Union Church of Meredith Neck

08/22/2025

What lovely flowers graced the table in front of the pulpit on Sunday!

08/18/2025

The Union Church of Meredith Neck welcomes Rev. Philip Polhemus for the August 24th service, which is the last of the season. Rev. Polhemus is a native of New Hampshire and has lived all over the state. Being the son of a Methodist minister, moving was part of his life. He is retired, having served churches in Colebrook, Plymouth and Ashland, Weirs and Moultonborough, Merrimack, Manchester, and Waterville ME; and he was Council Director of the New Hampshire Conference. He is a graduate of Guilford College in NC, Drew Seminary, and earned his doctorate in Religious Communications at Andover Newton Theological School. Currently he lives in Meredith with his wife, Rita.

Mary Rivers will play the piano music which accompanies the hymns. This week the hymns are “For The Healing of the Nations” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”, and the closing hymn will be “O God of Every Nation.”

Vocalist and guitar player John Irish be the guest musician. John has over 20 years of touring and recording experience. His repertoire includes acoustic guitar and vocals as well as classic rock and blues.

Greeting those attending the 10 AM service this week will be Karen and Chuck Thorndike.

08/11/2025

The Union Church of Meredith Neck will welcome Pastor Sue Davidson to lead the worship service on Sunday, August 17. For the past twenty-four years Pastor Sue has been a United Methodist licensed pastor. She served as the Pastor of the Center Conway United Methodist for Church for 20 years and retired from the ministry in July of 2021. She has served in extension ministry as Hospice Chaplain with Visiting Nursing Home Care and Hospice of Northern Carroll Country and Western Maine.

Returning as guest soloist this week will be Emily Getchell-Lacey, who is a PSU graduate with an Elementary Education Degree and Music Minor. Emily is well known in the Lakes Region Theatre world, as she has had leading rules in several musical productions. In addition, she has been a guest soloist in many area churches.

Pianist Mary Rivers will accompany the hymns. Greeting those attending will be Union Church Trustee Carrie Chase. Beautiful flowers courtesy of Liz Lapham will adorn the pulpit.

08/04/2025

The Union Church located on Meredith Neck welcomes Carol Asher to be the guest minister for the August 10th service. Professional ministry is the third of different, inter-twining careers for Rev. Carol Asher, after four and a half years encouraging community development in the Peace Corps in Brazil, and eight years teaching high-school foreign languages in Providence, RI. She retired several years ago as pastor (and storyteller) at the Center Harbor Congregational Church (UCC) where she served for eleven years. During her 30 years of ordained ministry, she also served two American Baptist Churches in Massachusetts. The “job” of sharing experiences and insights of caring for her personal “inner garden” has been a truly rewarding career.

After traveling around the world (and living in several other countries), Carol has happily settled into her log home in Hill. There she tends many different “outer gardens” created in her “yahd” in the middle of the woods. Her other interests are reading (with an eclectic palate), serving on the local school board, sharing the unique local history with the students in Hill’s elementary school, enjoying cultural events, and caring for the two felines that allow her to live with them.

The guest soloist will be Soprano Marla Welker, who has sung with such opera companies as the New York Grand Opera, Abilene TX Opera, and Stamford State Opera (performing such roles as Gilda in Rigoletto, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Musetta in La Boheme). Her career has also included numerous concert appearances in the New York Metro Area as well as heard in performance on New York Classical radio station WQXR. Originally from Kansas City, she is delighted to be a resident of the Lakes Region.

Greeters for the service will be Liz and Bev Lapham. Mary Rivers will provide the
music for the hymns.

07/28/2025

The Union Church of Meredith Neck is pleased to announce that Rev. Ann Cady will be leading the worship service on August 3. Her Sermon is titled “Freedom.”

Rev Cady is a 2000 graduate of the New Seminary for Interfaith Studies in New York City and was ordained by the Interfaith Temple there. She currently serves as one of four regular ministers at the Chocorua Community Church. She has also preached at the Freedom Community Church and for many years served as the summer chaplain at the YMCA Family Camp located on Sandy Island.

She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, holding two master’s degrees: one in psychology, counseling, and guidance, and the other in pastoral counseling. She has been an active lay leader in the Episcopal Church and a member of St. Andrew’s in Tamworth.

Returning to the Union Church of Meredith Neck as the guest soloist will be Adam Schaub. Adam is a vocalist and guitar player and has been a member of the Bluegrass Band of the Meredith Congregational Church.

Playing piano music to accompany the hymns will be Mary Rivers. Hymns this week are “In Christ There Is No East or West,” and “They’ll Know We are Christians by our Love.” Greeting those attending will be Chuck and Karen Thorndike, and the beautiful flowers which will adorn the altar are grown and arranged by Liz Lapham.

07/21/2025

The Union Church of Meredith Neck is pleased to welcome Rev. John Hughes to lead the July 27th worship service. This service marks his completion of 50 years of preaching. John is an engaging storyteller and explains theological concepts in a way that is both understandable and memorable. He has been a part of the Union Church community for more than 25 years. His sermon is entitled “The Secret to Happiness.”

Prior ministries have been at the First Congregational Church of Billerica, MA; and the First Parish Church, Congregational, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. When serving those churches, he frequently brought youth groups to the Conway church for ski weekends.

Raised in Fall River, MA, John graduated Pre-Med from Lafayette College in Easton, PA before receiving his degree in theology from Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA. John and his wife Marilyn have raised six children and are now enjoying their ten grandchildren.

The soloist this week will be John Irish, who has over 20 years of touring and recording experience. His repertoire includes solo acoustic guitar and vocals as well as classic rock and blues.

