January 2019
Go Tell It On The Mountain
Monthly Newsletter
Skyland Community Church, United Church of Christ
Minister: Rev. Kevin Omi
Sunday Worship Service 10:30 a.m.
January Church Calendar

NOTE: December 30 Worship Service in Whitaker Hall

January 6
10:30 a.m. Epiphany
Communion Worship Service
Dedication of reVision Leaders
First meetings of two Sunday reVision groups

January 8
3:00-4:30 pm First meeting of Tuesday reVision group

January 13
10:30 a.m. Worship Service
Trustees Meeting after Service
Deacons Meeting after Service

January 18
6:00pm Women's Group Spaghetti Dinner
Bring a neighbor!

January 20
10:30 a.m. Worship Service
Potluck after Service
Second meetings of two Sunday reVision groups

January 22
3:00-4:30 pm Second meeting of Tuesday reVision group

January 27
10:30 a.m. Worship Service
Church Council Meeting after Service

Regularly Scheduled Events in Whitaker Hall
Mondays: Alcoholics Anonymous 8:00 p.m.
Tuesdays: QiGong 8:30-9:45 a.m.
Thursdays: Yoga 7:00 p.m.

Message from Reverend Kevin Omi


Fresh Winds of the Spirit!

Dear friends,
We will still be in the middle of the Christmas season when you receive this. We’ll also be preparing for quite a “mashup” of events on January 6: a Happy New Year, Communion Sunday, Epiphany Sunday, and the start of our reVision 90-Day Journey. What will be different during our 90-Day Journey?

·     We will place a heightened focus on our individual and collective 
spiritual renewal
·     We will begin to  reVision our future church – reVision doesn’t
mean to  revise or tweak around the edges, it means to create a
new vision for Skyland Community Church and the role we play
in the community. We seek a reVision that both honors our
heritage and is open to new understandings of the ministries 
God needs in our community.
·     We will focus on our small group activities, supported by
devotionals, spiritual practices and worship. 
·     Our worship themes, scriptures, and hymns will move away
from those in the Revised Common Lectionary, which we
generally follow, to inspiring themes that tie directly to our 90-
Day Journey. 

It is important for all of us to understand there is no way of knowing this early how God will answer our prayers. Some within our community may be anxious to see the “product” that will result from reVision. They may be looking for the formula, recipe, and steps to creating a new compelling vision or motivating mission. While ultimately some written plans for action  will evolve, that “product” is significantly less important than who we become along the way.  

Whom do we hope to become? I hope and believe we will become a  reinvigorated spiritual community, one in which fresh winds of the Spirit blow through freely like the wind. This doesn’t mean that we will become evangelists. It does mean that we will become even more deeply grounded in our  own faith, as a direct result of  experiencing the movement of God in our lives.

Why is being a reinvigorated spiritual community important? Our goal is work with others to  co-create a new vision of the wider community  and our role in it – one that is energizing and compelling - for both those in our community and within the church. 
Your prayers , whether you are participating in a small group or not , are critical. For what should we pray? Let us pray that God will use each one of us, open our lives to new meaning, and renew our church in ways that are valuable to the community and pleasing to God. Fortunately, for God, all things are possible! 

Love and blessings,
Rev. Kevin Omi







The reVision process is an integral part of Interim Time, a time of rediscovery of our identity, calling, and the role we play in the community. We’ll also explore our heritage, leadership, missions, connections, planning for the future, and other topics.

We hope two documents will help make people feel more comfortable in participating: a Small Group Covenant and Safe Space Guidelines. The schedule we are proposing is as follows: Sunday 12:00 - 1:30 pm. and Tuesday 3:00 - 4:30 pm.

This is a time of new beginnings, for our church, community and the world. May Jesus be born in our hearts yet again, bringing hope, peace, joy, and love.  Amen.

