Friday, July 30, 2021

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Mainstreeter Blast July 29, 2021






Click here for August 1st, 2021 Bulletin




 
Fellowship Virtual Coffee Hour

Be sure to join us for our Virtual Coffee Hour and Fellowship Time following the 9:30 am service.  We look forward to seeing you there!


https://www.mainstreet-umc.org/activities/coffee-hour
A Message From Pastor Kelly
 
How's your summer reading coming along?

I've started several of the non-fiction books I "should" be reading for work but I keep getting caught up in the sweep of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, the novel all of Nashua has been invited to read together. It's an incredibly powerful and moving story that traces a family across 300 years of history and 2 continents. In the audible version I'm listening to, the performer uses an African accent for the chapters set in Africa and an American accent for the chapters set in Harlem. It's wonderful to hear.

And I find it opening a window onto a history and experiences of the slave trade that I hadn't considered. It's disturbing that way but it's also fascinating. I'm grateful for the ways it's opening a new portal to understanding this history. Summer reading can be that invitation to slow down and experience a new story.

I think of sabbath, or in our Christian tradition, Sunday worship, in the same way. It's an invitation to stop, to slow down, to open ourselves to another portal. It's a chance to open ourselves to the divine, to the stories of the people of faith in scriptures, to the experiences and concerns of others. The sanctuary has been open for many weeks now, I hope you'll join us in worship soon.

And your staff is going on a one-day retreat this August to pray with and for our ministry. We're creating a space for renewal, to consider our leadership together, to envision a way forward. Won't you put August 25th on your calendar and pray for your staff? We'd appreciate knowing you're with us as we open ourselves to the spirit's movement in our midst.

–Pastor Kelly


 
 
 


 

The Church is OPEN!!!

We welcome you to worship with us in the sanctuary whenever you feel comfortable joining us. We continue to wear masks, physical distance and filter the air to mitigate the risk of indoor gatherings.

 You can just show up on Sunday morning if you like (or register in advance if you prefer).


 If you have any questions or need assistance in registering, please contact the main office at
(603) 882-3361 or office@mainstreet-umc.org


Sunday, August 1st Worship Link




 
Church/Charge Conference Announcement
 
Grace and Peace in the Name of our Lord!
As District Superintendent of the Granite District of The United Methodist Church I hereby give
permission, according to ¶246 of the 2016 Book of Discipline, for Main Street United Methodist
Church, Nashua, NH to hold a SPECIAL CHURCH CONFERENCE on or after August 23, 2021 at 7:00 pm.
The sole purpose of this SPECIAL CHURCH CONFERENCE IS:
To approve 2021-2022 church leadership.
I designate that Rev. Kelly Turney may preside at this meeting.
It is understood that all the provisions of the 2016 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE as outlined in ¶246: 1-10
including giving at least ten days' notice to members and providing minutes of the meeting to the
District Superintendent shall be duly observed.
Shalom,

Rev. We Chang
Commonwealth East Covering District Superintendent


*This meeting will take place via Google Meet on Monday, August 23rd at 7 pm.

Please contact the office for more information: 
office@mainstreet-umc.org
It is with deep sorrow and caring that we announce the passing of Ann Darlene (Ouellette) Parsons.

Ann Parsons Obituary

The family has requested that the Celebration of Life Service be postponed until they have had time to prepare and feel ready to make arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked the donations be made to the ORGAN endowment fund.


 

Upcoming Missions Project: NSKS School Supplies


 
 It's a great time to purchase school supplies for the Nashua Soup Kitchen's Backpack Drive!

Backpack donations (see link below) can be dropped off at 2 Quincy Street; Monday, August 2nd-Friday, August 6th between 9 am - 4 pm.  Please pull into the soup kitchen parking lot.  Donations can be brought to door #2.  They will be happy to unload for you.  If you have a large drop off and would like to schedule your delivery, please email 
carol@nsks.org or you can leave them in the lobby at the church and the Missions Team will deliver them.  Church office hours are Monday - Thursday 9am-1pm.

