Week of April 21, 2024 | Issue: 624

One of our three goals for 2024-207 as a church is “to dig deeper into what it means to be stewards of creation,” and Earth Day offers some great opportunities to do just that! 

UCC Earth Summit, Saturday, 4/20, 10am (Zoom) - The UCC's second annual Earth Summit will feature celebrated author and activist Bill McKibben delivering the keynote lecture, "Energy from Heaven or Energy from Hell?" A panel of award-winning activists will speak about the multi-national struggle against the one of the world's largest plastics producers, and some UCC Creation Justice churches will share about things their churches are doing. Learn more and register here. 

Sunday Worship & Film - This Sunday will offer both challenge and inspiration around the call to be stewards of creation “Together”! During worship we’ll consider the call of our faith to “love one another” as it applies to caring for the earth, particularly around the issue of plastics. Stay after the service for a showing of the inspiring documentary, “Common Ground,” a hopeful film about people coming together to care for the planet and one another. Please bring a brown bag lunch to enjoy while you watch the film! 

Learn about Earth Day & “Planet Vs. Plastics” - “Planet Vs. Plastics” is the global Earth Day theme for 2024. Learn why they chose this theme, what the objectives are, and how to get involved here. You can also learn about the history of Earth Day here. 

Take Action!

• Sign the EarthDay.org Global Plastics Treaty” Petition
• Urge Congress to Pass the REDUCE Act (from UCC Creation Justice Ministries)

Go Outside on Earth Day, Monday, 4/22 - One simple way to celebrate Earth Day is to spend some time in creation. Whether you take a hike, visit a garden, or just sit outside on your porch or on a bench near your home, try to spend some time this Monday, or sometime this week, just being with creation. Listen to the birds, feel the sun and the breeze on your skin. Maybe you’ll spend a little time in prayer, or meditating on the idea of “oneing” that Barry shared with us a couple of weeks ago. Or maybe you’ll just sit and listen. Creation has a lot to teach us! 

The documentary film, “Common Ground”, has been made available to ACC as a member of Interfaith Power and Light. This 87 minute documentary is literally about the ground, soil to you and me. The Board of Missions and Social Justice invites you to stay after worship on Sunday, April 21. Please bring your own brown bag lunch or snack and there will be dessert provided. You will find hope for our planet!

Cathie Kosel, a longtime member of ACC and sister of Jan Kosel, died on Easter Sunday after a long battle with cancer.

A Celebration of Life will be held for her at ACC on Saturday, June 29th, at 2pm. Attendees are invited to bring singing bowls if you have one. A reception will follow, hosted by Cathie's son, Andrew, in Social Hall.

Last Thursday evening, we invited our wider community to join us for a food truck fundraiser for the Black Wealth Builders Fund and it was a rousing success! We only ended up with one food truck, but we learned that we can definitely pull a crowd big enough for two, or maybe even three! 

Southern Jazz Kitchen raised $300 with their 20% of profits donation. The owner, Michael, who manned the truck along with his wife and daughter, told us he made as much in a few hours at our event as he usually does in a full day! He wasn’t quite prepared to make over a hundred orders that evening, but he said next time he’ll be ready! 

An additional $700 was donated at our information table, manned by Barry and Tom, surely aided by the nearby ice cream table where Elena and Susan Frances served ice cream to all who made additional donations. That brought our total to $1,000! Someone came by at the end of the evening after the truck was closed and still wanted to make a donation, so we added another $40!

People had to wait a while for their orders, but there was a beautiful spirit of community and fellowship with people chatting while they waited and kids running around on the patio. We had a wonderful presentation from Jim Becker from the Richmond Community Foundation, Eric Mills from Neighborhood Housing Services, and Ebony Blake, a recent BWB loan recipient. Each of them spoke of their faith in God and the way they have seen God at work in their lives, in their work, and specifically through the Black Wealth Builders Fund.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to putting together this event and all who came! We provided a fun event for our community that brought people together, and raised awareness about this amazing fund that will surely continue to bear fruit! 

Click HERE to See More Pictures from the Event!

The new Care Team is forming to arrange for meals, visits, and rides as needed by our congregation. 

When you have a need, Susan Francis is the initial contact person. She will notify the person responsible for arranging rides or visits or meals.

Faith Abel is the person coordinating rides to church or medical appointments. She is looking for volunteers who can provide a ride as needed. We are currently providing rides to both church and medical appointments, and there is a definite need for drivers.   

Please contact either Susan Francis or Faith Abel if you are someone who could give a ride when needed and it fits your schedule, as well as when you need a ride.

- Faith Abel

Helen Winters is facing some difficulties with mobility due to fractures in her back and ongoing health issues, and could use some support through meals. We are going to begin providing meals for Helen on Tuesdays and Thursdays in April and May. Please help out if you can! 

Join us for our monthly Spiritual Journeys conversation, where we interview different members of ACC about their backgrounds and the role of faith in their lives. Where did God show up for them? How has their thinking changed over time? How would their lives be different, if they didn’t go to church? Come to learn more about your fellow churchgoer, and to think about your own spiritual journey. This month’s guest is Susan Francis.

