Main Street United Methodist Church: Mainstreeter Weekly Blast April 20, 2023

Over the next several weeks, we invite you to explore what it means to have

"a place to call home"

in your spiritual lives.

April 16 - May 21

What speaks of home to you? The Youth Group sent out care packages to college students this week hoping the combination of junk food and receiving a box from their church home would remind them their faith family cares and is cheering students on.

This weekend is also Earth Day—and due to predicted weather, the Earth Day hike is TONIGHT—and Native American Sunday. Often, people speak of their Mother language as their homeland. For those who travel the world and for refugees and immigrants, home is often where they speak your mother tongue.

In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer writes:
"When a language dies, so much more than words are lost.

Language is the dwelling place of ideas that do not exist anywhere else.

It is a prism through which to see the world.
In some Native languages the term for plants translates to "those who take care of us."
Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.
Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life.
Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.
Never take the first. Never take the last. Take only what you need.
Take only that which is given.
Never take more than half. Leave some for others.
Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.
Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken. Share.
Give thanks for what you have been given.
Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.
Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever."

The United Methodist Church continues to repent of the ways we stripped Native communities of their language through boarding schools, missionary churches who insisted on English, and our nation's history of forced relocation through the Trail of Tears. Our Native American Sunday special offering is just one small way to work to repair that wound and restore what has been lost.

I invite you to give as a way of honoring language as an essential homeland.
–Rev Kelly

RSVP to the Church Office ~ office@mainstreet-umc.org or call (603)882-3361 with the number of attendees.

Click Here for Sunday's Bulletin

Join us in celebrating the baptism of Henry Ellis this Sunday. There will be cake!

Upload your Hi-Res Photos Here

The youth packed college care boxes on Sunday and Karrie Lam shipped them to seven college students on Monday. They should be receiving the boxes of snacks by Thursday. Thanks again for your snack donations and your monetary donations to cover the shipping cost.

The United Methodist Women stayed up late Wednesday to pack period packs for disaster relief areas after an interesting program on the importance of art in school.

TONIGHT!

Mark you calendars and get the clubs dusted off, the 21st Annual UMM Golf Tournament is coming up in June. Sign up details below. Also Sponsorship opportunities are available (see below).

Additional Sponsorship Support needed:

Personal Hole Sponsors @ $50.00 / sign

Corporate Hole Sponsors @ $75.00 / sign

Each sign is 8 1/2 x 11 laminated and attached to a sign board.

Contact Mark Morrissey for more information:

markm196114@msn.com or (603) 244-0738

RSVP to the Church Office ~ office@mainstreet-umc.org or call (603)882-3361 with the amount of attendees.

TWO ZOOM WEBINARS

Wednesday / 4.26 / 12:30pm - 1:30pm

Thursday / 4.27 / 7:00pm - 8:00pm

This summer, we're BLASTING OFF! To Mars and Beyond... we'll learn how God can empower us to GO BEYOND with faith, boldness, kindness, thankfulness, and hope. We're on a mission, and we'd love to have you voyage with us!

Monday, July 31st through Friday, August 4th

9:00AM until 12:00PM

(Ages 3 years through 6th Grade)

Interested in helping us out? There are a variety of ways to volunteer your hands, time, and heart! Click below to fill out the volunteer form or contact Andrea Weir to find your perfect fit!

Volunteer for VBS Here

Camp Mechuwana

Camps are filling up fast!

If you have not signed up—sign up today!

Visit Camp Website

A new Vestry Class is starting April 2nd at 9:00 a.m., running through June 11th.

Hearing a lot of buzz about the "end times" these days? Join us as we explore Craig C Hill's study, "In God's Time," which explores the way the Bible talks about the future from a perspective of mainstream Biblical scholarship. (Hint: the Bible does not give a roadmap for predicting the end of the world!) (Second hint: the Bible does not predict an end to the world!)

Led by Paul Pederzani and Pastor Kristy, group members will watch a video and then discuss. The group is always lively and all are welcome, either in person or online. Here's the zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88185355974?pwd=SEpQemJ3ZzRRWm9lMFFQSlpwdUhzQT09

For those who wish to supplement their personal study (not required), the accompanying book is available. A copy or two will be available on Sunday, with three more on order, and you can order your own (new or used) on amazon or through a bookseller of your choice.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Order Book Here