Annual Meeting Summary, 2021

Sunday, the 24th of January our annual meeting was well attended in spite of the fact that we were meeting over Zoom.  It was wonderful to see so many of the faces of our Congregation, and to turn the page and see even more!    Many people in the Congregation have contributed to the life of the church during this unusual time, so that we’ve had many opportunities to chat in small groups and stay connected. In addition, we’ve been able to continue with our mission outreach and social justice ministries.   Please take time to read the reports in the Annual Meeting PDF that Jacob put together for us and sent out last week. Remember to check for the 2nd version with revisions.  We’ll soon have available a few printed versions of that report for anyone who is interested, please let me know.  It’s a good resource for seeing what we accomplished In 2020. 

If you were not at the meeting – the Bylaw changes regarding notification of members for Congregational meetings were passed, and the suggestion for change on Nominating Committee selection has been tabled. 

All of the Council members have been re-elected for 2021. They include: Moderator, Linda Young; Vice Moderator, Faith Abel; Treasurer, Randy Laferte; Financial Secretary, Elena Caruthers; Secretary, Sara LaFerte; At Large members, Joe Pratt, Eleanor Crump, and David Hertzer.  New Endowment Board member Susan Russell was elected to serve with Tom Dean, Roger Abel, David Hertzer, and Bill Day. Our Minister, Rev. Nate Klug was happily approved for an extension of his Designated Term Ministry for at least one more year. We’ll re-visit this before March of 2022. 

Thanks to all for your good work, 

Linda Young, Moderator  

Pastor’s Report: “What. A. Year.”

Pastor’s Report: “What. A. Year.”

Rev. Nate Klug

 

To look back on 2020 is to review what is certainly the most challenging year in my seven years of ordained ministry, and probably one of the most challenging years in the 88-year history of Arlington Community Church. And while I will have a lot to say on a positive note, it seems dishonest to begin without acknowledging the loss that we have experienced this year, ever since COVID-19 shut down the Bay Area in mid-March of 2020.

First and foremost, we have grieved the deaths of ACC members Edna Combs, Jim Gallardo, David Seely, Edie Rodman, and Russell Weeks, as well as ACC friend Don Wooton. And we have said goodbye to these friends without the comforting rituals of in-person memorial services open to all. In some cases, we used Zoom to remember and give thanks with large groups. In other cases, I gathered with a small collection of family members for a private memorial.

Secondly, we have been watching mass death unfold around us at an almost unimaginable scale. As I write, almost 400,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, and the disease has affected communities of color and poor people in disproportionately horrific ways. This year we went about our daily work, tried to remain safe, and planned for the future, but we did so under an unimaginably dark cloud.

What was taken away from us at ACC, on a most immediate day-to-day level, was the ability to be with one another in person – the essence of church life. If you’d told me in 2019 that any church would have to go almost a year without gathering for in-person worship, sharing food, and joining in service, I’m not sure I would have thought they could have made it.

And yet, we have made it so far – and I would even go so far as to say that Arlington Community Church has grown in love of God and neighbor. New friendships have been made, new leaders have sprouted up, new social justice projects have been begun, new gifts and talents have been revealed, and new technologies have been embraced (or…at least lovingly tolerated).

As I look back on 2020 at ACC, I am so proud and grateful to be your pastor. I am going to share a few highlights of the year from my perspective, arranged into themes.

 

Virtual Life: Flying by the Seat of Our Pants

When we pivoted to virtual worship in mid-March, Jacob taught himself iMovie, Shanti and Tim learned how to record themselves playing and singing, and I learned how to set up my phone on a tripod without tripping over my mic cord. Even more impressively, the majority of ACCers willed their way onto Youtube and Zoom (“Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Zoom”) in order to participate in our worship, programming, and board meetings.

Our weekly worship services regularly reach 100 views, and our special Easter and Christmas Eve videos have exceeded 250 views. We’ve reached new people in the Bay Area and beyond. We even welcomed 8 different guest virtual worship leaders while I was on two months of paternity leave.

Now, nine months into the pandemic, lay leaders regularly hold meetings and social hours over Zoom. I do pastoral visits via Zoom office hours. We don’t love it, but we’ve gotten used to it. And, praise be to God, it has kept us safe.

 

Giving Back

Nor has virtual life diminished our generosity. When the pandemic struck, we had just begun a campaign to donate our entire Lenten plate offering to RIP Medical Debt. We pushed ahead, joined with seven other UCC churches, and eventually raised $44,000 in total, which forgave $4.6 million of medical debt in the East Bay. Likewise, we donated generously to our North Richmond neighbors over the Christmas holiday. And we continued to give faithfully to ACC, and many of you made increased pledges for 2021 to ensure that all this good work could continue.

We also pioneered our first-ever Virtual Holiday Bazaar. Planning for this began back in the summer, and Joe Pratt spearheaded the collection of various items and the administration of this unique sale. 44 friends and members of ACC donated – everything from baked goods to singing lessons, gingerbread houses to signed books – and we raised $4,800 for our general fund and our Missions and Social Justice board. Most importantly, we blessed each other and learned something new about one another.

 

Awakening to Anti-Racism

As young people poured into the streets last summer to protest George Floyd’s killing at the hands of the police, ACC began to investigate its own privilege and complicity, as a majority-white congregation, in the continued plague of racism in America. A group called “Racists Anonymous” morphed into a more active “Becoming Anti-Racist” group, both led by Helen Winters.

These groups, in conjunction with a Black Lives Matter Bible Study series, and many individual conversations among ACCers, meant that racial justice remained at the forefront of our consciousness during 2020. As we move into 2021, several lay leaders have introduced a new project, Reparations for Black Homeownership. We will devote the entirety of our 2021 Lenten offering to this project, and we’ve invited other local churches to join us as well.

 

Our Campus

It’s a little ironic, given that our building mostly stands empty right now, but the beginning of 2020 saw some wonderful improvements to our physical campus. First, thanks to the long-time efforts of Ruth Robinson and others, we partnered with master labyrinth builder Lars Howlett in February to design and construct a permanent labyrinth on our church patio. Bob Stokstad’s photograph of ACC with the labyrinth in the foreground and the church in the background is now iconic. Even during Covid-times, I see visitors walking and running around the labyrinth every week.

We also purchased new sandblasted cedar signs to hang on our exterior. These give more prominence to our church name – which even many Kensingtonians can’t seem to remember! – as well as instructing first-time visitors where to go. Both our labyrinth and our new wood signs will serve ACC well for years to come.

Even though our life together was diminished this year, I feel like I am leaving some important things out in this report! Which just goes to show you the extent to which ACC has remained active and imaginative in responding to God’s call.

Much of this has gone on behind the scenes – in the flexibility and determination shown by our church staff, Council, and Moderator, who have met countless challenges this year. I want to end by thanking them.

God’s peace,

Rev. Nate Klug

North Richmond Christmas Offering: Share Christmas Joy!

It has been an Arlington Church tradition for a long time to donate food and gifts to families in North Richmond through Neighborhood House of North Richmond (NHNR). Years ago, we used to buy groceries for the families and gifts for the children, wrap it all up, and deliver the boxes to Neighborhood House. Now, we understand that people have dignity when they can purchase gifts/food for their own families. For the past few years, we bought gift cards. This year, to reduce our exposure to shopping, we will send a check, and the staff at NHNR will buy the gift cards on our behalf.

Your Board of Missions has a budget line item of $1800 for North Richmond Christmas. That represents $800 for Christmas turkeys or chickens, and $1,000 for gift cards for groceries or gifts, all to be distributed to the families at NHNR. We will be sending that money in early December. Would you like to add to that amount? In better years (like last year), our congregation’s donations have amounted to as much as $4,000 in gift cards. We realize this has been a very difficult year for everyone, and no one knows what next year will bring.

But if you can spare a little extra for the struggling families nearby, we invite you to send a check to Arlington Community Church with “North Richmond” in the memo line. Please do this in the next couple of weeks, so that we can send the check in plenty of time for Christmas.

We have valued our association with Neighborhood House for so many years, and they deeply appreciate our support. Thank you for your generous spirit.

Sara Laferte,

The Board of Missions/Social Justice

Remembering Russ Weeks

Remembering Russ Weeks

Cathy Honeywell, Russ' daughter, shared some photographs of her father with us. Russ lived to be 100 years old, and he was a member of ACC for 55 years!

The family is planning a small in-person service and burial in the coming weeks, and perhaps a larger Zoom memorial open to the ACC family at some point in the future.

We join together in thanking God for Russ' life, and we hold his family in our prayers this week.

How to Spot a Phishing Scam

How to Spot a Phishing Scam

Click here to read the original blogpost by Christina McDaid

Phishing emails are becoming so convincing and realistic that it’s sometimes hard to know what’s genuine and what’s a scam. Depending on the type of scam and sophistication of the hacker, there’s no straight answer to this. Some phishing emails can be easy to spot, a strange, maybe even foreign email asking you to transfer money into a bank account, or it could seem legitimate with company logos and credentials such as PayPal or Amazon asking you to log onto your account or give away confidential information. If you find a phishing scam, learn how to report it.

So how do you tell the difference between a phishing email and a legitimate one? Unfortunately, there is no one single technique that works in every situation, but there are several things that you can look for that we’ve listed below.

The message contains a mismatched URL

One of the first things you should check in a suspicious email message is any of the embedded URLs. Oftentimes the URL in a phishing message will appear to be perfectly valid. However, if you hover your mouse over the top of the URL, you should see the actual hyperlinked address and if this hyperlinked address is different from the address that is displayed, the message is probably fraudulent or malicious.

In this instance, don’t click the link, report it if possible or don’t take any further action.

URLs contain a misleading domain name

Scammers who are behind phishing scams usually depend on their victims not knowing how the DNS naming structure for domains works to trick them.

The last part of a domain name is  how you can tell if it’s a phishing email or not. For example, the domain name info.cybersecurity.com would be a child domain of cybersecurity.com because cybersecurity.com appears at the end of the full domain name (on the right-hand side).

Conversely, cybersecurity.com.maliciousdomain.com wouldn’t have originated from cybersecurity.com because the reference to cybersecurity.com is on the left side of the domain name.

This is a common way of trying to convince victims that a message came from a company like Microsoft or Apple. The cybercriminal simply creates a child domain using the Microsoft or Apple name. The resulting domain name would then look something like this: Microsoft.maliciousdomainname.com.

Poor spelling and grammar

This is one of the key indicators that the email could be phishy. If a legitimate company or business sends out an email, it will usually be proofed and checked for any spelling or grammatical errors so if you notice a few mistakes in the email, it could be a fraudster.

Always re-read the email and check that there are no mistakes, and remember if it doesn’t feel right or look right then it probably isn’t right!

Asking for personal information

No matter how realistic and official an email might look, it’s always a bad sign if the sender requests personal information. Your bank doesn’t need you to send it your account number, sort code or any other information about your account as it already knows what that is.

A reputable company should never send an email asking for your password, credit card number, or the answer to a security question. If you’re unsure you can always call the company or bank directly regarding the information they claim to need.

An offer that seems too good to be true

There’s a belief that if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. If you receive an email with a great offer or someone making big promises, then it’s probably a scam.

There are also a lot of phishing emails circulating that claim you’ve won a lottery you didn’t enter, or a competition you didn’t apply for. All the scammer needs you to do is to click the link and enter your personal information online. These types of emails are sent to victims all over the world every day, so no matter how many zeros are on the cash prize, don’t fall for it.

Asking for a donation

As unbelievable as it may seem, scam artists often send out phishing emails inviting recipients to donate to a worthy cause after a natural or other tragedy and a lot of people fall for it. You should never send money to someone you don’t know or trust, or give away your details to someone you haven’t met or from a reputable source.

When thinking about phishing emails, the bottom line is that you should always double check, and never click any links or attachments or give confidential information or passwords if you have any doubts or find it suspicious. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Knowing the key components that make up a phishing email could stop you from a catastrophe to yourself or even your business, so always be vigilant.

A Note from Rev. Nate

Dear friends,

 As I prepare to return to ACC next week after two months of parental leave for the birth of Gwendolyn Olive, I just wanted to write a quick note. I’m so grateful to all the people – staff and lay leaders alike – who have filled in during my absence.

I've learned already that parenting two is much more difficult (and, of course, rewarding) than parenting one. And during the wee hours of many nights, I've felt so grateful to have the luxury of this leave from my work. Our family of four is doing well, and Kit and I are reveling in the new reality of “the girls.” Here are two pictures from our recent adventures. 

