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Join us this week as we celebrate the sixth Sunday in Easter
Did you miss last week's sermon? Catch it on-line here: Paul Shupe preaching: "Open and Affirming"
6:15pm Gospel Night at the Well this week!
Join us at The Well as we sing gospel music with our house ensemble, The River Rock Band, and jazz pianist Doug Hammer. A soulful, uplifting worship to start your week off right!
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Programs for Children |
April 17th we began a new unit exploring what we each bring to our community of faith, Fitting the Pieces Together! Kids will share stories of the early church and our own personal faith stories. In the hands on room kids will make mosaic creations, in Games and Brainteasers the kids will play Hancock Trivia and build a church timeline and in Storytelling we will share Paul's stories from the New Testament in Acts I and II. All are invited to come join the circle.
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Choristers is back in session!
New Kids Welcome!
Our children's choir, the Choristers has resumed rehearsals: Sundays at 11:15 in Room 212. The Choristers is a fun an fast paced place for kids in grades 2-5 to sing and learn about music. New singers are always welcome! The Choristers will rehearse each week (except Memorial Day weekend) and sing in church on Sunday, June 2nd. Mark Morgan directs. Any questions, contact mark at mark@hancockchurch.org
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JUNIOR YOUTH ORGANIZATION
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Junior Youth Organization
Sandwich Making this Sunday!
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Green Sheet for May!
May 5: @ 2:30 - 5 (time subject to change): Hike (Bowling if bad weather)
Come join us as we take an afternoon hiking trip to enjoy the spring weather.
May 12 @ 7 - 8:30: Mothers Day Quiz Game
An HYG favorite...HYGers and Mothers are invited to come to the Upper Room for the
"Mothers Day Quiz Game". This is always a night filled with joy and laughter.
May 19 @ 7 - 8:30: Games on the Green
Wink, wiggle, and more...come play some HYG classic games on the green!
May 26: NO MEETING (Memorial Day)
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Wednesday May 1:
1:15p Consort--Kathie Stuart 7p Adult Ed Committee--Potter Library 7p Carillon Rehearsal--Bell Room Thursday May 2: 6p Boy Scouts--throughout Building 7:30p Chancel Choir Rehearsal--Choir Room Friday May 3: Women depart for the Women's Retreat at the Essex Conference Center Saturday May 4: 8 AA Women's Step Study--Chapel 10 AA meeting--Dining Room 12p Eagle Scout Court of Honor--Clark Hall 3p Brass Group--Choir Room 7:30 Bay Colony Brass Concert--Sanctuary Sunday May 5: 8:30 Chancel Choir Rehearsal--Sanctuary 8:30 Pastor's Class--Pearson 9 Bagels and Bible Discussion Group--Wilson 9 Junior Handbells--Kathie Stuart 9 Marting to Glory--Bell Room 10 Morning Worship--Seminarian Recognition, Communion--Sanctuary 10:20 JYO-- Sandwich Making--Wright Lab 10:20 Church School--Children's Chapel and Classrooms 11 Newcomer Coffee--Wilson 11 Fellowship Hour-Seminarian Appreciation--Clark Hall 11:15 Choristers Rehearsal--Room 212 5p Confirmation Class 6:15p Worship @ the Well 7p Hancock Youth Group--Upper Room 7:15p Carrying the Light with Alex--Wilson Monday May 6: 9:30 Projects with Purpose--Conference Room 1:30p Skyloom--Kathie Stuart 5p PEO Group--Pearson 7:30p Deacons Meeting--Conference Room Tuesday May 7
10 Staff Meeting--Conference Room
11 Staff Worship Planning--Conference Room
7p Contemplative Practices with Becca--Pearson
7:30p Adult CE--Potter Library
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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.
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Please click the link below to visit our calendar on-line.
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Lexington Food Pantry --May is canned vegetable
If you donate food in May , please consider canned vegetables. Donation baskets are in the narthex, as well as outside the office and dining room. For more information, contact Caroline Nijenberg 781 862-4465 or carolinen@rcn.com If you wish to volunteer, to help distribute food at the pantry, please contact her to see if volunteers are needed.
