congregant in Need


One of our congregants has a dog (rescued from an neglectful situation) in need of an extensive emergency surgery. They do not have the funds to cover this sizable expense. If you would like to help contribute, please contact the office or Pastor Kathy.



The dog, Tucker, is pictured here
Parkland Hospital receives
HCC Valentine's Baskets

Thanks to all for your donations of candy, monies for gift cards, posters, and personal cards for staff in all departments of Parkland Hospital.

The baskets were presented to the director of nursing and a nurse in the emergency room. They were overjoyed with the baskets, which they delivered to all staff caring for Covid patients.

Once again you have reached out to the community with love. Thank you again from the Discipleship Team.
A Word from Peace and Justice

Sorry for the late notice, but I want to share this opportunity with all of you. I have been participating in a 16-week workshop on Racial Justice through the UCC. Part of that workshop is acknowledging the history of the relationship between people of color and white people.

Debra Sawyer

In honor of Black Histories/Futures Month, and just over one hundred years after the notorious massacre in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, aka Black Wall Street, we are honored to host a screening of the short film:

DESCENDED FROM THE PROMISED LAND: THE LEGACY OF BLACK WALL STREET Tonight, Feb 23 at 6PM.

The film draws a century-long thread from 1921 to 2021, revealing the lingering economic, psychological and emotional impacts of the Tulsa Massacre through the lens of descendants.

Descendants Byron Crenshaw, Jacqueline Blocker and their family members reach back to uplift the stories of their ancestors, the success they created, the promise they fulfilled, the horrors they endured and the resilience they showed. Invoking the deep entrepreneurial spirit of those who created one of the greatest Black communities this country has ever known, Byron and Jacqueline imagine a path forward to recapture the Black joy that once permeated Tulsa’s Black Wall Street.

A panel discussion with descendants featured in the film will follow the screening.

Learn more and register here.
Another Word from
Peace and Justice

With spring just around the corner, the UCC is offering a webinar on Habitat Restoration that faith communities can be a part of.

Here is the information from “The Pollinator: Sharing, Connecting, Inspiring For God’s Creation” of February 3. The Webinar is at 1pm on Mar. 23. Usually if you register and cannot attend, a recording of the webinar will be sent to you.

Webinar on Habitat Restoration for Churches

Douglas Tallamy’s books have awakened thousands to the problem of wildlife decline and the solution that resides in habitat restoration. This is a solution of which you and your faith community can be a part. In a webinar entitled “Restoring Nature: What People of Faith Can Do to Heal the Earth,” Tallamy will outline the crisis faced and what we can do in response. The green teams and green thumbs of faith communities will learn not only about cultivating native plants in the landscapes around them, but also what can be done to create a transformative movement full of actions ordinary people everywhere can take.


Upper Room Devotional


We have a few copies of the March/April Upper Room devotional available in the foyer to Hadley Hall.

If you need a copy mailed to you, please contact the main office.
Bible Study

Bible Study continues on Fridays in the Davis Room.

We will start at 1:30 to 1:45 or 2:00 depending on how much yakking we do but no later than 2. 

If you need help with the lift to the second floor let Jeanne Stalker know by calling her at 603-770-8515 either beforehand or when you arrive, whichever is easier for you.

Steeple Lit through February 26

In loving memory of David Morris & Aunt Corene Warren

From the Morris Family


Steeple Lighting
February 27 - March 5

In loving memory of Bob & Lois Chase and their son Gary Chase.

Lighting by family members Lauren Chase Stuck & Scott Chase
Missions Opportunities:
Food Drive to Support
Saint Anne Ecumenical Food Pantry

For the next couple of months, we are going to focus on the needs of St. Anne’s Food Pantry. 

The current needs are:
salad dressings
cans of coffee
flour
sugar
containers of grated cheese
ketchup

Please drop off any donations in the foyer of Hadley Hall

Thank you for all your support!
Next month we help serve on Wednesday, March 23. If you are interested in volunteering contact Jane DeRosa via email
janederosa@comcast.net.
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.

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
Church Office hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9:00am to 3:00pm

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Hampstead Congregational Church Website