Love and blessings,
Rev. Kevin Omi


LITANY THROUGHOUT THE INTERIM PERIOD

For God’s holy presence amidst change, we pray. 
For comfort because loss is part of change, we pray. 
For Christ-like steadfastness during the challenges of transition and seasons of faith, we pray. 
For reassurance through frailty and failings, we pray. 
For the abundant creativity the Spirit provides, we pray. 
For our loved ones in this community of faith, we pray. 
For God’s children beyond this community, we pray.


To learn more about the Interim period at Skyland please visit the Transitions page: http://skylandchurch.com/ transitions/

Church Council News
++++++++++++++++++++++

The Council met on Sunday, December 23, and received an update on the reVision program, which will launch with the first small group meetings on Sunday, January 6. Much of the discussion centered around how to “make space” for the program by postponing or reducing certain activities of the various boards and committees, e.g., by having fewer meetings during the first three months of the year. Each group will determine what works best.

The spaghetti dinner is planned for Friday, January 18, but much of that planning will be done without meeting in person. Of course, many hands make light work for set-up and clean-up!

The Nominating Committee presented a proposed slate for next year’s boards and committees, which will be posted in Whitaker Hall at least two weeks before the Annual Meeting on Sunday, January 27. Please stay to ensure we have a quorum to do our good work.

This will be my last Council meeting as Moderator, and I want to thank every one of you for all your support during the last two years. We had some rough times, but our love for one another kept us strong and moving forward. I look forward to working with you in the small groups, and as we rediscover ourselves through discernment in the winter months ahead. Happy New Year!

Blessings! 
Deana  Arnold, Moderator
Flowers for the Altar

Several Sundays during January are open for floral gifts. Please sign up on the calendar in Whitaker Hall. You can check the calendar in the links at the end of this newsletter.
John Heyes
MEDITATION MOMENT

from 1Corinthians 2, New International Version:
(Paul writes--)

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,  so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
   what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived” [a]
the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10  these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  11  For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  12  What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.  13  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 

[a] Isaiah 64:4
Missions Board Spotlight

THANK YOU from the MISSION BOARD!

GIVING TREE for the MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY:
Our generous congregation has once again reached out to help support 13 families from the Loma Prieta School district for food and toys. Skyland members raised over $2,000 to give food and gift cards for Christmas.  

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT:
During the month of January we will be collecting money to support the education for student scholarships around the world. Last year the Mission Board raised $2,100 to be sent as direct aid to individuals identified directly by members of Skyland Community Church. 

For decades we have supported two technical students in India, three high schoolers in Fiji, a middle school student and his family from Guatemala and most recently, one full time student in Tanzania. This mission work allows us to reach far and wide. Thank you.

LOCAL AID :
Our local mission work for January will include collecting warm winter items that will be distributed to our local community. Please bring clean and lightly used: sleeping bags, coats, jackets, scarves, hats and gloves.

Contact: Shannon Edwards if you have questions about how to help.

SAVE THE DATE:  
Women's Group Spaghetti Dinner: Friday, Jan. 18th at 6:00pm
Come enjoy the warm companionship and delicious homemade meat and vegetarian sauces pasta prepared lovingly by Skyland Church members with our mountain community on this cold and wintry night.  

Food Pantry News

Thank you so much for your recent donations! 
Our pantry has begun to see a bit of use, which may well continue as weather gets colder.

We could use a few each of the following items:

Vegetarian soup
Peanut butter
Crackers
Cereals (both hot and cold)

We are "swimming" in tuna (with surplus in the shed) even after donating to the Davenport Resource Center, 
and do not need more at this time. We also have plenty of pasta and sauce.

Thank you again for your generous gifts of food to those in need.

Blessings,
Julie Victorine

 NOTE From Your Treasurer

The Treasurer's report for the end of the year involves closing out certain things that will not be ready for the newsletter. There will be a special report at a later date!

Quick Links
Skyland Community Church, United Church of Christ
25100 Skyland Road, Los Gatos, CA 95033
phone: 408-353-1310
USPS mail: Skyland Church
P.O. Box 245
Los Gatos, CA 95031-0245
Website 
 http://skylandchurch.com