United Church of Hayward, United Church of Christ and Rev. Jeanne Loveless receive CTS/Lilly Endowment 2025 National Clergy Renewal Grant

Look not at me with outward eye, but with inward vision of the heart; Follow me there and see how unencumbered we become. -Rumi

United Church of Hayward, United Church of Christ, a primarily online progressive Christian community based in Hayward, CA has received a grant of $60.000 to enable our Senior Minister & Teacher, Rev. Jeanne Loveless, to participate in the 2025 CTS National Clergy Renewal Program. United Church of Hayward, UCC is one of 200 congregations across the United States selected to participate in this competitive grant program, which is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and administered by Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. Established by the Endowment in 2000, the program’s grants allow Christian congregations to support their pastors with the gift of extended sabbatical time away from their ministerial duties and responsibilities so they can rest and renew.

Ministers whose congregations are awarded grants use their time away from the demands of daily ministry to pursue renewal and revitalization. The approach respects the “Sabbath time” concept, offering ministers a carefully considered respite that may include travel, study, rest, prayer and immersive arts and cultural experiences.

Through the National Clergy Renewal Program, congregations apply for grants of up to $60,000 to support renewal programs for their pastors. Collaborative in nature and implementation, the program allows congregations to partner with their ministers in developing experiences that address their unique renewal needs and aspirations. Recognizing that ministers’ families are subject to the stress and demands placed on pastoral leaders, the program encourages pastors to involve their families in renewal activities. Congregational needs during the minister’s renewal experience also are considered. Up to $20,000 of the grant may be used to support interim pastoral leadership during the pastor’s retreat, as well as renewal activities within the congregation. Since the inception of the National Clergy Renewal Program and the Clergy Renewal Program for Indiana Congregations, more than 4,526 congregations throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico have participated in the program, including the 200 congregations receiving grants in 2025. The CTS Grant Proposal Theme is “What Makes Your Heart(s) Sing?”

The UCH renewal leave theme is “Longing for Unencumbered Hearts: A Journey of Vision Clearing and Renewal.” At UCH, we will be engaging in a special series of online workshops that will allow us to experience different vision and heart clearing healing modalities including EFT, Reiki, and Creative Visualization. We are also planning a poetry reading, an immersive spiritual/nature experience at a local botanical garden, opportunities to share the creative things we do, and an exciting livestream worship/podcast series on the CTS proposal theme “What Makes Our Hearts/God’s Heart Sing?” We will be inviting a diverse group of guest preachers and workshop leaders to create that podcast series.

Equipped with a new camera, Rev. Jeanne will take classes with an award-winning photographer, and she will be going on solo photography retreats in Arizona and at Mt. Shasta/Mt. Lassen National Park, where she will learn from indigenous photography teachers and guides. She and her family will also go on pilgrimage to Greece and Türkiye to experience and photograph early Christian and Byzantine sites as well as ancient Greek spiritual sites. In addition, she will visit Rumi’s shrine in Konya. Rev. Jeanne notes that there is a “heart and vision clearing relationship” between her deep rest, spiritual work and the quality of her photography.

As part of the rest and renewal, there will also be Greek Island family beach time and a chance for her son to run the ancient track at Olympia before the family returns to the Bay Area. After some more quiet retreat time at Mt. Shasta, Rev. Jeanne will return to lead our congregation and present an online photography show for the beloved congregation. She will use her photos to enhance our online worship in the coming year, and she will host a gallery photography exhibit and reception for the larger community.

“Pastors play such important roles in nurturing the spiritual lives of individuals and families and guiding the ministries of congregations,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “Yet the demands of ministry can seem relentless. We hope that these grants help congregations honor their pastors for their extraordinary service and support them with the time and other resources to step away for rest and renewal so they can return to their congregations reenergized.”

Dr. Robert Saler, Director of the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs at Christian Theological Seminary, noted that interest in the grant programs has grown significantly in recent years, with higher numbers of applications leading to increased competitiveness.

“In these challenging and exciting times, we’re watching the applicants and awardees of these programs expand the definition of what sabbatical can mean. Some pastors are stepping away to rest, while others are stepping away to devote themselves to other aspects of their ministry and their being. Our goal is that these programs supply congregations with the means to express appreciation for their leaders and actively invest in what reenergizes their pastors for long-term ministry,” Saler said.

Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis also directs the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Program for Indiana Congregations through its Center for Pastoral Excellence.

And we at United Church of Hayward, UCC are absolutely delighted to now be able to share this incredible news with you!

Contacts: Kristina Burnett, Moderator
Scout Husby, Vice Moderator
Jessica Matus, Treasurer

                     info@uchucc.org, (510) 449-7551

10 Books I Would Love For Everyone To Be Reading That Are Influencing My Preaching Right Now

I got a request this last week to share some new reading possibilities with you. My Thanks to Lola for publishing the reading list I created about white Christian nationalism in the October Notes from the Journey (page 8).