I’ve been thinking of you all during this trying season -- with poor air quality, red flag alerts, the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, and of course the upcoming election keeping us all on our toes, to say the least. What a time to be alive, and what an important time to continue to be the church.

I am looking forward to returning to my ministry next week, and connecting with many of you as soon as possible, via phone calls, Zoom office hours, and virtual worship. (Please write to me at revnateklug@gmail.com to set up a phone or Zoom visit.) I will be back in the office on Wednesday, November 4, and I will lead virtual worship for Sunday, November 8.

With gratitude and love, 

Rev. Nate

Council & Budget Update

Council met last week to review finances and begin looking forward to 2021. 

Our 2020 expected income from room rentals, and school rentals has fallen significantly while pledges from the Congregation have held fast. We received a PPP loan which significantly helped with expenses in our first three months of the Covid-19 Pandemic. But we are now in the 7th month of the pandemic. Many expenses have been reduced due to the fact that we are not using office materials, and providing materials for on-site meetings and worship. However the reduction in expenditures is not expected to make up for lost income. A small team is beginning to work on budget projections for 2021. The schools are gradually re-opening at reduced rent and reduced enrollment. It is expected that will continue well into 2021. Paid space rentals are not likely to return until well into the new year.  We, however, are determined to continue to keep our congregation viable and are ever grateful to the Congregation for their generosity. Feel free to share ideas and hopes with members of the budget team, Randy and Sara Laferte, Elena Caruthers, and Myself, 

With hope and gratitude,

Linda Young, Moderator 

Message from the Moderator

Message from the Moderator 

Rev. Nate Klug will return to the office on November 4 to resume his work with the Congregation. Recently he shared that he and Kit were able to take the little family to New England to meet the grandparents, and he looks forward to coming back among us.  As we are rounding the bend in preparation for his return, there has been one schedule change. Barry Cammer has graciously agreed to provide worship service for November 1st.

We are grateful to all the friends and members of the ACC Congregation who have stepped in to provide virtual worship services and pastoral care during Rev. Nate's paternity leave. Those have included: Rev. Barry Cammer, Rev. Julie Stokstad, Rev. Dennis Alger, Ruth Robinson, Rev. Dorothy Streutker, Lauren Hotchkiss, Dudley Thompson, and this week, Rev. Shirlee Bromley. We are also grateful for pastoral care provided by Rev. Julie Stokstad, and Rev. Barry Cammer.  ACC has been blessed with the spiritual presence these folks bring to us, as we navigate new ways of being together as a congregation.  

Gratefully, Linda Young, Moderator

Jubilee Weekend

Jubilee Weekend Coming Up : Curing Poverty, Inequality and the Coronavirus

This weekend, October 16-19 is Jubilee Weekend, the same weekend as the major IMF and World Bank meetings this year.  ACC is a Jubilee Congregation, supporting the work of Jubilee USA in its bi-partisan efforts to seek fair economic practices and policies for the most vulnerable nations. Director, Eric LaCompt speaks regularly to the United Nations, and strongly advises the World Bank and the IMF as they develop policies. Jubilee Weekend, a time when all the faith members join together in prayer for our brothers and sisters around the world.    

Eric Writes: 

We need your help to lift the voices of the faithful in defense of the world’s most vulnerable during this critical time. With your help, we can expand debt relief for the 73 poorest countries and move forward more aid for developing countries.

I encourage you to CLICK HERE to learn more.  Along with interesting reading, you will find a couple of lines down, a link to a petition to the G 20 that you can sign online. 

Linda Young -ACC Moderator – and contact for Jubilee USA Network

ACT NOW!

Kensington Polling Near the Church

Several people have asked if ACC will be used as a polling place this year. I talked with Erin Mendez in the Election Commission Office who is helping with the planning of polling places. She said that because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, all registered voters will be sent a vote-by-mail ballot for November 3, 2020 election. They are, therefore, reducing number of in-person polling places. ACC will not be used in November.

Most Important:

-      A new Drop Box will be set up at the library. 

-      The Kensington Community Center will be available for people who wish to do in-person voting.

-      She asked that we help get the word out. 

Linda Young, Moderator

linda.lapp.young@gmail.com