Greeting those attending the 10 A.M. service this week will be Diana and Ivor Thomas. Mary Rivers will play the piano music which accompanies the hymns. This week the hymns are “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” and “Here I am Lord.”

07/14/2025

The Union Church of Meredith Neck is pleased to announce that Rev. John Blair will lead the morning worship service on Sunday, July 20th. Rev. Blair has ministered in Vermont, Northern New Hampshire, and Atlanta, GA. He has also served in two states and one territory in Australia. His tasks there involved hospital chaplaincy, bush piloting, and serving as a church pastor.

His sermon on Sunday is titled “Confident Complaining”, and the hymns will be “I Sing the Almighty Power of God,” “When the Church of Jesus,” and “This is My Song.” Organist Mary Rivers will provide piano music to accompany the hymns, and Amy Weston will be the soloist. Amy is well known to local musical theater lovers, as she has appeared as a leading actress in many musical productions throughout the Lakes Region. We are pleased to have her lovely voice grace our little church this week.

Welcoming those attending will be Bev and Liz Lapham, and the beautiful flowers which will adorn the altar are grown and arranged by Liz.

07/07/2025

Leading the worship service on July 13 at the Union Church of Meredith Neck will be the Rev. Jay Hutchinson. His sermon is titled “Go and Do Likewise.” Jay has just finished his first year as the Chaplain at Holderness School where he teaches theology, ethics and morality, English, and world religions. From June through August of 2025, he is serving as the interim summer priest-in-charge at Trinity Church in Meredith, NH.

Prior to answering the call to ordained ministry, Jay taught and coached at Canterbury School, St. Mark’s School, St. Andrew’s School (DE) and Choate Rosemary Hall, as well as serving as the Chaplain in the Phillips Andover Summer Session. He is passionate about the connection between faith and service and volunteers regularly at Got Lunch, the Bridge House in Plymouth, and with New Hampshire Adaptive sports programs. Recently he led a group of students to Poland with the Common Man Ukraine to work with children who have lost their parents in the war. At Holderness, Jay coaches the boys’ JV lacrosse team. He and his wife, Whiz, who has retired from her work in schools, live in Holderness year-round. Their son, Jack teaches at Kents Hill School in Maine.

Charlene Malek will welcome visitors to the service, and music will be provided the duo known as the Sweetbloods. Phil and Janet Sanguedolce are both singers and song writers; their repertoire is varied, blending tight vocal arrangement with guitar accompaniment to craft a tasteful version of classic songs from different genres. Mary Rivers will provide piano music to accompany the hymns, which will be “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” and “O love How Deep How Broad How High”

07/07/2025

What a lovely bouquet of flowers graced the table in front of the pulpit on Sunday. Thank you to the 45 worshippers in attendance, and to Rev. Brad Wolff for leading the service.

06/30/2025

The Union Church of Meredith Neck will welcome Rev. Bradley Wolff at their Sunday Service on July 6 beginning at 10 A.M. Pastor Wolff is a graduate of Tufts University and Hamma School of Theology at Wittenberg University. He has served three churches as a called Pastor in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire, as well as teaching social studies at Newfound Middle School and Ashland Elementary in the Lakes Region. He also served as adjunct professor at Plymouth State University. He is a frequent guest pastor at churches throughout the Northeast, as well as an engaging presenter of historical programs. Brad and his wife Karen make their home in Moultonborough and are active members at the Lutheran Church of the Nativity in North Conway, N.H.

The sermon is titled “Why Can’t We Do It?”, and the hymns will be “Father, We Praise Thee,” “Lord I Want to Be a Christian,” and “Sent Forth By God’s Blessing.” Mary Rivers will provide music for the hymns.

Welcoming visitors to the inaugural service will be Union Church trustees Lissa and Rick Goodby. Guest Soloist will be Kyle Dumais who has been playing piano for eight years, drawing his inspiration from jazz and blues music. He has performed at several events throughout the Lakes Region.

The Union Church is located at 258 Meredith Neck Road and welcomes residents and visitors to attend the inter-denominational service beginning at 10 A.M.

As always, you can find directions to the church, as well as a schedule of this year's services, at www.unionchurchmeredith.com

06/18/2025

It's official! The list of Ministers and Musicians for this year's summer season has been released:

JULY 6, 2025
Minister: Brad Wolf
Musician: Kyle Dumias

JULY 13, 2025
Minister: Jay Hutchinson
Musician: "The Sweetbloods"- Janet & Phil Sanguedolce

JULY 20, 2025
Minister: John Blair
Musician: Amy Weston

JULY 27, 2025
Minister: John Hughes
Musician: John Irish

AUGUST 3, 2025
Minister: Ann Cady
Musician: Adam Schaub

AUGUST 10, 2025
Minister: Carol Asher
Musician: Marla Welker

AUGUST 17, 2025
Minister: Sue Davidson
Musician: Emily Getchell-Lacey

AUGUST 24, 2025
Minister: Phil Polhemus
Musician: TBA

More details about each week's service will be posted as the dates approach, so stay tuned!

Note: Apologies for the delay, but the Union Church website is not yet updated to include these details. The web admin has had an unexpected hard drive failure and is working to reinstall everything needed to make changes to the site. Thanks for your patience.

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09/17/2024

Friends of Union Church of Meredith Neck,

On behalf of the Trustees of the church, we want to express our gratitude to each of you who joined us for spiritual fellowship and music this summer. We so value your participation in continuing our long tradition of welcoming all to the interdenominational ministry of the church.

We hope to see you again next summer and wish you a wonderful transition through autumn and a peaceful winter of calm and reflection.

Until next year...

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