Welcome Ben McKnight! Ben is our new part time, temporary communications specialist working remotely from Madison, Wisconsin. He also works for our sister UCC church, First Church Berkeley UCC, and enjoys reading, PC gaming, hiking, traveling, and yoga. He will be working with us, 7-10 hours a week, supporting us in our email newsletters, social media, and bulletins. He can be reached at communications@skylineucc.org.
Archive for Uncategorized – Page 28
Dear Ones,
Blessings to you, as we celebrate International Women’s Month!
#InternationalWomensDay #HerStory #WomensHistoryMonth
Here are a few quotes that I’d like to share with you. I’d love for you to share yours on our facebook page:
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” -Maya Angelou
Jesus protected women.
Empowered women.
Honored women publicly.
Released the voice of women.
Confided in women.
Was funded by women.
Celebrated women by name.
Learned from women.
Respected women.
And spoke of women as examples to follow.
Our turn.
–Karyn L. Wiseman
Our NCNCUCC conference is holding a special Business Meeting, as voted upon during last year’s Annual Meeting, this Saturday, March 13th, from 10 am – 1 pm.
Representation is critical since we’re determining our conference budget and discerning the future of Camp Cazadero.
The decision has critical implications for:
- our conference staff, and their ability to support local churches like ours.
- the future of the camping program at Camp Caz
I am planning to attend, and ideally, we would have 3 member delegates, including me, from Skyline.
I have been working with the conference council, on discernment for the camp, based on my role with the national CB&LF, and regional mission interpreters who have shared their experiences with maintaining their camping program throughout the UCC.
Let me know if you’re interested and available to attend, if you’d like to discuss, or if you have suggestions about other members who’d be ideal for this discussion.
For more info, including source documents, and registration, please go here:
https://ncncucc.org/annual-gathering/
peace, Laurie
It’s Wednesday Jan 20th, a new day, Inauguration day. The sunlight broke through the clouds over our nation’s capital this morning, in this epiphany moment.
I’d like to share two moments that moved me deeply this morning, and look forward to hearing your experience of this historic day.
First, Amanda Gorman, a 22-year-old poet, read an original work at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Her words are on my mind….
“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
It can never be permanently defeated
Let us see the light.. let us be the light”.
Second, President Biden made reference to another January on New Year’s Day in 1863, when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
“When he [Lincoln] put pen to paper, the president said, and I quote, ‘if my name ever goes down into history, it’ll be for this act. And my whole soul is in it.’
On this January day, my whole soul is in this:
Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation.
And I ask every American to join me in this cause.
Uniting to fight the foes we face: anger, resentment, hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness. With unity, we can do great things, important things. We can right wrongs. We can put people to work in good jobs. We can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome the deadly virus. We can reward work and rebuild the middle class and make health care secure for all. We can deliver racial justice and we can make America once again the leading force for good in the world.I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days. I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real, but I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we’re all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial and victory is never assured.”
Find full transcript here.
Let us be that light, that goodness together.
Amen,
As part of our commitment to being a Sanctuary Congregation, the Justice & Witness Ministry Team made a proposal to Church Council recently that Skyline become a Congregational Sustainer by having a special offering over several weeks in January, with a goal of raising $2,000 for Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (IM4HI).
As we mark our Third Anniversary as a Sanctuary Congregation, please consider sharing some of your stimulus money (past and forthcoming) and savings throughout the Pandemic, for this offering. Please indicate “sanctuary” or “IM4HI” on your payment. It would be wonderful if we could exceed our goal! It is a privilege to be a part of this justice-loving, compassionate and generous congregation! Read more about being a Congregational Sustainer here, from Rev. Deborah Lee…
Thank you for all the ways that Skyline UCC has been an incredible partner to IM4HI— supporting newcomer families, advocacy, being a witness and sanctuary congregation. I am reaching out to request one more way that Skyline can support our partnership.