 We are going to be starting a new UCH Book Group during the 2026 Season of Lent, that I am hoping will become a permanent small group offering. Some of these books will definitely be on that list down the road. Books on B may have some of these, or can definitely order them. Many are also available as audiobooks if you prefer that reading method. I think it is always a great time to read and learn new things. Thank you to Chris for the suggestion. 

-Rev. Jeanne

1. Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans

2. Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women by Sarah Bessey

3. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

4. Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz Weber

5. Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived by Rob Bell

6. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes DuMez

7. Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously Not Literally by Marcus Borg 

8. How We Learn to be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith by Mariann Edgar Budde

9. Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible and What We Don’t Know About Them by Bart Ehrman

10. The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy by Jim Wallis

Re-centering the Widow: A Lesson in Getting It Wrong

There are several times I confuse the names Elijah and Ezekiel in this sermon. (Because I have been single parenting this week, and am overwhelmed with what is going on in the world like many of you, and I'm tired). Elijah and Ezekiel were both First Testament Jewish prophets writing at different times and with different agendas. The point I was making about their names still holds. Ezekiel has a Hebrew name of God in his name- el. Elijah has a Hebrew name for God in his name -Jah. Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney named the Widow of Zarapheth Ummaastarte (After the Canaanite Goddess Astarte) to point this out. 

 My apologies for this error. Especially to my Jewish friends.  

 I thought about how all of my male detractors online were going to attack and write me off about all of this, and at first I didn't want to let Ashley post it because I was mad at myself for the mistake. The criticism of women online is merciless right now. Especially when it comes to the bible and ministry. 

But the Holy Spirit encouraged me to sit with it. And it dawned on me from somewhere in my Shadow that this whole conversation was supposed to be about an unnamed widow from Zaraphath — not about Elijah and Ezekiel. I had inadvertently placed my focus on these male prophets (while owning my error) and silenced her and diverted away from her story yet again. (Which is exactly what I was trying not to do). 

I think it is a terrific lesson about how hard it is to engage scripture in the way we are engaging it in this series. Even in my preaching about an unnamed woman, I unconsciously made things in my head about the names of two much more well known male prophets. 

It feels like an important revelation. I'm sitting with it. I think it deserves a blog of its own after my sitting. -Rev. Jeanne

Our annual Blessing of the Animals is October 12 -- on Zoom!

"The Naming of Cats" from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name. 

And Everywhere there will be a Feast: Celebrating World Communion Sunday

And the table will be wide.
And the welcome will be wide.
And the arms will open wide to gather us in.
And our hearts will open wide to receive.

And we will come as children who trust
there is enough. And we will come
unhindered and free.
And our aching will be met with bread.
And our sorrow will be met with wine.

And we will open our hands to the feast without shame.
And we will turn toward each other without fear.
And we will give up our appetite for despair.
And we will taste and know of delight.

And we will become bread for a hungering world.
And we will become drink for those who thirst.
And the blessed will become the blessing.
And everywhere will be the feast! 

—Jan Richardson

This Sunday is World Communion Sunday, and as Jan Richardson puts it “Everywhere there will be the feast!”  World Communion Sunday may come and go without much fanfare. But if you think about it, it’s actually pretty incredible. On World Communion Sunday, throughout the world, people are sharing the communion meal.  People who share Communion everyday—people who share communion once a week—and people who share communion once a month, or once a year are joining together to affirm our love for God, and each other, and to celebrate our covenants, and the promise of God’s King/Kindom.  We are called on this day to recognize that there is enough to share, and we all need to do some real soul searching and repentance about our complicity in why that very often doesn’t happen.   

Most assuredly, Christians and churches the world over understand Communion differently.  

• Some believe that the bread and wine of this meal actually becomes the body & blood of Christ. . . 

• Some believe that the bread and wine of this meal demonstrate that we are all part of one body. . . 

• Some believe that the bread and wine remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus. . . 

• Some believe the bread and wine instruct us to extend hospitality and service to others. . . 

• Some believe that the bread and wine are simply grain and grape that nurture our own bodies. 

You are probably not surprised to hear me say that I am not going to tell you what communion means. There is not one universal way to understand the communion meal.  That isn’t what World Communion Sunday is about. And that isn’t how we operate at UCH. But it is exciting to me that we can all come to this one open table and receive whatever it is we need on this day.  God meets us here- and welcomes us- no matter who we are, where we come from, or where we are on life’s journey. And that is the thing that makes this meal sacred.  

What does Communion mean to you? What does it mean to us at UCH and in the United Church of Christ?  I invite you to give that some reflection before we share communion on Sunday and are blessed by that holy act.  It is my prayer, that we will, as Jan Richardson suggests, “become the blessing” as we take what we receive out our Zoom sanctuary virtual doors and into our hearts and communities.

