O God, give us attentive,
humble and gentle hearts
to welcome with tenderness and compassion
all the poor you send to us.
Give us hearts full of mercy
to love them, to serve them,
to extinguish all discord
and to see in our suffering and broken brothers
the presence of the living Jesus.
Lord, bless us with the hands of your poor.
Lord, smile at us in the eyes of your poor.
Lord, you receive us one day
in the happy company of your poor.
Amen!
Give Us Attentive Hearts, by Jean Vanier, Founder of the L'Arche Communities
This prayer is prayed at the start of each day in L'Arche Communities throughout the world. These communities were founded by Jean Vanier, a French Canadian Catholic Philosopher when he realized the plight of so many people with disabilities whose lives were being squandered in institutions throughout the world. The L'Arche Communities bring together non-disabled individuals and disabled individuals who live together in community and who learn from each other. On one occasion when asked by an interviewer, "What gifts do mentally handicapped persons bring to society?" This is what Vanier had to say, "They have beautiful hearts, they don't have big heads, they're not people who want to know things. What they want to know is: "Do you love me?" Maybe that is what we all want to know: "Do you love me?" Maybe that is the heart of the Christian message: that Jesus loves us and therein is our joy. That is what people with disabilities reveal to us. That is the only one important thing; that it be revealed that Jesus loves me."
It seems to me that this prayer captures the essence of the meaning of Easter- that the presence of the living Jesus is discovered in the suffering and brokenness of those who only want to know that they are loved, by God and by others. The struggles of so many individuals are seemingly beyond the means that any of us have to make a real difference for them. What we can do is be the presence of the living Christ to them as we love them for who they are. To love those who are suffering, broken, poor, disenfranchised, is to accept them as God's beloved children without judgement and without condemnation and with the affirmation that they are people of sacred worth. May we each be the presence of the Risen Christ this day and every day as we love as Jesus loves.
Note: Please keep Jean Vanier in your prayers as he has recently entered hospice care in France. He is in his early 90's now and experienced a severe heart attack not too long ago.
WORSHIP AHEAD
4/28 The Second Sunday of Easter
Holy Communion (8:15am service only)
Bell Choir and Choral Choir (10:30am service only)
Scripture: Acts 5:27-32; John 20:19-29
Theme: Empowered and Sent Out by the Risen Christ: Having appeared to the disciples on the eve of the first Easter the Risen Christ pronounces peace upon them, sends them out to do as he has done and empowers them by the Spirit to do just that. As Easter people we are all called to reach out to the less fortunate and the good news is that we are empowered to do this well.
The following message was received this week from the Jewish Community here in Nashua
To Our Christian Friends:
On behalf of Temple Beth Abraham, the Jewish community centered in Nashua, we extend our condolences after the murders on Easter at churches and places of hospitality throughout Sri Lanka. We are horrified by these acts of hate and terror.
We have had to stand together too many times in recent months, as worshippers and people of particular faiths have been targeted. In October, it was a synagogue in the United States; in March, a mosque in New Zealand. To our Christian sisters and brothers, know that you have our support and that we are committed to praying and working together toward a world where divine love, expressed through our actions, overpowers hate rooted in any ideology.
L'shalom — Toward Peace,
Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett
David Sacks, President, Board of Directors
OPPORTUNITY OF THE WEEK
At a recent Church Council meeting we talked about how we might better highlight some of the opportunities for service that are available through the church. A suggestion was made that maybe we could have an "opportunity of the week". This will now be a new feature in the weekly e-mail blast so look for these wonderful opportunities and see if there is something that sounds inviting to you.
This week's opportunity is one that is available to each of us every week- to look around and find one person that we may not already know and make sure that they feel welcome in worship. Why not invite them to join you for our fellowship time after worship as well?
EASTER PANCAKE BREAKFAST
Thanks to those who came to support our youth at the Pancake Breakfast. A big THANKS to Mark Morrissey for his leadership and to the dedicated parents, volunteers, and the youth for their assistance. More than 70 people attended the breakfast and $393 was raised to support the youth mission trip in July.
YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Youth Advisory Council was launched in January 2019. It includes Pastor Rich, Karrie Lam, the youth (7th-12th grades), parents, and volunteers. The purpose of YAC is to work together with the Coordinator of Youth Ministry to plan and implement ministries to, for, and with the youth of MSUMC. YAC highly recommends parents to encourage their youth to participate in the activities and events that the church offers to them. YAC has held its first Youth and Family event on March 23 with 27 participants. It was a fun-filled evening and well received by all who attended the event. YAC has planned two fundraising events to support the youth summer mission trip to Dover, NH, July 14-20. The first one was the Pancake Breakfast, which was held on Easter Sunday. The next event will be the Car Wash, which will be held on Saturday, June 1. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the youth activities and events, please don't hesitate to contact Karrie Lam, the Coordinator of Youth Ministry, at youth@mainstreet-umc.org.
We want to celebrate our Senior Folks!!!
Our seniors are cordially invited to attend the Annual Spring Fling Luncheon and Fellowship Time on Sunday, May 5, after the morning worship service.
If you plan to attend, please indicate that on the sign-up sheet located on the table in the Vestry.