The USPS drive is May 11th. Leave any canned donations by your mail box for your carrier to pick up and bring to the Food Panty. A lot of able bodied hands are also needed on deck that afternoon between 1-6pm to sort, pack and stack
People usually come in 2 hour shifts.
Always need 16-18oz peanut butter, 15 oz whole kernel corn, 16 oz baked beans,18 oz canisters of quick oats. Choose what you want.
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Nominating Looking for New Committee Members
Over the next several weeks you may receive a call from the Nominating Committee asking you to consider joining one of our many committees at Hancock. But don't wait to hear from us! If there is a committee that you're interested in serving on, please let us know. Here is a list of the committees that we have at Hancock:
Deacons - focused on the spiritual life and practice in the church. Responsibilities include organizing communion and organizing greeters and ushers.
Music and the Arts - coordinates with the staff and Deacons to oversee musical and artistic programs to enhance our worship, fellowship and outreach to the community.
Parish Life - strengthens community at Hancock Church, by hosting coffee hour and other church events such as Palm Sunday Breakfast, Progressive Dinners and Summer Barbeques.
Membership and Welcoming - reaches out to newcomers to Hancock by hosting information sessions and newcomer dinners and produces new member brochures.
Christian Service - supports and identifies volunteer opportunities for a variety of charities, including Manger Sunday, casseroles for Rosie's Place, and Food Pantry donations.
Finance - creates the church budget working with the Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and Business Manager and participates in generating the narrative budget.
Stewardship coordinates the annual financial support drive for the missions of Hancock Church, and also celebrates the time and talents that we are called to give to God.
Prudential - oversees the maintenance, safety and upkeep of all church properties, including organizing work projects, overseeing community rentals and organizing multiple work days.
Nominating Committee - matches member's interests with the needs of the church. We are the committee that fills the committees!
Assistant Collectors aids the Collector by accounting for the weekly offerings after the service.
Children's Christian Education - oversees children's education on Sunday mornings using a theme-based curriculum, and organizes activities to foster community for children and families.
Adult Christian Education - coordinates adult education opportunities, such as Bible Study, Pastor's Class, First Thursdays, Lenten series, Beyond the Well and Women's retreats.
Congregational Care - coordinates the volunteers who visit members in their times of need and works to make sure that those who need visits or other assistance get them. They also coordinate floral deliveries, arrange the Senior Picnic and update Hancock Community Prayer.
Endowment - oversees the investment and distribution of endowed funds which have been created for the church.
Greeters and Ushers - teams greet people coming to church on Sunday, pass out bulletins and collect the offering. Commitments are usually once a month.
If you'd like to be part of one of these teams please give us a call and we'll help find the best group for you. Contact Joan Rutila (rutila@rcn.com, 781-862-6627) or chat with any of the members of Nominating Committee (Linda Williams, Harriett Chmela, Chris Groves and Joan Rutila.)
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Kitchen/TV/CE Wing Appeal
The supplemental campaign appeal to help fund the kitchen renovation, TV system overhaul, and improvements to our sanctuary sound system and CE Wing is making steady progress. Through Tuesday we have received 43 pledges totaling $215,230 towards our $500,000 need. Have we heard from you? We know many are unable to add to their generous pledges last spring, but if you haven't participated in the campaign yet and would like to, or if you're able to add to the pledge you made last spring to help fund these priorities, your pledge will be greatly appreciated. Please fill out and send in the card you received in the mail, or call the church office or pick up a pledge card in church. Follow the details of our progress on the chart in the lobby.
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A Very Special Seminarian Appreciation this Sunday--Celebrating Bob and Peggy Bicknell for more than 30 years of service
This year as we honor our Seminarians Becca Lockwood, Alex Shea Will, and Pam Cochrane, we will also be honoring those who have labored for years to make the Teaching Parish ministry one of Hancock's most valuable endeavors. Bob and Peggy Bicknell will be stepping down from the committee after decades of dedication.