Five Ways the UCH Transitions Group is Taking Care of Ourselves and Our Communities During These Challenging Times

Our UCH Transitions Group met this week and had a great conversation about how we are all managing our stress during these challenging times. Rev. Jeanne took some notes, and we decided at the end of our time together; we would like to share our conversation with the rest of the UCH Beloved Community because we thought it might be helpful. We also want to make sure you‘all know you are invited to join us on the first Thursday of the month from 10:30 -11:30 am on Zoom. Our next meeting is on November 6. Please take care of yourselves and of each other.

-The UCH Transitions Group (and Rev. Jeanne)

---

1. Being in Community/Avoiding Isolation: Staying in touch with family, and friends. Spending time with family and friends in person or on Facetime, phone, or zoom. Attending church Zooms and being engaged in conversation. Going to women’s groups such as PEO or connecting with sorority sisters. Making a commitment to be in Transitions Group and coming to Bible Study and Worship on Sunday morning. Checking in more often on our neighbors and friends. Sending cards and notes. Listening to Podcasts and learning new things. Making sure I include diverse views in those podcasts. Checking in on neighbors. Finding out what is going on in the community and learning how to help those who are struggling and suffering with time, talent, and treasure.

2. Finding Our Voices: Learning to articulate our feelings about what is going on in the world. Pushing back when people around us say harmful (homophobic, racist, xenophobic things). Realizing that we are upset and angry because we are “rooted in the values of Jesus” (what Rev. Jeanne always says), And that is a good thing. Posting positive things on social media as a counter to negative things. Interacting with folkx in our community in positive ways. Smiling. Being kind. Making eye contact. Being involved in groups such as EAIC, Comida Para Cherryland, or the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. Not being silent but speaking out about injustices. Attending rallies (Such as the Union City “No Kings” Rally on October 18). Listening to our church podcasts, sharing, following, and liking what we are doing online because we are offering Christianity and Community that are rooted in the values of Jesus. Folkx in the US need to know there are alternatives to “White Christian Nationalism” which is one of our superpowers at UCH.

3. Doing What Gives Us Life (and Letting Go of What Doesn’t): knitting, doing artwork, gardening, singing, playing music, listening to an audiobook, walking, reading, sitting in the yard, watching a show I enjoy, working a crossword puzzle, praying for the others; especially the congregation, and the Council and Rev. Jeanne, noticing flowers and wildlife, being outside in nature, noticing the changing seasons and cycles in nature. Journaling, practicing gratitude, Caring for our pets, or even wild animals or birds in the yard. Doing what gives us energy, and limiting what makes us feel overwhelmed and tired where we can. Spending time with friends and family, volunteering in the community. (See #1, and #2). Setting good boundaries with others and for ourselves.

4. Limiting News and Social Media and Watching and Listening to Things that are More Positive : Find out what is going on in the world and then turning off the computer, radio, or television. Listening to Heather Cox Richardson who always gives positive things we can all do at the end of clearly and understandably explaining things that are happening and talking about historical and political context. Listening to podcasts that are positive and that teach us new things (Including UCH Rebuild on Apple and Spotify). Watching shows that we enjoy. Not watching violence.

5. Being Aware of our Strengths and Limitations: Do what you can. Not everyone can march and protest, but we can support those who can and do. Call our representatives and stand up for our values and the values of Jesus in the ways we can. Put hearts on posts that you love. Post something that supports immigrants or Transfolkx. Ask yourself who you support with your time, talent, and treasure? Even the poor woman, who we talked about in bible study who put her coins in the temple treasury was praised by Jesus because she was doing what she could to make a difference. Tend to your piece of the puzzle (and your community’s piece of the puzzle) not the whole puzzle (See Jane Goodall’s quote above.). That can get really overwhelming.

Connections

Hardie Albright and I had a brief connection in 1973 when he was an instructor at UCLA and I was the designer of Acting, The Creative Process, the first of several drama college textbooks he authored. At the time I was unaware of his extensive show business career spanning vaudeville, film, theatre, television, and that he had provided the voice for one of Disney’s most iconic animated characters.

Albright made his stage debut in 1910 at the age of seven traveling throughout the northeast in his parents’ vaudeville act. Pursuing a career in their footsteps, he earned a bachelor of arts degree in drama, joined a repertory company and appeared in eight Broadway productions in the late 1920’s. A talent scout from Hollywood’s Fox Company signed him to a contract launching his film career in 1931 with a leading role in Young Sinners, followed by films with co-stars Joan Bennett, Myrna Loy and George Raft. Albright moved to Warner Brothers in 1932 where he appeared in films with Betty Davis, George Arliss, Barbara Stanwick, William Powell, and Jack Holt. Beginning in 1933, and for nine highly productive years, he appeared in thirty films released by nearly all of Hollywood’s studios, during which time he appeared with many of the industries’ “A” list stars culminating with Gary Cooper in Pride of the Yankees.

