 | 10 am Service
Join us this week for inspiring music and quality preaching.
Rev. Dana Allen Walsh preaching.
Music at the 10am service by The Chancel Choir, Brass Quartet, and Plasters Posaunes
CLICK HERE for last week's sermon: "Courage to Resist" by Paul Shupe
6:15 pm Join us @ the Well in Clark Hall.
| |
December 2nd is Manger Sunday, a long standing tradition at Hancock in support of the City Mission Society. During morning worship a special collection of gifts and donations is received and blessed. The JYO Class plays a big role in this service during the procession of gifts by helping collect and sort the donations. All children, youth, and families join in worship together on December 2nd. After church the annual Holiday Craft Fair happens in Clark Hall. JYO Youth will have a sandwich making session after worship in the conference room. (Due to Manger Sunday communion will be celebrated on November 25th, however sandwiches will still be prepared on the 2nd after worship.) City Mission Sorting Days at the Christmas Shop in Winchester, are scheduled for Saturday, December 8th and Sunday, December 16, from 1-3pm for Hancock families. It's a great day of service, come help sort and box donations to be distributed to over 30 agencies that serve more than 1500 people in need. Email Pam at pam.cochrane@hancockchurch.org if you'd like to help. We had more than 20 Hancock volunteers, all ages, help each day last year! December 9th, 16th and 23rd we will hold regular class activities exploring Advent themes. Reminder - All Age Caroling Party will be held in the afternoon on Sunday December 9th. |
If you have questions our programming for children at Hancock, please contact Pam Cochrane: pam@hancockchurch.org
| |
Junior Youth Organization
The JYO Class has had a tremendous fall. The group has discussed homelessness, concepts of hospitality and outreach and the practice of prayer in our lives. Their learning has motivated them to action. On first Sundays at Hancock the class has participated in worship and made sandwiches for the Outdoor Church of Cambridge, they have championed the sock drive that yielded over 1600 pairs of socks for the Out door Church and City Mission Society and now they begin a Charlie Card Drive for homeless individuals in Boston and Cambridge. They are an impassioned group of young people who care!
| |
ANOTHER WAY TO HELP!
JYO kids are invited by the Deacons to help as Greeters and Ushers. We hope all the JYO kids will take a turn in this role on Sunday mornings. It would be awesome to have two kids each week arrive at 9:45 to help.
Email Pam at pam.cochrane@hancockchurch.org to sign up for a Sunday.
| |
Hancock Youth Group
This week:
December 2nd: Movie Night! Come for a relaxing night after the long day filled with Manger Sunday and the Holiday Fair. Bring any snacks of movies of your choice, if you like.
And just in case you bring a friend who hasn't registered--do it here!:
HYG Registration
|
| |
|
Hancock Weekly and other Communications Deadlines
The deadline for submitting news for this e-mail newsletter each week is Tuesday at 3pm. Submissions should be sent to: office@hancockchurch.org
Kindly send text and images as separate attachments. Thank you!
Click Here for the Communication Deadlines resource sheet.
|
| |
|
|
|
Celebrating Advent with Hancock's unique, longstanding, 143rd MANGER SUNDAY!
Dear Hancock Members and Friends, Now that we have celebrated Thanksgiving, it is time we put that gratitude into action. Our 143rd Manger Sunday is coming up fast on December 2, 2012, and we need YOU to make it a success. Please come and celebrate the holiday season with song, and bring a new gift or gift card to help those in our Boston community. We look forward to seeing you all at Hancock Church on Sunday December 2 with a gift in tow. Need a gift idea? - Winter clothing, coats, jackets, sweaters, sweatshirts (sizes L, XL and XXL especially welcome) - Hats, mittens, gloves, scarves and snowsuits - Basics: white socks, underwear, t-shirts and infant onesies - Blankets and backpacks - Toys, games, sports gear (soccer, football and basketballs), dolls (ethnically diverse), electronics and books. Teen gifts are especially needed (iTunes and gift cards) - Gift cards from Target, CVS, Walgreen's, Rite-Aid, Kohl's, Walmart and grocery stores are great. They always fit! (minimum value $15) |
This Sunday--12th Annual Hancock Holiday Fair with Gifts that Care
Hancock's popular Holiday Fair with Gifts that Care, will be held on Sunday, 12/2. As always, the Fair will be held in Clarke Hall and the Dining Room, with shopping hours from 11a.m to 1 p.m. You can buy distinctive and unique gifts that will benefit 26 local and international charities, while enjoying entertainment and refreshments. Bring your friends! For more information, contact Sandra Shaw at sj.shaw@verizon.net. Also--visit the Holiday Fair Facebook page and "like" it for a last chance to be entered into a drawing for coffee or hot chocolate with Dana:)
Also, read more about the Fair on our Website. |
|
Joyful Noyse: "Disarming Pachelbel" December 2nd
Songs of Praise and Exaltation
This year, A Joyful Noyse's Advent concert will focus on a composer who is known by almost all for his Canon in D, but whose other works have been rarely performed or recorded.
Born in 1655, in Nuremberg, Germany, Johann Pachelbel was extremely popular and respected in his own lifetime. Considered to be the last of the great southern German baroque composers. he worked in many of the music centers of southern Germany, including Vienna, but returned to the city of his birth to spent the last years of his career, 1695 - 1706.
A number of interesting connections between Boston and Pachelbel exist. In 1940 the first recording of his incredibly popular Canon was made by Arthur Fiedler's Sinfonietta. In 1733 one of his sons, Charles Theodore Pachelbel, was a Boston resident. In that same year he helped install the new organ at Trinity Church in Newport, RI, later moving to New York City where, in 1736, he organized what is considered to be the first public classical music concert in NYC. On the program was his Magnificat for double choir, which will also be presented by A Joyful Noyse and special guest choir the Three Rivers Chorus, directed by Ellen Oak.
In this concert a number of J. Pachelbel's works will be heard for the first time in the Boston area, including his Magnificat in Eb for strings and voices. The program will end with the grand Lobet den Herrn, for chorus and soloists and an orchestra of strings, oboes, trumpets, trombones, harpsichord and organ.
The concert will take place at 3:00p.m., on Sunday, Dec 2nd, in the Sanctuary of Hancock Church. The concert is free, but a donation of $10, to support the music programs of Hancock Church, will be accepted.
|
Advent Litany, Seasonal Devotions--Get into the Holiday Spirit!
Last Sunday's wreath-making workshop was just the beginning. Follow along at home this Advent as we light the candle of Hope. Litanies are available in the Hancock Herald and will also be posted on our website. Also look next week for daily devotions--spiritual reflections offered by staff throughout Advent--posted on our website and featured right here in the Hancock Weekly! 
|
Order Christmas Poinsettias Now through December 7th!
Every year, the sanctuary is filled with beautiful poinsettias in memory or honor of those loved by members of the congregation at Hancock. Dedicate a poinsettia to a loved one in your family by submitting this form no later than Friday, December 7th. Checks made out to Hancock United Church of Christ can be left in the church office. The suggested donation for each memorial plant is $10. Click HERE to place your order on-line!
|
Pledging is a Faith-filled Commitment
We are blessed! In the two weeks since our Faith Promise Sunday, 176 individuals and families have made a financial pledge for the year 2013. Thank you. See the graph below for a visual representation of pledges and pledge dollars compared to data from the prior two years. We are on the way and yet we need your participation! For those who have yet to pledge, we invite you to make your own faith filled commitment. Pledges provide financial certainty and help lay leadership plan for next year. Your commitment counts because a full 80% of Hancock's annual budget is supported by pledges and plate offerings. Please pray, pledge and commit to keep this amazing community of faith going (and growing) strong. There are 3 ways to make your pledge: complete and mail your pledge card to the church office; drop your completed card in the box by the main church office; or email your 2013 pledge commitment. To email your confidential pledge, send an email message including your name, address & your 2013 total pledge to: financial.administrator@hancockchurch.org. Lose your card? Call the Church Office: 781-862-4220. Questions? Contact any member of the Stewardship Task Force: Robin DiGiammarino, Bess Deck, Bill Erickson, Louise Halderman, Skip Irving, Manual Navia, Julia Potter and Dean Rutila.  
|
Cookies for Sale! Proceeds to benefit Christian Service Missions
The Christian Service Committee will be selling plates of homemade Christmas cookies, for the benefit of Women's Lunch Place, a day shelter providing meals and services for homeless women in Boston.We are taking orders for plates of homemade Christmas cookies at coffee hour (see Amy Swanson or Linda Kilner Olivier) or email Linda at LAKilner@aol.com. Each plate of 18 homemade Christmas cookies costs $10. Please pay at time of order or during coffee hour. You pick up the plates on December 2, at the Holiday Fair at the Women's Lunch Place table. Everybody needs homemade cookies over the holidays for one's family, for entertaining at home, as hostess gifts for parties, as potluck contributions, for Yankee swaps, taking to work for colleagues, and for giving as gifts. If there is enough interest we will also sell plates on Sunday, December 16.
 |
Inter-generational Caroling followed by a Pizza and Salad Dinner on December 9th
COME SING WITH US!
