AUGUST 2008
www.FirstOakland.org
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The World-The Venue For God's Reign
"The world is other than we had taken it to be, because the world is the venue
for God's reign."
- Walter Brueggemann
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MISSION STATEMENT
First Congregational Church of Oakland gives glory to God by reaching out to people of all racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds, ages, abilities and sexual orientations, to welcome them into the beloved community, where together we discover our gifts; develop authentic relationships with God and each other; join in passionate, creative, Spirit-led worship; grow in faith, understanding, power, love and service; and respond to the word of life we encounter in Jesus Christ, by becoming part of what Spirit is doing to create justice and peace, to heal the earth, and to restore kinship with all creation.
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VISION FOR PASTORAL MINISTRY AT FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF OAKLAND
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By Pastor Lynice Pinkard
Reflecting recently on my call to pastoral ministry, I thought of a passage in 2 Samuel in which God sends a messenger to David, the young shepherd newly made the leader of God's chosen people. God speaks to the messenger about the exodus, the forty years in the wilderness during which God took up residence in a tent and moved with the people as they wandered through the desert. God's message to David is that David need not make God a house, a permanent dwelling place or institution, but that God would make David a house. To me, this passage means "I will make you into a house. You, David, will become a habitation for my Spirit." ...
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Food, Compulsion, and the Remembrance of Jesus
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We've been talking a lot at First Congo lately about committing to our own wholeness as a first act of resistance to imperialism, which thrives on our addictions and compulsions.
I am aware that there are ways that I use food that do not contribute to wholeness and that replicate in me the greedy spirit of empire: eating more than my share, eating more than I need, choosing the quick sugar fix over the slow burn of a nutritious meal, obsessing about the lemon poppyseed cookies at the Beanery when I am afraid to do my work...(If you don't know about those cookies, you don't want to find out. Trust me.) How do I begin to work with these tendencies?
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You're invited to an issues forum on Green Jobs at First Congo, 8/21/08
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The
Green Jobs movement unites justice and ecology in demanding that the
people who have borne the brunt of industrial greed and environmental
destruction-the poor and communities of color-be given priority in job
training and work in the enormous task required to clean up toxic
sites, build sustainability and make current structures more energy
efficient. Genesis, a regional social justice organization affiliated with the Gamaliel Foundation, invites you to an issues forum on Green Jobs at First Congregational Church of Oakland, on Thursday, August 21 at 7:00 p.m.
We
are excited to announce that our presenter will be Carl Anthony,
pioneer in ecological justice, founder of Urban Habitat which builds
power in low-income communities and communities of color to advance
environmental, economic and social justice in the Bay Area, and former
president of Earth Island Institute, an international environmental advocacy group. He has returned to the East Bay as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley.
The forum will be the first in a series leading up to a mass meeting on October 26 in which citizens will demand changes in public policies that hurt the health and vitality of our communities from those who have the power to change those policies.
Please join us and invite others. And forward this invitation to anyone who might be interested.
7 p.m. on Thursday, August 21
First Congregational Church of Oakland
2501 Harrison St. (@27th)
Oakland, Ca 94612
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Stir Fry Seminars presents
Walking Each Other Home
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PRISON MINISTRY OR PRISON ABOLITION
- Do you believe that humans don't belong in cages?
- Are you concerned that the U.S. incarcerates almost 2.5 million people, more than any other country in the world?
- Do you want to find out who profits from the mass incarceration of people of color, queer and trans people, low income and immigrant communities?
- Do you want to redirect the $7.7 billion dollars currently designated for prison expansion In California toward schools, hospitals and community resources?
Critical Resistance is hosting CR10, a national movement conference and strategy session to be held in Oakland, CA, September 26-28, 2008. We hope to bring together people from all over the country and world - former prisoners and family members, political organizers, policymakers, journalists, attorneys, and others - to assess the state of the movement to end the prison industrial complex (PIC) during the last 10 years and where we must head next. CR10's goals are to: assess the movement against the PIC over the past 10 years (what have we won? what have we lost? why?); to engage the movement in a practical discussion about PIC abolition; and to think collectively about where we need to head during the next 10 years and beyond.
First Congregational Church of Oakland has been invited to co-host an Interfaith Breakfast at CR10 entitled "Prison Ministry or Prison Abolition?: An Interfaith Conversation on the Prison-Industrial Complex". The goals of the Interfaith Breakfast are to create a network of progressive, anti-prison, spiritual and religious leaders and to generate an action plan for faith-based PIC abolition work in the coming years. The Breakfast will take place on Saturday September 27 and will include speakers and conversation from a range of faith backgrounds, including our own Senior Pastor Lynice Pinkard.
If you are interested in helping with planning this event, please contact Julia Sudbury at jsudbury@mills.edu. We particularly need volunteers to cater the breakfast.
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Do you believe that humans don't belong in cages?
Are you concerned that the U.S. incarcerates almost 2.5 million people, more than any other country in the world?
Do you want to find out who profits from the mass incarceration
of people of color, queer and trans people, low income and immigrant
communities?
Do you want to redirect the $7.7 billion dollars currently
designated for prison expansion In California toward schools, hospitals
and community resources?
Critical Resistance is hosting CR10,
a national movement conference and strategy session to be held in
Oakland, CA, September 26-28, 2008. We hope to bring together people
from all over the country and world - former prisoners and family
members, political organizers, policymakers, journalists, attorneys,
and others - to assess the state of the movement to end the prison
industrial complex (PIC) during the last 10 years and where we must
head next. CR10's goals are to: assess the movement against the PIC
over the past 10 years (what have we won? what have we lost? why?); to
engage the movement in a practical discussion about PIC abolition; and
to think collectively about where we need to head during the next 10
years and beyond.
First Congregational Church of Oakland has
been invited to co-host an Interfaith Breakfast at CR10 entitled
"Prison Ministry or Prison Abolition?: An Interfaith Conversation on
the Prison-Industrial Complex". The goals of the Interfaith Breakfast
are to create a network of progressive, anti-prison, spiritual and
religious leaders and to generate an action plan for faith-based PIC
abolition work in the coming years. The Breakfast will take place on
Saturday September 27 and will include speakers and conversation from a
range of faith backgrounds, including our own Senior Pastor Lynice
Pinkard.
If you are interested in helping with planning this
event, please contact Julia Sudbury at jsudbury@mills.edu. We
particularly need volunteers to cater the breakfast.
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HOW TO SUBMIT ARTICLES TO NEWS at FIRST
Do you have something important to include in an upcoming issue of NEWS at FIRST? Great! Submit all items to Kai by email, kai@firstoakland.com, if electronic; or hardcopy items can be left in Kai's inbox located in the main office during working hours. All materials to be included in NEWS at FIRST publications, must be submitted by noon on the 25th of the month prior to desired publication. Along with your materials, please include contact information.
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Main Office Hours
Tue-Fri, 11-5pm
Pastoral Care Hours
Wed & Thu, 3:30-7:30pm
Please contact Kai at (510) 444-8511 x10, or by email, kai@firstoakland.org, to
schedule all pastoral care appointments, or to arrange a meeting with Pastor Lynice Pinkard.
KAI LAVATAI
Administrative Assistant
(510) 444-8511 x10
Tue-Fri, 11-5pm
DEBORAH J. HAMOURIS
Booking Coordinator
(510) 444-8511 x18
Tue, 1-6pm
Wed, 1-6pm
Thu, 12-5pm
KIRSTEN SWENSON
Church Administrator
(510) 444-8511 x19
Tue-Fri, 11-5pm
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