To read more about the Teaching Parish ministry at Hancock, please click here: (this page also includes a Faith Story from Bob and Peggy about their involvement in the program) http://www.hancockchurch.org/come/ministry-discernment/
Please join us this week after the Sunday morning worship service as we celebrate together Bob, Peggy, our current Seminarians, and Hancock's role as a Teaching Parish.
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Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort
Our Group reports from the Fuller Center Legacy build in New Jersey: "Measuring, cutting, special cuts around the many pipes, blueboard, wallboard, screw guns - all involved, all day. A few pictures to share..."
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Hancock to Go:)
Ed and Karen Dooks have been staying tuned from their RV as they head West!
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Bay Colony Brass Concert Saturday May 4th, 2013
Founded in 2000, the eighteen piece Bay Colony Brass performs a broad range of repertoire spanning five centuries of brass and orchestral music. The upcoming concert on May 4th at 7:30pm in the sanctuary will feature works of Prokiefiev, Rimsky-Korsakov and Ives.
Performing will be Hancock's Robert John, a member of the group's trumpet section for the past four years. Bay Colony first performed at Hancock in January, where the acoustics of the sanctuary received high praise from musicians and audience alike.
This concert is free and open to the public. It will run approximately 90 minutes with light refreshments served afterward in the Dining Room.
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Membership at Hancock
"To become a member of the church is to choose to join a community that is held together by faith in God and by covenantal promises to others. Hancock Church is the sort of community in which we are loved, and seek to love others; in which we are served by a variety of ministries, and joyfully serve others to the best of our ability."
This Sunday following worship, come to a small group coffee hour in the Wilson Room to meet others new to Hancock and learn more about this large, active congregation. The Welcoming & Membership Committee will provide information about this special community and the work we do together, and offer tours of the building. Rev. Paul Shupe will be available to talk with you and answer your questions.
The church will be celebrating a joining ceremony for new members on Sunday May 19th. To learn more about participating in the joining service, attend this Sunday's "mini coffee hour," contact minister Paul Shupe in the church office, or contact Membership Committee co-chair Julia Potter at membership@HancockChurch.org by Friday May 10th.
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Indoor/Outdoor Work Day Saturday, May 11th from 9am-1pm.
Join members from the Prudential Committee for a spring work day. Thanks to the many volunteers who helped out last Saturday, we made a dent in our longer than normal spring to do list. Much remains to be done as we prepare the building for the start of Capital Campaign construction work. No special skills required! Come for as long as you can. Many hands make light work. Refreshments provided. Contact Prudential Committee member Susan McClements with any questions, skmcclements@gmail.com 781-676-1979. Can't make it? We will have one more workday this season on Saturday, June 8th from 9am-1pm, so mark your calendars.
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Women's Retreat: Rock Paper Scissors
There is still time to register for the Woman's Retreat and
join in relaxation, fellowship and nourishment for the body and soul.
Come and give it a try!
The 7th Annual Women's Retreat
Friday, May 3rd - Saturday, May 4th 2013
Essex Conference & Retreat Center in Essex, MA
All women, all ages, are invited to an overnight retreat at the Essex Conference & Retreat Center. This natural oasis is nestled in the shade of the north shore and offers structured and unstructured time to the important work of tending to your soul. Whatever nourishes you whether solitary walks, deep conversations, the company of nature, a dip in the hot tub, reading, or writing, this is the space to learn and grow and try something new.
Visit our website for more information!
To learn more and receive registration information email Pam Cochrane at pam.cochrane@hancockchurch.org or stop in the church office. Seminarians Pam Cochrane and Becca Lockwood will be leading this year's retreat.
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Contemplative Practice within our Christian Tradition with Becca Lockwood
Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., starting April 23rd.
