As I reflect on ways to successfully persevere through this pandemic, my thoughts take me back to when my children were little. Each night, right before saying our prayers, together we would sing Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV):

After years of singing this Bible passage every night, it naturally has become ingrained in our hearts and minds, and has been a wonderful source of inspiration, hope, and much-needed peace to us during these turbulent times. It reminds us that, with God’s guidance and direction, we can successfully rise above our current circumstances. If we just trust God with all our hearts and spend focused time with God, we can be empowered to face these challenging times with strength and good cheer.

My hope and prayer is, as you ponder Proverbs 3:5–6, that God’s peace will shine into your hearts and that you are able to receive God’s everlasting Love, along with courage, strength, and a joy that no one can take away from you. Blessings to you all.

After completing a Step Beyond study about 10 years ago, six of us developed steps to reach beyond. Step 1: Cups of tea and sweets around the host’s dining room table. Step 2: Checking in—Sometimes the checking in takes the whole evening as we share births of grandchildren, deaths of spouses, retirement plans, all of life’s joys and sorrows. Step 3: Reading a book—We read and discuss books, everything from John Philip Newell to Richard Rohr. Step 4: Intercessory prayer—The list is long as we care for others. Step 5: Enjoying the night sky—As we say good night, we take a moment to appreciate the night sky.

During this pandemic we connect by email and Zoom following our steps in new ways. Our current book is Holy Envy by Barbara Taylor Brown and we just had a new grandmother tea (over Zoom of course) for Nancy Ewing.

If you are interested in learning more about how to be a part of a small group, please contact the Director of Community Life, Carol Heath.

Picture above is from 2013: Cheryl Thomas, Nancy Ewing, Diana Aldrich, Lynn Peterson, Jeeti Gill, Beth Pole (not pictured)

The Nominating Committee requests your help in identifying future leaders for our church. We are seeking individuals who are willing to work hard and have a great time together as they follow God’s call and seek God’s guidance. The Nominating Committee wishes to consider potential leaders who broadly represent the membership of the church and you can help us!

There are a variety of positions:

Please prayerfully reflect on people you know who might fit these positions well. Submit recommendations or volunteer yourself by completing the SVPC Leadership Recommendation Form (available at the button below through May 30).

If you would prefer a paper recommendation form mailed to you, please contact the committee at nomcomsvpc@gmail.com.

Wednesday, April 21 • 11:30 a.m. • Zoom

Presbyterian Women (PW) invites you to enjoy a Reader’s Theater presentation related to the work of Suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and the views of women living at the time of the struggle for women’s right to vote in the United States. If you are reading this, you are invited to attend and to ask your friends to join you.

YouTube Premiere

Let’s gather online to watch our first Collaboration Concert, from March 2019, with over 300 musicians including SVPC’s Chancel Choir, the Cupertino High School choirs, orchestra, soloists, and organ. The concert features Dan Forrest’s powerful “Requiem for the Living” (2013), a five-movement prayer for rest based on the Biblical texts of Ecclesiastes and Job, and traditional Requiem texts. The concert includes several spirituals with tenor soloist Trente Morant, a harp solo, a piano solo, and two organ solos.

As we watch together, conductor Andrew Aron and organist Valerie Sterk will be in the chat window, answering questions and providing running commentary about the concert. Check the church website for the link to join the watch party. Here’s the concert program PDF to follow along during the watch party.

Register by April 16 for Spring Fling

Join us for service at 11 a.m., where our youth confirmands will be presented, and then after worship join us for an online celebration for the entire Sunnyvale Presbyterian Community—church, The Music School and PELC. We will eat lunch together, meet new people, and celebrate our confirmation students. A virtual choir made up of students from The Music School and other singers will entertain us too! We’ll end with a game of “This or That,” and a scavenger hunt. Register by April 16 (today!) so that we can send you a packet filled with some goodies.

7–8:30 p.m. • Zoom

Have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines? Feeling hesitant about getting it or know someone who is? Dr. Amy Morishima, a member of SVPC and a Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) doctor, will be presenting on the facts about the vaccines via a presentation developed by PAMF to dispel myths and inform people about the vaccines. There will be time for Q & A following.

The information presented will not be specific to the Bay Area, so we encourage you to invite anyone you know who is hesitant about the vaccine to attend this event!

10:30–11:15 a.m. • Zoom

SVPC Seniors in their 80s and 90s are invited to a virtual tea with Pastor Karin and members of the Caring Ministry Team. Questions? Contact Judy Beggs at jmbeggs@live.com or 650-305-0810.

Thursday, April 29 • 6–7:30 p.m. • Zoom

People who care about queer people need to know and care about their legal rights. Whether it’s gay marriage, employment discrimination, or transgender health treatments, the decisions of courts and legislatures have a profound impact on the lives of queer people. This program will explore the unique legal issues that queer people face, the advances that have been made in recent years, the challenges that lay ahead, and the role of the church in protecting these rights.

Rev. Michael Kirby has been a leader in the PC(USA) on issues of marriage equality. He was a practicing lawyer in Texas before entering the ministry. Rev. Kirby will be interviewed by Barry Vickrey, Discipleship lead elder and a retired law professor.

Save the date! If you’ve been attending worship and wonder what the next step in connecting is, come and explore membership with us at our next New Member Class. For information please contact Jean Ranck.

Rev. Dr. Stephanie Lutz Allen will lead this four-week discussion group. Weeks one through three will focus on prayers from James Melvin Washington’s classic book, Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans, and the fourth week will look at the Biblical imagery in Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem, “The Hill We Climb." Each week will include discussion of the prayer/poem and a closing time of meditation, as a guided Lectio Divina.

Send an email to Stephanie Lutz Allen to sign up and obtain the Zoom link.

Wednesdays, May 5–26 • 7 p.m. • Zoom

One of the most distinctive ways in which Jesus taught was through parables. Luke’s gospel contains the most famous parables in scripture: the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, the Rich Man, and Lazarus. In this class we will examine these and other parables with an eye toward understanding them in their historical context as well as for us today.

Ghost Ranch invites you to join them virtually for online spring workshops.

Located close to the village of Abiquiú in Rio Arriba County in north central New Mexico, and owned by the Presbyterian Church (USA), Ghost Ranch offers a diversity of programs and adventure. The landscape of Ghost Ranch—made famous by painter Georgia O’Keeffe—encompasses 21,000 acres of towering rock walls, vivid colors and vast skies. The mission at Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center is to foster well-being and spiritual health through its historic, inspiring southwest landscape.

To learn more about virtual events, videos and at-home activities for children and youth subscribe to their e-newsletters. Also, check out the Children’s ministry Facebook page or Youth ministry’s microsite and Instagram, or text ‘FLASH’ (Middle School) or ‘CLUE’ (High School) to 51400 for live updates.

In place of the blue prayer cards you filled out on Sundays, please send your prayer requests anytime to prayer@svpc.us. Be sure to include whether your request should/can be:

Watch the live stream broadcast of our weekly worship service. No Facebook account is required to watch on SVPC’s public Facebook page. Or you can watch on the SVPC website.