Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Earth Day in Berkeley is a two-day series of events this year.  While the main deal is happening on Easter, the film fest continues on Monday, April 22.

There are films and a guest panel on Monday, from 6-9:30pm, at the David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley.  Tickets are $15 general and $10 student.  More information at BerkeleyEarthDay.org

Here’s an Approach to Global Warming that Makes Sense!

Citizens Climate Lobby is a grassroots, national organization that presents a path and solution to greenhouse gas emissions by working with both parties in congress.  How about that for unusual in today’s political arena?  We heard Mary Selkirk from CCL speak at ACC on April 12.  Mary is clear, committed to her work and the work of CCL; she presented a cogent argument for CCL’s mission and vision for the US.

By taxing carbon pollution at the source and then sending that tax back to every taxpayer, emissions can be reduced due to the negative incentive and economic growth happens simultaneously with more cash in individual’s pockets.  More information and details on how each of us can help:  www.citizensclimatelobby.org.

At-one-ment by Rev. Nate Klug

Dear friends,

As we get ready to move into Holy Week, I’m thinking about Jesus and what his work, and his death, and his resurrection, really means for our lives. Here’s a quote from Franciscan writer Richard Roh. He’s urging us to rethink traditional notions of sacrifice and salvation:

“Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity; Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.

This grounds Christianity in love and freedom from the very beginning; it creates a very coherent and utterly attractive religion, which draws people toward lives of inner depth, prayer, reconciliation, healing and even universal ‘at-one-ment,’ instead of mere sacrificial atonement.”

If Jesus really was God Incarnate come to earth, it’s hard to imagine he didn’t come to change all of us -- every last person. Are there moments in your life when you see this kind of reconciliation peeking through?

Join us this Sunday as we wave palm branches, and prepare ourselves for the Holy Week journey - one that takes us into the very depths of what it means to feel, to be alive, to suffer and to rejoice.

Serving with you,

Rev. Nate Klug

Fundraising for ACC

Fundraising for ACC

The “Scrip Project” is listed among the designated funds on ACC’s financial report.  This project has been a quiet little fund-raiser for many years; it currently has a balance of about $300.  Recently, the fund has been receiving about $5 per month, but those donations are drying up because Safeway and Lucky are not participating anymore.  Here are some alternative suggestions:

·       If you are an Amazon shopper, you can register with Amazon Smile to have a percentage of your purchases distributed to a charity of your choice (Arlington Community Church, of course!).  This can add up fast, especially if you do a lot of Christmas shopping on Amazon.

·       ShopwithScrip.com:  This program sells gift cards for a number of stores.  (Starbucks, Target, and Safeway are among the businesses shown on their website.)  A portion of the price of the gift card is donated to your charity.

·       eScrip.com:  The current name of the program we knew as Scrip.  There are some small chain stores registered with this program, but no major chains.  Arlington Community Church is still a charity registered with this program.

Do you know of other fundraising programs like these?  Drop a note to Nate, or Nina, or another Council member.

-        Sara Laferte

A Change of Pace

A Change of Pace

Dear friends,

Do you know any French? It turns out that the French word for “slow” is “lent” (no relation to the English word “Lent,” which comes from the Germanic). I always think of that ironic coincidence around this time of year, in our season called Lent, when life seems anything but slow.

Perhaps the value of the liturgical seasons comes not in the way the seasons correspond to our moods, but in the way they sometimes strike our lives at an angle. They intrude upon the ways we would otherwise live, rushing about, high on a dose of busyness, but really barely keeping our heads above water. In contrast, Lent asks us to slow down. 

And we want to, but we don’t always know how. Let me give you an example. I heard a writer talk recently about the way technology is changing our relationship to objects. Where in the past, we would seek out an object for a specific function -- a map, a record player, a typewriter -- now many of these functions are contained in one place: our smartphones. When we pick up our phones to use them, we forget which function we’re seeking. We become distracted by the news, or a text message, and life speeds up as we just try to sort out what we needed in the first place!

One antidote to this may be to become more intentional. More intentional about praying, more intentional about saying “No,” more intentional about structuring our days. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by, in these last weeks of this “slow” season.

