News (fyi)
Alphabet of Gratitude
Alphabet of Gratitude is a resource for a daily reflection on gratitude. Beginning Sunday, November 3 through Thanksgiving Day we will post three social media images on our Facebook page each day.
This gratitude practice takes you through the letters of the alphabet and guides you through a different word and question for reflection each day.
Neighbors in Need 5-for-5 October Offering
This year’s Neighbors in Need theme “Mental Health Justice for All: Mental Health is a Universal Human Right” highlights our God-given right to mental health.
The Neighbors in Need offering, which we will receive during the month of October, supports the UCC’s ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States.
Wabanaki Reach Program
The Katahdin Association Executive Committee, to support a better understanding of our sisters and brothers of the Wabanaki peoples here in Maine, has engaged with Wabanaki Reach to offer the "Interacting with Wabanaki - Maine History" program at 9:00 am on Saturday, September 28, via Zoom. This program is free for any member of our Katahdin Association churches.
Register on or before Mon, Sept 23. Click on "Read more" for how to register.
Do Unto Others
Introducing Do Unto Others, A Campaign for Kindness we are excited to bring to our community!
The Golden Rule—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”—is a call to treat others with the same kindness we would want to receive in return. Yet during an election season, division and polarity often take center stage.
What’s possible when our community leans into kindness? Join us as we come together to find out! Let’s cast a “vote” for kindness, one small act at a time. #DoUntoOthers
August Worship Series
“Re-Shaped: What We’re Made For”
You’re invited to consider how God is (and has been) “Re-Shaping” us—personally, and as a church—through another worship series from Dr. Marcia McFee (Worship Design Studio). Change is so common and yet one of our most challenging human processes.
To help guide your exploration of the theme of change—which we all experience—you can download a companion reflection journal to accompany your discernment.
July Worship Series
In July, we will be experiencing “Quest: the Awakened Traveler,” a four-week worship series that will encourage us to open ourselves more fully to the curiosity and wonder, reflection and transformation that travelers–not merely tourists–experience when they choose to immerse themselves in soul-widening adventures.
If you’d like to go deeper with the “Quest” worship series, a companion journal for the four weeks is available to download, with links to video clips with famous travel guide Rick Steves.
Paving Path Fundraiser Completed
Our final total is $2,874.76! Thank you!
From Jennifer Gillis-White:
On behalf of the Property and Finance Ministry, we thank each person who contributed to the Paving Path fundraiser. …
These additional funds will take a great burden off other ministry resources of the church, as we complete this much needed repair to our parking area. This project is an issue of both hospitality and safety.
Strengthen the Church
The Strengthen the Church all-church offering is one of the United Church of Christ’s 5-for-5 offerings we support each year. Your gift may be given any time in the month of May.
“Read More” to view an invitational message from the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, and a short video reminding us of the important work our gifts support — programs and initiatives that can directly impact our church’s ministry.
Paving Path Fundraiser
On Sunday, April 8, the Property and Finance Ministry launched the Paving Path fundraiser. The goal of this fundraising is to raise money to offset the cost of repairing and paving the Second Street parking lot entrance — a much needed repair project.
When completed, this fundraiser will earn $5,050. These additional funds will take a great burden off other ministry resources of the church, as we complete our paving project. How it works …
One Great Hour of Sharing
“Share the Light”
During the month of March we invite your giving to One Great Hour of Sharing® (OGHS). It is one of four special mission offerings of the United Church of Christ. This Lenten Offering supports the disaster, refugee, and development ministries of the United Church of Christ within Wider Church Ministries.
Two Lenten Resources
We recently shared via email a guide-book for a Lenten prayer practice called Pray the Day. We also promised to provide daily Facebook posts through Lent. However, Pray the Day is not a daily series, but rather a template for a practice of prayer throughout each day.