Walt Disney Studios tapped Albright in 1942 as a voice actor for their upcoming classic animated feature film where he gave voice to the adolescent title character Bambi, recorded at the company’s new Burbank studios.

Following World War II Albright retired from film acting and became a drama instructor at UCLA, textbook author and occasional movie director. During the 1960’s his acting career was reignited with guest appearances on many television series including The Twilight Zone, Bewitched, Leave it to Beaver, Hazel and Gunsmoke.

We make dozens of connections every day and although “six degrees of separation” may take us to anyone on the earth, we can only imagine where a single degree may lead.

Catching Rapturous Glimpses of Jesus in the Here and Now

Here is some online news for this week that sets context for what is on my heart today: 

• Belief That the End of The World is Coming Spawns TikTok Frenzy Called 'RaptureTok': What to Know

• The Rapture Didn't Happen. Former Believers Describe What Happens Next.

• The Rapture Didn’t Happen, And The Internet Is Disappointed

I went to put flowers on our family graves with my Grandma Vera one Memorial Day weekend when I was in grade school, and I remember we were standing by my Great Grandma's grave in the cemetery on the bluff above the Ohio river. And I noticed something I thought was interesting.  

"Grandma, why do all the graves face in one direction?"

A hush came over her. She closed her eyes, laid her weed trimmers on the ground, and began to clap. Her tears came and she whispered, "Glory to Jesus!" I moved back a little because I knew she was getting the Holy Ghost and she had already accidently hit me in the head a couple times swinging her purse at the Tabernacle where I went to church with her on Sunday evenings after attending the Disciples of Christ service with my Mom, Dad, Sister, and maternal grandparents in the morning. 

She started walking around our family plots praising and speaking in tongues. I had gotten used to her effusive worship style and tongue speaking at the Tabernacle. And I also learned not to bring it up too much at home because it would result in slammed doors and loud voices in my parents' bedroom. But I had never seen her get the Holy Ghost before in the cemetery. 

She began to quote I Thessalonians 4 in her soft southern lilt as she cried, walked, and clapped her hands. A few verses in she turned and looked at me with tears in her eyes waving her hands, " Aaaaaand the deeeeeeead in Christ shaaall riiise fuuuuuuurst." 

I was enthralled and a bit terrified. I loved her so much. She had a deep relationship with God that sustained her through many challenging things: poverty, a huge family, an alcoholic father, burying two children before giving birth to my Dad, and her marriage to my grandfather who was 35 years older than her and who she had took care of as he died of an ugly coal mine related cancer. Her spirituality was wrapped up in her hard life and intense trauma. But her devotion to the Holy Spirit was powerful. It impressed me deeply and still flows through my blood and bone like Ariadne's thread. And as my congregation knows, I bring up the Holy Spirit more than any UCC or Disciples of Christ minister they have ever had.

I'm also delighted this week to mark myself safe from John Nelson Darby's dramatic, misguided, and harmful dispensationalist theology about "the rapture" that is popular in evangelical white Christian nationalist circles, and still haunts us in the US as folkx post anxiously, study dispensation charts, imagine Hollywood fueled zombie like "resurection of the body" scenarios, and watch yet another predicted rapture day pass.

Misinterpretations of scripture, including I Thessalonians 4 abound. Paul was offering a calming pastoral word to concerned believers at Thessaloniki who wanted to make sure their deceased beloveds would be included in the impending Parousia which he had told them was happening fast- like tomorrow at 3:00. This SHOULD BE a huge issue in any New Testament conversations because Jesus did not return the way Paul said he would. But instead we have freakout on Rapture Tok. 

I think there really is a part of us that would love for God to blow a trumpet and come and rescue us from this terrible dreary mess that we have made of our planet, our nation, and our relationships with each other.

But instead, we are all still here. And Jesus, the Risen Christ, is showing up in front of us- not for his second coming- but for his 10 thousandth and 10 millionth coming in ICE detainees, in Gaza refugees, in the Trans and Non-Binary communities, in our homeless siblings, the woman who can't afford her insulin, and the children who are hungry tonight.  

I hope you ‘all will join me in sinning boldly with unfettered empathy as we seek justice and work together to be Jesus' hands, eyes, heart, and feet in our world. 

And it is my prayer that you wilI catch rapturous glimpses of Jesus and of the kindom of God rising in each other- perpetually present and returning- in this hot and holy mess that is our here and our now. 

— Rev. Jeanne

Journey Updates: Opportunities

As discussed in last Saturday's Congregational Meeting: Here are some ways that we can get involved and amplify information and resources in our communities. The organizations and events listed here provide ways for us to live into our United Church of Hayward, UCC Values Statement, and to embody the values of Jesus Christ in our communities during these challenging times. — Rev. Jeanne

1. Five Calls: Here is the non-profit organization I mentioned where you can find updated pressing legislative issues, contact information, and phone scripts to call representatives in your location to advocate for our values. The Five Calls app is also available in the Apple and Google Play/Android store for your smart phone. If you are unable to rally or attend events, this is something you can do in your living room chair. Its also a great antidote for feeling helpless and isolated.

2. For more than twenty years, the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity has been joining hands with people of faith to act on core values and beliefs. IMHI defends the humanity of the immigrant and fights for the rights of the incarcerated. We work at the intersection of spirituality and social movements, and mobilize congregations to take a stand on issues of social justice like immigration and mass incarceration. IMHI hosts vigils, and events throughout the Bay Area. 

3. The Eden Area Interfaith Council represents diverse religious organizations in the East Bay that promote respect for all faiths and human rights for all. EAIC is a collective of religious groups in the Eden Area of Northern California's East Bay, including Hayward, Castro Valley, San Leandro, and San Lorenzo. EAIC plans local events and vigils, and decorates city hall in a way that honors all traditions during the holidays. UCH is a faith communuty member.​

4. Helping the Hungry: Comida para Cherryland at Eden UCC is distributing food every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month starting at 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm, or until food is gone. If anyone needs emergency food on our non-comida days, please call the Eden Office Manager at (510) 582-9533, to schedule an appointment to pick-up a food bag from Monday - Friday between 9-4pm.

   South Hayward Parish Food Pantry is open 4 days a week and serves thousands of pounds of food per month to our neighbors in Castro Valley, Hayward, and Union City. UCH is a founding member. Donations and volunteers are always needed.

5. The next local "No Kings" rally is on October 18, in Kennedy Park in Union City from 10:00-12:00. There are also rallies planned in Oakland, Hayward, and Fremont. For more information about events nationwide and locally: https://www.nokings.org/.

Into the Light: Finding Joy in Art

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” — Pablo Picasso

The above quote is on a rubber stamp a friend gave to me.  I’m not sure if it’s true that Picasso said that but it does sum up pretty perfectly how I feel about art.  Contemplating beautiful art is for me as life-giving as beautiful scenery or forest walks.  Note that I say “beautiful art” because, honestly, I don’t really like being challenged by bigger themes.  I like what makes my heart soar. Cue the Impressionist paintings. 

Making art is different.  It also feeds my spirit but in a different way.  It’s meditative and therefore relaxing but there’s something more.  It opens up a channel inside me that allows all the feelings to flow so it can be a joyful or tender or melancholy process.  Most of my paintings are 5” x 7” .  The largest are 11” x 14”.  I love diving into the fine detail, mixing the perfect color or layering and blending the colored pencils.

I don’t claim to be a great artist.  My talents are very modest.  People who do like my art, like it I think because I’ve found and tried to recreate a little bit of beauty.  I’ve read recently about trying to find the “glimmers” in each day; the kind word from someone, your favorite song, or the monarch butterfly that followed you on your walk (that really happened to me!).  When I print my artwork on cards and send them off, I’m trying to give a little glimmer to someone’s day.

Art comes in many forms, not just the visual arts.  I know nothing about music but I think I can understand the musicians impulse to find the nuance, the color, the balance in their art.  When we had the Kitchen Gallery at church, many people shared their art from drawings, poetry, photography, graphic art.  You’re invited to once again share your art in our Updates from the Journey.  Let’s send some glimmers out into the world.  We have a lot of love to share.

— Laurie Blue

My painting “Into the Light” is from a photo taken in a real place.  When I finished it, I was struck by how it perfectly showed the feeling of leaving behind a difficult time and once again inhabiting my contented self.

Virtual Art Wall at United Church of Hayward

One of the things I hear from many of you frequently is how helpless you feel about the ugliness in the world right now. You are calling our congresspeople, rallying, praying, posting sanely, honoring science, checking on your neighbors, donating time, talent, and treasure, and being theologically reflective. But you still feel "kinda yuck." (This is a direct quote from a pastoral care conversation this week.).

Laurie has proposed a wonderful way to sow some beauty in our community. She said the other day, "I wish there was a way we could bring the church kitchen art wall back."

And I started thinking about it, and I think there is. I'd like to invite everyone to send in photos, poetry, artwork, pictures of your knitting or house projects — really anything that "makes your heart sing." You can send those things to Ashley and I (revjeanne@uchucc.org) for inclusion in Updates from the Journey for our new "Virtual Kitchen Art Wall." which will be featured periodically.  

Mickey & Minnie On Ice

In 1949, six years before the opening of Disneyland, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and four additional costumed classic Disney characters made their first appearance in Ice Capades, a popular touring entertainment show, in a production number titled “Walt’s Toy Shop”. Six years later when Disneyland’s opening day was fast approaching, Walt Disney reached out to the operators of Ice Capades with a request to borrow their Mickey and Minnie costumes. Videos and home movies from the July 17, 1950, opening day show the not-so-loveable Ice Capades characters in black leotards, shorts and oversize papier-mâché heads with the creepy eye holes cut out. Evolution of Disneyland’s characters was slow and it wasn’t until the early 1960’s that Walt Disney created a dedicated Character Department formed to develop appealing and comfortable costumes focusing on character accuracy and the performers’ safety. Ice Capades thrived for the next five decades gaining in popularity, changing ownership, and growing into three separate touring companies featuring theatrical ice skating performances by former Olympic and US National figure skater champions.

In 1979, Kenneth Feld Productions, owners and producers of “The Greatest Show on Earth”, Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus, purchased Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice, and approached Disney about doing a themed ice show. Feld licensed the rights to material and characters, and in 1981 began production on Walt Disney’s World on Ice. Within a few years the company had five touring shows, hundreds of cast members and dozens of trucks hauling props, stages, sound and lighting equipment between cities. The name was changed to Disney on Ice in 1998 and a new show was launched every year usually themed after recently released films, a signature Disney cross promotion and merchandising tactic.

Due to declining ticket sales, increasing operating costs, and animal rights protests, Feld’s Ringling Bros.and Barnum Bailey Circus went out of business in 2017; however, Disney on Ice, hosted by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, currently runs eight to eleven touring companies worldwide at any given time.

Berkeley's Mystery Walls

“Half a mile east of Grizzly Peak stand the remnants of stone walls which have baffled the researches and curiosity of antiquarians” reported an 1896 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, “by whom they were erected, when and why is an unsolved mystery”. Unexplained rock walls, like those in the Berkeley Hills, are also found scattered south for nearly forty miles along the ridge lines of the East Bay Hills above Hayward to the summits of Monument and Mission Peak in Fremont where clusters of the three foot tall stacked limestone rock and boulder walls extend from a few feet to over a half mile in length.

The world wide building of stone structures dates back hundreds of thousands years to the stone age and has provided limitless explanations, conjecture, and urban myths about the mystery walls of the East Bay. Were they evidence of early giant hill dwellers who gained immense strength by lifting the heavy rocks, as suggested by UC Chemistry Professor Henry Myers, after reportedly uncovering stone images, axes, and pieces of pottery? Or a colony from lost Atlantis that defended their hillside rock fortresses with spears, bow and arrows, and by hurtling boulders? A long forgotten race or maybe Aztecs of Mexico who may have used the walls for defense? In 1908 “Professor” Joseph Voyle, President of the questionable Berkeley Society for Psychical Research, using a divining rod claimed that some of the walls were remains of a prehistoric civilization (Voyle also claimed to have discovered a radium mine under San Francisco, inventing an earthquake detector, and creating a non-intoxicating alcohol substitute). Others were inclined to believe that the rock formations on East Bay ridges were the work of unknown ancients called “The Earliers”. and that the walls may have served as navigational aids for extraterrestrials.

Tentative conclusions of a recent experimental study dating the growth of lichens on the walls is that the surviving segments in the Berkeley Hills may have been built between 1850 and 1880. However without documentation, who the rock stackers were, and why the walls were constructed may remain an unsolved mystery

Reflections on Pentecost, Pneumonia, and Pride: Listening Into the Chaos Together

Below is a sermon that Rev. Jeanne wrote while ill with pneumonia. Our guest preacher, Jackie, delivered it. It’s subtitled: Embracing The Blessing that Blazes (pur: πῦρ) Among Us, and you can watch or listen to it in its entirety.

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-18 What Does This Mean? NRSVUE

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty wind (pnoé: πνοή), and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire (pur: πῦρ), appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.  

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language (glóssa:  γλῶσσα), of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “How is this happening? What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams… Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

Today, as you know, is my birthday, and my ordination anniversary. I love it when they fall on the same day (like they did on my ordination day in 2003 at University Christian Church Disciples of Christ of Berkeley), It was a special day on many, many levels. We processed in behind a bagpiper playing Amazing Grace- a favorite celebratory activity of Disciples who want to honor our Scottish Presbyterian roots. My friends, and mentors read scripture, sang, preached, and danced. There were beautiful altars and banners covered with fiery orange and red dupioni silk fabric. Christy walked beside me holding my hand while it shook. The sanctuary was full. And I made some important commitments and knew when they helped me up off my knees after they prayed me in while the sanctuary was filled with shouts of joy and applause that everything was somehow different. And yes. There were protesters gathered outside who we could hear chanting about how we were all going to hell which made Bill (rest in power my brother) play the organ louder to drown them out.  

