Remembering Loved Ones on All Saints Day: Sunday Service

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 October 23, 2020
Sunday, November 1, 10-11 AM
From Pastor Laurie: November 1 is All Saints Day. I invite us to remember our loved ones who have died.
As part of this service, I would like to make a video of photos of our beloved dead. If you would like to remember someone who has died from your past – a family member, a mentor, a dear friend – in this video, please send a photo of that person to Pastor Laurie at ([email protected]) by Thursday, October 29. The simplest way is to take a photo of your printed photo, and email a large image to me.
 
Second, please have photos of your beloved dead set out by your communion elements when you set up for worship on Sunday, November 1.
With love, Laurie
Meeting ID: 716 026 467 
Categories : Events, Messages from the Pastor, Sunday Worship
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“The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have”

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 October 21, 2020
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!
Categories : Uncategorized

Debt Relief – Jubilee Weekend 2020

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 October 15, 2020
Our UCC conference, and our church, voted in 2015 to become Jubilee conferences, which honors the biblical concept of debt relief for the poorest. I encourage you to read these addresses from Eric LaCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA, addressing  the UN conference on Covid 19 crisis recovery and debt relief. 
 
This year’s Jubilee Weekend 2020: Curing Poverty, Inequality and the Coronavirus , will be held October 16th – 18th, the same weekend as the major IMF and World Bank meetings this year. We lift up our voices in defense of the world’s most vulnerable during this critical time, to help  expand debt relief for the 73 poorest countries and move forward more aid for developing countries.

This year is really important. The United Nations estimates that 265 million more people are facing famine due to the coronavirus crisis. The International Labor Organization says 400 million jobs will be wiped out and the IMF asserts the current economic crisis rivals the Great Depression.

During Jubilee Weekend 2020: Curing Poverty, Inequality and the Coronavirus, the IMF and World Bank will make decisions that will determine whether or not tens of millions of people will enter extreme poverty or if hundreds of millions of people in the US and around the world can exit poverty. As coronavirus wreaks havoc around the globe and induces a global economic crisis on par with the Great Depression, we need to make a strong call for debt cancellation, relief and increased aid to address the crisis in developing countries.

I close with this prayer of Jubilee:
 
O Great G-d of all creation, hear our plea
We pray for an end to broken systems, in a world beset by the ravages of poverty and debt
We pray for rightness, fairness, justice and grace
We pray for your light to guide us as we seek your will.
Bless us with an economy that is whole and right, where all can live in dignity and hope and your light shines brightly in every land
G-d Most High, Bless us with your Jubilee
 
 
 
 
Categories : Church in the World, Corona Virus, Events, Messages from the Pastor
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Oct 12: Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 October 8, 2020

Monday, Oct 12, 2020, the holiday has traditionally been called “Columbus Day”.  Join us on Sunday, the 11th, as we honor the Indigenous people who were here long before us. 

As a child, I learned a pledge of allegiance that carried far more than loyalty to “one nation, under God.” I learned allegiance to the assumption that this nation was founded by my European forebears just a few centuries ago. I learned that Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred nine-two.” I learned to draw  the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. I learned and memorized the “really important dates”—1492, 1620, 1776, 1789.  I didn’t bother asking or wondering or doubting, because I really didn’t have to.

Once a system of beliefs begins to crack, once what is held to be historic gospel begins to erode, once any of us becomes privy to another story, another history, another reality, we cling to the familiar only out of a need to be reassured, only out of a penchant to take our cues from loved and respected teachers and preachers and parents and grandparents and touted authorities on this and that because climbing into a boat guaranteed to rock is just way too scary.

“Every year as October 12 approaches, there is a certain sense of dread that can be felt in indigenous communities in the Americas,” writes Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a historian, writer, and co-founder of the Indigenous World Association, which lobbies the United Nations on behalf of indigenous peoples’ rights. She continues:

“That it is a federal holiday in the United States is regarded as hideous, a celebration of genocide and colonization. However, beginning thirty years ago, indigenous peoples formed an international movement, demanding…that October 12 be commemorated as an international day of mourning for the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Informally, the day has been appropriated as Indigenous Peoples Day. This year feels different in indigenous communities as they celebrate the great victory of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly…”

We are part of this international day of mourning, we are part of this movement. Our NCNC UCC conference is considering a resolution of Amendments, which I encourage you to read HERE.  

Those of us whose ancestry is from other shores are newcomers. No matter that our ancestors go back to the 1600s; we’re newcomers. We’ve barely arrived here,  already we’ve forgotten why we set sail? Was it an escape from religious oppression? Was it a flight from famine? Was it a quest for gold to feed a hungry queen? Was it a crusade to appease a fragile god? And our arrival?

What is it that we hold sacred? What is it that we celebrate?

