Celebrate Easter at Skyline – March 31, 2013

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 the Oakland/East Bay Gay Men’s Choir

Easter Worship Service ~ 10:00 am

Celebratory Traditional Music followed by
an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids!

Skyline’s traditional Easter Egg Hunt is happening RAIN or SHINE, starting at 11:30 am on Easter Sunday morning. We welcome our neighborhood families and any who care to come to join us!  Stay for refreshments and conversation following the hunt.

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

This Christmas Eve, come experience the wonder of our candlelight 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.

This is a beautiful way to celebrate the season with your entire family. ALL are welcome!

December 24th at 8:00 pm

For more information please contact the office at 510.531.8212

On Saturday, December 15th, we’ll be offering a Kids’ Craft Time from 10 am to 2 pm for children (all ages): Our holiday gift to you and your family, a few hours to relax, do some holiday shopping, wrap presents, or just to read a book, kid-free! During our time together, the children will help decorate the sanctuary for Christmas with their own creations and enjoy some free play-time.

Please RSVP to Matthew Brandon if you plan to come and to get more details.

Sierra Leone BikeRide Fun-Raiser

Saturday, October 27th, 2012 ~ 9 AM (Registration 8:30 AM)

Have some healthy fun while helping children in Sierra Leone attend school!

Come participate in a bike ride to paradise on Saturday, October 29th to benefit our mission partners in Sierra Leone. Our partnering mission school in Sierra Leone continues to benefit from your help!  We’ve received so much reward from this tradition, we are doing it again this year.

There will be a route just for you!  We will have different ride routes to offer for kids, families, and advanced riders — everything from our church courtyard (for kiddie rides), to intermediate and advanced routes involving Cull Canyon Road and Redwood Roads, (ranging from 6 to 35 miles).

$10 minimum suggested donation.  There is also a $1,000 donation sponsorship level for a child’s college education. Any level of contribution will provide teachers, school supplies and other materials for the children.

Registration begins at 8:30 AM at Skyline Church. Rides scheduled to depart at 9 AM.

Please contact Marilyn Shaw for any further questions at (510) 531-3353 or marilyn_shaw@sbcglobal.net

Click the link below to see a video of the children in Sierra Leone!

Thank You From the Children

The Church in the World service team invites you to the Presidential Debates!

Wednesday, Oct. 3rd, 5:30 – 7:30 PM

The 1st Presidential Debates for the 2012 election are Wednesday, October 3rd at 6 PM PST and run for 90 minutes. Please join us at 5:30 PM for little sandwiches in the gazebo before watching the debates in the Sanctuary.

And then 7:30 – 9:00 PM there will be a Church in the World Meeting in the Sanctuary.

For more information contact Nancy Taylor (Tel: 510-325-4957) and Sally Juarez (Tel: 510-325-8740).

You are invited to Skyline Community Church for the
Annual Blessing of the Animals!

Sunday, October 7th, 2012  ~ 3 pm

(Registration at 2:45)

Cookies, Biscuits, and Bones for ALL!

Come share the powerful spirit of the animal kin-dom, as we welcome them into our worship setting. We acknowledge and receive their blessings upon us during this special occasion. Afterwards, come and walk your pet through our unique labyrinth.

Blessing of the Animals will be held in the beautiful courtyard of
Skyline Community Church
12540 Skyline Boulevard
Oakland Hills, 1/2 mile south of Redwood Road
510.531.8212

(See this article from last year’s celebration!)

Come take part in our annual Volunteer Service – August, 5th at St. Mary’s Center

Skyline Community Church has been serving dinner at St. Mary’s Senior Center for many years now. It has been wonderful outreach to Oakland seniors and winter shelter residents, and a very satisfying experience to participants from our church. Some even call it fun!  To me, it feels like the work that we are called to do by our faith.

We do the meal planning, shopping, preparation, cooking, serving and cleanup. In addition, church members bring a home cooked dessert. Finally, and most importantly, we break bread together, sit together with the residents of St. Mary’s and share a meal, and in our discussions find out how much we have in common.

Skyline Community Church will be serving Sunday, August 5th.

St. Mary’s Center – 925 Brockhurst St, .Oakland, CA 94608

The driveway to off-street parking is on San Pablo Ave. between 33rd St. and 32nd St.

Dear Skyline Community church members and friends,

God is still speaking! This week, President Obama gave his unwavering support of marriage equality. Like many of us, his views have ‘evolved’ over time, and he has come to his own understanding of what full equality means. Long a proponent of civil unions, Mr. Obama said his views had changed in part because of prodding by friends who are gay and by conversations with his wife and daughters.

He is quoted in the New York Times as saying, “I had hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient. I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word marriage was something that invokes very powerful traditions and religious beliefs.” The article goes on to state that Mr. Obama also invoked his Christian faith in explaining his decision, and quoted him further as saying, “The thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the golden rule – you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids, and that’s what motivates me as president.”

I am lifting this up to you as a community because not only does the President provide an example of the kind of progressive Christianity that we embrace at Skyline Community Church but also because of what his statement means to so many. He is the first sitting president to make such a bold statement and while states like North Carolina this week march in the opposite direction of equality, it is incredibly important to have this kind of support from the White House. I know what a difference this statement makes to young people all across our nation who wonder if they will be able to live their dreams.

For our young people today, President Obama, from one of the most powerful offices in the world, affirmed that whoever you are, wherever life’s journey leads you, you should have a place in this country, and that your love and your life matters.

While the political fury has already begun and the pundits are analyzing the risks and benefits, I am taking this time for gratitude, for how far we have come, and for the difference I know it makes in so many lives.

As your pastor, I am proud to be a progressive Christian today, and proud to be part of a community where one of our guiding principles is “evolving” for we are all on this journey together.

Peace,
Laurie

Here is a great article challenging religious institutions to learn from past cycles of religiously inspired oppression of other groups of people. Proud to be an open and affirming congregation, and members of the first denomination to ordain an openly gay man.

Skyline Preschool Spring Fling
Saturday, May 19th, 11 AM – 3 PM
Admission is FREE!

This year’s space themed event will include: