Information on Easter Sunday Services here

Haiti Benefit Fundraiser Concert Event
Taizé and Labyrinth Walk
Sunday, March 14th, 6 – 8 pm
Donation for participation

Celebrate the 2010 Vernal Equinox in a beautiful setting at Skyline Church, UCC in Oakland Hills. Taize chanting, labyrinth walk, and a special concert featuring musician Barbara Hamm with other guest musicians and performers. All donation proceeds will go to UCC’s Haiti Disaster Relief Fund.

Download Flyer (PDF) here:
Benefit&Taizé Flyer

This spring we will be piloting a new program of covenant groups called “The Extended Families” to foster a deeper experience of community at Skyline Church.

“Extended Families” invite clusters of cross-generational church members to come together for fun and fellowship and to make a special commitment to each other to enter into sustained on-going relationship. These “families”, planning their own activities, would meet on some regular basis for potluck dinners, to go to the zoo or the beach or to someone’s home to play board games or to do activities together of their own choosing.

Extended Families are made up on older adults, young adults, teenagers, children and babies…..people we covenant to come to know each other in special, deeper than only Sunday morning ways….having fun together, supporting each other in times of transition and change, celebrating each others victories and successes and walking together in times of loss or crisis.

There will be an organizational meeting sometime towards the end of March to learn more about these covenant groups. Watch for further information in the weeks ahead. Plan to attend and bring your questions.

Celebrate Easter at Skyline – April 4, 2010

Come celebrate the Spirit of Easter where we welcome ALL of God’s people. Experience fabulous music and an inspiring message with a spectacular view of the Oakland Hills.

Sunrise Service ~ 6:30 am
• Featuring Oakland/East Bay Gay Men’s Choir

Download Sunrise Service flyer here:   Sunrise10Flyer

Easter Worship Service ~ 10:00 am
• Easter Egg Hunt for the kids following service!

Download Easter Flyer here:  EasterFlyer10

Lent & Easter Event Calendar here

For more information please contact our office at:

Skyline Community Church, United Church of Christ
12540 Skyline Boulevard
Oakland, CA 94619
510.531.8212

Email Skyline Office

Skyline Community Church invites you to…

A Community Gathered - Art Show featuring the talents of several local artists.

The show will run from January 30th through February 27th and will displayed in the beautiful Skyline Sanctuary. Works of art will be for sale as well as for exhibit only. The room will be open to the public on Sundays from 11 am to 1pm and by request during the week. You are also welcome to join us for our 10am worship service.

Please join us for the Artists’ Reception on Saturday, February 6th at 3pm.

Wine and cheese reception, $10 optional donation.
All proceeds from the reception will go to support local youth art.

Come enjoy our beautiful photographs, paintings, and textures!
Delightful images lifting the spirit and bringing memory & pleasure.

Official Sunday Show Exhibit Dates:
01/30, 2/07, 2/14, 2/21, & 2/27
11 AM  – 1 PM
(Or join us first for Sunday service at 10 am.)

For more information please contact the Skyline office at 510-531-8212. We hope to see you there!

Come experience the wonder of our candlelight Christmas Eve Service celebrating the birth of Jesus with carols, anthems, scripture lessons, and instrumental music. The service will be followed by delicious Christmas treats, hot apple cider, and fellowship.

For more information please contact the office at 510.531.8212

SKYLINE CHRISTMAS DINNER PARTY
Sunday, December 20th
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Please join us as we celebrate the season with family and friends!  There will be Christmas Carols to sing and fun for the whole family!

It is essential that we know who is coming. Please RSVP to the Skyline Office by December 7th – office@skylineucc.org or 531-8212, including respective numbers of adults and children. More details about the dinner will come in a congregation email.

Warriors of Peace – Inaugural Gathering
Monday, December 7th 6:30 – 8 pm
Donation Basis (see FAQ)
Please Bring your own Mat (a few extras will be available)

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

WHAT IS THE INTENTION BEHIND WARRIORS OF PEACE?

The intention for Warriors of Peace is to create a community focused on:

1. training in yoga, mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation
2. offering financial support to organizations that promote safety, health, happiness and peace to local communities in need

An underlying premise of Warriors of Peace is the recognition that creating a more peaceful and compassionate world starts with creating more peace and compassion within ourselves. Participants are people like you who share the intention of creating peace in the world through cultivating a more open and loving heart.

WHAT DO WARRIORS OF PEACE DO?

Warriors of Peace meet monthly (first Mondays) to practice yoga, mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation. You do NOT need to be familiar with these practices prior to join one of the classes. Easy-to-follow instructions will be provided.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO PARTICIPATE?

The class is donation-based – you contribute whatever you would like to contribute. 95% of these donations* will go directly to support communities in need. For example in December we focus on hunger, and all the proceeds will go to support the Alameda County Food Bank. Another month might focus on domestic violence, with the proceeds benefitting a local women’s shelter. There are many ways our class collection can be used to improve the lives of people in our community.
*The remaining 5% of the collection will support the administration needs of the group, including maintaining this website, as well as paying for liability insurance for participants during practice.

