by Julie Greer First, I want to thank Leonard again for all of his hard work this year. It was a privilege sitting on Church Council with such amazing people, and I’m excited to work this year with all the new folks! I’m especially grateful to Sara Woods for stepping into the role of Moderator Elect. Sara, you are so …
Helping Hands Fundraiser a Success
by Richard Hom All of us remember the horrific images on the news of the wildfires in the North Bay and the devastation they caused. Two NCNC lay leaders, Dick Hom and Roy Mosley (former Conference Moderators) were moved to act. In short order they generated interest in a “Helping Hands Fundraiser” which included 3 music concerts in 3 different areas of …
Annual Meeting Thoughts
by Sara Woods It may be a surprise to some of you, it was certainly a surprise for me, that I was called as Moderator-Elect. Afterall, I haven’t been a member for many, many years. I haven’t served on ministries for many, many years, and it also breaks some arbitrary patterns of alternating along gender binaries. However, I have jumped …
Erasing $4m of Medical Debt in the East Bay
Inspired by other UCC congregations in Chicago, St. Louis and around the nation, nine UCC churches in the East Bay, including our own, are working together to erase the medical debts of our neighbors in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Medical debt destroys the financial stability of large segments of America’s most vulnerable communities: the sick, the elderly, the poor, …
All Church Reads for Lent
UPDATE DUE TO COVID-19 DISTANCINGOur videoconference meeting to discuss “An Altar in the World” will happen next Wednesday evening at 7:30pm, led by Molly. Grab your chamomile tea or your glass of merlot and prepare to bask in the wisdom and comfort of Barbara Brown Taylor’s beautiful book together, for just such a time as this! Details about technology to come …
Annual Meeting Recap
At our 145th Annual Meeting our youth served us a delicious lunch with homemade cookies, we heard highlights of the year just past, unanimously passed the slate of new leaders, and celebrated a historic moment in our life together: for the first time ever, both our Moderator and our Moderator-Elect are women, as we move away from a tradition in …
Guest preachers in February
February offers a stellar lineup of local preachers: Sunday, Feb 9: Pastor Ernest Larkins of City of Refuge UCC in Oakland Sunday Feb 16: Geoffrey Gaskins, longtime Wednesday Evening Progressive Bible Study leader Sunday Feb 23: Rev. Penny Nixon, senior minister of Congregational Church of San Mateo (Molly will be preaching in San Mateo that day)
March 15 Learning Hour: Expecting God in Sacred Scripture
This session, with Veronica Mary Rolf, will trace the arc of our spiritual journey through the main characters, dramatic conflicts, and mystical revelations of sacred Scripture, relating these stories directly to the distinct stages of our own lives—from birth, childhood, and adolescence, to adulthood, maturity, and beyond. By learning how to identify with the difficult choices and sudden realizations of …