In the spirit of the late Alfred Arteaga:

Five hundred and (twenty eight) years of events
took place, we cannot change that.
We cannot stand up like Las Casas
and say this must stop; we cannot
tell Tainos, on first seeing the Spanish arrive,
to run, to run, and not stop running.
What was, was.
We cannot change the number of days, nor
can we change the events that happened.
We can, though, choose to remember or forget,
to celebrate, solemnize, recognize.

May it be so. Amen.

Categories : Church in the World, Holiday, Messages from the Pastor
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Calm in the Storm: Vespers with Skyline Church

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 October 5, 2020
 
 
 
An evening of meditative songs and prayers.
In this present moment, on the eve of the election, rest in a moment of slow, beautiful calm, and touch the center.
An hour of interfaith readings, prayers, music, and silence.
Our Musicians (above left to right):
Ken Medema
Benjamin Mertz
Gabrielle Lochard
And Pastor Laurie
 
Categories : Church in the World, Community, Events
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Voting for America Through the Eyes of Love

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 October 2, 2020

 

Voting is our most precious right.  Please vote November 3 through the Eyes of Love.

Video created by Rev. Laurie Manning and Ken Medema

Categories : Church in the World, Community, Messages from the Pastor
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After the Debate – We Are in this Together

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 October 1, 2020

Image by beate bachmann from Pixabay

After the Presidential debate this week, Ivan, Oliver (my cat) and I sat outside on the porch, under the stars. I listened to the crickets, breathed in the fresh air, and listened,  for comfort, strength, wisdom, vision. I found it there,  reminded of, and finding comfort in the One Who made the world. 

And I thought about the sharp contrasting visions of our time, and what to do with our one wild and precious life.  

As we grieve the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I gain strength from her enduring dedication to the vision that all people are created equal; her advocacy for gender equality; and her respect, honor and dignity for all people, especially with those with whom she disagreed.

At the same time, once again last night we heard our nation’s president say  that he will not commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he was not elected. Journalist Thomas Friedman reflected in an interview, “I think what happened in the last few days is a six-alarm fire. The President of the United States has told us ‘Either I win the election, or I de-legitimize the election.’ Those are your choices.” Readying a strategy that forces the decision to the Supreme Court, he is pushing through a nominee who will know going in that her job will be to rule in favor of the President staying in office.

It has left me thinking, “How did we get here?”

These are the times when I am grateful to be a person of faith. I gain strength from the wisdom of all of the world’s religions, especially Judeo-Christianity, and especially Jesus. 

Most of scripture was written to people being ruled by oppressive governments and corrupt leaders.

  • Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. The journey taught them about trusting that God was with them, and they were more resilient than they knew. 
  • In Jesus’s, the Roman Empire used violence to keep people in line. The people learned to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.” It led to the fall of the Roman Empire.

We are stronger than we know. We care for one another and are offended in the face of cruelty. Life’s beauty is inseparable from its fragility. We are made of resilience, bravery, and courage, in every act of love.

Today, we face into a moment that requires every bit of our best. We have been here before. We are stronger together than divided. We are all God’s children. 

Let us vote, with our words and especially in our actions with faith, voting for the poor, for the vulnerable, for children, for people of color, for our planet, for life itself.

We are in this together.   

Categories : Community, Messages from the Pastor
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State and Local Ballot Initiatives

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 September 30, 2020

Skyline church believes in voting – and to help you make sense of the ballot initiatives, here is a grid of the 2020 propositions from Kehilla Synagogue State Proposition Endorsements and how various organizations recommend that we vote.  We are not endorsing any candidates.

Here is a larger format version of the same – 2020 propositions from Kehilla Synagogue.xlsx – State Proposition Endorsements – Large version.

Finally, here’s 2020 recommendations from the Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry.  

Stay tuned- we expect to post more local measures.

Categories : Church in the World, Community
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Annual Blessing of the Animals – Virtual

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 September 25, 2020

Sunday, October 4, 3:00 PM PST  

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/716026467

Meeting ID: 716 026 467  or call: 510 421 2646 

On this day, Sunday Oct 4th,  we come together to acknowledge the sacred importance of all living creatures, honoring the wisdom of St Francis. 

Come and celebrate with us LIVE ON ZOOM, the animal companions in our lives with internationally renowned musician Ken Medema and Pastor Laurie Manning in a spirited, creative, joyous and spiritual ceremony.  

Especially now, as we are sheltering in place, this is a time to honor and give thanks for these beloved companions who are part of our families, that are a blessing to us all. This is an event for the entire family, so please bring not only your children, but also brother dog and sister cat, as well as your beloved gerbils, geckos, goats, hamsters, mice, rabbits, parrots, turtles, mini-horses, etc. All are welcome! 