Will meet 4/23 in the Wilson Room, and 4/30, 5/7, 5/14, 5/21 in the Pearson Room
Join others as we focus on contemplative practices within our Christian tradition. We will explore the meanings and experience of three specific practices: centering prayer/meditation, lectio divina, and finding our inner spiritual artist. This group will seek to discover which contemplative practice we as individuals gravitate towards. In doing this we can foster the beginnings of what may grow into a deep spiritual practice that will better inform us into being the Christians we hope to be. We will be drawing from various religious leaders and resources - readings will be available weekly. Come and explore contemplative practices and how they enrich our spirituality and our community. Should you have questions or want more information, please contact Seminarian Becca Lockwood.
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Carrying the Light: Sharing the Good News with Alex Shea Will
Sunday evenings at 7:15 p.m. starting April 28th
Will meet April 28, May 5, May 12, and May 19 in the Wilson Room
How often do we talk about our faith? How would you answer that question if asked not to consider time in Hancock or with Hancock friends? Have you ever invited someone to worship with us, or shared with them the Good News of our faith? Do you have an idea of what you would say if you had to? Might it scare you, just a bit, to consider all this?
Whether this scares or excites you, join others to explore what it means to name and share our faith as a progressive, Christian community during the season of Eastertide. We won't meet to draft Bible tracts or role play logic games to battle non-believers, nor will there be tests or correct answers. Rather, we'll spend time together, as a diverse group, exploring what sharing the good news means for each of us. Just maybe, we'll even try to reclaim that difficult "e" word: Evangelism.
Our time together will be guided by the book Unbinding the Gospel by Martha Grace Reese (2 copies will be available in the Hancock Church library). Should you have questions or want more information, please contact Seminarian Alex Shea Will.
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Hancock Poetry Group meets second Wednesdays of each month--Join us!
The Hancock Poetry group meets on the second Wednesday of each month, in the Pearson room. We gather to share the poetry of others, or our own, whatever has inspired us lately. Long time poetry lovers, and those just discovering the joys of poetry are all welcome! |
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Pastor's Class meets before church service on Sunday mornings at 8:30am in the Pearson Room
Join others Sunday mornings for a lively, contemplative discussion of the worship theme for the day. The class will be led by members of the group through May, based on the framework Senior Minister Paul Shupe has provided us.
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Join us for First Wednesdays!
The First Wednesday Discussion Group (formerly held on Thursdays) will meet May 1st, 2013 at 10 am in the Wilson Room. Seminarian Becca Lockwood will be leading the group. All are invited to join in on a lively discussion of "Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith" by Kathleen Norris. Contact: Lois Smith Martin smithmartin224@verizon.net 781-270-0304.
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Trip to Panama Cancelled
It is with great sadness that we announce our summer trip to Panama has been cancelled. While a handful of members of our community agreed to go, there wasn't enough interest to send at least 8 of us. Nonetheless, our partnership with SHI (Sustainable Harvest International) continues and we look forward to planning a trip that feels more timely for our community.
While nothing is officially planned, we are considering a winter trip to either Panama or Honduras. If this sounds like a ministry opportunity you would like to be a part of, please keep this trip in mind as you plan your coming year.
Alex Will and Charlotte Dougherty
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Interfaith Garden--Want to Help?
The garden has been cleaned up from the winter, compost has been added and the first of the cool weather crops have been planted. Parsley, lettuce, beets, radishes, spinach and peas were planted to join the crops that wintered over (asparagus, strawberries and garlic). Hancock regularly joins members of 12 other churches and temples working at the garden. The produce will go to the Lexington Food Pantry. All are welcome...bring a friend, neighbor or your kids. There are plenty of times that extra help is needed...not just when Hancock is scheduled. If you are interested in working at the garden, contact Amy Swanson amy.swanson@rcn.com.
Sat 5/25/13 8:30 to 10am
If you or anyone you know are interested in more information or want to sign up to work any of those days, contact Amy Swanson amy.swanson@rcn.com . More information available at http://interfaithgarden.org/
Read the first Garden Report from Opening day on March 30th Here
Read the Garden Report from April 6th Here.
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