Please use the following link for a complete list of needed school supplies:

NSKS School Supply List


Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter
For more information please use the following link:

National Night Out

 
It's time for another Vacation Bible School with Main Street United Methodist Church! This year's VBS Care Package theme is Compassion Camp: Changing the World with Lovingkindness! With the VBS Care Package, families may complete the activities in their own time. The VBS Team will distribute the care packages on Sunday, August 15th. We look forward to sharing another meaningful and memorable week with your children!

Here's the link to sign up for a VBS Care Package (ages 2 years through 6th grade): https://forms.gle/zWUpUam4tnVgCSDG9
Kids Corner
 
The rooster/hen is our bird to focus on this week.





Do you know a song about a rooster or a hen?  Do you have roosters or hens at home?

Here is coloring page link for you to decorate and display:


Rooster Coloring Page

Be sure to share photos with the office office@mainstreet-umc.org
Summer Music
 
Looking for creative musicians, joyful singers, playful poetry readers...we are once more inviting the congregation to participate! This year, summer music will be virtual, so we will be using pre-recorded videos. If you are interested in singing, playing an instrument, or reading poetry, email Emily Adams at emilyradams10@me.com.
 



 Silver Knights Outing!!!
 
LAST CALL!! Please let us know if you are ready for some baseball - Friday, August 6th is the date!  If this is something you would like to be a part of, please contact the main office, office@mainstreeet-umc.org , so that we have you on our ticket list.  Our numbers are growing and now tickets have been discounted to $5/each!!  Don't miss out, this is going to be a spectacular night of fun, fellowship and fireworks!! 
June 2021 Finance Snapshot:

General Fund (GF)
Total GF Income Received as of 6/30/2021:      $222,545.51*
Total GF Income Budgeted through 6/30/2021:      $218,654.00
Total GF Expenses Paid through 6/30/2021:      $195,699.29
Total GF Expenses Budgeted through 6/30/2021:   $225,950.92
*  Includes $10,787 designated for Heart of Nashua Continued and CARES Act PPP Draw 2 Funds of 
   $41,352.00 received and used for GF expenses.

Notes on General Fund
·  We did not pay World and New England Mission Shares in June leaving us three months    behind on each ($5853.78 on both).  A July donation will be sent in the end of July.
· Current on other expenses as of 6/30/2021.  (In the summer we are not billed for property insurance but must make a large payment at a new rate in September to cover that period.)
· Donations were down in June and continue to be low in July.  

Heart of Nashua 1 & 2 (GiF) & HON Cont. (Capital Campaign/Elevator, Connector, Renovations) 
·  Balance Due on HON Loan as of 5/31/2021:  $141,793.76 (Loan was $358,343.45)
·   In June the $1,769.53 monthly payment was paid.  HON Cont. funds on hand 6/30/2021 ($7,454.19) will cover payments for four months.  
· Total Paid (including interest) Using HON 1, 2 & Continued as of 6/30/2021:  $1,895,197.18

Funding for the Future, 100 for $150 (Endowment) – Received this year as of 6/30/2021:  $1915
    Anyone can be one of 100 people or families giving $150 each year (or donate any amount) to grow our endowment for our future.

Parsonage Mortgage – As of 5/26/2021 we owed $66,803.34 on the parsonage.  We are paying $896.22 per month.  At the present rate, the parsonage will be paid off on 1/23/29.  

Extra Mile Giving Opportunities 
· The bark mulch along the plantings in front will be replaced with river rock.  Due to rain, it has been delayed to August.  The rock will not need to be replaced annually and will help prevent cigarette fires and damage to the sprinkler system, as these have been issues.  The total expense is $2750.  Donations may be made for this and should be marked "landscaping."  To date we have received $1000 to help pay for this.
· We received notice of a partial approval of $882 on a matching grant from the New England Conference Together for Tomorrow grant program.  It will help provide incremental upgrades to the existing A/V systems of the church to enhance our ability to reach our community.  The application was for a matching grant of $1181 to match $1181 from the church (totaling $2362).  Please mark donations A/V.  We have received $500 toward this.
· The trustees replaced the flooring in Kristy's office at a cost of about $275.  Thanks to the trustees for installing the floor themselves.  Donations can be marked flooring.

