It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our beloved pastor Maureen Adams on March 25, 2024, from a heart attack. She leaves behind her husband Roger Beaudoin, her children Mark and twins Christopher and Joy, her son-in-law Ben Chafee, five grandchildren, her surviving siblings, and others. By marrying Roger she “inherited” three more children – another set of boy-girl twins and a daughter – and a grandson. She will be missed by her two congregations, the United Church of Acworth and the Third Congregational Church Alstead, and by the Langdon Congregational Church where she preached her first and her last services and helped them celebrate Christmas and Easter. She knew nearly everyone in the area – being related, being classmates, being friends of her children, through her ministry, her teaching in the Fall Mountain district, her working at RN Johnson’s and Durand Auto.
She was called to ministry as a third career. When she became the pastor in Acworth, in addition to Alstead, she began full-time ministry and the most joyous season of her life. She loved preaching Sunday mornings, relating to her parishioners, helping families through grief with funerals and joys with baptisms and weddings, and particularly enjoyed children at worship services. She shared God’s love freely with everyone she met through greetings – calls, texts, and Facebook messages; small and large acts of kindness; and sharing food, especially her homemade pies and other sweet treats. Her smile brightened everyone’s day. She will be sorely missed.
We have been blessed by the support of the NH Conference of the United Church of Christ and conference ministers Rev. Gordon Rankin and Rev. Sara Marean who have met with church leaders from all three churches and have led services for Maundy Thursday and Easter. Acworth and Alstead deacons are working together to arrange pulpit supply for each Sunday and pastoral care should the need arise. This is a challenging time, but our church survived over two years, through the pandemic, without a settled pastor. With God’s grace and each other, we will face the current challenge.