Photo by Nadya Spetnitskaya on Unsplash
What a busy week at Skyline! It was full of life!
On Saturday, our Preschool held the Annual Spring Fling to raise funds for scholarships for families; and one of the highlights was “Magic Dan” (check out his video).
On Sunday, we honored and celebrated our children’s program director, Rev Sheryl, on her last Sunday with us, and then a group of us attended the 20th anniversary of the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus, which includes several of our beloved members.
(check out the videos)
I give thanks for each one of you, and what happens with our synergy, our collective efforts, which God expands, exponentially.
These are difficult times that we are living in – difficult for the world, for our country, and for many progressive faith communities, and the best time to give is during such times.
I give thanks for our leaders, particularly our church council members, who are chosen by us, from among us to lead the church.
I give thanks for what happens in Sunday worship:
- Will is still filling the candlestick holders
- Sheila cuts our communion loaf
- David Guerra adorns the communion table for the theme for worship
- Benjamin and the choir practices
- Greeters, like Paula, open the doors and welcome us
- Ushers, take up the collection and others, distribute communion
- Karl take photos
- Someone hosts
- Someone volunteers to teach church school with the children
As our moderator Steve Kilgore mentioned last Sunday, that as a congregational church we are self-governing. This means we decide who we (as a church) want to be and what we want to do. There is no hierarchy outside of this congregation telling us how to manifest God’s love. We have the freedom to:
- Reach out to the extended community with an annual Blessing of the Animals, visits to nearby homeless shelters, bike ride fundraisers, vigils to advocate for human rights
- Welcome those who have been marginalized by organized religion by holding an annual LGBTQ Pride service
- Help those in need by supporting the Nueva Esperanza Preschool or by donating money to the local food bank
- Advocate to keep coal out of Oakland, and fossil fuels in the ground.
In this church, every one of us has the freedom to put forth ideas about how this church should be and proceed. But with freedom comes responsibility. Just as there is no authoritative power defining us, there is no benefactor supporting us. It is up to us to pay the utility bills, maintain our church property, promote our church, and help our light shine.
Ruby Bridges, civil rights leader, once said, “Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and start a trail.”
- Over the next few weeks, as you consider the stewardship you can offer this congregation, think about the trails we have cut, and those we should start together.
- Some of us are trailblazers, others help shore up the trail. Both are needed.
- Some of us have money, some of us have skills, some of us have time. All are needed.
- Especially in this year, as we honor our 50th anniversary, think about who and what YOU want this church to be, and then fold yourself in to the dough that is Skyline Community Church.
- Your contribution is the yeast and fiber that defines this church.
Here’s the link to Skyline’s stewardship opportunities this year!
May and June are the seasons for graduation, and so this Sunday we honor our graduates including our Children’s program director Sheryl on her last Sunday with us. 
One of the most memorable Mother’s Day cards I’ve ever seen was one that my brother Steve gave to my mother, when he was in his early teens. The card had a beautiful rose on the outside, and on the inside was printed these words, “You’ve been like a mother to me”. We all laughed, especially my mother, saying, “well that’s good to know Steven, because I AM your mother”.. It’s easy to retell this story as an example of the confused thinking of a young teenager, but I think that Steve was on to something profound..
When the alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:33-34
It’s Monday, Earth Day, and it’s a glorious spring afternoon. I am sitting in the Garden of Eden which exists in my back yard; as the warm sun kisses my shoulders through the shade of graceful redwood and bay trees, and my senses are filled with the fragrance of roses and trees.
Like many of you this week, I watched along with the world as the footage of flames enveloping the Cathedral of Notre Dame went viral over the internet. At first, the images of the grand spire collapsing echoed memories of 9/11. I couldn’t help but ask why? Why did this happen to this Cathedral, that so embodies the confluence of beauty, majesty, faith, art, history, and human expression? Why, on the eve of Holy week? Was it a sign? 
is the outpouring of support for the millions of black and brown people living as refugees throughout the world? And for the millions who are being held in detention centers and prisons in this country? And right here in Oakland, for the thousands living in tents on the streets of our cities, here, in one of the wealthiest areas in the world. 
Would there be such an outpouring of sadness, if we were remembering a young man of color, in an orange jumpsuit, arrested for being an insurrectionist, a disturber of the peace? Whose church was not a building, but the people whom he loved and healed and to whom he brought hope: the sick, the poor, the women and children, the people of color, the outcasts, and those in prison. A man who’s church was the ecclesia, the people, who gathered to be inspired by the stories of the prophets. Who was executed on death row, by the military, industrial, superpower of his time?
What do we do, in the face of such unanswerable questions? We remember him. We join together, and stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers, out in the streets, near the prisons, and in the homeless encampments to pray, sing and support one another through the power of these Spirit inspired stories, to rebuild our lives and our world, bringing good news for all people. It’s what humans do, and have always done. It’s called the ecclesia, the gathered community of faith, the church. 