Go Tell It On The Mountain
Monthly Newsletter
Skyland Community Church, United Church of Christ
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Rev. Stephen Glauz-Todrank, Pastor
Sunday Worship Service 10:30 a. m.
Introducing our new format for
Go Tell It On The Mountain. This format will make it easier to view on mobile phones and tablets. White backgrounds will be used for greater readability in all lighting conditions. We welcome your feedback.
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Dear Skyland Friends,
Easter proclaims that through the power of God, love is stronger than fear, hate, violence, and even death. How that plays out in this world is a mystery.
We can look at the world and see what seems like evil triumphing everywhere or most places or some places or a few places. Or we can see the presence of God pouring out love that heals and renews and even resurrects everywhere, or most places or some places or ...well, it is our choice.
We do have choices about how we see the world. We can choose to look for and live out the love of God wherever we go. We can do this.
Most people follow whatever mood strikes them at the moment, but we can also actively choose to live out the way of love whatever happens. This, in itself, has tremendous power. It requires that we pay attention to our way of experiencing the world and take active steps when we feel drawn into the fear and all the rest.
At the root of success is prayer, reconnecting again and again to the God who is love and is always there: there to forgive us for messing up again, there to inspire us to forgive 70 times 7 times, there to make this little moment in the world a little better.
Easter day, like Christmas, "comes but once a year", but the spirit of love transforming the world is for every day, every place, and every heart. May that spirit live in all of us and live brightly in the world so that all may see and join in.
Easter Blessings to all,
Stephen
PS:
Please join us for our Easter worship service at 10:30. This is a Family Sunday and all are welcome. There will be an Easter Egg Hunt for the children after the service. During the service we will take our annual One Great Hour of Sharing offering. After the service all are invited to an Easter Tea sponsored by the Women's Group. Please bring finger food to share. Devilled eggs, tea sandwiches, desserts and other sweet and savory surprises will be greatly appreciated.
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April 1 Easter
10:30 a.m. Family Worship Service
Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Tea -- After Worship
April 7, Saturday -- Memorial Service for Harold M. Hoyt Sr.
11 a.m. Service with Luncheon afterward
April 8
10:30 a.m. Family Worship Service
April 15
10:30 a.m. Family Worship Service
3 p.m. Ordination of Beverly Brook at Peace UCC, Santa Cruz
April 22 Celebration of Earth Day
10:30 a.m. Family Worship Service
3:00 p.m. Spring Meeting of the Santa Clara Association of NCNC at La Selva United Church of Christ
April 28, Saturday
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Women's Group Retreat at Skyland Church, $25
April 29
10:30 a.m. Family Worship Service
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Church Council Spotlight
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When the church council met on Sunday, March 25, at noon, the recent update of the church website was discussed. If you haven’t seen it, please have a look at
http://skylandchurch.com
. Many thanks to Anne Evans, Cliff Barney, and Stephen for all their work to create such a beautiful site, and also to Nancy Jo for the lovely photographs. The new website has a calendar that can be updated to include all church events. If you have an item to add, please send the date, time, and event to Stephen or Anne.
The council also discussed how to coordinate the monthly pot lucks, and decided to add them to the coffee hour list and ask for volunteers. Since it is more work to clean up after a potluck, any individual who volunteers for a potluck will not be expected to volunteer for two coffee hours. (Anyone is welcome, of course, to volunteer as many times as they feel moved!) Deana will update the sign-up sheet in Whitaker Hall and the volunteers will also be recorded in the online calendar.
In addition, the council agreed that a good date for Harvest Festival is September 15.
Jan Swayne noted that many of the flower seeds planted in the fall, most by her and Ann Baier, are now coming up. She and Ann are planning to do some weed trimming around the flowers so others will see where they are growing and avoid accidentally harming them.
The Board of Religious Education has planned a lovely Easter egg hunt for Easter Sunday. The Deacon’s are discussing a church retreat to be scheduled sometime in July. The Women’s group has preparations for Harold Hoyt’s memorial on April 7 well in hand. More information on Harold’s memorial below.
Thanks!
Deana
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Japanese maple's
feathery, maroon leaves stir
in soft April breeze.
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Women's Group Retreat
Saturday, April 28: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
at Skyland Church
Please join us for the retreat at Skyland Church's Whitaker Hall led by Rev. Evelyn Vigil. Rev. Vigil brings a unique perspective to the subject matter of
Justice and Joy
, because she spent 18 years as a chaplain in the Santa Clara jails. She is
currently is employed by Heartland Hospice as a bereavement coordinator.
Lunch will be provided. The cost is $25 and scholarships are available if needed. Please contact either Shannon Edwards or Anne Evans to sign up.
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Skyland Community Church,
United Church of Christ
Los Gatos, California
Environmental Policy Statement
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Psalm 24:1 states, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” This means that ultimately all creation belongs to God.
Our role is to care for that creation and leave it to subsequent generations better than we found it. We are happy to participate in the Green Business program as part of our way of honoring this commitment. We will strive to incorporate environmental sustainability into all our projects. Specifically, we will adopt the following policies and practices:
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
We will strive to–
Increase waste diversion by recycling paper, bottles and cans and composting food and landscape waste
Reduce waste by donating reusable office items (furniture, stationery) to charitable organizations
Avoid purchasing any bottled water except in case of emergencies
Toxics Reduction
We will -
Dispose of, or recycle, toxic products safely
Choose less toxic janitorial cleaning products
Recycle waste lamps, batteries, aerosol cans and other universal waste
Batteries – Purchase rechargeable batteries when technically feasible
Lamps – Purchase LED lamps, or if using fluorescent lamps choose brands with low mercury
Will purchase products with no or low VOCs
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
We will purchase/use -
Office & toilet paper with 50-100% recycled content
Products with least packaging (no plastic, styrofoam, aerosol packaging)
Energy Star rated appliances and office equipment
The most water-efficient toilets, urinals, and faucet aerators
Conserve
We will conserve fossil fuels by -
Exploring telecommuting options,
Encouraging carpools for church events
We shall strive to remodel using LEED Green building standards.
Member Education
We will educate members on resource conservation and pollution prevention through –
Hosting only minimal waste events, i.e., minimizing the waste generated during coffee hours, potlucks, or meetings
The Church Council adopted this policy and will inform the congregation and keep it posted on the church bulletin board. We will inform other groups who use our facilities of this policy and ask them to comply with it in their events on our premises.
Adopted by the Church Council on March 25, 2018
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Davenport Resources Center
Warm clothing, canned goods, and toiletries were delivered to the Davenport Resources Center on March 26.
Feeding our school
We bring snacks to our local schools:
granola bars, fruit cups, drinks, etc.
No peanuts please.
Contact: Jeremy Cole
Africa Library Project
Donation boxes have been added to the local schools.
Contact: Cindy Siwajek
Local Support
Mental Health Community Action Network (MHCAN) in Santa Cruz helps those transitioning into homes. We are still collecting
forks and razors
. In April we will be looking for a
changing table for a newborn
,
socks, jackets and sleeping bags
.
Contact: Shannon Edwards
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MEDITATION MOMENT
And I will pray the Father and he shall give you
Another comforter; that he may abide with you
For ever.
John 14:16
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Celebration of Harold M. Hoyt's Life on April 7 at 11 a.m.
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We are sorry to have to report that Harold M. Hoyt Sr., a long-time member of our church died in March.
Harold handed out bulletins most Sundays and often took the offering. He served on the Deacons and Trustees and was most recently on the Missions Board.
A great volunteer and up for anything that needed doing, Harold was good with a chainsaw and other tools or just helping us set up and take down for Harvest Festival or whatever needed doing at the moment. We will miss his friendly greetings and helping hands.
Harold was active in Mountain Neighbors Helping Neighbors. With his spouse, Shirley, he gave many rides and did home fix-it jobs for neighbors who needed help, both as a caring friend and through MNHN.
We will gather to celebrate his life at the church on April 7th at 11 am. Please join us and feel free to bring something tasty to share at the reception. If you have a good pecan pie recipe, that was one of his favorites.
Hope to see you there.
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SkylandChurch.com Has a New Look
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Cliff Barney, Anne Evans and Stephen Glauz-Todrank have been working for the past few weeks on redoing the website with technical help from Bet Hannon of the Church Website Program.
The website is a work in process. Slowly over the next month, we will be editing the site and adding content. Nancy Jo's photos are already a lovely addition and there is a full church calendar. Please let Stephen or I know if you have dates or events to add.
We anticipate re-designing the whole website, which will take 6 months.
My personal vision is a website that reflects and communicates Skyland Community church's mission and concerns. An open website where newcomers and the congregation alike can come for information, insight and spiritual connection. Bet Hannon, who is a UCC minister, guides us in this endeavor and thank goodness, she and her staff are technically brilliant at WordPress.
We are recruiting from the congregation- especially those with a technical or graphics background to join us in this website creation. We cannot do this alone.
We owe such a debt of gratitude to our friend, John Gaffney for creating and maintaining the previous website by himself. I know that John is looking down on us now from Heaven and chuckling, "I tried that and I know it's not going to work... why don't you try doing this." Thank you, John, for your inspiration!
Anne Evans
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NOTE From Your Treasurer
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Pledge income for our fiscal year through March is $272 above my best expectation guess, but Offering income continues far less than our financial plan, -$7,591 for our fiscal year to date. However, our significantly reduced expenses result in a net of +$1,741 fiscal year to date.
The reason our general operating net is $9,869 less than February report is March had some quarterly lumped expenses of $9,562 for Our Share to NCNC-UCC, Stephen’s Pension and Medical, and SocSec and Medicare taxes.
Still appears a strong possibility we will end our fiscal year with surplus in net operating finances.
On Sunday March 18 you voted to participate in the Conference Sponsored ReVision program. A donation to cover this cost was received previously and payment has been mailed to NCNC-UCC.
We are now able to accept credit card payments for pledge, general and special offerings if that is more convenient than check or cash. See either Jan or myself after service for these transactions.
Here are our operating finances as of March 25 for our 2017-18 fiscal year.
Summary of Operating Finances
March 2018
Actual Planned
Income $ 9,110 $ 10,250
Expenses $18,979 $ 22,225
Net $(-9,869) $(-11,975)
Jun 1, 2017 to Mar 25
Actual Planned
Income $156,670 $161,007
Expenses
$154,929. $166,633
Net
$ 1,741 $ (-5,626)
Gerald J. Alonzo, Treasurer
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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
email: sglauztodrank@gmail.com | Website http://skylandchurch.com
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