Would you like to join Pastor Jen and represent ACC as a delegate to the Northern California Nevada Conference Annual Gathering? The event will be held at First Congregational Church of Fresno this year, June 6, 10:00am - June 8, 12:00 noon. Early bird prices end April 25, so we would like to go ahead and get registered if we can. We can send 2 delegates from our church, and they must be members. Let Pastor Jen know if you're interested! 

On Friday, April 26, Faith Formation will present its monthly film offering, Life of PI (2012) in the ACC Fireside Room.

The storyline revolves around two survivors of a shipwreck who are on a lifeboat stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. One is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel and the other is a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Yann Martel, the author of the book upon which the film was based, said that Life of Pi can be summarized in three statements: "Life is a story," "You can choose your story,” and "A story with God is the better story." 

Please plan to arrive around 1:30 to allow time to visit and settle in to watch the two-hour film starting at 1:45. Of course there will be popcorn and lemon water to enjoy during the film and an after-film discussion.

We are looking to track our Black Wealth Builders giving as a congregation. If you have ever donated to Black Wealth Builders and you haven't filled out a BWB giving card, please fill one out this Sunday (or the next time you're at ACC). The card asks you to anonymously report the amounts of your donations to BWB, whether you're giving monthly, gave an Easter offering, or donated in previous years. This information will allow us to understand and celebrate our church's investment in the Black Wealth Builder's Fund.

If you want to learn more about the Black Wealth Builders Fund, you can find more information here.

Treasurer’s Report: In February, made large payments for furnace parts for the chapel and for drainage work.

Pastor’s Report: Suggested the Council to read and discuss “The Rebirthing of God: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings”; planned (and some were already executed) Easter-related Sunday services, Yoga Class, Black Wealth Builders fund raising event; recommended to a board name change from “Pastoral Care” to “Congregational Care”; hopes to review ACC’s Open and Affirming, Jubilee, Steward commitments on Sundays in the summer; reported on Gaza prayer walk and free bake sale.

Upcoming Church Activities (some were already executed): Film screening – “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Sunday scripture study; Friday movie afternoons; Spectrum Book Study – “Decolonizing Palestine”. Some book studies are one- time sessions.

Bylaw revision update: The Bylaw review team is ready to share a revised draft with the Council and requested to prepare reviewing the packet when it arrives for an efficient discussion at a special meeting.

Review of outdoor displays: Questions about policy and procedure of placing outdoor displays outside the church were raised, including who approves the displays and whether displays represent the whole church; Moderator, Vice Moderator, and Minster will work together to draft a policy and procedure to present to the Council.

Membership Development Committee: The decline in membership and the difficulty of the Music Director in assembling choirs were raised; forming a Membership Development Committee was recommended; more to discuss in the next meeting.

If you wish to know more details, please contact Moderator Dudley Thompson or Pastor Jen Chapman. 

Pastor Melinda McLain writes: 

Plan to attend our first Planting Justice El Sobrante Farmer’s Market at The Good Table on Saturday, April 21^st, 12-4pm. Sam Lustig of Planting Justice is the point person for the market, and it promises to be fantastic. We’ll be closing the street down in front of our site and having a lovely collection of food vendors and live music each Sunday afternoon. We will also hold our first ever worship service and Sunday Gathering inside our building at 10:30am.

Let's be in prayer for our siblings in Christ as they worship together for the first time in their new space. And go check out the farmer's market if you can!

DOWNLOAD & SHARE THE FLYER!

ACC enjoys a sister-church relationship with Sycamore UCC in El Cerrito. Sycamore’s annual rummage sale is an important part of their program. We’re invited to help by donating items to the sale, volunteering to help, and/or showing up to shop! They will be accepting donations at the church on Saturdays and Sundays, May 4, 5, 11, and 12 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. 

Donations will not be accepted after 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 16^th.

You can also drop off donations during the week in the lower parking lot near the gate to the back yard. Please be mindful not to interrupt the preschool.

Sycamore does NOT accept: Adult Clothing - Computers, any Equip or Technical Books – Carpets – Cribs – Furniture - Fish Tanks / Aquariums - Exercise Equipment - Mattresses - Textbooks or Manuals - TV’s or TV Stands - Audio Cassettes or VHS Tapes

Please make sure all items are clean and in working order before you donate them. We always appreciate donations that are in closed boxes for storing before the sale, thanks!!

If you would like to volunteer, e-mail Karen Nishikawa (nishikawakaren9@gmail.com ) with your availability. We need many volunteers every day to make this a successful event. (One advantage of being a volunteer is that you are allowed to purchase items ahead of the sale day.)



Thursday, May 16:      

Starting at 1 p.m. for Setup & Sorting - light dinner provided.

Friday, May 17:

9 a.m. until 5 p.m. for Pricing - light lunch provided.

Saturday, May 18:

Rummage Sale from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. - lunch provided.

Come all day or just a couple of hours -- all help is welcome and needed!

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail or call Karen Nishikawa at nishikawakaren9@gmail.com or call (510-526-1431) OR Kurt Buss at kurtabuss@msn.com or call (510-232-8530)

One way of keeping our congregation strong is by staying connected. You are invited to join us every Tuesday morning from 11.00 – Noon for an hour of checking in, sharing, listening and prayer. No experience necessary. Come as you are.

Discussion Topic:

"How much time do you spend outside and how connected do you feel to the earth? Are the two related?"



Join Zoom Meeting:

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Meeting ID: 816 6234 5620

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