|
Minister's Column
New Slates Keep
Skyland on Track
Dear Skyland Friends,
Whenever I sit to write a Minister's Column for the newsletter, I am most often feeling gratitude to God for the opportunity to be your minister, and appreciation that goes beyond words for all that you all do to make our church such an amazing place to grow in spirit.
At our annual meeting on Jan. 29, we elected new officers and board and
committee members to help us keep things going smoothly. I am excited about the people we have as church officers and the mix of people we have on each of our boards and committees. It looks like an excellent blend of new people and those who have been around awhile.
I am so grateful to Marcia Rollins,
 |
|
|
Marcia counts the house.
|
our outgoing moderator, and Deana Arnold, our incoming moderator, for their willingness to watch over and "moderate" all the different energies and interests that keep us in motion. I am also grateful for all those who are finishing terms of service as well as those who are beginning something new or continuing in their work.
There are also many people helping in areas that don't show up on the "slate": Women's group, Choir, Sunday School teachers, Nominating Committee, cleaners, helpers, newsletter editors, kids of all ages who contribute just by being present, as well as often entertaining us! Thank you for all you do to bring God's love into the world, both in our little corner of creation and in the wider world out there.
Blessings to all,
Stephen
::
|
Needed: Copy Editor/
Publisher to Replace
Skyland's Best
Multitalented John Gaffney sings
as well as produces the newsletter
John Gaffney, the person responsible for whatever coherence this newsletter has displayed for more than a few years, is retiring with the current issue; and we need someone to replace him.
Not that that is really possible. John's unerring eye has detected countless misplaced commas, wrong fonts, missing spaces, and downright mistakes, thus keeping egg off the editor's face and presenting the reader with a display that is at least neat and free of embarrassment to Skyland.
That done, he has then turned the digital copy into a .pdf file, printed it, folded the result, addressed and stuffed envelopes, stamped them, and then actually mailed them to the 15 subscribers who prefer print to pixels.
It is not true, however, that he would come to your house and read it to you. Everything else, though. These are big shoes to fill.
For despite the sad evidence of today's print media, which has pretty much done away with copy editors and shows it, every piece of copy does need editing. No writer can read his/her own material without being so caught up in admiration for the prose as to miss glaring errors. So we need a replacement for John, in both of his functions.
If two people would like to share the job, that is possible - one to edit, the other to publish in print. For those who dream of journalistic glory, applicants will certainly have the inside track to replace the current editor eventually, with all the attendant perks.
-- CB
::
|
|
Altar Flowers
Please use the calendar in Whitaker Hall to sign up for any open Sunday in February and beyond.
tending our small plot
we send bounty to dear folk
in our land and theirs
~ haiku by John Heyes
|
|
Meditation M
oment
Thy will is best for me,
what'e'r it bringeth me
Of loss or gain,
of joy or pain,
Thy will is best for me.
|
|
| |
| |
Trustees Dig In to 'Emerald Triangle'
We have a new look at Skyland Community Church. The photo above shows the view as you round the corner coming up Miller Hill Road; in the foreground is Skyland's "Emerald Triangle," the slice of land given to the church last year by the Wicht family.
Trustees Lou McTamaney, Gerry Alonzo, Brian Wood, and Paula Leary, plus Larrry Lopp of the Site committee, have performed extensive tree management to remove dead trees and provide defensible space for fire protection, as well as a healthy and beautiful growing space for our redwoods and oaks.
The trees needed attention. Many of those on our property had not received care for 20 to 40 years. The trees were crowded, and, as we have seen, prone to collapse. The selection of the trees remaining was careful, thoughtful and difficult. Tree removal and trimming was performed all around the property. The trimming was done quickly, in only a couple of days, using local, hard-working and artful climbers and ground crews from Huerta's Tree Service of Redwood Estates. The cost was just over $5,000, according to Paula.
In the next few weeks. the chippings from the trees will be disced or rototilled into the soil, after which wildflower seeds will be spread.