Starting at 3:30 pm, Sunday December 9th
For many years, Hancock Members have prepared for Christmas by sharing the melodies of the traditional carols. Similar to last year, we will meet at the family friendly time of 3:30pm in the Church dining room to divide into groups. From 4:00pm until approximately 5:20pm we will spread the joy of Christmas by visiting and singing to those less mobile who enjoy the songs of Christmas.
We will meet back to Hancock at 5:30pm for a pizza & salad dinner hosted by the Music & Arts Committee in the Dining Room. This will end in time to attend the evening worship service @ The Well.
If you would like to participate, please contact Steve Cooper during coffee hour after church or call 781-862-0440.
|
Celebrating the Second Sunday in Advent with Special Music on December 9th
At 10:00 a.m., the Chancel Choir and Cantata Orchestra will perform J.S. Bach's Cantata #61, Nun komm der Heiden Heiland as part of morning worship. They will also perform choruses from Cantata #140 Wachet auf, and music by Praetorious. The orchestra, professional early music specialists playing on period instruments, will also perform Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #3 starting at 9:45 as a prelude for the service.
At 6:15 p.m., Hancock's alternative service The Well will feature a Celtic Christmas with their resident ensemble, The River Rock Band, and special guests Shannon and Matt Heaton. Their playing has been hailed by the Boston Globe as "masterful and inventive." They combine Irish wooden flute, whistles, traditional singing, and guitar to weave a tapestry of Celtic sound that is both traditional and contemporary.
|
Hancock Christmas with the Jameson Singers--December 18th, 8pm
Jameson Marvin, conductor, and Marilyn Becker, organist
Saturday, December 15, 8PM
Free will donation $15 to support the Jameson Singers
The Jameson Singers, will offer a delightful Christmas-Holiday concert featuring familiar Christmas texts with settings by composers of the Renaissance, Recent, and Romantic, as well as new arrangements of familiar Christmas Carols. The repertoire is diverse and ranges in moods from joyous to contemplative, with varied compositions by Josquin to Harbison, Schütz to Mendelssohn, Palestrina to Holst, and most importantly the Congregational Singing of Christmas Carols with the Jameson Singers.
The Jameson Singers is the newest of the Boston-area choral ensembles, formed in the fall of 2010, by Jameson Marvin, Emeritus Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University and long-time member of Hancock Church, Lexington. This 50-voice choir is comprised of many of Dr. Marvin's former students as well as excellent singer/ musicians from the greater Boston area, including Hancock Church's own: Marilyn Becker and Ann Behravesh. Please see our website for additional information:
www.jamesonsingers.org |
New to Hancock? Let us introduce ...
The Welcoming Committee invites all who would like to learn more about Hancock Church to come to a mini coffee hour Sunday, December 16th following worship in the Wilson Room. The Welcoming Committee and minister Paul Shupe will be available from 11 am to 11:45 to answer questions about the church and what it means to be a member of Hancock, and give tours of the building. This is an opportunity for casual conversation and a chance to learn about activities at Hancock you may be interested in as well. For more information, please contact Welcoming Committee co-chair Julia Potter at welcoming@hancockchurch.org
|
Bagels and Bible every Sunday 9-9:45 am in the Wilson Room:
Join us in the Wilson Room at 9am as we continue our investigation of the parables. We'll explore the cultural context of first century Judea, trace connections between the Old and New Testaments, and examine the rich symbolism of Jesus' most instructive stories. We will provide the resources to start the conversation but we're most interested in hearing your personal interpretations. This discussion-based group is designed for individual adults or families with high school aged children. Childcare is available for younger children. Drop in for a single session, a couple of meetings, or the entire six weeks.
If you would like to learn more about Bagels and Bible, please contact Kerra Fletcher at harold3513@hotmail.com or Jason Troutman at j.e.troutman@hotmail.com.  |
Donate Your Old Instruments to Hancock Music Programs
We are looking for a few instruments to help us in our music program her at the church. Specifically, we are looking for a french horn, electric bass, and percussion equipment. We are happy to entertain other possibilities as well. So if your child used to play something and that instrument is now sitting in a closet taking up space, donate it to the church and get a tax write off to boot! Please contact Mark Morgan at mark@hancockchurch.org or 781-862-4220 ext. 212.
|
|
Gearing up for this Year's Concord Prison Outreach
For over thirty years, Concord Prison Outreach has been providing holiday gift bags for the inmates at the Concord Reformatory and the Northeastern Correctional Center. Hancock became a part of this tradition several years ago and the generous donations of the Hancock Congregation have helped to ensure that all of the1700 inmates at the two institutions will receive a bag. Sadly these gift bags are sometimes the only holiday remembrances that some of the men receive.