BACKGROUND

This past year, one of my students (Reverend Laurie Manning) asked me if I’d lead a donation-based yoga class at her church to help fundraise for the AIDS Benefit Ride. I was eager to help, especially given my past participation in an AIDS Ride.

The benefit class was well attended and enjoyed by all. The venue was also quite inspiring! Skyline Community Church overlooks the beautiful mountain-scape of Redwood Regional Park. Rev. Laurie invited me to consider holding a regular class at Skyline. With this open invitation, the idea for Warriors of Peace was borne!

Please visit http://www.warriorsofpeace.net for more information.

The holiday season brings unprecedented need in our community.  The Alameda County Community Food Bank reports “this has been an exceptional year of economic hardship in Alameda County. Our Emergency Food Help line requests in the third quarter of 2009 increased 53% from the same period in 2008, and have escalated 95% compared to the third quarter of 2007.”

We all know friends, neighbors, and co-workers who are struggling to make ends meet in these tough times. Mindful of that, Michael Armijo, Pastor Laurie and I felt compelled to insure that our giving efforts are the most efficient in delivering help to those in need.  ACCFB is the central clearinghouse for donated food in Alameda County, distributing 16.4 million pounds of food during the fiscal year completed on June 30, 2009 – including 7.6 million pounds of farm-fresh produce.

With their bulk purchasing power and ultra-efficient distribution network, the Food Bank can leverage every dollar donated by a ratio of 7:1.  According to a New York Times article published Oct. 11, 2009, ” “the money spent on a $2 jar of applesauce could otherwise buy up to 40 pounds of apples.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11banks-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&emc=eta1

To that end, for this holiday season we have revived our online Virtual Food Drive from the spring:
http://www.vfd-accfb.org/selectgroup.aspx

Why a Virtual Food Drive?

• It saves the Food Bank precious resources – schedulers, drivers, food sorters and fuel – during the busy holiday season.
• It’s the greenest (and easiest) of all food drives
• ACCFB can better meet our community’s nutritional needs

With demand at an all-time high, the Food Bank has to purchase more food than ever in order to meet the needs of their 275 food pantries, soup kitchens and community agencies. For those who want to donate cash or checks, we will be accepting donations at the church.

But what about people who want a hands-on experience?

We have two additional opportunities planned:

• For those who love the idea of shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, and preparing bags or “baskets”, we will be collecting non-perishable donations to be delivered directly to the East Oakland Switchboard, which Skyline has long supported.  This agency provides information, referral services and emergency food boxes to persons with a Social Services Agency referral.  Look for specifics on donations in upcoming church bulletins.
• Last year’s support of Lake Merritt United Methodist Church’s Thanksgiving dinner was exceptional. Paula Byrens collected 50% more pies than she requested.  Additionally, many Skyline members were on hand during the day to welcome diners, serve food, and bus tables.  We want to participate again this year, by donating pies (homemade or purchased) and volunteering on Thanksgiving Day.  Paula will be providing more details in the coming weeks.

For more information on these, or other volunteering opportunities during the holidays and beyond, please contact Suzie Harris, Michael Armijo, or Pastor Laurie.

A Thanksgiving Reminder from THE PIE QUEEN!

For Thanksgiving 2008 last year, Skyline Church delivered 35 pies to provide a delicious dessert to the over 600 meals served to the homeless, elderly, and those in need at Oakland’s Lake Merritt U.M. Church. The volunteers, staff, and appreciative diners were amazed that our small but powerful congregation could produce so many good pies!

This year, we again ask for your help in providing pies for this community, for the same Thanksgiving dinner in downtown Oakland.  Hopefully, we can offer 35 pies again – whether homemade, Safeway produced, or from your favorite bakery.  (Last year, one of our teens made 4 pies!)  Please bring your pies and leave them in the Friendship Room prior to 10:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning (11/26). I will pick them up then and deliver them to the Lake Merritt Church.

The chair of the event, Steven Ford, has come to our church during Announcements and given more details about who is served, what volunteers are needed, etc.  Just a reminder, all volunteers are welcomed – all ages!  Dinner is served from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.; you need to check in at noon to get your assignment. Turkeys are cooked the day before (Nov. 25th). Finally, there is clean up after the meal, then delivery of any leftovers to the Women’s Homeless Shelter in downtown Oakland.

In addition to Dave and myself, we were blessed with volunteers Joan & Clint Monroe, Joan’s daughter and granddaughter, Suzie Harris, the Rutters (Lee, Chris, Ben and Kit).  It is a wonderful experience that has been my passion for over 10 years. Any questions, directions, comments, etc. just ask, but PLEASE bring those pies!

Paula Byrens