Skyland Community Church, United Church of Christ, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA

  Mission Board- May Report The rains have come and gone and the food pantry is off the church porch.  Now, all of the food is being taken away even quicker than before.  People are hungry and Skyland is helping those in need - all ages from children to elders who are the working poor.  The pandemic is still impacting folks in so many different ways.  The high cost of living here, along with gas and food prices going up. We are providing about 1,000 meals a month thanks to the 30 volunteers a month taking in the 3-5 deliveries a week on Weds, Thurs and Saturday.  We are providing the necessities of life and this is God's work.  West Valley Community Services is offering a time for mountain residents in 95033 to come and get other financial support services on the second Thursday of the month from 12 - 2 P.M. Lots of the foods we get would have gone to landfills.  Come visit us doing the work on a Wed. 11 A.M. - 1 P.M. and see how the job is done to bring in the fruits and vegetable

  Small but Mighty During the Pledge Drive we pledge our gifts—both our money and our time—to Skyland Church to be used to care for people and our employees, to increase our missional outreach to the community, as well as to maintain the buildings and grounds. This year as we emerge from the Pandemic, much needs to be done to maintain and upgrade our facility, as well as to increase Rev. Melanie’s salary and benefits according to the NCNC guidelines for fair and just compensation. Also included in our expenses are rising inflation costs for utilities and insurance.  For the 2021-2022 budget year, 28 pledges are supporting a budget of $166,000. Skyland Church is completely funded by our local membership and caring community members. Our local membership and volunteers from the community support the mission of the church through their untold number of hours of dedicated work in the Food Pantry and in other important community outreach such as Fire Safe County Roads. We are smal

  Spring Cleaning at Skyland Church The gutters in the back of the church were stopped up.  Jeremy Cole and Ken Chambers cleared out the gutters and then they realized that the nursery windows were leaking during the most recent rains.  Ken Chambers spent a day prepping window trim and day adding trim to the church to stop any future leaks. He will be replacing the smoke alarms in the coming week since they keep beeping once a week or so.  They are past their expiration dates. ___________________________________________________________ Skyland Community Church, United Church of Christ 25100 Skyland Road Los Gatos, CA 95033 phone: 408-353-1310 USPS mail: Skyland Church P.O. Box 245 Los Gatos, CA 95031-0245 Website   skylandchurch.com

  Skyland Community Church Minutes of the Council Meeting on April 18, 2022 Attendees : Reverend Melanie Weiner, Reverend Patricia Wood, Anne Evans, Jackie Seymour, Gerald Alonzo, Jan Parker, Shannon Edwards, John Heyes Members not in attendance : John Conkle Call to order : Reverend Patricia opened the meeting at 8:33 a.m. Opening Prayer given by Reverend Melanie Behavioral Covenant read by Reverend Melanie Review and Approval of Minutes : One section in the Treasurer’s report of March 21, 2022, was amended to clarify the purpose of two special gifts. Gerald said that the $5,000 designated for Cambodia is available to the Missions Board. The other $5,000 gift is for the general fund. Patricia advised that Council meeting minutes should identify the persons proposing and seconding a motion to approve, along with the number of ayes, nays, and abstentions. (This information appears in these minutes and will be found in all future ones.) After the minutes of the March 21 meeting were a

Note from your Treasurer for ten months of our ’21-‘22 fiscal year. Pledge income is $4,644 above budget. Offerings are $14,056 above budget. Expenses are $4,368 more than budget.   A $2,000 Online donation to our Food Pantry has been received. A $250 gift of grocery supplies was also received this month.   We now have online “Donations” item on our website, “skylandchurch.com”, as a convenient way to support our mission outreach and operations. You may also mail your pledge and other donations to Skyland Community Church P.O. Box 245 Los Gatos, CA 95031-0245   Here is a summary of our operating finances as of Apr. 27 for our 2021-2022 fiscal year. Gerald Alonzo, Treasurer ___________________________________________________________ Skyland Community Church, United Church of Christ 25100 Skyland Road Los Gatos, CA 95033 phone: 408-353-1310 USPS mail: Skyland Church P.O. Box 245 Los Gatos, CA 95031-0245 Website   skylandchurch.com

  Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. --Job 12:12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. --1 Timothy 4:12 Happy Easter!  Easter is more than just one day of shouting "Alleluia!" hunting eggs, eating chocolate, and rejoicing at the once-again empty tomb.  Easter is a whole season, seven weeks to celebrate resurrection, new life, and new opportunities.   As we celebrate this season right alongside celebrating the cautious opening up of our society as the pandemic seems to wane, it is a great time to take a look at ourselves and at our congregation, at who is present and who isn't, at how to build connections between generations. Last Year's Soothing Series grew out of a desire for intergenerational connections.  Young women took time from work and family and home to teach and to learn from each other and feel a new kind of joyful connection.  Older women brave