In a lot of churches this morning, worship will take on the vibe of a birthday party. Pentecost is for many progressive Christian congregations celebrated as “the birthday of the church.” And it also feels like a good excuse to pull out the glitter, and rainbow leis when it falls during Pride month. Pentecost certainly does mark a threshold crossing in the life of the church. It is the beginning of something completely new because it really is time for Koinonia- the Good News - to come out of the closet. The Disciples have followed Jesus’ directions (as far as we can tell since we drop into the middle of the story). They went back home and prayed and waited together- until something weird started happening.

This story has lots of Hollywood style effects. It has wind (pnoé: πνοή, ῆς, ἡ) which is ironically the root of our word pneuma (pneumonia), fire (pur: πῦρ, πυρός) which is at the root of our word purify, and spiritual phenomena (tongues of fire) that included miraculous bewilderment because they could understand each other even though they spoke different languages and dialects (glóssa:  γλῶσσα). We can feel Luke struggling to find the words for things beyond explanation and in the realm of divine mystery in this passage. He’s definitely as the Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney describes it “hammering nails with the butt end of a screwdriver” as he tries to describe what is going on. And this kind of hammering around the imagery of Acts 2 didn’t stop in the 1st Century. Our most gifted poets are still trying to make sense of the strange imagery of Pentecost.

Hear a word from T.S. Eliot in “The Four Quartets”

 “The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharge from sin and error.
The only hope, or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre—
To be redeemed from fire by fire.”

And more recently Mary Oliver writes, “Can one be passionate about the just, the ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit to no labor in its cause? I don’t think so. All summations have a beginning. All effect has a Story. All kindness begins with the sown seed. Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of light is the crossroads of —indolence, or action. Be ignited or be gone.”

Luke keeps telling us that everybody in Acts 2 was “bewildered” and “amazed and astonished” and “perplexed” Perplexed (diaporeó) in Greek, according to Strong’s means there is “no way out, or no way to solve the puzzle.” Encountering the power and movement of the divine directly can be very confusing, overwhelming, and scary. There is really no way to solve the puzzle but to surrender. The Scriptures tell us that an experience like that might even make your hair and face turn white like Moses when he came down from Sinai. Or it might cause one like Peter to start babbling about building shelters for the prophets that have shown up in spirit with Jesus as he has mysteriously started glowing during the transfiguration. Encountering the divine mystery here in Acts 2 causes Luke to start writing about divided tongues of fire, and mighty rushing wind. He’s struggling to work out a puzzle there is not a solution for. As Rev. Nadia Bolz Weber astutely reminds us, “the Gospel is not domesticatable enough for the mind to grasp.  It’s wilder than that. Like wind. It’s more beautiful and a-rational than reason alone can contain.”

Rather than get stuck trying to explain the fire, the tongues, the wind, and the mystery, I want to invite us to notice a couple of really important things that are going on in this passage. Henri Nouwen suggests that the unique thing about Pentecost is that “The Spirit of Jesus comes to dwell within us, so we can become living Christs in the here and now.”  This tongues, wind and fire Pentecost event is rooted in divine timing (Jesus told them to wait- Now the time has come). And the timing is rooted in the most powerful of places- the present moment.  In order to give birth to a new iteration of church, whether we are in the first century or the 21st, we are called to embody the fully divine, and fully human mysterious a-rational Holy Spirit of the risen Christ in the present moment. We are called to listen, speak, use our voices, seek justice, transform ourselves with the help of God, and get our hands dirty. And we never quite know how we’ll be called to do that. There’s a lot of mystery there too- in the journey, in the wisdom of other tongues, and in encountering the divine in the twists and turns where we didn’t intend to find it. As Suzy Kassem puts it, “I am hearing wisdom from tongues I did not intend to listen to. I am encountering beauty where I did not want to look for it. And I am learning so much from journeys I did not want to take.”

Another thing I want to call your attention to is that Jesus taught and lived and modeled the journey we are called to embrace. At its core that journey is deeply relational. It’s about loving and being in relationship with God- loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

It is about being peacemakers and being compassionate and as Jesus puts it-doing things for the least of these because when you do it for them, you are doing it for me (Matthew 25). This Pentecost experience is not a private in the closet prayer experience. It is not rooted in pull yourself up by your bootstraps rugged individualism. It is not a call to “protect our own” like one white Christian nationalist leader stated recently. A personal relationship with Jesus is not enough. Instead, this very loud, very disruptive, very public outing of the Holy Spirit is rooted in the experience and power of being rooted in the diverse, complicated and ever evolving beloved community.

Jan Richardson captures this beloved community power in her Pentecost Blessing when she writes,

“This is the blessing
we cannot speak
by ourselves.
This is the blessing
we cannot summon
by our own devices,
cannot shape
to our purpose,
cannot bend
to our will.

This is the blessing
that comes
when we leave behind
our aloneness
when we gather
together
when we turn
toward one another.