Thank you to all who support this congregation.  Your continued financial gifts, service and prayers are appreciated and needed.  
 
Pastor's Sabbath Days:
Pastor Kelly: Tuesday
Pastor Kristy: Friday

Days to Reach Pastors
Pastor Kelly: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Pastor Kristy: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday







Mainstreet United Methodist Church · PO Box 1517 · Nashua, NH 03061-1517 · USA

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Thursday, July 22, 2021

Mainstreeter Blast July 22, 2021





Click here for July 25th, 2021 Bulletin




 
Fellowship Virtual Coffee Hour

Be sure to join us for our Virtual Coffee Hour and Fellowship Time following the 9:30 am service.  We look forward to seeing you there!


https://www.mainstreet-umc.org/activities/coffee-hour
Staff Summer Reading

 



Hi, everyone!  My summer (into fall!) reading list includes a lot of "required reading" this year, from the Bishop, the NECoRR, and in my work toward full membership in the Order of Deacon.  My stack of "books to read" books is a lot taller than this, but here are a few required reads along with two that I am looking forward to reading for my own growth.

The Color of the Law:



This book is chosen by the New England Conference Commission on Religion and Race, of which I am a member.  Richard Rothstein, a well-respected authority on housing policy, takes a deep dive into the ways that decades of local, state, and federal policies have had the effect of segregating our citizens by race, resulting in discriminatory patterns of housing, education, employment, etc., that continue to this day.
  
Methodists and the Crucible of Race: 
 



I am reading this book (currently) as a part of the work for my Fruitfulness Project for full membership in the Order of Deacon.  In it, Peter C. Murray contributes to the history of American Christianity and the Civil Rights movement by examining how the Methodist Church (called the United Methodist Church after 1968) dealt with racial conflict.  He traces American Methodist history from when White Methodists literally pushed African Americans Methodists out of their churches to form Black Methodist denominations; to the schism over slavery that established separate Northern and Southern denominations in the 1800s; through the period of reconciliation and compromise to unify Northern and Southern Methodists, as Southern Methodists demanded (and got) a raciallly segregated church.  The resultant Jim Crow church formalized and codified humiliation for African American Methodists and embarrassed their White allies within the church for more than 30 years, until the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision awakened many White Methodists from their complacent belief that the church could conform to the norms of the South without consequences among its national membership.  Eventually, segregationist policy was abolished, again with significant costs to African American Methodists.


Faith After Doubt:

This book is Bishop Devadhar's recommended book for 2021.  I am currently reading this, and its themes are quite familiar in my ministry at Main Street UMC and in the wider community.  

Edited from Amazon:  Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality. He proposes a four-stage model of faith development in which questions and doubt are not the enemy of faith, but rather a portal to a more mature and fruitful kind of faith. The four stages―Simplicity, Complexity, Perplexity, and Harmony―offer a path forward that can help sincere and thoughtful people leave behind unnecessary baggage and intensify their commitment to what matters most.  

I See Satan Fall Like Lightning:



I have long been interested in Rene Girard's approach to atonement theology.  I'm looking forward to this, though it'll be a dense, academic read.

Edited from Amazon:  An anthropologist, Girard holds up the gospels as mirrors that reflect our broken humanity and reveal the new reality that can make us whole. Like Simone Weil, Girard looks at the Bible as a map of human behavior, and sees Jesus Christ as its compass, pointing us in the right direction regardless of where we start. The title echoes Jesus' words (Luke 10:18): I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven. Girard persuades the reader that even as our world grows increasingly violent, the power of the Christ is so great that the evils of scapegoating and sacrifice are being defeated even now.  A new community, God's nonviolent kingdom, is being realized.



Happiness:
Happiness by Joan D. Chittister - Used (Good) - 0802864813 by Eerdmans Publishing Company, William B. | Thriftbooks.com

I have had this on my shelf for years.  As an admirer of Sr. Joan Chittister, I look forward to picking this up, especially after such a difficult year. 