JULY 14-20, 2019
Register by April 30, 2019, to guarantee a space on the Summer Mission Trip on July 14-20, 2019. Students who are currently enrolled in seventh grade through college are encouraged to participate in an exciting mission opportunity this summer. Our mission work will be hosted by the United Methodist Action Reach-out Mission by Youth (U.M. ARMY). This organization has been providing mission opportunities for youth and adults for 40 years. During the week of July 14-20, we will be partnering with several other UM churches to work in the Dover, NH community doing projects, such as handicap access ramps, step and stair repair, handrail installation, painting, yard work and a variety of other projects.
The cost per person for this trip is $300. Due to various fundraising effort to help defray the individual cost for the trip, each participant will only pay for the $50 non-refundable registration fee. Simply use this Registration link: https://www.umarmy.net/Registration/Indv/3059/ to register for yourself. If you are under 18, you will need to have a parent complete the registration for you. At the end of the registration, you must download the Medical and Press Release Form, print and sign it. Once you have completed the registration, submit your Medical and Press Release Form and $50 non-refundable deposit to Karrie Lam, Coordinator of Youth Ministries. Checks should be made out to Main Street UMC with the words "Youth Mission Trip" in the memo.
SCHOOL KITS
School kits for UMCOR were brought forward to the altar and celebrated on Palm Sunday. The Missions Committee has packed 37 school kits so far. In addition, United Methodist Women have been busy sewing gowns and shirts, knitting baby sweaters and blankets, and buying diapers and washcloths, so twenty layette kits will be joining our health kits at the UMCOR Depot in Merrimack. If you haven't brought your kit yet, bring it in and we will start a new box!
UMCOR
Gifts to UMCOR totaled $1510. This keeps the United Methodist Committee on Relief ready to respond to emergencies, both domestic and international. We know that our kits and UMCOR donations will be put to good use. If you want to respond to a particular emergency, you may write a check to Main St. with UMCOR in the subject line. Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe and neighboring countries is an UMCOR focus right now.
HEIFER PROJECT
Some people bought a whole llama or sheep or donkey; some bought a flock of chicks, and others chose seeds or ducks or shares of a cow or even water pumps! These were the items chosen to honor loved ones at Easter through our Heifer Easter Tree of Life project. We are still adding the totals, but will let you know next month!
Because all of these special gifts were in addition to your funding the budget of the church and contributing to our Heart of Nashua Growing in Faith Campaign, they mean even more. Thank you all so much
FINANCE COLUMN
Hi, Joe here from Finance and Stewardship. For May I want to give a bit of the mission of Finance and Stewardship and perhaps dispel some misconceptions.
Per our church description, this committee compiles the annual budget and submits to Church Council for review and adoption. We administer the funds, guide the treasurer and financial secretary per Church Council directions. The Chair of Finance is a member of Church Council along with other committee and other church leaders. Simply put, our mission is to keep the church finances in control. Given the very large number of net church closures annually, we take our work very seriously!
I'm indebted to our volunteers who validate invoices and enter data into our accounting system, write the checks, work with our auditor, handle the statements, keep track of our various funds, and count the offerings while meticulously tracking the gifts and designations. They also attend Church Council.
It's important that the above actions work smoothly, and our volunteers are experienced enough to follow the proper procedures without intervention. However if we have a change in designated funds, policy, or volunteer assignment – then it becomes an agenda item on our monthly meeting to ensure such transitions are successfully implemented. Once again I'm blessed with capable and committed volunteers who quickly pick up the changes.
If there is a change in finance matters, we resolve them in our monthly meetings. We've implemented special funds or activities as needed or directed by Church Council. We've promoted online giving options. We've discussed with Staff Parish Relations Committee staff additions to meet our growing church missions and ministries. We work closely with Trustees on building repairs and maintenance. And of course we worked very closely with the Building committee in scoping, financing, and estimating debt for our new addition.
We work with our committees and groups by having each submit their budget request for the year. That is the amount each group believes they need to fulfill their ministries and missions, and we are willing to work with each group to arrive at a satisfactory result. We roll up these budget items, and estimate the other expenses for the year while keeping a sharp pencil leading to our annual budget to the Church Council for approval or rework.
I have to add that budget planning takes considerable work as our mission and ministry needs are great. In addition, we monitor our spending per our budget and actuals throughout the year. When we are running short, we have to find a way to handle the shortfall, including having one of us get up and update the congregation.
Some of you may have the impression that our Finance meetings consist of us examining the monthly pile of individual receipts and invoices and deciding which ones we will pay or deny payment. No that's not the case. We ask each church committee or group to monitor their spending per their group budget. It's only if they exceed their budget or are out of control (rare) that we intervene. We also get in touch with the groups if we have an overall revenue shortfall or other special items to discuss or learn.
As always I am open to your questions, comments, and prayers leading to enlightened church family. Thank you, Joe Dechene.
United Methodist Men's
18th Annual Golf Scramble and Fund Raiser
Green Meadow Golf Club
June 22, 2019
Golfers Wanted
$67.00 per golfer
Team and Individual Sign-up Sheets on UMM Bulletin Board in the Hallway
We can use additional support in the following ways:
Personal Hole Sponsors @ $50.00 / sign
Corporate Hole Sponsor @ $75.00 / sign
Each sign is 8-1/2 x 11 laminated and attached to a sign board
For more info, call or email
Mark Morrissey 244-0738
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