To provide that daily prompt for your Lenten spiritual journey, we are sharing Return to Me on our Facebook page, exploring the theme of “return” through several spiritual practices – with prompts suitable for children, too. Booklets can be downloaded …
2024 Annual Giving
An Invitation & An Opportunity
As part of our annual appeal for financial support, Pledge Packets are mailed to members and friends to inform and encourage giving to support the ministry of our church. The items in that packet are also linked at the end of this post.
Why give? One important document in the packet is a letter from our new Moderator, Susan Morrill, highlighting the recent annual meeting vote to explore some form of shared ministry with the United Parish Church of Fort Fairfield
Annual Meeting Actions
The Annual Meeting of The Presque Isle Congregational Church, United Church of Christ was held following the worship service on Sunday, January 28, 2024. In addition to the ordinary business of accepting reports about the 2023 work of our Church Council and Ministries, financial reports, remembering members who died in the past year, and thanking those who had served in leadership roles, several actions were taken regarding our ministry in 2024: …
Annual Meeting 2024
Our church’s Annual Meeting is a time to reflect on the past year, plan financially and programmatically for the coming year, elect leaders, and celebrate our life together in community.
While this meeting satisfies a legal requirement of incorporation, it is more importantly a moment for us to determine how we will follow faithfully where the Spirit leads. In this year’s meeting we will consider whether the Spirit is leading us to some form of shared ministry with the United Parish Church of Fort Fairfield.
Advent Devotion Resource
For your reflection during the 28 days of Advent, we’ll be sharing content on our Facebook page from “Shadow & Light,” a daily Advent devotional resource from Vibrant Church Communications .
Each week you’ll be invited to use scripture, song, prayer, and practice to prepare yourself for the birth of the Christ child, discovering what is holy in the spectrum from shadow to light. Wait and watch (two Advent themes) for more information on our Facebook page.
The Christmas Fund Offering
The Christmas Fund provides emergency grants, supplementation of small annuities and health premiums, and Christmas “Thank You” gift checks to lower-income retired clergy and lay employees.
This year, our care and compassion will be especially appreciated by those servants of the church who are facing a time of need. It’s one of the UCC “5 for 5” offerings our church supports. Your gift may be made any time in the month of December. Follow the “Read more” link to learn more about how our gifts help.
Neighbors in Need Offering
In 2023, the theme for Neighbors in Need (NIN), one of our wider church offerings, is “BEHOLD!” This year’s focus is on environmental justice. Plastics, electronics, and other non-compostable wastes are being shipped across, and even tossed into, our waterways, launched into space, as well as buried in landfills. We can be better stewards of our planet! …
You may give to NIN anytime during the month of October. Please give generously.
Pastoral Care Partner
From our Moderator, Calvin Hall:
As was announced in church last Sunday, we have arranged for the Rev. Dr. Diane Langworthy, pastor of the United Parish Church in Fort Fairfield, to partner with us and provide pastoral care for our church family on a part-time basis. …
We believe that this relationship can lead to even more opportunities for collaboration and partnership with our United Parish Church neighbors, and we look forward to working with Diane in the coming months. Please help us welcome Diane as a partner in our ministry!
Our Response to Hate
Our church was vandalized on September 19, with what was apparently meant to be a hateful anti-LBGTQ+ slur. So, what happens when a church building is defaced by graffiti that is meant to diminish or harm others whom we believe are children of God?
Love is what happens!
To help make that love more visible in the coming days, and continue to reject hate in all its forms, follow the “read more” link to learn more about one simple witness we can all make to say there’s no room for hate here - or anywhere!
Hiroshima Remembrance Day
(Image - paper art by Eugenia Zoloto)
August 6, 2023 is the 78th anniversary of the exploding of an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, and another over Nagasaki on August 9. While effectively ending World War II, it came at a terrible price. More than 200,000 people eventually died – mostly civilians.
As we join others raising awareness of not only the past horrors of war, but also the continuing dangers of nuclear weapons and the need for their abolition in the future, we’ve curated links to resources for your deeper reflection and action.