Archive for Black History Month

Skyline Celebrates Black History Month

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 February 2, 2021

Here are just a few opportunities to join us throughout February

#1 – Join us after church Sunday, February 7th @11:15am
for discussions on Rev. William Barber’s sermons:

NC’s Rev. Barber at Biden’s inaugural prayer service: The nation must ‘repair the breach’

Is There a Word in the Wilderness? | A Sermon by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II
Click on the image to view Rev. Barber’s sermon below: 34:00 – 1:16:30
Please view these beforehand, and join us this Sunday!
11:15AM via Special Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83384891002
Rev. William Barber is terrific!

Nancy Taylor, The Justice & Witness Team

#2 – Please mark your calendars for

Ministry Teams Film Night – Friday, February 26, 7pm
(NOTE: This was previously announced for the preceding Friday but has moved to this day/time)

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing“


This is a a well-done adaptation of Maya Angelou’s book of the same name,
starring Diahann Caroll & Ruby Dee. We will be viewing this movie together via
zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/716026467
Discussion will follow at approx. 8:30pm
If you wish to watch the movie on your own, then join us afterwards for the discussion,
here’s the link to the movie

Nancy Taylor, The Justice & Witness Team

#3 – Some suggestions for your own viewing enjoyment:

One Night in Miami (2020) – IMDb
This is an excellent movie on Amazon Prime that is receiving acclaim.

A fictional account of one incredible night where icons
Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown
gathered discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement
and cultural upheaval of the 60s.

Directed by Regina King. With Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge

Nancy Taylor, The Justice & Witness Ministry Team

#4 – You may also enjoy these activities presented on the theme of Black History Month
“The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity”
(click the link or image below to learn more)

Nancy Taylor, The Justice & Witness Ministry Team

#5 – It’s happening!

Join us this Sunday, Feb 7 @ 4pm PST, for the 1st in this series!
via Special Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83384891002

Benjamin Mertz will be leading a
Black History Month Series the entire month of February
All 4 Sundays in February, starting Feb 7th
Sponsored by the Joyful Noise! Gospel Singers

Feb 7th at 4pm – The Underground Railroad, Music of Freedom and Escape:
profiles on Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass

Feb 14th at 4pm – The Harlem Renaissance, the Fisk Jubilee Singers,
and the poetry of James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes

Feb 21st  at 4pm – Jim Crow, Work Songs, and the Blues:
profiles on Fannie Lou Hamer and Bessie Smith

Feb 28th  at 4pm – the Civil Rights Movement – Freedom Songs,
profiles on Bernice Johnson Reagon and Harry Belafonte

Special Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83384891002

Nancy Taylor, The Justice & Witness Team

Categories : Community, Events
Tags : ,

Intentional Love in Polarizing Times

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 February 6, 2020

We’re living in polarizing times that tempt us to fall into patterns of violence, judgement, and “othering” in our words and actions.  What an opportunity to intentionally develop our capacities for love in its many forms. Here are just a few examples of what is being offered this month: 
 
Our latest offering in the Health and Happiness Series for the benefit of the health and well being of us all: 
  • Sun, Feb 9, 4-5:30 PM:  The Best and Worst of Popular Diets…How to Meet our Nutrition Needs and support Long term health for Body and Planet, Speaker: Catherine Kessler, RDN, CDE.
Our justice and witness team’s offerings during black history month: 
Love/ music/poetry in worship:
  • Music during and after church service with “TheSingerandtheSongwriter”,  Sun Feb 16th
  • Distribution of Skyline’s Love Poems in “Poetry Aplenty in 2020” Sun, Feb 16
Love of the most vulnerable, as evidenced in our justice work: 
  • Food of God, meals served to people in need, once a month (Nancy Taylor) 
  • Nueva Esperanza preschool education for children from Guatemala (Mirtha Ninayahuar)
Love of learning and growing in our faith with our spiritual life team: 
  • Learning to Pray, Rev Jerri Handy Feb 23 after service
  • Brian McLaren book study, March 1
Love  is at the core of who we are at Skyline. – it under-girds our extravagant welcome. This week we will celebrate the themes of salt, light, and righteousness… I leave you with a prayer reminding us of why we gather together. 
Let the Mystery of God draw us in:
Beautiful, Just, Merciful!
Let the Wisdom of God surprise us:
Vulnerable, Powerful, Searching!
Let the Glory of God shine through our work:
Salty, Bright and Good!
In the Mystery, the Wisdom, the Glory of God
Let us worship!

 

Categories : Events, Messages from the Pastor
Tags : ,

Everyone has a Place at the Table

Posted by Administrative Coordinator on
 February 12, 2019

Lately, I hear myself thinking, “The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer”, especially when I read some of the insights from the Poor People’s campaign, a revival of Dr King’s vision, from 50 years ago:  https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/demands/.  (The Justice and Witness Team shares this event – A Poor People’s Hearing – contact Nancy Taylor about going),

Did you know that while the U.S. economy has grown 18-fold in the past 50 years, wealth inequality has expanded, the costs of living have increased, and social programs have been restructured and cut dramatically?  It’s tempting to think that’s the way things are doomed to be. 

 I take comfort in our sacred scriptures that remind us of the way that God wants things to be,  and why God gave ancient Israel laws about how the poor are to be treated: “These rights and obligations are also rooted in the goodness and justice of the created order”.

Well, we look around, and things often don’t resemble that beautiful created order much at all. 

We are called to participate in the co-creation of a heavenly banquet, where everyone has a place at the table;  where everyone has a roof over their head, to live more fully, more intentionally, in the “already” part of “already but not yet” nature of the Reign of God.  “The shape of God’s future must shape our present.”

Here at Skyline, we’re involved in both charity and justice to bring good news to the poor.  To learn more, just click on our website: https://skylineucc.org/justice-witness/.

In a beautiful reflection on Jesus’s upside down kingdom, Frederick Buechner writes this:

“The world says, ‘Mind your own business,’

and Jesus says, ‘There is no such thing as your own business.’

The world says, ‘Follow the wisest course and be a success,’

and Jesus says, ‘Follow me and be crucified.’

The world says, ‘Drive carefully — the life you save may be your own’ —

and Jesus says, ‘Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’

The world says, ‘Law and order,’

and Jesus says, ‘Love.’

The world says, ‘Get’

and Jesus says, ‘Give.’ 

May it be so with us. Blessings upon your week, with love, Pastor Laurie 

Categories : Church in the World, Community, Messages from the Pastor
Tags : , , ,