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

    Note from your Treasurer for first month of our ’21-‘22 fiscal year. Pledge income is $627 above budget. Offerings are $37 below budget.   We now have online “Donate” 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 July 27 for our 2021-2022 fiscal year. Gerald Alonzo, Treasurer  

  Council meeting notes July 26, 2021: Moderator Leslie Meehan brought the meeting to order at 8:35 am. Opening prayer was led by Rev. Melanie Weiner. Our Behavioral Covenant was read by Leslie. Minutes of the June meeting were read silently and approved unanimously.   Treasurer’s report:   Gerald Alonzo reported that income for June of pledges and a bit of the carryover will be adequate to cover June 2021. He and Anne Evans expressed some frustrations with trying to create a “new” fiscal year in QuickBooks. They will find a way. The report was approved unanimously.   Old Business: There was no old business.   New Business: The issues covered in the Minister’s News are covered as separate items below.   Vision and Assessment Ministry Team-- A Vision and Assessment Ministry Team was authorized in the revision of the Skyland Community Church Bylaws proposed and passed at the Annual Congregational Meeting on February 14, 2021. This team’s responsibility is b...

Message from Rev. Melanie "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."                                     --Jesus (according to Matthew 18:20) In this last month we have begun on-site worship at the church!  It has been particularly moving to have our choir sing, and it has been a blessing to me to preach to a "live audience" from which I receive real feedback in the moment.  This took a lot of planning and a lot of work, but it was lovely to come together and we are able to accommodate people in person and on Zoom.  There was a learning curve, but people have been understanding and we are all learning together.  On July 25, we moved into the sanctuary while also maintaining a Zoom presence.  This eased the load for a lot of people who did amazing, yet exhausting, work setting up and putting away all that we needed.  It also removed th...

This month as we face the pandemic and its new after effects with the Delta variant, our food pantry is even more important.   Can you help by donating 1-2 hours a week?   We need more volunteers.   Please reach out to Shannon Edwards,  Food Pantry coordinator:  408- 234-2710.  ( shannonedwards14@gmail.com ) Here are some facts from Feeding America.   Hunger in America Millions of children and families living in America face hunger and  food insecurity  every day. Due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic,  more than 42 million people may experience food insecurity  including a potential 13 million children. The pandemic has  most impacted  families that were already facing hunger or one paycheck away from facing hunger. According to the USDA's latest  Household Food Insecurity in the United States  report, more than 35 million people in the United States experienced hunger in 2019. ...

  The Finance Team added a new member, Jackie Seymour and a consultant, Terrie Landini to our team in June. In late June the Finance team met and agreed upon a process to make recommendations as to the management, use and investment of our monies for the benefit of our Skyland Church community. We divided into two sub-groups to research opportunities and to develop rules and policies as well as recommendations for the use of the monies. We will keep in mind the history of the Milberry fund and the Endowment. One sub-group is tasked with research on the Milberry Fund and Endowment Investments. The other sub-group is researching opportunities for the Board Designated Reserves. The Finance Team will include ESG filters (Environmental, Social, Governance) while researching the investment opportunities. On August 8 the subgroups will return to the Finance Team with their research and make recommendations for establishing policies and general investment criteria which will then be ...

  Harvest Festival 2021 and Re-Vision at Skyland Church During the Skyland Church Council meeting of July 26, the decision was made to cancel Harvest Festival for 2021. Council members all spoke to their love for the event and about concerns for the rising COVID-19 infections locally. (Not known until Wednesday, the 28 th , was a super spreader music event in Felton with just over 200 people present that sickened the entire band and several attendees, so far. Local health authorities are seeking participants who are displaying even minor symptoms.) The community and our church’s love for Harvest Festival is deep and abiding. Each of the event’s different aspects were spoken of with fondness and a strong hope of continuing in future years. As the discussion continued, folks began to include events that had happened as part of our Re-Visioning community outreach and involvement projects. Then, lightbulbs of ideas began to shine upon the Women’s Soothing Series, the Community Shar...

  Church Service-     Hallelujah! July 4 th began our hybrid series of in-person worship service with a beautiful outdoor celebration. Over 30 congregants were present either on zoom or in chairs on the grounds facing lower Whitaker. Thank goodness for the elevator. The sound set-up was complicated but successful with many thanks to the very red, white and blue colorful choir and their director Glenda McCalla, Gerald Alonzo, Al Feuerbach, Brian Wood, Patricia Wood, Jan Swayne, John Conkle on zoom and Rev. Melanie for the days (weeks) of preparation. On July 25 th we moved into the Sanctuary for in-person hybrid services and another set of challenges with sound reinforcement at Skyland and on computers on zoom. The sanctuary has a large TV in the front with the zoom participants on it and a separate speaker to hear the zoom congregants talk. In the sanctuary we are using the infrared sound system to hear Rev. Melanie and the liturgist. We also have two computers run...

        Update from the Trustees The Trustees met on June 27 to review the list of tasks on the “to do” list. Following the meeting, work was done on the handrail leading to lower Whitaker Hall. Regarding facilities rentals, our insurance company was contacted for further guidance regarding reopening. Based on their recommendations, there will be additional requirements related to reducing the spread of COVID-19 for future rental contracts, depending on health department recommendations at that time.  Nail heads that were sticking up on the front and back sanctuary porches and ramp were pounded down. Finally, t he lift behind Whitaker Hall is operational but still needs final sign off by the county. The contractor has been asked to request the final inspection. As always, if you see any facilities issue that needs to be addressed, please send a note to the Trustees team at  trustees@skylandchurch.com .