Mainstreeter Weekly Blast December 19, 2024

Cantata - this Sunday at 10:30 AM - JOIN US!

View this email in your browser New in this Issue: Volunteer at NSKS for Holiday Box distribution and restocking Holiday Office Hours and Pastoral Coverage UMW News United Methodist Men - Breakfast on January 4 Church Leadership Development - January 11th Youth Event at St. James UMC in January Full Moon Walks in Mine Falls Park - Mark your Calendars! 2025 Stewardship Campaign Treasurer Volunteer Position Needed! Click Here to Donate Today to MSUMC Sunday Worship Begins at 10:30 AM "Joy to the World" Series Begins Sunday, December 1st Watch Live So often those who live outside feel unseen or despised. Which perhaps explains why, at the Longest Night Vigil (this Saturday, 12/21 at 5PM), those experiencing homelessness express so much surprise and gratitude for the people who gather to affirm the sacred worth of those who live rough. Meeting at City Hall at 5:00 p.m. in often frigid temperatures we circle up, light candles, and name those who died over the last year. All across the nation, communities gather on the winter solstice because only the longest night can tend to the sorrow, only the bitter cold can bear our rage against systems that are made for death instead of life, only the bluest hues can meet us in the ache. We gather in solidarity and in grief for the changes we have yet been unable to make, for affordable housing, for mental health treatment, for recovery programs, for a social safety net for those for whom a diagnosis or a lay-off has changed everything. We are community together living alongside the poor and marginalized who Jesus calls us to care for. Peace, RevKelly Click Here for Sunday's Bulletin Sign up for Free Course Here Sign up for Holiday Box Distribution UMW / UNITED WOMEN IN FAITH NEWS **NO DECEMBER MEETING** Next Meeting:  Weds, January 15 Merry Christmas to Everyone, Our women's group will not meet in December. Be sure to join, in person or online, the special worship services for Advent at Main Street. The music Cantata is Sunday Dec. 22. We like to have the coffee hour be special that day, so if you would like to do some baking or donate some special snack, please do so. Thank you, Pam Breniser Church Leadership Development January 11th at 8AM LONDONDERRY UMC The Londonderry UMC is inviting neighboring UMCs to a time of learning the church committee essentials for SPRC, Finance, Trustees, worship, and outreach ministries. Learn some new skills, share some insights, and have some fun with fellow leaders. All who are serving in a church committee or program or are interested in being part of the church ministry are invited. We will meet at the Londonderry UMC at 8 am – 12noon. Coffee, breakfast pastries, and light refreshments will be served. Contact Pastor David Palmer for more information. Rev. Dr. David Palmer 603-728-8760 Londonderry & Manchester First United Methodist Churches Click Here to Learn More Click Here to Donate Today to MSUMC Church office hours:   Mon - Weds - Thurs - Fri from 9:00 - 2:00 Closed on Tuesdays. Copyright (C) 2024 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 December 12, 2024

View this email in your browser New in this Issue: 3rd Sunday Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter - December 15th Bring your birthday bag this Sunday!  The Missions team will be delivering to NSKS Sunday afternoon! Holiday Office Hours Youth Event at St. James UMC in January 2025 Stewardship Campaign Staff Gift Fund Treasurer Volunteer Position Needed! United Way Coat Drive - we are dropping off donations Dec 23!   Get your winter coat, hat, mittens donations in today! RISE - Rivier Institute for Senior Education Opportunities Click Here to Donate Today to MSUMC Sunday Worship Begins at 10:30 AM "Joy to the World" Series Begins Sunday, December 1st Watch Live Last night, at the Advent conversation at the parsonage, we talked about the nature of attention and perspective during this season when so much of the day is dark. We considered how a change in perspective might help us become aware of the nurturing gifts of darkness. The quote by Morgan Harper Nichols "There is a reason the sky gets dark at night, we were not meant to see everything all the time. We were meant to rest and trust even in the darkness." In the hurried season of parties and shopping and cards and travel and food prep, we wondered how much worse it would be if it were light out in the evenings. Does the earlier sunset impose a kind of forced reset or pause? And if we look to the natural world for their wisdom about the winter, what perspective might we gain? We ended with a poem by UM pastor Jan Richardson from her book, Night Visions, encouraging us to embrace the other senses we have available to us beyond sight to receive God's messages. There are other senses, you tell us, and when the darkness obscures our choices, we must turn to the other ways of knowing you have given us. In the daylight we can get by on sight, but for the nighttime is our hearing, is our tasting, is our smelling, is our questioning, longing touching. A thousand messages waiting for our sensing you have given us, O God. Peace, Pastor Kelly Click Here for Sunday's Bulletin Disaster Response Training Survey Sign up for Free Course Here Main Street is hosting the Third Sunday Food Pantry this Sunday, December 15. December holiday box distribution begins December 18, so we will only be distributing fruits, vegetables, and probably one meat and some other canned goods, but no boxes. There may be boxes to pack for the holiday distribution.  Last month, we were able to pack 60 Thanksgiving boxes in 45 minutes, thanks to impressive organization by John Graudons and then Ken Mack.   If you want to bring any donations to the pantry, or just to church, some of the items that may be missing from the holiday boxes include oil, sugar, flour, gravy, broth or bouillon cubes, and dessert mixes. Please let me know if you are able to help on Sunday.   Thank you. Phyllis Appler The Missions team is once again collecting "Birthday in a Bag" donations to benefit the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter this holiday season.  We are collecting new or gently used birthday bags, filled with what families can use for a birthday party (cake mix, frosting, candles, oil, table cloths, party favors, etc.).  We can help bring joy to families this holiday season with a birthday bag they can use while not having to worry about how they can afford to celebrate their loved one on that special day. We are dropping off donations to the United Way on December 23.   Get yours in today! Click Here to Learn More Click Here to Donate Today to MSUMC Church office hours:   Mon - Weds - Thurs - Fri from 9:00 - 2:00 Closed on Tuesdays. Copyright (C) 2024 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