With the unanimous support of our SCC Church Council and our UCC National Climate Justice Council, we are sharing with you a Resolution to support the Green New Deal. It will be voted on during our NCNCC Annual Meeting in June, with plans to send it to the UCC General Synod. The text of this Resolution can be found here.
Climate Change is a compelling moral and faith issue. The Green New Deal Resolution calls on multiple levels of our denomination to both advocate and take concrete action within and beyond our congregations for the sake of all Creation. You can read the FAQ’s for the General Synod Resolution here.
I am proud that our “brave little” church has an opportunity to be a proponent in something that matters so much. I urge you to read this resolution before church this Sunday.
We will have an opportunity to express our opinions about this after worship on Sunday, April 28th, and to discuss it after refreshments. Please let me know right away if you would be interested in representing our congregation at the NCNCC Annual Meeting to vote on this resolution.
Thank you!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Laurie, Skyline’s Green Team and Church Council!
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. 
Saturday May 4 10 AM – 3PM
St. Mary’s Center
This Sunday we enter the sacred time of Holy Week, beginning with Palm/Passion Sunday, set to Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, and a children’s drama of the Palm Procession! The story challenges us to choose what to hold onto and what to let go.
as a loving progressive and inclusive faith community. Rev. Laurie Manning , the choir and orchestra (directed by Benjamin Mertz) and the people fill the sanctuary with joy, celebration and love. Today’s service will have drama, singing, prayer, and a special honor garden for loved ones.
Skyline Invites the Oakland Community to Attend Easter Sunrise Service
I return to you having shared many deeply human and meaningful moments with my east coast family and friends. On the flight back, rather than watch the in-flight entertainment, I came across an uplifting aspiration from Tara Brach; a Buddhist teacher, author, and psychologist. May we all find mindful compassion and freedom in our experience of being fully human.
In honor of St Patrick’s day, and in honor of the greening of the earth, I offer you this Irish Blessing, 