Ministry News

You can check back here for regular news and updates on our common life at Church of the Resurrection. You can also sign up to receive news by email, just send an email to office@resurrectionph.org.
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Feast of All Saints and All Souls this Sunday
This Sunday, November 7th, we will be celebrating the feast of All Saints and All Souls. It's a day when we remember the saints with a capital S — like St. Julian of Norwich and St. Mary Magdalene and St. Theresa of Avila. It's also a day when we remember the saints of our own lives — all those beautiful souls we love and see no longer. We'll be creating a tree of life in front of the altar, where you can either hang photos of loved ones or place photos in frames. Please bring photos, either loose or framed, to church this Sunday and add them to the branches before our service begins. Then, for the 10:15 service, come gather outside on the labyrinth! We'll be learning some new music and processing into the sanctuary with extra flair.
 
Harvest Feast - Sunday, November 7th
This Sunday looks like it's going to be dry and gorgeous — get ready to have a blast together! Right after the 10:15 worship service, we will roll into this second feast with the Gyro King Greek food truck and taco buffet from La Mordida, as well as lawn games and intergenerational fun. Plan to join in the fun from 12-3 pm, and please RSVP here. Please note that this will again be weather-permitting. If you have fun lawn games, please bring them to add to the mix!
Beyond Sacred Ground: Housing Discrimination
Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 6:00 – 7:30 PM, online
How can Bay Area churches understand and confront housing discrimination in this area? This forum addresses the history of racial covenants, especially as they relate to housing in Pleasant Hill, CA, but with lessons for anywhere in the Bay Area. We will also discuss factors contributing to modern day housing discrimination and historic and current movements to repair the damage caused by bias in the real estate and financial industries. Inspired by our participation in the Sacred Ground curriculum, we are hosting our second of four forums addressing various subjects about race in America.  

For this forum on housing, we are pleased to welcome the following panelists:

Johnicon George, president of the Tri-City NAACP and CEO of Icon Connects, a staffing firm focused on helping disenfranchised African American communities hit hard by the pandemic.  George grew up in San Francisco's Bayview–Hunters Point neighborhood, where he operated the first black-owned bookstore. He is active in the local business community and his church in Fairfield. 

Bill Martinez, the principal of Martinez and Associates, a real estate valuation firm located in Vacaville California. He has been appraising real property since 2005 and holds a California Certified General Appraisal license. He’s also a candidate for the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute. He has worked on appraisal assignments requiring a high level of certainty including litigation support and valuation of partial interests. Martinez is working on a white paper on housing inequity for the Brookings Institute and Ashoka Foundation, which is a means for housing reparations for African Americans.

The Rev. Natosha Reid Rice, minister for public life at All Saints Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Ga. Before joining All Saints’, Rice served as the Associate Pastor for Women’s Ministries at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Her ordination was in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and she received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. in Government with honors from Harvard/Radcliffe College. Prior to joining Habitat, she practiced law in the commercial real estate practices of Alston & Bird LLP, in Atlanta, and at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison in New York City. 

Click here for information and registration.

A recording of the previous excellent forum, Building on Sacred Ground: Immigration and Refugee Rights in Today's World from September 25th, is available for viewing by clicking here.

October 25: Youth Group News

October 25, 2021
Youth Group News
Lots of youth activities happening here at Church of the Resurrection (COR). Last Sunday, three carloads of youth and adults trekked to Scandia, and we spent the afternoon playing mini golf and eating pizza. 
Here are some upcoming youth activities:

Saturday, Oct 30th, 3-5pm Winter Nights Pumpkin Carving
- Hangout, carve pumpkins and meet new people!
- Our new seminarian, Brad will also be helping

Sunday, Oct 31st, 10:15am Wear your costume to church
- it's one of my favorite days of the year, so let's dress up! 

Sunday, November 7th, 4pm Harvest Dinner 
- We're in charge of kids games!
- hoping to "assign" youth to a particular game/station
- Whitney and I are organizing the supplies, we just need you to show up :-)
- please let me know if you are willing to help volunteer for games
- Note: we won't be doing our usual zoom this Sunday 11/7 as many of us will hopefully be at the Harvest Dinner. We'll resume 11/14. 
Ingathering Sunday — Tomorrow!

Over the last month, we've heard beautiful stories from members about why they have made Church of the Resurrection their home, and why they choose to support the work of this church through a financial pledge. Tomorrow, we will be celebrating God's promise of making all things new with our ingathering of pledges at both worship services. Please spend some time in prayer and discern how you can reach to help make our shared ministry possible in 2022. You can learn more about pledging here. Then, please bring your pledge card to church — we'll carry them forward together during the Offertory. If you need a pledge card, or if you have already submitted a pledge and wish to take part in this symbolic act as a community, there will be plenty available at church. You can also pledge online. Thank you for your intentionality and generosity!

Winter Nights is Coming!

Once again we will be hosting families who are currently un-housed for two weeks starting October 25th. Church of the Resurrection will be meeting the families' needs for the first week only. Other faith organizations will be providing for their needs the second week. This year we will be able to have contact with the families only if we show proof of vaccination as everyone in the program is also vaccinated. We need people to help provide dinners for 30-35; typically we work in teams. We also need people to spend the night as well as help tutor after school. If you don't have time, money is also appreciated. The money buys lunch suppies and every year each resident is bought undergarments and socks of their liking. 

Because this year we are celebrating Halloween with them, we need pumpkins and people to help carve the pumpkins on Saturday October 30th at 3:00 pm. We also need Halloween costumes and people to help with trick-or-treating in Gregory Gardens on Halloween night. Frankly, it is a lot of work but it is very rewarding seeing children who have never worn a "real" costume be like every other child in the neighborhood; it is beautiful chaos! If you would like to help, please contact Jenelle Towle.

Rally Sunday is This Sunday, September 12th!
Rally Sunday is this Sunday! This is our day for welcoming back many of our ministries and programs that have been on hiatus for the summer (or for this year - 18 months!). Come and join us as we begin a new year with acolytes, Sunday School and choir. Kids, students of all ages, and teachers can bring their backpacks (or laptops or other materials) for a special blessing during the service! And plan to stay after church for some special "sundaes for Sunday School."

Sunday School News!
Have you been wondering when children's programming might begin again? Wonder no longer - Sunday School will be returning this Sunday September 12th during the 10:15am service. It will be held in the Parish Hall beginning at about 10:15am for all kids preschool - 5th grade. Jessi Barber will be our regular Sunday School teacher with a team of adults assisting her as we dive into some of our favorite Bible stories, play games, and create some fun art projects.  Masks will be required for all our indoor class time. If you have questions, please contact Whitney at whitney@resurrectionph.org.

I'm Still Here" Reading Group

As we are nearing September, we are inviting all to participate in a book reading and sharing group. There is no prior experience or expertise required - just an open mind and an open heart. We will read the highly acclaimed and engaging book, I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown and host six sessions exploring the themes and experiences the book describes. Ms. Brown is a leading voice on racial justice, and her book is an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and explores how white America’s love affair with “diversity” so often falls short of its ideals.

The gathering will be hosted both on Zoom and in person beginning Tuesday September 21st at 7pm. We will be meeting every other week.  

If you have any questions, please contact Whitney at whitney@resurrectionph.org.

June 26: Moving Indoors!

June 26, 2021
Welcome Back Inside!
Finally. We can finally gather back in our gorgeous, beloved sanctuary! This is the wonderful change that came with the progress our state has made in reopening, and we'll begin this Sunday, June 27th, at 10:15 am. It won't be totally back to normal just yet, but hopefully it will feel a lot closer than it has in nearly sixteen months.

A few things to note about this latest change: 
  • The service will still be live streamed for those who feel safer at home.
  • Bishop Marc has asked that all worshipers wear masks while indoors, even if fully vaccinated, in solidarity with our children and those who cannot be vaccinated, and also out of an abundance of caution around the emerging variants. Worship leaders will not be masking during the service, and all are fully vaccinated.
  • We can sing! Huzzah!
  • We are no longer asking folks to sign up to attend worship in person — just come!
  • We will continue sharing communion.
  • As ever, if you are feeling at all unwell, please stay home and join us by live stream.


See you soon, in the cool comfort of our church! 
We Want to Hear From You!
As we continue moving in the direction of regathering, we want to hear from you — what you're excited about, what your hopes are, where you have concerns, and more. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us on this short survey, to help us map the way forward together. Thank you!
Outdoor Hybrid Worship
Join us this Sunday, in person or on the live stream, as we celebrate our wonderful graduating high school seniors! Our youth and recent grads will be leading our service and music on Sunday and it promises to be delightful.

We'll be gathering outdoors on the plaza at 10:15, and live streaming the service as well. One recent change is that the bishop is no longer requiring that we wear facemasks for outdoor worship. That said, anyone who feels more comfortable wearing a mask is warmly encouraged to do so, and we will continue to hold distance between households. If you would like to worship in person, please read about the plan and expectations for how we gather, and sign up for this Sunday here.

Beginning next Sunday, June 20th, we will no longer be doing advanced sign-ups. In the event of a positive Covid case, we would notify the whole congregation, as well as any visitors who were worshipping with us that day.
Dear friends,

We're finally there! Tomorrow we'll be trying our first hybrid worship service, with folks gathering outdoors on the plaza and also via live stream, all at 10:15 am. If you would like to join in-person, please sign up here, as attendance must be limited. Everyone will be masked and distanced during the service,
but we will be singing and praying in unison — an exciting change from the fall! If you plan to come, please read the plan and expectations on the sign up, and register for the number of people in your household who will be attending. There is also a waitlist, and in the event that more people want to come than we have space for, those on the waitlist will be notified if someone cancels, and will have the first opportunity to sign up for our next in-person service. Our live stream worship will continue the same as always from our Facebook page, just with a new backdrop and more voices.

As with every other phase of common life during the pandemic, this newest one will no doubt be full of surprises and new things to learn! We'll do our best to help things go smoothly, and appreciate your patience and grace, and also your feedback, as we begin this wonderful new experiment in being church together.

Thanks and peace,
Liz+
 
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