Mainstreeter Weekly Blast March 15, 2023

View this email in your browser For forty days of Lent we consider how we might be instruments of peace and agents of change in the world. Watch Live One of the blessings of this series is how we're helped along the way with the music of Mark Miller. And I hope we can see our African-American, gay brother as he writes about the weight of discrimination and negative consequences of white superiority on his life and ministry. I have been inspired by his music and ministry. For many years, he has been the Music Director at Annual Conference and you often hear folks exclaim how attending Annual Conference is worth it if only for the worship: singing his songs, being a part of the pick-up choir he directs every year, and hearing his stories. Here's one of the videos produced for the Vital Conversations study guide to accompany our Roll Down Justice series. Take a listen and pray with him and the Psalmists. Pastor Kelly Click here for Vital Conservations video Click Here for Sunday's Bulletin GIVING ENVELOPES Watch Trailer Here Click here for YOUTH 2023 information and registration Early registration (with a discount) ends March 31. Registration closes May 31. From ADL New England and the New Hampshire Council of Churches: Building Bridges in the Human Family: Setting the Table to Talk About Race Curious about the anti-black, anti-white divide? Want to discuss race and racism but are afraid to say the wrong thing or offend someone? Want to discuss how we can move on from our tragic past? How the past impacts us today? How can we be united if we are divided by race? Join us for a dialog series for people who genuinely want to listen, learn, and be heard. Facilitated by NH Listens, and co-sponsored by multiple community organizations. Join us at 4 PM on Sundays: March 19th, April 16th, May 21st, and June 18th. Attend for one session, or all four! Learn more on Facebook Purchase from Amazon Wish List Here Donate online here Heifer Activities for Kids Here MARCH 23, 2023 NEXT PLANNING BOARD HEARING The proposed Temple St. Asphalt Plant will go before the Planning Board for the first time on: March 23, 2023 at 7:00 in the City Hall Auditorium. Newport Construction has proposed the construction of an asphalt plant on Temple Street, which will be as close as 100' from nearby properties that have been approved for redevelopment as badly needed housing. Construction of all previously approved housing development in the area–hundreds of new units–have been put on hold, as developers believe the proposed plant will destroy their property values. Newport Construction has a poor reputation in Westford and Chelmsford, MA, where they have another plant and have created problems for residents. The issue is non-partisan. Construction of this plant is bad for Nashua. A visibility event opposing the plant will be held THIS Friday (3/17) in conjunction with a number of community groups. Please reach out to Pastor Kristy Besada (kristy.besada@mainstreet-umc.org) for details, which are developing now. Another visibility event will be held at City Hall immediately prior to the Planning Board meeting (3/23), and we will be asking folks to bring signs and stand outside City Hall in a show of support for the neighbors who will be affected if the plan is approved. Some will meet at the church and walk down together. This is a developing situation. Please watch next week's blast, social media and worship announcements for more details with regard to the ways you can help. And as always, please write to the planning board at pb@nashuanh.gov to register your concerns with the board. Click Here to Register Copyright (C) 2023 Mainstreet United Methodist Church. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Mainstreet United Methodist Church PO Box 1517 Nashua, NH 03061-1517 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe

Mainstreeter Weekly Blast March 9, 2023

View this email in your browser Beginning Feb 22 For forty days of Lent, we consider how we might be instruments of peace and agents of change in the world. Watch Live The soul work of examining racial justice aligns uniquely with MSUMC's mission and our statement of inclusion. As your pastoral elder, I believe racial inequality to be a theological issue as well as a moral and biblical issue–it's not part of any liberal agenda and we're not trying to be "politically correct." Understanding the unconscious bias that shapes the way I live is a spiritual issue. And for me, it has been a powerfully freeing experience to examine how systems of bias not only work to the detriment of people of color, but also how they infect my soul. In this work, we're all in it together. There will be no finger-wagging and judgement, we must all own the racial bias of our institutions and our hearts and seek to do better. I often feel inadequate to the task of understanding racial inequality and facilitating conflict but in my third year of ministry here, I hope you can give me the benefit of the doubt and trust my intentions. I have been inspired to this work by Jesus, by the liberation theologians who have unpacked his message of liberating love, by wise teachers, civil rights leaders and colleagues who have proclaimed the dream and insisted that is our work as people of faith to build a world where justice rolls down like water, and righteousness, like an ever-flowing stream. Audre Lorde wrote "to acknowledge privilege is the first step in making it available for wider use." So I'm excited we're engaging in this important work because being conscious of the role privilege has in our life allows us to leverage it for building beloved community; it promotes compassion for how others are impacted who don't fit into the norm that exists, or who are barred from the current systems. And unless we can see the ways walking around in white skin benefits those of us who do, we won't be able to understand the sometimes invisible and insidious legacy of racial difference. And unless we're able to see the systemic injustices based on racial categories and how we unwittingly participate in them (even if we don't want to), we'll never be able to dismantle the racism that hurts all of us. Let us be blessed in this work, and let the work be a blessing to all. Pastor Kelly Click Here for Sunday's Bulletin GIVING ENVELOPES Watch Trailer Here Donate online here Heifer Activities for Kids Here Click Here to Follow the NSKS MARCH 23, 2023 DATE MOVED - AGAIN! NEXT PLANNING BOARD HEARING Pastor Kristy and Nancy Long have continued to attend visibility events coordinated by GSOP to educate the community about the asphalt plant proposal for Temple Street. This plant will be harmful to the many neighbors near the site, who will be subjected to pollution, noise, and a significant increase in asphalt truck traffic on pedestrian routes. The Planning Board hearing has been tabled again until March 23rd. We would appreciate those who are willing to write letters to the planning board to please do so at pb@nashuanh.gov. If you are willing to speak against the plant at the next meeting (at this time both zoom and in person are available), please reach out to Pastor Kristy for more information on how to do so and what criteria are most important to the Planning Board. Copyright (C) 2023 Mainstreet United Methodist Church. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Mainstreet United Methodist Church PO Box 1517 Nashua, NH 03061-1517 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe