Since President Trump has been in office, ICE reports that arrests are up 40%. However, the president’s policy has also inspired a renewed resistance, of which our denomination – the UCC, and Skyline are a part.
On Sunday, January 21st Skyline Community Church, UCC unanimously voted to become a sanctuary congregation to advocate, support, and stand with immigrants facing urgent situations.
As an inclusive, progressive Christian community, Skyline upholds the sacredness of each person, and advocates for the rights of immigrants. Over the past few years, volunteers from Skyline have provided education, advocacy, donations, and accompaniment to immigrant families in need. Our hope is to offer even more support in the future.
The most recent threat about an ICE sweep in Northern California is part of a larger anti-immigrant movement, rooted in xenophobia and racism. 800,000 young people with DACA could also be at risk for deportation and separation from their families. Immigrants are a vital part of our communities, and the breaking up of immigrant families is one of the most critical social justice issues of our time.
By voting for this resolution, Skyline denounces this latest threat against the well-being of our communities. While Skyline is not offering physical sanctuary, if the threatened ICE sweep is implemented, our Justice and Witness Team is committed to finding ways in which we can offer support to protect the families whose safety and well-being is being endangered. Now is the time to come together and act on our sacred values of compassion and justice.
At our best, as followers of Jesus, we are supporting a countercultural vision of our world, which Jesus called the Kingdom of Heaven. At our best, we are supporting the thriving of a real sanctuary. We are a sanctuary for people of different genders, races, backgrounds and ethnicities who are rightly afraid today. We are a sanctuary for all those bonded to them in love. We are a sanctuary for change makers. So many of us in this community are working in one way or another for the most vulnerable and for the delicate ecosystems that sustain life itself. From my vantage point as a minister, seeing the outpouring of energy and commitment from all of you in recent months, I know that this congregation is a powerful force for good in this world.
We lift up a different image of God – God as compassion, God as love, God as friend, God as the power of liberation for the oppressed; God who became one of us, born as a refugee, and born in a barn stable much like the story of so many undocumented people in this world, and in this country; born as a nobody from nowhere, whom we remember and we follow 2,000 years later.
Thank you Skyline, for your faith in action. I invite you to read this article about ways Skyline is already taking action for inspiration.
With love, Pastor Laurie, Nancy Taylor, Mirtha Langewis-Ninayahuar and the Justice and Witness Team
Archive for Church in the World – Page 5
50 yrs ago the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. preached his last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church before his assassination. It is a remarkable sermon. In it, he discusses his own death and how he wanted to be remembered. In addition, he skillfully used the “Drum Major Instinct” theme – “thinking that you are somebody big because you are white” – to offer a deep critique of contemporary culture and an inspired, practical vision for living the Gospel. Specifically, he critiqued the dangerous down-side of the drum major instinct. He addresses white supremacy, racism, economic injustice and war.
Like so many of his sermons, this one has incredible relevance for us today, the year after an election in which various forms of the drum major instinct are on parade all across our nation. It is also what makes the message King brings home so poignant: the call of the Gospel to be a drum major for justice and peace, a drum major for serving humanity, that we may “make of this old world a new world.”
Join us this Sunday, as we listen to the prophetic voice of Dr King, 50 yrs later.
I share with you an excerpt from his sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church:
… And when we were in jail in Birmingham the other day, the white wardens and all enjoyed coming around the cell to talk about the race problem. And they were showing us where we were so wrong demonstrating. And they were showing us where segregation was so right. And they were showing us where intermarriage was so wrong. …And then we got down one day to the point—that was the second or third day—to talk about where they lived, and how much they were earning. And when those brothers told me what they were earning, I said, “Now, you know what? You ought to be marching with us. [laughter] You’re just as poor as Negroes.” And I said, “You are put in the position of supporting your oppressor, because through prejudice and blindness, you fail to see that the same forces that oppress Negroes in American society oppress poor white people. (Yes) And all you are living on is the satisfaction of your skin being white, and the drum major instinct of thinking that you are somebody big because you are white. And you’re so poor you can’t send your children to school. You ought to be out here marching with every one of us every time we have a march.”
Now that’s a fact. That the poor white has been put into this position, where through blindness and prejudice, (Make it plain) he is forced to support his oppressors. And the only thing he has going for him is the false feeling that he’s superior because his skin is white—and can’t hardly eat and make his ends meet week in and week out. (Amen)
Delivered February 4, 1968. listen to the audio.
While Laurie is at the Climate Leadership Conference hosted by Al Gore, I looked through our website for blog posts about Skyline’s action towards climate health. Here are just a few excerpts, and they speak loudly for the environmental justice stand of Skyline.
Also, check out Laurie’s Gofundme page for her travel expenses to the Leadership Conference. Thanks!
Blessings, Nancy Montier, Office Manager.
Posted July 5, 2017: The United Church of Christ General Synod 2017 has just 
overwhelmingly approved the Climate Resolution calling on clergy and congregations across the denomination to take action to protect the environment, and churches are lining up to stand behind it publicly.
Posted April 25, 2017: Join the Skyline contingent going to the Oakland March under the People’s Climate March on Saturday, 4/29 (100 days into the Trump administration). We will meet at Lincoln Square in front of the liquor store at 10:00 am and carpool
Posted June 30, 2016: From Laurie’s speech at the June 25 No Coal Rally: “I feel so much hope today, here with you, and here representing the voices of so many Oakland faith communities, including the dozens that are part of CIPL & the Sierra Club, in saying no to coal in Oakland …. Tonight, our City Council will vote a/ bringing coal into W. Oakland from Utah to export to Asia. I think if they asked us, we’d tell them right away – NO! no more coal dust, no more asthma, no more cancer, no more climate change!”
Posted Feb 17, 2016: Statement by Rev. Laurie Manning at the no-coal-in-Oakland press conference outside City Hall Tues, Feb 16, 2016: “We’re all familiar with “the Golden Rule.” It’s a universal principal, an ethic of reciprocity that teaches: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It teaches us to care about our neighbors. Who doesn’t care about the kid down the street, or down the hill breathing dirty air?”
Posted Sept 22, 2015: This week, millions across our nation will witness the words and vision of a man [Pope Francis] who has revolutionized a church and reinvigorated a 2,000-year-old gospel…. What’s revolutionary about Pope Francis is how he lives out his Christian faith through selfless good deeds, prophetic words to world leaders, and compassionate pastoral care. …We invite you to join us in praying for a transformative week for the US,…particularly with respect to climate change. …Skyline’s Green team is partnering … to host two prayer vigils on Wed Sept 23rd, at 6:30 am and 6:30 pm here at Skyline.
Posted Aug 31, 2015: As Pope Francis prepares to speak to the US Congress …about climate change, interfaith vigils are being held across the country. Skyline United Church of Christ, joined by members of other East Bay congregations concerned about the climate crisis, will host two interfaith prayer services for the climate – one in the morning and one in the evening. WHEN: SUNRISE at 6:30 a.m. & SUNSET at 6:30 p.m
Posted April 29, 2015: THE WISDOM TO SURVIVE (a film) accepts the consensus of scientists that climate change has already arrived, and asks, what is keeping us from action? The film explores how unlimited growth and greed are destroying the life support system of the planet, the social fabric of society, and the lives of billions of people.…The film features thought leaders and activists in the realms of science, economics and spirituality discussing how we can evolve and take action in the face of climate disruption.
Skyline’s commitment to a green, healthy world for all is clear in our actions. What’s next?
I am sickened by the latest incidence of violence, this time in Charlottesville, Virginia. I pray for the families of the two police officers who died on their way to help. I pray for the family of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old paralegal who was killed by a 20-year-old white supremacist, a terrorist whose name I will not speak, who turned his car into a weapon against non-violent protesters. Heather was killed, and 19 other people were struck down by malice, hatred and racism.
They were struck down by what has stricken our nation since its founding: the horrible lie that is white supremacy. This lie was formed in the mouth of Thomas Jefferson, who had a suspicion that the Africans who had been enslaved by the freedom-seeking colonists were inferior to their white owners. This horrible lie was fanned into pseudo-science about racial hierarchy. This lie spits in the face of the truth: there is only one race, and that race is called human.
We who know the truth must be set free from apathy and boldly challenge the falsehood of white supremacy every time and everywhere we see it. We who are people of faith must not pretend that what happened in Charlottesville was violence and hatred on “many sides.” We must say the truth out loud.
This is the truth: White supremacists organized themselves and descended on Charlottesville to protest the removal of a symbol of hatred and racism. They will keep organizing and use every tool in their power to make America racist, again and again.
And we who believe in freedom, we who believe in the power of revolutionary love must keep organizing as well, and use every tool in our power to fight this hatred, to renounce this bigotry, and to call our leaders into account. This is NOT the America for us. This rising ugly tide of white supremacy, if unchecked, will become a tsunami that will drown the liberties espoused by our constitution, and will end more and more innocent lives.
Hatred kills.
We must recognize that all of these movements (black lives matter, women’s march, immigration reform, LGBTQ Pride, affordable housing, education, and healthcare, prison reform, climate justice, etc) are all part of the human rights movement. We must join together to stand on the side of love. Here are some things we can all do now in response to white supremacy:
- Tweet the president or retweet a prayer that @POTUS joins us to name and fight #WhiteSupremacy and the #terrorism that accompanies it.
- Read “UCC Pastoral Letter condemns racist violence in Charlottesville, demands equality for all”
- Read these articles and learn more about what’s happening here in the Bay area, Aug 26-27 weekend:
- Sign this petition from Faith in Public Life that calls on the @POTUS to behave like a president. It calls “on all elected officials to explicitly and publicly condemn white supremacy and the organizations that advance and seek to give it mainstream credibility.” And it asks “President Trump to remove Steve Bannon and other supporters of the alt-right from his White House and stand against the racist policies they propose.”
- Join us for an interfaith worship service on Sat Aug 26th, in which our very own music director, Benjamin Mertz, will be performing; stay tuned for more as plans unfold.
- Join us for a conversation immediately following worship this Sunday about our own personal discernment in response.
And never forget that when we take these actions, we are praying with our hands and our feet. We are mourning, and we are organizing against white supremacy with revolutionary love, until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.
I leave you with the prophetic words of Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr: 
Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
A time to end the Silence.
“History will have to record the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the vitriolic words and other violent actions of the bad people but the appalling silence and indifference of the good people. Our generation will have to repent not only the words and acts of the children of darkness but also for the fears and apathy of the children of light.” “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Subject: Informational Resource to Prepare
Members to Vote on April 2, 2017
On the Resolution to Become a Sanctuary Church
Dear Friends,
Your Skyline UCC Council has resolved that on Sunday, April 2, 2017, immediately following our 10:00 service, we hold a special meeting to vote on the Resolution below:
Proposed Resolution
That the Skyline Community Church declare itself a Sanctuary Church committed to protecting, supporting and advocating for those being targeted by the current administration such as immigrants, refugees, Muslims, women, Black Lives Matter activists, Native Americans and the LGBTQ community.
As such, we share the goals of the current Sanctuary Movement:
- Make Visible the Invisible – giving a voice to those who have no voice – and revealing the unjust suffering of millions of families (bearing the image of God) at the hands of the immigration system.
- Inspire members of congregations to raise their voices to call for public policy to address the needs of these families.
- Heal the trauma experienced by families facing the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. We will support and/or actively engage in one or more of the following activities:
Physical Sanctuary for someone facing Final Deportation:
- Discern if your congregation would be willing to offer Sanctuary for a person facing final deportation orders in a humanitarian emergency. Most often, these are people who have been long term residents, already have children, family and community ties to the area and have exhausted all other legal options to remain with their family here in the United States.
- By offering Sanctuary, your congregation is willing to offer physical sanctuary on religious property, as a way to protect them from the reach of ICE. Your congregation would be supported by other congregations and community groups committing to be part of a local network of Sanctuary by assisting with hospitality, protection, and advocacy.
Accompaniment of Immigrant Families or Youth:
Individuals and congregations can immediately help accompany immigrants in urgent situations and need of accompaniment. This can include newly arrived migrant families, unaccompanied minors, people facing deportation crisis, those just released from detention centers. Trained volunteers can help to provide courtroom accompaniment, access to services, and concrete and emotional support and/or transitional housing to help those in a period of crisis.
Advocacy:
- Advocate at the Local, State and National level for policies which protect the due process of immigrants and promote their full dignity and integration into our local communities.
- Advocating for policies which help to prevent mass deportation and fear by creating clear separation between ICE and local law enforcement and civic institutions, for example strong sanctuary city and county policies.
- Engage in local public actions and activities to shift public discourse towards immigrants, Muslims, and refugees, and bring attention to our responsibility to address root causes.
Networks of Protection & Rapid Response
- Join a Rapid Response Network to respond to ICE workplace raids, home raids or other enforcement activity.
- Connect with targeted communities to help develop relationship and networks of protection.
Note: It is not necessary to commit to or perform all of the four actions described above to fulfill the Sanctuary objectives.
In depth information has been identified by our Champions for Justice – Nancy Taylor and Mirtha Ninayahuar. The links to this information are as follows:
- Here’s information on Skyline’s discernment process
- Here’s information from UCC on sanctuary
- Here’s information on the Congregational Church of San Mateo’s Sanctuary process
- Here’s an informative video and information from San Mateo’s website about sanctuary.
This meeting is not intended to be “informational” and, therefore we are assuming that the congregation will have taken advantage of the various informational resources made available the two weeks preceding the meeting. We will, of course, answer any lingering questions you might have.
We need to personally discern the admonition to act with compassion.
What does the Lord require of you? But to do justice, and to love kindness, and to work humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8).
We prayerfully look forward to the April 2, 2017 Resolution Action Meeting.
David Byrens
Skyline UCC Moderator
From Pastor Laurie:
News outlets from the New York Times to Mother Jones Magazine have praised the leadership of California at the November UN climate summit in Paris. The LA Times portrayed Governor Jerry Brown’s active presence in Paris as representing not only the crafting of his “political legacy” but also his preoccupation with preventing “catastrophe.”
Yet environmental lawyers, community activists, and faith leaders are increasingly bringing to the public’s awareness what has long been California’s dirty secret. In a state known for its environmentalism, environmental racism has remained a festering, unbridled sin.
Environmental racism is the placement of low-income or minority communities in close proximity of environmentally hazardous or degraded environments such as toxic waste, pollution and urban decay.
Skyline Community Church UCC in Oakland has been active in struggles against environmental racism here in California, particularly with respect to fracking and the proposed coal terminal in Oakland.
In November, Nancy Taylor of our Green Team and I joined together with an interfaith coalition to deliver a letter to Brown that called for a halt to fracking.
On Tuesday, Feb 9, 2016, several members of our Green Team joined me as I addressed an interfaith rally outside Oakland’s City Hall in seeking to delay consultant work that could bring the city closer to having a coal terminal. Becky Taylor, a former Oakland Port Commissioner and a member of Skyline’s Green Team and I spoke at the City Council meeting against coal. In my remarks, I spoke of the pride I feel about Governor Brown’s environmental leadership in Paris, but then asked, “Why would we want to be complicit in prolonging and accelerating this environmental and humanitarian health crisis?”
The combined will, wisdom, voice and energy of the interfaith community of Oakland, its people, and prayers resulted in the City Council voting to delay the opening a coal terminal in Oakland!
Skyline is a small but mighty force for environmental justice here in Oakland! Thank you Skyline!!
Here are a few articles that reference our good work!
http://www.ucc.org/californias_dirty_secret_comes_to_light
To Skyline Community from Steve Kilgore:
I brought $3,630 (the balance of the Sierra Leone fund) with me to Sentho in Sierra Leone when I went in January. We made a trip to Makomray and met with the school and village leaders. The new 2 classroom building for the preschoolers is close to be being done. See photo. The floors still need to be cemented and furniture is needed for one of the classrooms (the youngest children can use mats).
