Senior Pastor: Rev. Mark Allen Doty, Ph.D. Pastoral Assistant: Rev. J. Gregory Bridges-Music,

An Open and Affirming Community

August 1, 2,016 Website: www.hammondstreetchurch.org Phone: 207-942-4381

The Hammond Streeter The Newsletter of the

Hammond Street Congregational Church, UCC, Bangor, ME

PLEASE REMEMBER

ASSISTED LIVING

Esther Hillman, Sylvia Ross Manor

THIS SUNDAY AT HAMMOND STREET CHURCH

August 7, 2016

Preaching: Rev. Mark Allen Doty, , Ph.D. SERMON: “LIVING INTO THE PROMISE”

Scripture: Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16

9:00 AM: Adult Study Group

10:00 AM Sanctuary Worship

11:00 AM Coffee Hour

Great Progress on Hook Organ –More to be Done

The Hook organ is sounding wonderful, full and rich –is it done? Not quite. Progress over the last few months has been very significant and we

are almost there.

All but two stops are in; the two to come are a trumpet and clarion on the great manual. At Easter we had five working stops; now there are more

than twenty. The swell doors (also called shutters) and swell shoe (pedal) are in place. You can’t see the moving of the swell doors behind the

pipes, but when the pedal is moved the doors open and close making the sound of the swell manual louder or softer. Lights have been added for

the music rack and pedal board. Pipes have been tuned –almost 1500 are now in action. The lights that were on the case of the original Hook

organ have been installed in the loft. Many safety features have been added to the loft --handrails, the low wall behind the organ bench, and the

extended railing on the sides of the loft made to match the original choir music rail across the front of the loft.

So, what is left to be done on the organ?

Install the final two stops; these will add a significant amount to the great and the full organ

Move the blower that provides wind to the organ The blower is in place, but is making a little more noise than is ideal, so it will be relocated

(no extra cost to HSCC except for having the electrician put in one extra wire).

Add some additional connections between the swell doors and pedals

Install five combination pedals that will allow for some stop changes by foot instead of hand

Tune new stops and continue adjusting tuning of those in place This cannot be done effectively in high heat, so it will need to wait for cooler

weather.

Other smaller details

Once all the work on the organ is done, there will be final carpentry work in the loft to install the last areas of flooring and the two platforms and

steps down from the entrance doors to the loft level. This work can’t be done until the organ work is essentially done.

Throughout this work we have had a great collaboration of the congregation, A. David Moore, Inc., Hampden Electrical and House Revivers.

The organ committee will be meeting soon to begin planning for the public dedication concert this fall. This is an exciting time and it is easy to

get impatient, but the quality of this wonderful instrument will be worth the wait. David Moore said in a recent e-mail “thanks again to your un-

derstanding and love for what this ‘new’ saved organ will do.”

If you have questions about this project, contact me at tbig@gwi.net or see me in church.

Tracy Bigney

PASTOR'S PERSPECTIVE

LOVE ALWAYS WINS

Dear Friends,

From July 13-17, I was in Orlando, Florida, attending a men's gathering. “A Cele-

bration of Friends” is a group that I have often attended each year during the summer. A

good friend and former Mainer, Bob Blount, and I drove up from his home in Ft.

Lauderdale.

The gathering was held at the Sea World Doubletree. As I told the congregation yes-

terday, a highlight was meeting the Rev. Bonnie Lipton, her new wife, Patty, and their

son, Doug, for dinner one evening. It was wonderful to get caught up on Bonnie's new

life! Patty is the administrator of a nursing home where Joyce, Bonnie's former partner,

now resides in an Alzheimer's unit. Both women are able to visit with Joyce each week.

During my stay in Orlando, Bob and I went to visit the site of the Pulse Night Club.

It is an unforgettably sad and grim place—its black walls now boarded up and surround-

ed by chain link fence. Near the front of the building, hundreds of memorials have been

placed beneath the large sign: posters, cards, flowers, candles, teddy bears, and pictures.

I had a flashback to the time when I stood at Ground Zero three weeks after 9/11. In

both places I felt as if I was looking into the face of evil. Needless to say, this recent

visit to Pulse was a haunting visit.

Back at the hotel, a manager told me that one of the bartenders, Cory, had lost a son

in the shooting. Because of their personal connection to the tragedy, many of the hotel

staffers joined a group of us in making a video—to be aired in a series--”Keep Dancing,

Orlando.” As we swayed to the music, many of us held the signs that you see every-

where in Orlando, “Love Always Wins.”