Together we will:  

  • Honor the wisdom of St Francis, as well as indigenous traditions, Buddhism, and other faiths. 
  • Meet each other’s extended families!
  • Celebrate your pets -so bring them if you can on zoom, or bring your photos, and be ready to share your stories! 
  • Remember our beloved pets who have died, so bring your photos and your stories!
  • Sing and enjoy with Ken’s magical, gifted, improvisations!

Here’s an article by Oakland North from a few years ago when they covered our ceremony a few years ago:  “Dogs, mini-horses and a leopard gecko received blessings at Skyline Community Church [at the annual blessing ceremony], along with a cat, goat and photos of animals ‘with us in spirit.’ On a hot, summery afternoon, pastor Laurie Manning and church member Rhea Babbitt kneeled before some 40 furry, four-legged creatures and their owners, and blessed them. …Churches worldwide honor animals on the first Sunday of October, the feast day for the patron saint of animals St. Francis of Assisi….In the back were two mini-horses, their eyes like baseballs, their summer coats shedding. Some dogs sat on their owners’ laps while others lazed on the cool floor, perhaps tired from sniffing and circling other dogs before the service. One church member said he would have brought his cat, if not for his arm being in a sling, and his cat’s grumpiness that morning. Babbitt, who organized the ceremony, led the congregation in a reading. ‘On this day we come together to acknowledge,” they read aloud, “the sacred importance of all living creatures…. ‘”

And another article from even earlier!

Reverend Laurie Manning is available to bless your dog, cat, goat, parakeet, fish, horse or whatever your and your camera can bring to Zoom!  You can also bring photos of beloved pets who cannot handle a Zoom meeting (can you blame them?)  or have passed on to receive a blessing.

About Ken Medema – For four decades, Ken Medema has inspired people through storytelling and music. Though blind from birth, Ken sees and hears with heart and mind.  His ability to capture spirit in word and song is unparalleled. One of the most creative and authentic artists performing today, Ken custom designs every musical moment of his performance with brilliant improvisation that defies description. With an ever-growing circle of friends around the world, Ken’s vocal and piano artistry and imagination have reached audiences of 50 to 50,000 people in 49 United States and in more than 15 countries on four continents.

About Pastor Laurie – The Reverend Laurie J. Manning joined Skyline Church in 2006. She holds respective Master’s degrees from Union Theological Seminary (Columbia U), Harvard University, and the University of Michigan. Prior to becoming a minister Laurie worked in various management capacities for Hewlett Packard  and then as a consultant with high technology and medical clients. Laurie brings a solid understanding of the psychological and organizational complexities of living as a Christian in today’s pluralistic and scientific world.  She has a passion for the spiritual well-being of people, for social and environmental justice, and lives life with gusto!

Categories : Community, Events
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Resources to Respond to the Divide & Reestablish a Shared Reality

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 September 23, 2020

Photo by Tim Gouw unsplash

Most of us, myself included, are experiencing anxiety as we reflect upon the upcoming election.  Now, even as we grieve the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there is a fast-tracking of a new conservative justice. 

How did we become so divided?

How did our relationships become weaponized? 

How did we come to accept such lack of integrity in our leaders? 

How did we create worlds based on radically different sets of facts, and how do we reestablish a shared reality? 

Here are a few resources that I find helpful in answering these questions, and more importantly, in responding constructively. 

  1. Brian McLaren (yes, the same author of the Great Spiritual Migration that we are reading!)  provides a short video on Kitchen Table Logic, describing  the emergence of a new electorate that represents the deep disruption we see today. He notes, “You may think, as many people do, that there are only two kinds of voters in American politics, Republican and Democrat or Conservative and Liberal. You may even add a third category, Independents. Whatever your current understanding, I think you’ll benefit from this alternate way of seeing American politics in 2020: there have been four kinds of voters in recent elections, but now, a fifth voter element is emerging, and that changes everything.”

  2. Netflix movie called “The Social Dilemma.” It does a brilliant job of outlining the complex challenge we now face with social media companies selling you and me (their real products) to advertisers. Their business model generates more profit when we are angry, divided, and divisive. We spend more time on their platforms in that state and, often unknowingly, click on more ads.

  3. If you haven’t already seen the film, Suppress the Vote, you might appreciate this film from Netflix: “All In: the Fight for Democracy”  The film offers a  primer on the history of voter suppression in the United States. The film features Stacey Abrams in her failed bid for the Governor’s office in Georgia. It serves as a warning that what happened to her could be a sign of what is in store for our future.

My intent is not to make us more anxious. It is to make us less naïve, more aware of the sophisticated strategies at work, and to empower us with a consciously loving, powerful and faithful response. 

We are in this together, keep the faith!

with love, Pastor Laurie 

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Prayer for the week: 

Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it:
a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor;
a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them;
a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect;
a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love…
May it be so through our lives, in honor of those who have come before and those who will follow after us.
Amen.

– adapted from the UCC Prayers for Justice and Peace

 
Categories : Messages from the Pastor
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