Wishing you God’s peace,

Rev. Nate

Hosting Our Community

Hosting Our Community

Dear friends,

It’s been almost a month now since I’ve joined you. One thing I am learning more about every week is how big a role Arlington Community Church plays in our community – and how much opportunity there is still to grow in this area. It’s exciting!

Right now, I’m thinking about signage (not the sexiest topic, I know). But it’s an important one, in terms of raising our visibility and making sure visitors to our building feel connected and informed. We have just installed new interior signs labeling our upstairs offices, and we’ll have interior signs for downstairs set up soon. Thanks to Jacob and Javier for their good work on this!

My next idea is some sort of community bulletin board. Maybe this could live in the entryway downstairs, as people come into the hallway and get their bearings. Could this be a place for the wider community – worshipers, Girl Scout troops, KASEP parents, etc. – to share their joys and dreams?

Let me know what you think! And let me know if you might feel called to help work on such a project.

Serving God with you,

- Rev Nate Klug

A Few Good Helpers Wanted

Annual Easter Morning Pancake Breakfast - Free to All

A Few Good Helpers Wanted 

Our annual Easter pancake breakfast is coming, serving at 8:30 am until 9:45 am

I would welcome the assistance of 2 or three helpers for this event.  Please give me a call at 510-849-0524 if you are interested in helping out.  Also, I am looking for 1-2 electric griddles to use.

- Thank you.  Barry

Accepting Invitations

Accepting Invitations

Dear friends,

Invitations are all around us. We have recently been accepting and extending invitations to new community groups who are in need of a site for their activities.  As of Tuesday, the Kensington After School Enrichment Program has begun hosting activities out of our Social Hall. That’s just one way we try to respond to the needs of our community and be an inviting church.

On Sunday we will explore the meaning of God’s invitation in our lives. Join us in worship, or connect by listening to the sermon through our website. Here’s a poem to read in the meantime, about God’s radical way of inviting.

Wishing you peace in the middle of your Lent journey,

Rev. Nate

“God Says Yes To Me,” by Kaylin Haught

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don’t paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I’m telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

Living in Paradox

Living in Paradox

Sometimes it seems to me that the great gift of being religious in this day and age is the ability to be comfortable with a certain degree of paradox. Paradox comes from a Greek word meaning "contrary to expectation" or "incredible."

We live in paradox when we hear old stories like the Transfiguration and the Resurrection, after a week of listening to NPR and reading the newspaper. But we also live in paradox when we suffer losses we never could have imagined, and still have to wake up and find our joy in this life. Paradox is true to our experience of being alive.

Jesus spoke in parables to his followers, as a way of expressing the power of metaphor and paradox. For me, the art of poetry is another way to experience the paradox that's a characteristic of living in God.

Join us in the Fireside Room at 11:30 after worship on Sunday, as we read and discuss a few short poems that speak to our journey during this Lenten season. We'll be out of there by 12:15 and on our way for lunch, I promise!

And, to follow up on my article last week, do reach out to let me know when a good time for an individual coffee or a visit might be.

I hope you've enjoyed these longer evenings and glimpses of spring! Little Zoe, by the way, is still adjusting to the time change...

Peace, 

Rev. Nate Klug

Less Plastic for Lent

Less Plastic for Lent

Anita Baker teaches in a school that over the past year has moved to ZERO WASTE in school lunches, including those prepared by an outside vendor. The students are being encouraged to help their families on this journey. One of the staff members found this calendar online "Less Plastic for Lent!" and it was sent home to each family. Anita and Russ are using it and hope you also consider making it permanent.

- Anita Baker

View & download the calendar by clicking here

Update from Dorothy Streutker

Update from Dorothy Streutker

On Monday, March 11, I received my last chemo treatment. Once again, I am experiencing very few side effects. The next step is surgery, for which I had an MRI on Tuesday. On March 26, I will be having an outpatient surgery to remove the remainder of the tumors after they've been shrunk by the chemotherapy.

My broken leg is healing, albeit slowly. I've lost a lot of strength in both legs, so exercise is important. I can now make it carefully up and down the six stairs outside our house, and can shuffle my way to the end of our block (the short end) with my walker. Little by little ....

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as this long process continues.