Sunday, October 20, 2-6 pm

First Congregational Church of Oakland

2501 Harrison St., Oakland

Part of our ongoing series of workshops designed to reduce our reliance on an increasingly militarized police force, this offering from Community Ready Corps (CRC) will cover basic principles and practices to help us keep ourselves and our communities safe.

What would you do if you found yourself in the middle of a violent situation? How can you safely get yourself and others out of that situation?

We will be asking for a voluntary donation to support the vital work of Community Ready Corps. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

CRC is a liberation organization that combats white supremacy and actively builds & supports self determination in disenfranchised communities. Their work focuses on nine areas:

Politics
Economics
Family
Health
Education
Art
Media
Traditions & Ways
Self Defense

This is a two-year project (2019-2020), more than a year in the making, is being co-sponsored by Skyline UCC with other groups.

Some things to know about this project:

WHAT IT IS NOT:

1. Anti-police.
2. Participation in this project does NOT constitute a commitment to not call the police.

WHAT IT IS:

1. A realization/acceptance that when black lives are involved, calling the police can be fatal.
2. An exploration of alternatives that can be more effective than the police, such as groups that are trained in non-violent communications, de-escalation techniques, crisis intervention (in areas such as mental health, drug & alcohol abuse), self defense, conflict resolution, medical training, community disaster preparedness, etc.
3. Internal work on the effects of White Supremacy on police violence, examining safety & security, interracial dynamics in the community, what internal fears make people rely on the police?  (Each community would tailor content of inner work to its own needs.)
4. Ways to get to know our neighbors and to help us to know and trust each other via material resources, availability for prayer and conversation, etc.

In Summary: this is an invitation to participate in a program that can build toward the creation of a true Beloved Community that chooses to not collude with empire (in this case, the “prison-industrial complex”) in the name of safety, and that is willing to take the risk(s) necessary to explore an alternative first-responder network that provides interventions, when necessary, for the safety of all individuals and groups that are participating.   This is also a next step in examining our own internal mechanisms of White Supremacy/racism/white fragility.  ALL are invited to join in this opportunity for growth, and in this righteous (and scary!) adventure.

The UCC’s 32nd General Synod meeting in Milwaukee has approved three resolutions to help combat the climate crisis, including one in support of the “Green New Deal”. 

The Green New Deal resolution, approved by a vast majority,  makes the UCC the first Christian body in the country to endorse the far-reaching climate plan.  The Green New Deal, introduced in Congress earlier this year by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), attempts to transform the US economy in order to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions; it proposes investing in infrastructure and industry to encourage use of renewables, creating millions of high-wage jobs in the process.

Skyline church, early on, urged on by our Green team and by Pastor Laurie, endorsed the GND. Then Pastor Laurie presented the emergency resolution  at the June Northern California Nevada  Conference of the United Church of Christ, and presented a workshop. The resolution http://ncnc.dreamhosters.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Green-New-Deal-Resolution-2.pdf, was unanimously endorsed in advance of the synod.  

In addition, the UCC  had also approved,  urging all people of faith to reduce their use of plastic foam—specifically, styrofoam.  Styrofoam does not decompose in landfills and is a known pollutant and suspected carcinogen.

A third resolution—in favor of the US congressional bill HR 763, which sets a price on carbon, was approved by the UCC.

Much of the progress of the UCC in environmental justice, is brought forth through this grassroots, representative group. 

This Sunday, we will take part in the 2019 National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths, “Uniting Hearts and Voices to End Child Poverty.” 

Across our nation over the next few weeks, people of every religion will reflect on and respond to the sacred texts, teachings, and traditions that call us to end poverty and act with love and justice to ensure all children have what they need not only to survive but thrive and realize their God given potential. 

Join us for an interfaith service, followed by a discussion to hear anew those religious teachings and commit to faithful responses. 

 I’d like to share with you two videos, lifting up the voices of young people who are impacted by childhood poverty, and also our need to keep moving forward to alleviate it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLrTZ5IG_Eg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0e-2-ENOYs

Blessing of the Animals, 

    Special thanks to all of you who helped to carry the torch, inspired by Rhea and Kay, to continue our beloved tradition of the Blessing of the Animals. 

Kay and Rhea’s spirit was present with us, as we welcomed about 30 visitors, and dozens of dogs, a cat and one bunny, and shared joys, prayers for healing, and tears of grief for those 

beloved pets who are forever a part of our hearts and families. Special thanks to Becky Taylor, Hunter Green, Becky Sheldon, Jenny Taylor, Michael Armijo and Catherine Kessler! 

Also special thanks to Sunsan Junfish who offered to provide a talk about caring for the health and safety not only of ourselves, but our beloved pets. 

