All Saints’ Day is a Christian festival celebrated on November 1st in Western churches to honor all known and unknown saints who have reached heaven.
Scripture:
Hebrew 12:1-2
2 Timothy 1:3-5
Mentors, gratitude, those who lifted us up. Appreciating the life we have and the partnerships we cherish.
We welcome you to visit and worship here! We are a church centered on Christ’s teachings and focused on living them out in the world. It’s different here – through our thoughtful services, our focused and dedicated community service, our genuine sense of community, and our blended music.
Please reach out to us if you have any questions, and we look forward to seeing you on Sundays at 9:30am!
Here at New Hanover Presbyterian our belief focuses on seven values that all are
formed by our understanding of Jesus’s prime focus for his disciples: “You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is
the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor
as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets”
(Matthew 22:37-40)
Love – At the heart of all Jesus’s teachings is love. It is the core of everything we learn
about who God is and how the Holy Spirit counsels us to treat God’s creation.
Acceptance – Can you love someone you don’t accept? Jesus took authority of the
judgment into himself so that we would be free to accept all people and love all people
all the time with no exceptions.
Inclusion – If we truly love our neighbor, how could we possibly reject them? If we want
all people from all tribes and from all spaces to join together at the throne, we must not
be gatekeepers but roll out the red carpet for all people. In one parable, Jesus has the
Lord send their servants out so that any from the community might come to the feast.
This is the heart of inclusion.
Redemption – The entire Bible narrative is a story of a redeemer and a people in need
of being redeemed. This story hasn’t changed over thousands of years. We are now
those people. Peter asks how many times he should forgive a sibling. Jesus answers
simply, all the time. That being said, redemption is a work. It isn’t instantaneous, it
doesn’t always work in the moment, it takes two or more people trying to find healing
together.
Mercy – The Bible is like an autobiography and its main purpose is to help us know and
understand God. God’s character is mercy and if you look at how mercy threads
through the entire story, we can see that it is mercy all along that will bring victory to the world.
Reconciliation – This might be the most important piece of the puzzle. In the beginning,
creation was “shalom”, which means peace and harmony, and the world was completely
at peace and at one with itself. Yet with the first sin came a breaking, an imbalance, a
destructive presence in the world. From that moment on the world and all of its people
have needed reconciliation. Hate and harm and pain all put us off balance from that
shalom that we began with and it is only through repentance, peace-making, inner healing and reconciliation that we might work to re-establish the shalom we were meant
to have with each other and with the world.
Faith – Faith is the catalyst that pushes us to look in the mirror, reflect and see the darker parts of ourselves. Faith points us to Jesus and points us out into the world. None of these other values will truly be embraced without faith which empowers us to walk like Jesus, helps us to sense the Holy Spirit inside us, and has us reach out to our
Creator and want relationship with them, with our neighbors and with the world.
This is the recipe that New Hanover Presbyterian, and myself as the current pastor,
believe are needed to make the church alive with the purpose of Jesus’s command to
us all. This is the most crucial elements of a family that attempt to love God with all their essence and to love their neighbors as they love themselves. In the end, if we don’t have love, we essentially don’t have anything worthy of showing to the world. As the
song reminds us – they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love.
Blessings and love,
Anthony
This community has made a decision – we are not following any crowd. We are, instead, committed to take the Scriptures seriously and humanity compassionately. Our goal is to read the Bible in both its ancient context and its modern implications, and have it make a difference in the way we live our daily lives and in how we see people and treat them. We believe the scriptures have something vital and unique to say now – something that no political party or social movement can or will say. At New Hanover, we believe Jesus and the people that follow him should not be conformed to the conventional wisdom and path of the world, but transformed by God’s grace.
When the Apostle Paul was writing to the church at Rome, he said this: “…you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.” In other words, there is no Christian option that allows us to be Christian and still stay asleep or to politely doze in a world of hurt and need. We want to be alive to the world as it is now and to engage with that world as those transformed by the love of Jesus. We hope you will come and join us in this quest to live in the present with the wisdom and power of the God of all the ages.
Our 9:30am service is designed to reinforce our core values of love, acceptance, inclusion, redemption, mercy, reconciliation, and equity. These values, exhibited and preached upon by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, are reflected in our music, sermon and church news and updates. Our intent is to connect and build relationships before, during and after our service.
Upon arrival at our church, you will be greeted with a smile and given a worship bulletin. Perhaps make yourself a nametag and head into the sanctuary. Some folks come early to spend a few moments in reflection and prayer. There is a nursery available for babies and toddlers, and we have age-appropriate activity bags for older kids to help get them settled into their pew.
Each service features a sermon, based on scripture, designed to better understand these passages and to reach forward to today’s times to give us guidance, hope and a challenge. Music is blended, with both contemporary and traditional songs and hymns. Our choir and church musicians play live and meaningful music. Frequently we’ll feature solo voice and instrumental works. A Time for Children of All Ages is a regular service feature where we share God’s good news through stories and examples. Our children stay in the sanctuary for the entire worship service. The second Sunday of each month is Youth Sunday, when our youth take a more active leadership role in worship. Minute for Mission gives us an opportunity to learn of ongoing missions and ways to support those less fortunate in our community and abroad.
Following the service we offer coffee and refreshments, in a designated time to enjoy community with one another. Our Adult and Youth Sunday School programs happen after refreshment time and feature interesting and important topics of discussion and learning. Occasionally we have a special class and/or luncheon available.
We think you’ll enjoy our intentional and inclusive approach to worship!
Our Men’s Bible Study meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm, for a time of bible study, fellowship and dinner. For this week only, we are meeting on Monday, rather than Tuesday. Join us on Oct. 26, as we continue our study on The Book of 2 Samuel, and take a close look at David, the King.
Calling all women and men! Join us for a weekly bible study, that meets during the day here at New Hanover. We are beginning a new study on The Gospel of John. We gather each Thursday, at 11am, in the Presseau Room. All are welcome. There is no preparation needed, and no materials to read ahead. Can’t make it in person? Contact us for information on the phone-in option.
Inspired by the warmth and wisdom of Mr. Rogers, The Neighborhood is a weekly space to slow down, feel safe, and discover that we are beloved exactly as we are. Through shared meals, purposeful weekly activities, and insights from visiting community “helpers” we help children and adults alike explore their emotions, spark curiosity, and grow into compassionate neighbors.
We’ll gather Thursdays from 5:30-7:30pm, starting Oct. 22 through Dec. 17 (taking a break the week of Thanksgiving), here at New Hanover Presbyterian Church, 10058 Chamberlayne Rd., Mechanicsville, VA. Join us on the 29th for our second gathering.
Neighborhood Circle Time: (breathe • check in • journal • share wonder)
Meal Time: (we practice gratitude • hospitality • conversation • caring)
The Neighborhood Helper: (first responder • ASL interpreter • artist • naturalist • transit worker • historian • animal shelter volunteer • mail carrier)
Click here to get registered!
The Women’s Book Club meets the first Tuesday of each month. Our gathering on 11/3 will be at 11am at Julia Partridge’s house. We will discuss the book The Memory of Elephants, by Boman Desai.
Bring a snack to share, and we’ll enjoy discussing it together. Hope to see you there!
This is a part of Women’s Ministries here at New Hanover.
Reformation Day is a Protestant holiday that commemorates the start of the Protestant Reformation and the day Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517.
Scripture:
Galatians 5:1, 13-14
Sunday’s Message: Insular and inaccessible make us unchangeable, not reforming but forcing conforming.
If you have a specific prayer request or praise to share with the congregation, information to include in congregational communications, would like to get involved at NHPC, or have a question please feel free to contact us:
