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Events
Earth mission beach sweep, Capitola Beach walkway, May 18, 10-noon.
De-clutter workshop, Ellie Lavender, Whitaker Hall, May 18, 10-noon
Weed-Whacking Party, after coffee, May 19.
Guatemalan Youth Art Show May 25-26, 1st Cong. Church, 900 High St., Santa Cruz, 12-5.
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 'Earth Mission' Beach Cleanup May 18
We at Skyland are participating in the UCC 4/1 Earth Mission project. Each Sunday we collect the time cards of hours spent in ways that nurture our earth and help sustain it, number of letters of environmental advocacy written and number of trees planted. It is amazing what everyone is doing; 776 hours, 58 trees and 33 letters as of April 25.
On May 18, from 10 to 12 a..m. we will be gathering for a beach cleanup in conjunction with Save Our Shores. Meet at the entrance to Capitola Beach on the walkway just down from Zelda's (203 Esplanade, Capitola). All ages are welcome. Please bring your own reusable buckets, gloves and water bottles. See Pamela Knudsen for more information.
I have other information on things you can do - where to recycle Styrofoam into surfboards, places to discard old medications, where to get rid of toxic waste, and ideas for advocacy letters. This information will be available in Whitaker hall or you can email me. Stay green.
-- Jackie Seymour
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Changing Lives
Please take some time to read the thank you letters in Whitaker Hall to the Skyland Church community. This year the Mission Board distributed over $7,000 in proceeds from the 2012 Skyland Mountain Run to 23 different non-profits, NGO's and charitable organizations. These letters eloquently express the recipients' gratitude.
Even $100 can make a difference in many lives, and often there is a personal connection between the organization and a member of the Skyland congregation. So many thanks to the generous giving nature of Skyland Community Church.
-- Anne Evans, for the Mission Board
Whacking Good Time
Warm weather is doing one of its annual things, namely growing weeds.This gives us an opportunity for a wonderful weed whacking party, right after coffee and snacks on May 19.
Please plan to wear your grubbies and bring your weed whackers to make the whacking a short and fun event. Any other activities to beautify our Church are also welcome.
Thanks,
-- Gerald Alonzo
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Altar Flowers
We have a few vacant Sundays in May and June. If you would like to bring flowers on one of these dates, please check the calendar in Whitaker Hall and sign up.
Temple bells die out.
The fragrant blossoms remain.
A perfect evening!
Matsu Basho
--John Heyes
By request: text of Frost quatrain
By popular request (one person), here is the verse that Cliff Barney spoke as a Witnessing Steward on Sunday, April 14:
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For heaven and the future�s sakes.
It's from "Two Tramps in Mud Time," by Robert Frost. The entire poem is available online here.
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Greetings!
Welcome to the new edition of the Skyland Community Church online newsletter.
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Minister's Column
Every so often, someone asks the Deacons to discuss what to do with the "Announcements" time during worship.
Some people think that announcements add to the service by helping us stay more connected to each other and the community, while others find them disruptive to the continuity of the service and taking too much time.
The Deacons have experimented with different strategies. They have had them at the beginning, the end and the middle of the service. They have tried to encourage shorter or "church only" announcements. Each setting has advantages and disadvantages and naturally people are not of one mind about them or what constitutes the boundaries of church. How boring it would be if we all thought the same about everything! But, what to do?
The Deacons will once again have a conversation about what to do with announcements so please think creatively and make a suggestion to me or one of them. We may try some different ideas before settling either on a new plan or maybe renew what we are doing now! We'll talk about it. Everyone will give a little and we'll try to find the best solution.
-- Stephen
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Guatemalan Kids Paint Their Future in May 25-26 Art Show
Paintings by children in the Guatemalan art school to which the Skyland Mission Board contributes support will be displayed at an art show at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street, in Santa Cruz May 25-26 from noon to 5 p.m.
The school was founded in San Pedro La Laguna on Lake Atitl�n in the Guatemalan highlands by two local painters, Jose and Henry Mendez. It trains San Pedro youth in painting techniques in the hope of providing them with a means of support. San Pedro, while a poor village, is a center of Guatemalan painting, and the student works are remarkably accomplished. Tuition for the each student is $20 per month, which pays for instruction and supplies, lunches at the regular Saturday morning sessions, and a monthly family food basket.
Skyland members Carolina McCall and Cliff Barney visited the school during their Guatemalan visit in 2012, and Carolina taught at two of the regular sessions. When they returned, they began supporting one student; and at Cliff's suggestion, the Skyland Mission board began supplying tuition for another.
Jose Mendez will be present at the art show, as will Miranda Talbott-Pope, a retired U.S. social worker who lives in San Pedro and devotes most of her time to helping the school and by providing much-needed crisis services to the families. Some of Jose's own paintings, as well as textiles woven by Guatemalan women, will also be shown, and will be on sale.
First Congregational, a sister United Church of Christ  church, has made its large Fellowship Hall available for the show through the kindness of pastor Dave Grishaw-Jones and parish administrator Brooke Graff. Dave, who has visited Lake Atitlan, said he is "delighted and honored" to host the show. "What you're describing lives vividly in my mind and heart!" he emailed.
Miranda and Jose are traveling on a shoestring, and want to make all proceeds of the sales available to the school. To help with that, Jan Parker of the Mission Board and partner Bruce Berland have made space in Bruce's house in Santa Cruz available for them to stay in during the show. Many thanks to them!
Skyland members are urged to attend the show and see the effect of their contributions. For more information on the school and its current state, see Cliff's blog entry at Cliff's blog entry here, and the school's own website.
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De-clutter Your Life Workshops at Skyland
Ellie Lavender of Skyland Community Church, a certified Feng Shui consultant, will lead workshops at Whitaker Hall on how to de-clutter your life in May and June.
The workshops offer methods to increase one's health, vitality, happiness and success in three steps: clear mind clutter; de-clutter and organize one's home and work environment; and incorporate mindful interior design.
Workshop Dates/Times:
Saturday May 18, 10 a.m. to noon. Please pre-register by May 6 by sending an email to: ellie@lavenderdesign.net.
Saturday June 22, 10 a.m. to noon. Please pre-register by June 10 by sending an email to: ellie@lavenderdesign.net.
Workshop fee: Please write a check to Skyland Community Church for $25.00 and bring it with you to the workshop. Proceeds will go to the church. Family, friends and neighbors are welcome at the same fee.
Refreshments: Cheese, fruits, Lavender cookies, tea, coffee.
Contact: Ellie Lavender (408) 858-8947; for a look at Ellie's results see her website, www.lavenderdesign.net
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Financial report April 2013
Pledge gifts are $2,150 less than anticipated this month, with only one Sunday remaining. Please try to catch up on pledge commitments. Fiscal year to date income is $1,721 less than planned and expenses are $2,459 more than planned. It appears we will end our year in the red.
Thanks for overflowing the Heifer Tube. $140 was received and sent to support the small animal family assistance project.
Giving for One Great Hour of Sharing totaled $1,688. Thanks for your continued generosity.
Summary of Operating Finances to April 2013
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April 2013
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Jun 1, 2012 to
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Apr 2013
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Actual
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Planned
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Actual
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Planned
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Income
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8,215
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9,797
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147,943
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149,664
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Expenses
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8,967
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8,585
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155,317
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152,858
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Net
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$( -752)
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$1,212
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$(-7,374)
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$(-3,194)
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The Kindness of Trees
Erica Goss, Skyland's own poet laureate, has led us in a series of poetry exercises during April, National Poetry month. Several of her talks focused the 17-syllable Japanese form called haiku; for a climax on April 21, Erica read a new poem composed for Earth Day. Here is the text.
The Kindness of Trees
By Erica Goss
Breathing us as we breathe them,
the trees are kind to us.
They take the brunt of sun and crows,
calm our cities, tame our thoughts.
The trees are kind to us.
We can never pay them back.
Calm our cities, tame our thoughts,
moderate our voices.
We can never pay them back.
Each one's a place of refuge.
Moderate our voices
as we gather in the shade.
Each one's a place of refuge,
strong yet wordless, murmuring.
We gather in the shade.
Now the clouds are coming down.
Strong yet wordless, murmuring,
they take the brunt of sun and crows.
Now the clouds are coming down,
breathing us as we breathe them.
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New Climate Lobby Chapter Backs Carbon Fee to Prevent Climate Change
We have been very concerned about climate change for some time. We believe it is the most important issue of our time. The health of the earth depends on reducing carbon-dioxide levels, thus keeping global temperatures from rising.
We recently joined Citizens Climate Lobby, a non-profit, nonpartisan group dedicated to promoting legislation that will establish a "carbon fee" to reduce use of fossil fuels and encourage the development of green energy technology.
CCL supports S. 322, the Climate Protection Act of 2013, sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. This bill would put a $20/ton fee on the amount of carbon dioxide in fossil fuels, the fee to be assessed at the source of the fuel: at the mine, well, or port of entry. The fee increases by 5.6% annually until green energy is competitive with fossil fuel; 60% of the revenue is to be rebated to consumers to offset the increased cost of fuel due to the fee. Because the fee (and the price of fossil fuel) goes up predictably over time, the measure sends a clear price signal to begin using fossil fuels more efficiently or replace them with green energy. Investment flows to green technologies and the rising cost of fossil fuels increases the demand for green products, making them even less expensive as they reach mass production. This transition will reduce greenhouse gases, stabilizing our climate and the health of our oceans.
A new CCL group has been formed in Santa Cruz. It meets the first Saturday of each month. Our goal is to reach out to the media and our elected officials to encourage passage of the Boxer-Sanders bill. A meeting has been set up with Sam Farr. We have a 45 minute time slot with him, at 2 pm on Tuesday, April 30. This will be in the conference room adjacent to Sam Farr's Santa Cruz office in the County Government Center, third floor, Room 318, 701 Ocean St., Santa Cruz.
Join us in fighting for our planet.
-- Hugh and Cheryl Shyba
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