IM4HI began a Congregational Sustainers program in 2019. We currently have 40 congregations who in addition to engaging and partnering with us around the collective work of supporting newcomer immigrants, freeing folks from detention and advocating for new social policies which center people, dignity and liberation, support through the making of an annual gift or an amount that is generous to them. This gift helps support the wider networking, training and capacity building that has really grown in the Bay Area to support congregations. Today we have over 50 sanctuary congregations.
Congregational sustainers make a collective gift on behalf of the congregation to support the ongoing partnership and engagement supporting training, capacity building, support to directly impacted people and public advocacy. Some congregations take a special offering, others may have an event where I or one of my staff comes to speak, others may have a budget for missions or partnerships.
Next year, we have the potential for some new political terrain. But it is going to take a lot to make it happen. With all the damage that has been done, this is not going to be a quick fix, and it will require strong and consistent pressure. The immigrant community is going to need the faith community standing with them even stronger to stop the ongoing harms of detention and deportation.
We will meet with legislators, elevate the stories of those most impacted, organize public witness with families, undo all the harms Trump and those before him have done, until we have humane and compassionate policies towards immigrants.
Our key policy priorities are: a) Re-opening our borders and restoration of US and international asylum law. b) Bringing to an end the practice of immigration detention which is an unnecessary, an ineffective deterrent and costly, to human rights and human trauma. c) Defunding ICE and protecting communities from deportation. d) Creating a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million+ undocumented, TPS and DACA holders, so millions are not continuously vulnerable to deportation and can become full members of our society.
We will continue to advocate for those in ICE detention and state prisons during the pandemic and to elevate public health and judicial recommendations for a drastic reduction of those incarcerated by allowing people deemed safe to return to society to come home to their loved ones. We will continue to partner with and advocate for greater resources to support successful re-entry and alternatives to incarceration.
Thanks for considering this request! Thank you, though we miss being in community with you during the pandemic. We appreciate your prayers and walking with us on this journey.
I’m attaching a colorful flyer with more information about our Cong. Sustainers. Let me know if you need any more information!
Blessings, Peace and Joy,
Deborah
It’s the season of Epiphany! I’m searching for the light of that star, especially this year, how about you?
What is epiphany? An “epiphany” is a moment of understanding, a moment of consciousness. In last Sunday’s gospel, Matthew tells us the Magi (who were gentiles [that is, non-Jews]) know something is up. They’ve been watching the night skies and a star suggests to them that something is happening in Judea, something to do with royalty. So they travel Judea and check in with King Herod. They get sent off to Bethlehem to find the child and when they find him, they have an epiphany. They realize that this non-royal, peasant child carries God’s love in a special, perhaps even unique way. Thus, Epiphany (the holiday) celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles.
But that one paragraph summary fails to capture the drama of the story. During their visit to King Herod, the Magi were ordered to report back to the king the location of the child. “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road,” Matthew tells us.
Theology professor Dr. Serene Jones tweeted, “Civil disobedience lies at the heart of the Epiphany story: The magi receive an unjust order from a vindictive tyrant. Instead, they defy him. May we do likewise.”
Our sacred stories remind us that Jesus came to stand up to the principalities and powers that abuse and neglect. Time and again, Jesus calls us to participate in this holy work. Regardless of the outcome of the elections in Georgia, regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s certification of the Electoral College vote, that holy work will not end. The principalities and powers – in the halls of government and the halls of corporations – that abuse and neglect will continue their ugly work. And so, our Christ-like work of pursuing justice, compassion, and love will continue.
Join us this Sunday, as we continue in this season of Epiphany, with Jesus’s baptism. We are invited to remember that each one of us is God’s beloved child, and that together, as Skyline community church, we are a beloved family, building the beloved community. As part of this service, we will remember our calling as a sanctuary congregation – a renewing of our sanctuary vows, and the power of solidarity in this season of Epiphany.