Edited from Amazon, as I've not yet read it:  Everyone longs to be happy, yet many wrongly believe that happiness comes from having enough money, fame, personal comfort, worldly success, or even dumb luck. Happiness all too often seems to be an elusive, arbitrary thing -- something that is always just out of reach.  Joan Chittister sees happiness differently -- as a personal quality to be learned, mastered, and fearlessly wielded. In Happiness she embarks on a "great happiness dig" through sociology, biology, neurology, psychology, philosophy, history, and world religions to develop "an archaeology of happiness." Sifting through the wisdom of the ages, Chittister offers inspiring insights that will help seekers everywhere cultivate true and lasting happiness within.


                                                            -Pastor Kristy

 

 


 

The Church is OPEN!!!

We welcome you to worship with us in the sanctuary whenever you feel comfortable joining us. We continue to wear masks, physical distance and filter the air to mitigate the risk of indoor gatherings.

 You can just show up on Sunday morning if you like (or register in advance if you prefer).


 If you have any questions or need assistance in registering, please contact the main office at
(603) 882-3361 or office@mainstreet-umc.org

Sunday, July 25th Worship





 
It is with deep sorrow and caring that we announce the passing of Ann Darlene (Oulette) Parsons.

Ann Parsons Obituary

The family has requested that the Celebration of Life Service be postponed until they have had time to prepare and feel ready to make arrangements.

Upcoming Missions Project: NSKS School Supplies


 
 It's a great time to purchase school supplies for the Nashua Soup Kitchen's Backpack Drive!

Backpack donations (see link below) can be dropped off at 2 Quincy Street; Monday, August 2nd-Friday, August 6th between 9 am - 4 pm.  Please pull into the soup kitchen parking lot.  Donations can be brought to door #2.  They will be happy to unload for you.  If you have a large drop off and would like to schedule your delivery, please email 
carol@nsks.org or you can leave them in the lobby at the church and the Missions Team will deliver them.  Church office hours are Monday - Thursday 9am-1pm.

Please use the following link for a complete list of needed school supplies:

NSKS School Supply List


Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter
It's time for another Vacation Bible School with Main Street United Methodist Church! This year's VBS Care Package theme is Compassion Camp: Changing the World with Lovingkindness! With the VBS Care Package, families may complete the activities in their own time. The VBS Team will distribute the care packages on Sunday, August 15th. We look forward to sharing another meaningful and memorable week with your children!

Here's the link to sign up for a VBS Care Package (ages 2 years through 6th grade): https://forms.gle/zWUpUam4tnVgCSDG9
Kids Corner
 
This week we are considering pigeons and doves.


Photo by kalpesh patel on Unsplash


Where do you see pigeons?  Have you seen a dove?

Here is coloring page link for you to decorate and display:


Dove Coloring Page

Be sure to share photos with the office office@mainstreet-umc.org
Summer Music
 
Looking for creative musicians, joyful singers, playful poetry readers...we are once more inviting the congregation to participate! This year, summer music will be virtual, so we will be using pre-recorded videos. If you are interested in singing, playing an instrument, or reading poetry, email Emily Adams at emilyradams10@me.com.
 
Be sure to contact the office if you will be attending.  We don't want you to miss out on your share of delicious blueberry pancakes and other goodies!


office@mainstreet-umc.org

(603) 882-3361



 Silver Knights Outing!!!
 
Take MSUMC out to the ballgame!!!  Friday, August 6th is the date!  If this is something you would like to be a part of, please contact the main office, office@mainstreeet-umc.org , so that we have you on our ticket list.  Our numbers are growing and now tickets have been discounted to $5/each!!  Don't miss out, this is going to be a spectacular night of fun, fellowship and fireworks!! 
Pastor's Sabbath Days:
Pastor Kelly: Tuesday
Pastor Kristy: Friday

Days to Reach Pastors
Pastor Kelly: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Pastor Kristy: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday







Mainstreet United Methodist Church · PO Box 1517 · Nashua, NH 03061-1517 · USA

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