The other classrooms have had an issue with bat guano spoiling the ceiling and many ceiling tiles will need to be replaced along with mitigation to prevent further bat problems. There is also a need to do repaint some of the classrooms. Sentho plans to return to the village soon and get input on what specifically the community wants done with the current $$. She’s holding it for now and will report back to us once the decisions are made on how the money is spent.
We showed up during a school day. It was encouraging that there were many students and the teachers and principal were present. Neither of us were impressed by the apparent level of order and education that was going on. It’s not like we did an evaluation, but from appearances it didn’t appear a lot of learning was happening. I’m afraid the level of training of the staff combined with adequate supplies makes for a challenging learning environment for all. Some of the supplies we’ve sent in the past were there and are really valuable in such a poor community.
Anyway, we’ll hear more detail from Sentho in the coming months.
Steve Kilgore
From Sentho: Hello Everyone and greetings from Sierra Leone.
Yes, Steve gave me $3,640 and I still have the $$ (not yet exchanged to leones) with me. Again,I want to say many thanks to all, but especially to Marilyn, Kay and Rhea, Andre, Steve and everyone who participated in various ways in making a difference in my village. I will forever be grateful!!
The Head chief finally called last week and gave me an estimate of the materials (cement, cellotex, paint, boards, etc) needed for the work. It’s a lot more than I had expected and he himself said that, so I will have to reduce the quantity so there will be money left for the teachers and some school supplies. I’ll send details later after delivering the items and paying the teachers.
I am planning to travel to the village to take the materials some time soon (before they start their farm work) or else they will not do the work.
Greetings, peace, and many thanks to all.
Sentho
Note from Pastor Laurie:
Special thanks to Marilyn Shaw for the many years in which she organized bike ride fundraisers to help to fund this school and support the teachers. Especially now, as Sierra Leone continues to recover from Ebola we give thanks for Marilyn’s generous heart and commitment to the children of Makomray, and for the love and support of this community .
Statement by Rev. Laurie Manning, pastor of Skyline Church UCC-Oakland Hills, and UCC Northern California representative for Environmental Justice at the no-coal-in-Oakland press conference outside City Hall Tues, Feb 16, 2016:
We’re all familiar with “the Golden Rule.” It’s a universal principal, an ethic of reciprocity that teaches: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It teaches us to care about our neighbors. Who doesn’t care about the kid down the street, or down the hill breathing dirty air?
As Flint Michigan reminds us, environmental toxins particularly impact poor children of color, globally, & locally. West Oakland has many parallels to Flint. (%90 black & Latino, where residents already experience high rates of poverty and unemployment).
This is a local health issue. The children of West Oakland are already contending with fumes & noise from the Port. We need to ask ourselves, what if it were our own children?
Now the proponents of the coal partnership in Oakland argue that it is bringing a $52 million investment and will bring almost $3 mill in annual property taxes and 2300 jobs.
But at what cost? What cost to the environment: excavating coal in Utah, transporting it here by rail, & shipping it by ocean to be burned in China? What cost to human lives in every step of the coal production process: the health risks to those most vulnerable; the miners in Utah; the residents of West Oakland; and those who breathe the air in China?
I’m so proud of Governor Brown, and his global leadership in environmental justice. Speaking out in Paris, and at 
Vatican, Governor Brown echoed the global scientific community’s unanimous pleas to leave 90% of fossil fuels in ground. Why would we want to be complicit in prolonging and accelerating this environmental and humanitarian health crisis?
Furthermore, besides the moral argument, there’s an economic argument. It’s a bad investment for Oakland. The demand for coal and the coal industry are rapidly failing. Why would Oakland want to invest, even in the short term, as major coal companies are going bankrupt? As Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize economist, has recently noted, “fossil fuels 
are the way of past, renewables are way in the future – if we care about the future, we care about switching.”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/opinion/wind-sun-and-fire.html?_r=0
Finally, there’s the voice of the people. According to the recent Sierra Club survey, 76% of Oakland residents are against coal in the port.
Surely, there are healthier and safer long term sources of jobs and revenue that will benefit all of the people of Oakland.
