CHURCH IS NOW OPEN MASKS ARE REQUIRED
Nantucket United Methodist Church Founded 1823
Pastor, Rev. Dr. Thomas M. Richard
Sunday Services 10am - Attend In Person or Via Zoom
Bible Study Wednesday 7pm Via Zoom
winning middle school essay by jessA ireland
Jessa is the granddaughter of NUMC congregant Kathie Batchelder.
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and
inhumane.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
Based on Dr. King’s words he would fight for better healthcare because during
this time it’s critical. Martin Luther King fought for the rights for everyone to
be equal and get the rights they deserve. Healthcare is important for all
specially for those with medical issues like me. I’m a type one diabetic which
means I’m always giving myself insulin and going to doctors, and my mom
needs to know that our healthcare will help cover it. Things can get so
expensive and healthcare helps get us the stuff we need.
MLK spent most of his life helping get others what they need. He always
dreamed of the world being right where it should be, everyone should be equal
no one high or above each other like when he said in his great speech when “I
have a dream that one day my four children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their
character.” Now another one of his dreams needs to come true.
Although healthcare was not as important in the past now it’s all we think
about and hoping we have the best one there is. If Dr. King was here, he would
be fighting and fighting with everything he has to make his dream come true
and many others come true too. Everyone needs healthcare but not everyone
has the right access to it.
Martin Luther King gave hope to all and followed through, he would have given
all the money in the world to fund his protest speeches or even to fund his own
line of healthcare just to make things right.
During these times “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” (Martin Luther King).
These words can lead us through these dark times as if MLK himself were here
himself. Now our health is key to our survival, even more than usual.
Our lives have turned upside down the past few months, and we need help
turning it right side up. “The time is always right to do what’s right” just like
now it is the time to do what’s right like when it’s time to fight for our
healthcare.
The disparities we’ve seen during these times are inhumane and sometimes we
can feel like there’s no way of fighting it, but like Dr. King always said and did:
there will always be ways to fight what we think is wrong. We should always
fight for what we believe in and our health is something we should always
believe in even if we do not think at the time it is the most important thing.
Martin Luther King was a man of his heart and his word. Everyone and
everything mattered to him. Like everyone else right now I believe and need
my health care. I am a type one diabetic which means I am always at risk. But
if Martin Luther King can do it, I can do it to.
Even though we are staying at home our health is still out of whack because of
all the pressure staying inside and safe and wearing a mask. None of us can
chance that our healthcare will cover most of the payments we might have to
make, if we have to get treated or end up in the hospital.
Martin Luther King once stated “I have a dream”, now I have a dream that one
day my mom wouldn’t worry about the cost of my insulin, negotiating and
calling the insurance companies to fight for payment or coverage, And dreading
every year when her annual health insurance comes up for renewal. I may not
understand the plans and coverage but as a kid I understood the stress in my
mom’s face and voice, just to make sure we are all covered and healthy.
rev. dr. thomas m. richard
Rev. Dr. Thomas Richard has been part of Nantucket since he was three years old, when his father served the First Congregational Church of Nantucket in the 1950's. Tom returned to the Island in 1986 to serve FCC until 2001.
Since his ordination in 1973 he has served seven churches in five states, and from 2001-2013 he served as the Executive Director of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.
During his fifteen years of ministry here on the Island, he was deeply involved in several non-profit groups and active in ecumenical and interfaith ministries.
He and his wife LeeAnne have six children, and five grandchildren. In early April 2020 Tom was appointed as pastor of the Nantucket United Methodist Church. He returns to ministry in a tradition in which his grandfather was a lay minister, and his father first began his ministry.
After traveling throughout the country since 2001, he and LeeAnne are happy to call Nantucket home again once again.
Historic Nantucket United Methodist Church
One of Nantucket's oldest churches featuring the historic Appleton Organ. The church was built in 1823 during the Golden Age of Whaling. The Nantucket United Methodist Church was added to the Massachusetts Register of Historic Places in 1998 and is part of Nantucket Island's National Register Historic District.
Two Centre Street Restoration Project
Two Centre Street Restoration Project, Inc., is a nonprofit organization governed by a board of directors dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Nantucket United Methodist Church. This majestic Greek revival structure sits grandly at the top of Main and Centre Street in downtown Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The organization formed in 1995 as a coalition of church members and volunteers with expertise in historic preservation, construction, finance and development in order to save and restore this historically significant structure that nearly deteriorated beyond repair.
The work that has been accomplished over the past 25 years has been under the guidance of experienced restoration and preservation architects along with skilled members of the building trade all with the same goal of keeping its’ structural integrity intact.
Please consider donating to our Project.
Thank you!!
Two Centre Street Restoration Project Web Site Click HERE
support the two centre street restoration project
