April 5th Weekly Word

Service of Shadows


At 7 pm this Thursday, April 6, we will hold a reflective Service of Shadows in person and online. We will hear scripture and music, and will reflect on Jesus' final days through the perspectives of those closest to him. Join us for this deeply meaningful and important service.


If you can't join live, please take some time on Good Friday to watch and reflect by clicking this link for the service from last year.


Please use the Timberlane door or sanctuary door when exiting after service.

Easter Breakfast


Come Celebrate the Rising of the Son!  

Following the sunrise service at Camp Tel Noar, we will be gathering for a potluck breakfast in Hadley Hall. Let that wonderful feeling of new life flow over to your new day by sharing a meal with friends and family.


You are invited to bring a breakfast dish or treat to share. Kari will have the ovens on before the service if you would like to drop of a casserole to keep warm. Muffins, pastries, hot cross buns, whatever we have, we will be glad of it and share.  


Last year we had enough to serve breakfast again after the 10:00 service, which was quite a treat, enjoyed by many.  


We hope to see you there.

The Hospitality Team

Easter Sunday Worship


Please join us for a joyful and festive Easter Celebration

at 10am on Easter Sunday in the sanctuary.


At the end of the service you will be invited

to flower the cross.


After the service plan to join us

in Hadley Hall to finish off the Easter Breakfast goodies.


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: "Being in the Presence of Love" © Mary Southard

www.ministryofthehearts.org. Used with permission.

REMINDER: April 16th & 23rd Services in Hadley Hall


Just a reminder that for the months of April and May, the 3rd and 4th Sunday worship services will be held in Hadley Hall.


Special thank you to Chris McCune, who runs the tech and streams the services, for being so flexible and accommodating.

Sewing & Quilting Supplies Available


Any sewing or quilting lovers out there?


We currently have several donated sewing/quilting supplies including books, fabric, batting and cutting matts.


If you are interested just call or stop by the office.

Bible Study Resumes April 19th


Weekly bible study will resume

beginning Wednesday, April 19th at 9:30am

in the Davis Room.  


We hope you'll join us!  

Perennials for the Plant Table


Now that the spring weather is upon us, it is time to dig up and divide those perennials! 


We will be having the plant sale at the Strawberry festival and the perennials are always a good seller. If you dig them now, while the tops are small and the roots are strong, pot them up and care for them, you can avoid the stress and wilt that digging the days before the event can cause. We will have nice, full, healthy looking plants! Please label your plants with as much information as you know: Name, variety, color?  


Thank you, from the plant table team!  

Hampstead Lions Club Donates $500 to HCC

to help NuDay Syria


We are so grateful for the wider community support we receive for the mission work we do!

LED Lights Still Available


HCC was gifted some new DFWin 360 degree LED lights. These lights screw into a regular light socket and will allow you to angle each of the 3 sections the way you desire. The lights are $5 each or 5 for $20.  


If you are interested, the lights are located on a table on the left wall of Hadley Hall by the Hospitality Table. A cash box is on the table so you can leave cash or a check made out to HCC with a note of LED lights.


All proceeds will help towards our Capital Campaign.

Admin Maria's New Addition


Maria and her husband Dale have welcomed 4-month-old Atticus to their family.

This little ball of energy has 16 toes (which means double the scratches)

and one gigantic heart.

A Word from Peace and Justice


There was another article on long-term care specific to New Hampshire last week from the New Hampshire Bulletin. It is an independent, nonprofit news organization reporting on a variety of matters important to New Hampshire residents.


The commentary by Brendan Williams is titled The siren is blaring for New Hampshire’s long-term care crisis. It echoed many of the same concerns from the article in last week’s Weekly Word, but specifically for NH. We are one of the five worst states with nursing home staffing shortages. Some county facilities have wait lists longer than 100 for residents that cannot be served mainly due to this shortage. Sixty- five percent of the licensed nursing assistant positions are open in many facilities. The article cites Massachusetts as being in much better shape partly because of raised Medicare rates. That 33% increase in rates allows them to draw in staff, including many that could have worked in New Hampshire. This compounds the problem because New Hampshire nursing homes have to resort to out-of-state staffing agencies. This drives costs up and turn-over is high. Then this backlog takes hospital beds offline because hospitals are obligated to admit these patients. This is because of an unfunded mandate, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, from the Reagan presidency. 


The industry says that the answer to this is better support for in-home care for any patient that can be serviced at home. Oregon is cited as paying home care workers $16.67 an hour through Medicaid. The article points out the Gov. Sununu has opened the legislative conversation by proposing across-the-board annual 3.1 percent Medicaid rate increases. Williams thinks that this is a start, but not sufficient to stave off the crisis.


Also, in case you missed it on WMUR, our own Tracy Tinker was interviewed about the Lamprey Mobile Health Care van as it services people without housing in Nashua.

Music Corner by Herb Tardiff


Franz Schubert, January 31st, 1797– November 19th, 1828


Franz Schubert was one of the most prolific composers in the history of classical music and is credited as one of the early pioneers of the Romantic era in music.


In addition to his contributions in writing lieder, Schubert wrote a number of chamber works for string quartet and quintet, solo piano pieces, and symphonies that are still regularly performed today.

Schubert's last two requests before he died were that he hear a performance of Beethoven's String Quartet #14 one last time and that he be buried next to Beethoven after he passed. Both wishes were fulfilled. 


By the time Schubert had died at age 31, he had written over 1,000 pieces of music.

Steeple Lighting


Steeple lit the week of

April 1st - April 7th

in memory of

Ezra Alvarez

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.

April Birthdays


Debra S. 04/08

Peggy F. 04/11

Ken G. 04/24

Lydia F. 04/27

Ellen M. 04/29

Linda T. 04/29



If you would like your birthday recognized, please call the office to make sure

we have it in our records!

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.


4/4/2023 Newsletter


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

for the current newsletter.

Missions Opportunities:

Food Drive to Support

Saint Anne Ecumenical

Food Pantry





 Currently in need of cereal, coffee, salad dressings,

pasta sauce, granola bars, grated cheese and ketchup.




Please drop off any donations in the foyer of Hadley Hall

Please, no expired items.


Thank you for all your support!

To sign up for the next volunteer opportunity click here. If you are interested in volunteering contact Jane DeRosa via email at 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!
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Help Us Continue Our Mission at HCC

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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