“A song of peace for lands afar and mine…”

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 May 23, 2018

Photo by Matthew Huang on Unsplash


Next Monday we honor Memorial Day, a federal holiday set aside to remember the men and women who died while serving in our country’s armed forces.   I cannot help but lift up the beautiful words of Finlandia, which we will sing this Sunday: 
 
“This Is My Song”

Lloyd Stone and Georgia Harkness,  UM Hymnal, No. 437

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

This Sunday, join us as we lift up prayers not only for our country’s servicemen and women who have died, but all those who have died in the world because of war.  Here is a beautiful prayer, entitled  A Prayer for the World by Amy Petrie Shaw.
Categories : Church in the World, Messages from the Pastor
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Pentecost, Unbounded Energy of the Spirit

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 May 16, 2018

This coming Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, the mysterious, life giving power and unbounded energy of the Spirit.  We welcome the wind and fire, wonder and wildness to change our lives, personally and collectively, particularly when it seems to be on the verge of apocalypse. 

Wear RED if you can in celebration of the fiery spirit.  

I‘d like to share with you a benediction by May Sarton;  an invitation to return to the deep source:

Unison Benediction

Return to the most human,
nothing less will nourish the torn spirit,
the bewildered heart,
the angry mind:
and from the ultimate duress,
pierced with the breath of anguish,
speak of love.

Return, return to the deep sources,
nothing less will teach the stiff hands a new way to serve,
to carve into our lives the forms of tenderness
and still that ancient necessary pain preserve.

Return to the most human,
nothing less will teach the angry spirit,
the bewildered heart;
the torn mind,
to accept the whole of its duress,
and pierced with anguish…
at last, act for love.

~ May Sarton ~

Categories : Messages from the Pastor, Sunday Worship
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“i carry your heart with me”

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 May 9, 2018

Welcoming Oakland ChurchMother’s day is coming up, and with it, a mountain of expectations about what our experience “should” be. But what’s the truth about motherhood? There is no perfect mother.

One of my favorite poems by ee cummings  is entitled “I carry your heart with me”. I like to think of it as God’s love poem to each one of us, filling that existential void within us all, to be carried forever in perfect  love. I also think of it as a poem that describes our calling individually and collectively, as people of faith, to love with all of our hearts as fully as we can, not just our immediate families and friends, but especially those Jesus described as “ the least of these”. I am sharing a few photos of us as a faith community, embodying this love in action. 

Join us this Sunday,  in honoring the life changing, life giving power of love.

              Blessings, Pastor Laurie 

 ee cummings..  [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

 

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

 

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

 

Categories : Church in the World, Messages from the Pastor, Our Church
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Labor Day and Immigrant Rights Day at Skyline

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 May 3, 2018

When the alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:33-34

May is here. May 1st marks, for many people of the world, International Workers Day, also known as Labor Day, a time of honoring and advocating for laborers and working class people.  Relatedly, May 6th is Immigrant Rights Day to champion the rights and contributions of immigrants as a vital part of our country, especially here in California and in Oakland. 

During our 10 am worship service we will hear reflections from Miriam Noriega, a staff member of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity.

Miriam is a first generation immigrant, and an MDiv student at the Jesuit School of Theology at the GTU. We will also hear from Jenifer, a young adult, who needed to leave Guatemala given the corruption and politics.  She is living in Oakland facing the challenges of living as an undocumented person.

After the service, from 11:30 – 12:30, with Miriam and Jenifer, we will focus on the fuller meaning of being a sanctuary congregation, specifically, the intersection of racism, class-ism, and the importance of interfaith dialogue and empowerment. Our co-chair of justice and witness, Mirtha Ninayahuar,   will share highlights of our sanctuary work as a congregation. 

Come and learn more about how we can become better friends and advocates, as a sanctuary faith community.

 

Categories : Church in the World, Messages from the Pastor
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Earth Day Thanks

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 April 25, 2018

What an amazing Earth Day celebration we had last weekend! (Although, I really believe that we should be honoring and celebrating the earth every day, especially now).

Special thank you’s on this Earth Day weekend to: 

  • Catherine Kessler, Chair of the Green team, for her tireless advocacy for the earth, and instilling best practices in nutrition, recycling, composting, and policy changes, locally & globally. 
  • Michael Armijo, for his knowledgeable dedication to our campus building and grounds.
  • Walter Jones, co-chair of the Green team, for his love of the “Garden of God” and the UCC.
  • Our talented musicians, Ken Medema and Benjamin Mertz, for Friday’s “Care for Creation” concert.
  • To all of you, for contributing your time, energy, and talents to our advocacy for our precious home, planet earth. 

On Friday Night we held a benefit concert featuring two extraordinarily talented musicians, Ken Medema and Benjamin Mertz (see photos and videos below). We partnered with our local climate justice coalitions and supported the efforts of No Coal in Oakland, in their advocacy to keep coal out of the Port of Oakland. Thank you for your generosity.  We will donate a part of the proceeds to West Oakland Environmental Indicators,  a project begun by  Margaret Gordon, a Commissioner of the Port of Oakland.

On Saturday we had a workday, to clear away some of the rapidly growing plant life on our campus. 

Then on Sunday, we held an Earth Day service, featuring Oakland’s Major Libby Schaaf. 

After the service we engaged in a conversation with her about our partnership as people of faith, to create local policy changes  needed to reduce global warming, and to end environmental racism. 

This Friday, April 27th, join us for a potluck movie night, Al Gore’s powerful film, “An Inconvenient Sequel, Truth to Power”, from 7- 9 pm.  Here’s a review in The Guardian.