The Mass Department of Corrections has approved the items on the list so it is important that donations meet the specifications. Multiples of items are welcome and of course it is not necessary to purchase all the items on the list but all contributions will be gratefully received. Starting on Sunday Nov.11, boxes for the donations will be placed at the lower front entrance and near the dining room. The contents will be taken to the Trinity Episcopal Church in Concord where they will be sorted by volunteers. All donations will need to be at the church no later than December 10 to be sure that they are included in this year's distribution. Also starting on /Sunday Nov 11, a scrapbook containing some of the many letters received from the recipients will be on display.
1 bar of deodorant soap (4-5 oz.)
1 tube toothpaste, 5.8 oz. or larger
1 pad WHITE paper 6" x 9" or 5" x 8", 100 pages (no wire)
White envelopes #6 3/4 (6 1/2" x 3 5/8")
1 pair white CREW socks (no tube socks, knee- highs or "tennis" socks)
1 bottle (plastic) shampoo (12 -15 oz.)
1 stick deodorant (no roll-ons, 2.75 oz. or larger)
A handmade holiday greeting card, first names only
Homemade cards from children are especially welcome
If there are any questions, please call me, Louise Haldeman 978 369 8562
|
City Mission Society: giving the gift of Time
The best gift you can give is the gift of your time. Give back to a child. City Mission Society needs volunteers to read to the students at Russell Elementary School either during lunch or after school. We are only asking for one hour of your time, once a week. Make it a group thing! Bring a partner or team down to the school. For more information e-mail or call Melanie Sonsteng at 617-742-6830 ext. 208, interncms@gmail.com. Russell Elementary School is located at 750 Columbia Road, Dorchester, MA 02125 -free parking at school -short walk from the red line JFK/UMass stop
|
Lexington Food Pantry - November is canned vegetables/ December is Stew, Hash, and Chili.
If you donate food in November, please consider giving canned vegetables - in December stew, hash and Chili. Donation baskets are in the narthex, as well as outside the office and dining room.Volunteers are also needed for December 8 to help distribute the food at the Pantry. The commitment is from 8:45 to about 11:30 am and the learning curve is short!. . For more information, contact Caroline Nijenberg - 781 862-4465 or carolinen@rcn.com
|
Cooking for Rosie's Place:
Hancock will be cooking for Rosie's Place for the weekend of December 8-9. Anybody who is interested in December should contact Linda Kilner Olivier at LAKilner@aol.com. Regular Rosie's Volunteers will receive an email next week.
|
Drivers Wanted 
Congregational Care knows of people who would like to come worship on Sunday mornings, but are unable to get here on their own. If you'd be willing to drive occasionally, you'd make a big difference. Not only will more people get to church; those of us at church will get to see friends we've been missing!
Call the church office or talk with Joy Fallon if you're interested.
|
Wednesday, November 28:
1:15p Consort--Kathie Stuart
7p Carillon--Bell Room
Thursday, November 29:
6:30p Boy Scouts
7:30p Chancel Choir--Choir Room
Friday, November 30:
9:30 Morning Glories--Bell Room
Saturday, December 1:
8 AA Women's Step Study--Chapel
10 AA Meeting--Dining Room
10 Joyful Noyse Dress Rehearsal--Sanctuary
1p Pru Comm Lighting Party--Sanctuary and Clark Hall
2p Brass Group--Choir Room
3p Christian Service Committee Fair Prep--Dining Room
Sunday, December 2:
8:30 Pastor's Class--Pearson
9 Bagels and Bible--Wilson
9 Hancock Junior Handbells--Kathie Stuart
9 Marting to Glory Handbells--Bell Room
10 Morning Worship, Manger Sunday! Advent One--Sanctuary
10:20 Church School--stay in worship
10:20 Junior Youth Org.-stay in worship
11 Hancock Holiday Fair--Clark Hall and Dining Room
11:15 Choristers--Room 212
3p Joyful Noyse Advent Concert--Sanctuary
5p Confirmation Class--Upper Room
6:15p Worship @ the Well-Clark H.
7p OWL--Kathie Stuart
7p Hancock Youth Group--Upper Room
Monday, December 3:
9:30 Projects with Purpose--Conference
10 Library Committee--Potter Library
1:30p Skyloom--Kathie Stuart
7:30p Deacons Meeting--Conference Room
7:30p Music and Arts Committee--Wilson
Schedule is subject to change. Please call the church offices if you have questions about any of the events we have listed here. Link HERE to our calendar on-line!
|
|
|
|
|