Peace, Pastor Laurie 

Our annual Pride Service is September 15 at 10 AM.  Child-friendly!  Come join us for an uplifting, positive message and music; and a creative, unique drama, “The Parable of the Last Dancing Queen”, written and produced by Tim Carter (award winning executive producer from Sesame Street) and David G. (award winning costume designer) and their amazing cast!   

Dance, jive and have the time of your life!

(Here’s a recent article by a member who found his spiritual home here.)

All are welcome.

Last Sunday morning (Aug 4, 2019) we awoke to the horrible news of yet another mass shooting. Our faith calls us to  condemn the hateful climate that’s surfaced in our country. In the days between July 28 and August 4, 2019, thirty-two people were killed, and sixty people were wounded by gunfire from semi-automatic, assault style rifles in Gilroy, California, El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. In 2019 there have been 255 mass shootings, resulting in 273 deaths in the United States of America.* 

In response to this evil, statements of denunciation have been issued, assurances of concern have been delivered, prayers for grief and petitions for comfort have been offered and policy suggestions have been made. Still, the killings continue. Still, families are ripped apart. Still, communities are torn asunder. Still, prayers of grief are offered. Still, petitions for comfort are lifted. Still, hateful rhetoric flows from the seats of power. Still, powerful guns and the bullets that they fire are readily available for purchase.
 
We once again raise our voices in outrage and lament. We are outraged by the notion that nothing can be done. We are outraged by the hateful language directed toward immigrants, people of color and adherents of religions not our own. We are broken by the loss of the life. We grieve with those who grieve. The river of tears that flows touches at the deepest of levels.
 
Yet, we are hopeful. We are hopeful that in the name of faith, hope and justice people will come together. We are hopeful that words of hate will be rejected and refuted. We are hopeful that legislation intended to reduce the gun violence will be enacted. Specifically, we urge the United States Senate to immediately join the House of Representatives in passing the 2019 Background Check Act and the President to reenact the 1994 assault weapons ban that will remove military style, high capacity semi-automatic weapons from civilian use.
 
We stand ready to work for all who work for the common good. May our faith help us build the Beloved Community.

Please join me in signing these petitions, and join us this Sunday in worship, as we pray for strength and courage, and we respond with conscious action to transform the weapons of war, into instruments of peace. 

Blessings, Pastor Laurie 

*According to Gun Violence Archive as reported by the Huffpost, Aug. 5, 2019. (The GVA defines a mass shooting as any incident in which at least four people were shot, excluding the shooter.  This puts 2019 on pace to be the first year since 2016 with an average of more than one mass shooting a day. (CBS News, Aug. 5)

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Articles and petitions for gun controls:

https://www.ucc.org/join_the_network

We need more than thoughts and prayers, congress needs to hear from you,  to support the consideration and passage of S.42, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. 

https://p2a.co/Odl2rJH

https://giffords.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Giffords-HR-8-Factsheet-FINAL.pdf

The Democratic majority in the House has sent Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell TWO gun reform bills to close loopholes and establish universal background checks. But McConnell has refused a vote on either.

https://go.barbaraleeforcongress.org/page/s/sign-your-name-demand-senate-republicans-take-action-on-gun-control

Gun Violence by the Numbers

• Each year over 30,000 Americans are killed by guns. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) 
• More U.S. citizens have died in the last 50 years by guns in our homes, streets and schools than have died in the history of all U.S. wars. (Congressional Research Service and CDC/National Center for Health Statistics)
• Firearms are the second leading cause of death (after motor vehicle accidents) for young people age 19 and under in the U.S. (CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control)
• 8 American children and teens age 19 and under are killed by guns every day. (CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control)
• A child/teen is killed or injured by a gun every 30 minutes (Children’s Defense Fund)
• Newtown Happens Every Week in America. More children die every 3 days in America by a gun than died in the December 14, 2012 Newtown massacre. (Children’s Defense Fund)
• Nearly two-thirds of all gun deaths are suicides. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
• More guns = more suicides. People in states with many guns have elevated rates of suicide, particularly firearm suicide. (Harvard School of Public Health Study)
• For each time a gun in the home was used for a protective shooting, there were:
  • 4 unintentional shootings
  • 7 criminal assaults or homicides
  • 11 suicides (Journal of Trauma, 1998)
• 60% of those who own a gun give personal safety/protection as top reason for ownership. (2013 Gallup Poll)
• Gun violence costs the U.S. $229 billion annually. (Mother Jones and Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation)
• There are more than 300 million guns in civilian hands in the United States today. (Congressional Research Service) 

There is only one thing wrong with the traditional definition of prayer: it misrepresents God.  “Prayer,” the old teaching said, was “the raising of our hearts and minds to God.”  As if God were some regal, distant judge outside ourselves.  But science – with its new perception that matter and spirit are of a piece, sometimes particles, sometimes energy – suggests that God is not on a cloud somewhere, imperious and suspecting.  God is the very Energy that animates us.  God is not a white heterosexual male who lives in the US. God is the Spirit that leads us and drives us on.  God is the voice within us calling us to Life.  God is the Reality trying to come to fullness within us, both individually and together.  It is to that cosmic God, that personal inner, enkindling God, that we pray.

Join us this Sunday, as we explore prayer, contemplation, and meditation together, and have a conversation after worship about it.

What do you cherish?

What would it take for you to recognize it?

My epiphany came in the form of large, iridescent glossy black birds, ravens to be precise.

Over a year ago, a pair of ravens started visiting our back deck to snatch tidbits of food left for the jays. I called them Tristan and Isolde. I watched them, fascinated by their behavior. If one came, it waited for the other to arrive before eating. They spoke to each other in their corvid dialect and it wasn’t hard to see they were having a conversation as a couple. They seemed to cherish each other deeply.

Now most of you know we’ve had a tough time with my spouse’s cancer. Sometimes between all the medical visits, chemotherapy appointments, challenges and stresses the little things – like cherishing each other – get lost.

One afternoon I was helping my spouse get washed up, chatting with him, when I looked out the window. Tristan and Isolde sat on the branches of the redwood tree, snuggled close, chortling and whispering strange vocalization as they carefully preened each other. And it hit me: I could learn a lot about marital bliss from these birds.

I made a conscious effort to hug my spouse, to be kind and patient, to care for him like the birds did for each other. It has helped me to understand that in these days, every moment together is golden. Cherish those you love. Tell them you love them.

Post Note:

This past week Tristan and Isolde surprised us: they guided two fully-fledged raven chicks to our deck to visit. A family to cherish… and we have a whole new set of examples to follow. 

By David G.

From The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring, pastor at Eden UCC:  We have a new asylum seeker in our midst. Her name is Rihana. She is a friend of the family we are supporting at Eden UCC in Hayward.

Rihana is a 21 year old transgender woman who is a native of Chinandega, Nicaragua. She came to the US on April 11, 2019 seeking asylum after having been the victim of a hate crime in her home country. Rihana was beaten by five men, her throat was slit with a broken bottle, and she was left for dead in a rural area. She was taken to a regional hospital where she remained in a coma for two days, and continued to be treated for another 7 days. (She has letters from a clinical psychologist and photos taken at a hospital in Nicaragua documenting her trauma.) After she recovered enough from her injuries to travel, Rihana made her way to the US. She crossed the border  into Arizona and was taken into custody by ICE on April 11, 2019. She appeared in immigration court in detention. The judge ruled that she has “a credible fear” and granted her humanitarian parole provided that she pay a $10,000 bond. We will seek legal aid to transfer her immigration case to the SF court. We were able to negotiate the bail down to $1500 and find a church in NYC (Park Avenue Christian Church) that would put up the bond money. Rihana was released 12 hours later at the PHX bus station, where two advocates who are friends of a friend of mine (a pastor who is also an asylee) picked her up, took her to an emergency shelter, and cared for her since early last Tuesday morning. A member of my church donated money to cover air fare for Rihanna. She is flying to Oakland tonight.

Collaborators: Pastor Arlene Nehring & Stephanie Spencer, and Pastor Marvin Lance Wiser & Yuliana Wiser Leon (EUCC, Hayward), Pastor Rhina Ramos (Ministerio Latinx, Oakland), Pastors Eric Sherlock and Todd Adkins-Whitley (Danville Congregational Church UCC), and Pastor Laura Rose (First Congregational Church Alameda.) 

Institutional Partners: Eden United Church of Christ, Hayward, Danville Congregational Church UCC, and First Congregational UCC Alameda. 

Immediate Needs:

1. Hospitable housing in the Bay Area, i.e., use of a guest room with kitchen and bathroom privileges, or a room in a guest house. The host(s) need not be fluent Spanish speakers, but they do need to be LGBT friendly folks.
2. Cash and/or in-kind help with food, clothing, telephone, transportation  
3. Coaching to acquire healthcare benefits and services (Eden Church can provide coaching for new volunteers as needed)
4. Legal aid (Pastor Rhina, Pastor Marvin, and Pastor Arlene have begun a search for legal representation). If pro bono counsel can be found, funds will be needed to cover various application fees. 
5. Court accompaniment (Eden Church will take the lead, but we need bodies to pack the court when she is required to appear.)
6. Cultural navigation support (We can train trainers.)

Immigration ministry is intense. None of us can do this alone. I recommend reflecting on what we CAN do, rather than what we can NOT do—always mindful that through God all things are possible.

Please let me know if you would like to discuss this invitation.

Thank you, 

Arlene

The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring

Senior Minister

Eden United Church of Christ  510-582-9533