-- Larry Lopp
::
|
|
White Privilege
Meeting Feb. 5 after Service
The second meeting to discuss the United Church of Christ's curriculum on white privilege will be held downstairs in Whitaker Hall after the Feb. 5 church service.
Chelsea Page will show videos from UCC leadership, and lead a discussion on personal experiences of white privilege. A brief but witty and powerful video on exactly what "white privilege" is, made by the Chicago Theological Seminary, a UCC affliliate, will also be shown. (For a preview, go to Youtube online
here.)
A third meeting will be held on Feb. 26, and a fourth on March 26; these meetings will focus on sections of the UCC curriculum, which is available online here.
::
|
Skyland Church Council,
Committees, Boards OKd
at Annual Meeting Jan. 29
Term through 2017
|
Moderator
|
Deana Arnold
|
|
|
|
|
Vice moderator
|
Jackie Seymour
|
|
KEY
|
|
|
Clerk
|
Don Law
|
|
New
|
Name
|
|
Treasurer
|
(Gerald Alonzo)
|
|
2d term
|
|
|
Asst. treasurer
|
(Jan Swayne)
|
|
Chair
|
|
|
Auditor
|
(Larry Cooke)
|
|
Open seat
|
(blank)
|
|
NCSC delegates
|
(Larry Cooke)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gerald Alonzo
|
|
|
|
|
Student
|
|
|
|
|
|
NCSC Alternates
|
Marcia Rollins
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jan Swayne
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Term through
|
2018
|
2017
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Missions
|
(Shannon Edwards)
|
Cindy Siwajek
|
|
|
|
|
(Leslie Meehan)
|
Angela Patterson
|
|
|
|
|
Harold Hoyt
|
(John Hayes)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Music and Arts
|
Paula Leary
|
Jeremy Cole
|
|
|
|
|
Linda Heyes
|
Lynn Mitchell
|
|
|
|
|
(Christina Schwabecher)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pastoral relations
|
(Anne Evans)
|
(Mike Mahrle)
|
|
|
|
|
(Ruth Dawkins)
|
(John Heyes)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Religious education
|
(Cheryl Shyba)
|
Sherrie Starkie
|
|
|
|
|
Patricia Wood
|
(Ann Baier)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dorice Piraino
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Term through
|
2019
|
2018
|
2017
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Endowment
|
Don Law
|
Brian Wood
|
Al Feuerbach
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Trustees
|
Larry Cooke
|
(Paula Leary)
|
Hugh Shyba
|
|
|
|
Carol Carre
|
(Randy McCalla)
|
Brian Wood*
|
|
|
|
(Bruce Victorine)
|
(Lou McTamaney)
|
Mike Mahrle
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Deacons
|
(Gina Adams)
|
(Julie Victorine)
|
Jeri Tjon
|
|
|
|
Nancy Jo Lopp
|
(Glenda McCalla)
|
(Jeremy Cole)
|
|
|
|
Cliff Barney
|
Renee Pressler
|
(Linda Heyes)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comm. Systems
|
Cliff Barney
|
(Larry Lopp)
|
Lynn Mitchell
|
|
|
|
|
(Brian Wood)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Term through
|
2017
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Harvest festival
|
(Renee Pressler)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
::
|
|
NOTE from your treasurer:
Pledge income through January is $705 less than committed . If you are able, please attempt to keep your pledge gifts current.
$1,380 was donated to our Mission Education outreach programs
Here are our operating finances for
January
201
7
as of
Jan
.
31
.
Summary of Operating Finances
January 2017 | Jun 1,2016 to Jan 31
Actual Planned | Actual Planned
Income $ 11,511 $ 10,532 | $144,743 $141,050
Expenses $ 10,350 $ 10,389 | $129,962 $131,514
Net $ 1,161 $ 143 | $ 14,781 $ 9,536
Note: the annual financial report for 2016 is available at the Skyland website here.
-- Gerald J. Alonzo,
Treasurer
::
|
|
|