This weekend I will be away in Lake Tahoe, honoring the beauty of the earth and my birthday. Rev Ruth Sandberg will be leading worship.

Peace to you all, with love, Pastor Laurie 

Categories : Church in the World, Green, Messages from the Pastor
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Resurrection “comes in a million different ways…”

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 April 11, 2018

Photo by Simon Matzinger on Unsplash

We continue in the season of spring time and in the spirit of Easter, celebrating the promise of new lives for ourselves and for all of creation. This coming Sunday we continue with resurrection and explore the experience of resurrection in our own lives.

Death is universal. We recognize it immediately because it looks the same for all of us.  When it’s over, it’s over.  When a body breathes its last.  When a door closes for good.  When the choice can’t be unmade and the marriage can’t be salvaged and the words can’t be unsaid.  When a home is burned to the ground and the machines are turned off and the pastor sprinkles the dirt over the casket, ashes to ashes. Done. Gone. Finished.   

Death feels heavy, cold and final, 

it tastes like salty tears, 

and sounds like wailing, or the emptiness of a silent house. 

Death is unmistakable. Death is universal.

 

But resurrection? That’s personal.  

And it comes a million different ways and looks like a million different things because it happens for all of us differently.  The way we each need it.

Resurrection is your story now, and mine.  

~Kara Root~

Categories : Messages from the Pastor, Uncategorized
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Remembering Dr. King, 50 Years Later

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 April 4, 2018

Let Freedom Ring from the Hills of Oakland!

Wednesday, April 4th, 2018 at 5:30 pm
Skyline Community Church, 12540 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland CA
https://skylineucc.org/

A time of song, readings, a brief reflection, and bell ringing, led by Pastor Laurie & Music Director Benjamin Mertz.

6:01 PM Bell Toll – Bells ring 39 times at Skyline church, joining together with places of worship, college campuses and institutions across the nation to honor the number of years Dr. King dwelled on this earth and to pay homage to his legacy.

Categories : Uncategorized

Easter Renewal

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 March 29, 2018

After last week’s rain drenched, cloudy days it’s been a joy to hike in the Oakland hills; breathing in the fragrances of pine and eucalyptus, and to behold the vibrant orange California poppies contrasted with the fresh green grassy fields. We enter the season of celebrating fertility, new life, and hope that follows the season of darkness and death. May we hold onto the paradox of this season, and enter into the beauty of its mysteries. 

Join us for a beautiful Good Friday service this Friday at 7 pm, of candlelight, music, and readings, drawing parallels between the seven last words of Jesus and those of the Rev. Dr. MLK Junior, honoring the 50th anniversary of the assassination of this great prophet of our times. 

Join us also to celebrate Easter at 6:30 am for a sunrise service with the Oakland East Bay Gay Men’s Chorus.  Or come to our 10 am Easter service with drama and our amazing choir, guest percussionist and alto sax player.  Right afterwards is our annual Easter egg hunt.

Enjoy this beautiful poem by Mary Oliver, entitled Mysteries, Yes.

love, Pastor Laurie 

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the

mouths of the lambs.

How rivers and stones are forever

in allegiance with gravity

while we ourselves dream of rising.

How two hands touch and the bonds

will never be broken.

How people come, from delight or the

scars of damage,

to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those

who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.

Categories : Events, Holiday, Messages from the Pastor
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Holy Week Begins

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 March 21, 2018

Well, here we go. It’s Palm Sunday. And so Holy Week begins.

Palm Sunday used to be just Palm Sunday in many progressive churches. But now it’s Palm/Passion Sunday. People weren’t showing up for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. They were going from the triumphant “Hosanna” of Palm Sunday to the glorious “He is Risen” of Easter Sunday without going through the horrifying “Crucify him!” of Good Friday. Sure, it was kind of sneaky. But we had to do something!

I understand the impulse. Who doesn’t want to go from glory to glory and just skip the frightening, painful, anguishing, condemning stuff in the middle?  But we can’t. It’s part of life. And how much better to go through it together; and go through it aware of God’s presence through it all.

See you this Sunday! With love, Pastor Laurie

Categories : Uncategorized

Memorial for Don Grove

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 March 15, 2018

Dear Ones,
I wanted to let you know that our dear Don Grove passed away on earlier this month.

I visited with Don on Sunday after church, at the Mercy Center. He was in good spirits, joking even then, that he felt that a 600 pound gorilla had been sitting on his chest, and he was relieved that it was only a 200 pound gorilla now.  I had a chance to thank him, on behalf of all of us, for his kindness, and dedication to us at Skyline, as a loving member,  and as a talented member of our Green team. 

Don was calm, and at peace. He had just seen a grandson that had been estranged from the family for 10 years. My sense is that Don was ready.  My sense is also that his family, while sad, were prepared for his passing, and are at peace. 

Don and his family shared a “sweet tooth.”   I shared Bee Frank’s cookies from Sunday hospitality with him and his daughter and granddaughter, who in turn shared these with the care team at the Mercy Center. It was a bit like communion. 

Don was an extraordinarily kind, intelligent, curious, hardworking,  fun loving, authentic, and loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, friend and human being. 

I give thanks to God for his life, and for the gift of having him in our lives. On a personal note,  I will always love him. 

Cards may be sent to his daughter Barbara Grove at 353 Crestmont Drive, Oakland CA 94619. 

We will be celebrating his life here at Skyline, Saturday, April 7 at 2 PM.

with love, Pastor Laurie 

Categories : Uncategorized
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