We are also pleased to have with us this Sunday, my/our friend and colleague, Rev Deborah Lee, https://www.im4humanintegrity.org/our-staff/, Executive Director of the Interfaith Center For Human Integrity. https://www.im4humanintegrity.org/who-we-are/. We will learn 
more, during and after the service about their work and how we can be of support.
Please be sure to bring with you, a bowl of water for the renewal of our baptismal vows.
Blessings, Pastor Laurie
Wednesday, November 25, 7-8 PM by Zoom
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/716026467
Meeting ID: 716 026 467
An evening of meditative songs and prayers.
On the day before Thanksgiving, in this season of separation, sadness and strife; rest in a moment of slow, beautiful gratitude, community, and hope.
An hour of interfaith readings, prayers, music, and silence.
Music: Ken Medema,
Host and Speaker: Pastor Laurie
IMPORTANT MESSAGE:
Out of an abundance of caution and care for our more vulnerable members, SKYLINE WILL NOT HAVE IN-PERSON WORSHIP SERVICES until further notice.
Services are broadcast live on zoom , Sundays at 10 am
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/716026467
Meeting ID: 716 026 467
links to our worship team!
Gabrielle Lochard, https://www.groupmuse.com/musicians/6295-gabrielle-lochard
Pastor Laurie Manning https://skylineucc.org/staff/
If you’ve never zoomed before, try logging in at 9:50 am.
Since last week, I have been wearing my “I voted” sticker on my Nike “just do it” cap!The “I voted” sticker reminds me of the prophetic words of John Lewis:
“The vote is precious. It is almost sacred.
The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.”
Let’s exercise our faith by voting:
- If you’re eligible to vote and aren’t registered yet to vote, you will need to do same-day voter registration. For more info, click here.
- If you’re registered to vote and did not receive your ballot in the mail, call the Alameda County Registrar of Voters asap at 510-272-6973.
- If you have your ballot, you can drop it by an official Alameda County Ballot Drop Box (or mail it). You can find the closest official drop box to you at this link.
I encourage you to review the resources shared by our Justice and Witness team chair, Nancy Taylor, and also review these sources California Council of Churches, the League of Women Voters of California, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California).
If you’re eligible to vote, please vote. Encourage others to vote. Pray for each other and the nation. Vote with your heart, your mind, your soul, your courage, and your faith. Voting is a civic sacrament.
“The vote is precious. It is almost sacred.
The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.”
Just do it!
Friday Ministry Team Film Night and Discussion
Friday, September 18th, 7 pm
Join us! We’ll be viewing the final episode of #bringtheheat’s Belong Circle, an excellent presentation, a faith-based look at “defund the police” and “abolition” presented by Revs. Ben and Michael McBride, each distinguished Oakland and Berkeley pastors in their own right, Black Lives Matter activists, and much more!
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 901 784 352 One tap mobile
Dial in by phone 1-669-900-9128
Dial in by phone: 1-346-248-7799
Nancy Taylor, contact via office@skylineucc.org
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 901 784 352 One tap mobile
Dial in by phone 1-669-900-9128
Dial in by phone: 1-346-248-7799
Nancy Taylor, contact via office@skylineucc.org
Saturday & Sunday, August 15th & 16th 9 am – 3 PM
404 Cornell Ave. Albany
There will be many beautiful plants, some pretty garden/landscape greeting cards, jars of local honey, a representative from Planting Justice who will speak about the organization. All proceeds go to Planting Justice, and the sponsors are setting it up to be a careful as we can around social distancing. Masks required. It’s an outdoor event.
Planting Justice is a grassroots organization with a mission to empower people impacted by mass incarceration and other social inequities, with the skills and resources to cultivate food sovereignty, economic justice, and community healing.
Since 2009 Planting Justice has built over 450 edible permaculture gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area, worked with five high-schools to develop food justice curricula and created 40 green jobs in the food justice movement for folks transitioning from prison
Nurseries & Greenhouses, Non-Profit Organization, at 319 105th Ave, Oakland, CA · (510) 756-6965.
https://plantingjustice.org/