It's good to be home again people who not only believe that but practice it! See you

on Sunday, dear friends,

Blessings,

Mark Allen Doty, Senior Pastor

The Texts This Week: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalms 50: 1-8, 22-23, Hebrews 11: 1-3, 8-16, Luke 12:32-40

Adult Study Group Summer Sessions

In the light of the current world situation many people have only the view of Islam as it is presented in the media. The adult Sunday school group will be showing the DVD "Islam" from the empire series produced by PBS. This DVD shows the history behind Islam and a more balanced view of this religion. The group began showing the DVD . We will continue throughout the month of August. Please join us for any of the sessions that you can in the Parlor at 9:00 AM each Sunday.

My HSCC Family on Facebook Just a reminder to HSCCers that My HSCC Family is a great place to let others know of illnesses, hospitalizations, anniversaries, birth-days, concerns for others, celebrations, what one might offer dur-ing Celebrations and Concerns on a Sunday morning. Too often what is said on a Sunday morning is NOT heard by most of the congregation and certainly not heard by those absent. So, if you want people to know, better use My HSCC Family!!!

FAITH LINKING IN ACTION EVENTS:

1. Listening Campaign Training – August 4 – 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

August 8 – 12 noon to 3:00 PM

(All events are at the Solidarity Center 20 Ivers Street, Brewer)

2. Showing of the acclaimed film “Pride” – striking miners team up

with an LGBT group - August 8 - 6pm

3. Live auction – to benefit Solidarity Harvest, a wide variety of items.

August 13th at 4:30 PM.

HSCC Childrens Nursery: We are having members sign up to cover the

nursery this summer during church service. We are still without a perma-

nent nursery attendant and our moms and dads of preschoolers are getting

burnt out covering the nursery. Please check that this link works. The sign

up is a simple document with dates still available. Could you send an

email to the member list even though it's summer. I've already posted on

Facebook but I wanted to make sure everyone saw it.

As many of you know, Hammond Street Church does not have a nursery

care provider this summer. Please consider volunteering for a Sunday to

care for the littlest Hammond Streeters (ages 0-4) until a permanent nurse-

ry sitter can be hired. If you are not able to sign up with the website or

have questions, please contact Megan Bridges.

SUMMER OFFICE HOURS: Summer Office Hours . The church office will be open Monday—Friday 9:00AM—12:00PM.

SUMMER STEWARDSHIP: PLEASE REMEM-BER THAT THE CHURCH NEVER LEAVES ON VACATION! We depend on your gifts and generosity to continue to be in Ministry to The Greater Bangor Community. Thank you! HSCC'S WEB PAGE: What do you think? After three weeks of requesting input from the congrega-tion and getting only two responses, the Future Commit-tee is emphasizing that we depend on YOU, our mem-bers, to give us your thoughts on what we have produced so far. What do you like? What don't you like? What would you like to see that isn't there? PLEASE take a few minutes and check us out at http://hammondstreetchurch.org and email your comments to Perry at plamsd@aol.com. THANKS!!!!

STEWARDSHIP MOMENT In response to the question What would you say to a friend or neighbor to encourage them to visit HSCC, Susan and Michael Gildart replied: Since joining Hammond Street Congregational Church we have found the congregation is warm and friendly but most importantly inviting. Church Service is always a spe-cial day with wonderful scripture tied into everyday life. Always a lesson to be learned from Pastor Mark. The sanctuary is spacious with plenty of room for reflection. The church choir is most entertaining and the sound of the Hook Organ is just another reason not to miss Sun-day Services. The vestry is a big social part of church services and being involved organizing and scheduling coffee hours with our parishioners has been a great way to connect with church members. Our church is faced with obstacles each and every day and we always come through one way or another. There is work to be done on the old building and work to be done telling the communi-ty about the wonderful house of worship we have in the middle of Downtown Bangor. The Lord gave us this great gift and we cherish Hammond Street Congregational Church and hold it and its people near and dear to our hearts.

Hammond Street Congregational Church

P.O. Box 1106 Bangor, ME 04402-1106

The Hammond Streeter is a weekly publication of the

Hammond Street Congregational Church,

United Church of Christ

P.O. Box 1106,

Bangor ME 04402-1106 -

Phone: 207-942-4381

www.hammondstreetchurch.org

An Open & Affirming Congregation

God is still speaking,

THE SNOWMAN FAIR date has been set for Saturday, No-

vember 19. We need help with some of our regular tables and are

also looking for ideas for new tables/booths. If you would like to

get involved in any way or have ideas please contact Linda Murch

(356-6189) or Betty Ann Haskell. More info to come!

We are in need of gently used 1/2 pint (8 ounce) screw-top jelly jars

(the home canning type), to be refilled with jam or marmalade and

sold at the Snowman's Fair. Thank you, Jan Hill

HAMMOND STREETER

The next issue of the Hammond Streeter will be August 15th. Please be sure to get any items that you have in to Rita. Thank you!