This is the blessing
that blazes among us
when we speak
the tongues
strange to our ears
when we finally listen
into the chaos
when we breathe together
at last.”

We cannot navigate the journey alone. We have to gather together. We have to turn toward one another. We have to leave behind our aloneness, even when we are terrified, and listen into the chaos and breathe together at last. That is why the miracle of speaking in other tongues in Acts 2 is so incredible. It’s about understanding and listening and hearing across differences. It is about the DEI infused power of the Holy Spirit and the work we embody in the beloved community in the present moment. Right now friends we are drowning in chaos. It is hard to know what is true and what isn’t. The news is stressful and taxing and terrible. And yet I believe that the 2nd Chapter of Acts calls us to listen into the chaos together so we can discern our way forward together. We need each other- no matter what tongue we speak, or hear as we struggle to know how to give birth to the gospel and love our neighbors in the 21st Century.

I think the thing I remember the most about my ordination day was that my Mom and Dad were there. My home church had voted not to support my ordination process. People that I grew up refused to receive communion from me. And my parents defied all of it, flew to San Francisco (which I know they experienced like being on the moon) and presented me, during “the presentation of the signs of office” with a chalice and paten engraved with their names with best wishes for my ministry. That Pentecost day was costly to them in that church community- which my Grandparents had founded and my mother had grown up in. They lost lifelong friends. But they made a lot of new ones too. And their presence with me was healing in ways that I’m still processing 22 years later. I have tears welling up in my eyes now, because I know they listened into the chaos and standing with God and the beloved community in Berkeley that day, we spoke in and heard new tongues, and we breathed together at last. I also know now that on that Pentecost day faith, hope, and love were abiding. – And I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that of the three- the most healing and greatest for me was love.    

Reflection Questions:

• How have you experienced the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life? Was our awareness immediate? Or did you realize the Holy Spirit was present later?

• What does this very community oriented story in Acts 2 give us to celebrate in 2025? How are we at UCH called to listen into the chaos together?

Prayer Shawl Project: UCC General Synod 35, Kansas City, MO, 7/11—7/17

UCC General Synod is coming up this year, and since General Synod can be a pretty overwhelming experience, the UCC is inviting knitters and crocheters in local UCC congregations to bless and send prayer shawls for General Synod participants who would find them supportive and comforting. Our own resident knitter, Nancy Marshall, has agreed to knit and send a prayer shawl from UCH to be part of the project! UCH is paying for Nancy’s yarn, and Rev. Jeanne and Kristina will make sure the prayer shawl Nancy makes gets sent to the right place. Our thanks to Nancy for her time and generosity.

For info about the prayer shawl project use the following link.

Church Musician Wanted @ United Church of Hayward, UCC

Play for worship on Sundays etc. Remote is fine. Must be able to play in a quiet environment and have the computer equipment to play on Zoom. Trial period of 4 Sundays paid at $275 each.

Email: kkburnett@comcast.net

Historic Snippets: Rock Hound

A small, colorful, mounted slice of petrified wood presented to me upon the completion of my first year at Wadsworth Publishing Company sits on a shelf above my desk. It may have been the article about the Hayward Boy Paleontologists in the December 1943 issue of Life Magazine that was the beginning of dad’s interest in rock and fossils that he passed along to my brother Jim and me. Wesley Gordon, teacher and avid rock collector, took a group of his students on a collecting trip to the Bell gravel pit in the Irving-ton District of Washington Township known locally to be rich with fossils. On the first day of digging the twelve boys uncovered a lower jaw of a camelops, an ancient ancestor of the modern camel that began an extensive fossil dig that lasted more than ten years and retrieved tens of thousands of important speci-mens.

Dad took us to the slopes of Mt. Diablo where we collected shell fossils deposited millions of years earlier by an ancient inland sea, and trips to San Francisco’s Ferry building to see the seventy year old State Mining and Mineral Museum’s collection of rocks and minerals. Family trips to Southern California often included a visit to Disneyland’s Mineral Hall to view the display of florescent rocks and the parks seventy five million year old petrified tree truck. The Knott’s Berry Farms Rock shop and collection of “thunder egg” geodes was a “must see” as was Dire Wolf and Saber Tooth Tiger fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits. We enjoyed road trips, and stopping at highway rock shops and Jim recalls a trip to Virginia City where dad pointed out a young man picking up rocks from an unpaved parking lot for sale in one of the nearby gift shops. The Castro Valley Gem and Mineral Society and the Alameda County Fair’s Annual Rock and Min-eral shows were not to be missed and “Geology” was one of the first of the twenty one merit badges that I earned during my Boy Scouting years..

I had the opportunity to visit Yellowstone National Park for several weeks in the Summer of 1958 with the Yellowstone Science Expedition operated by my High School Biology teacher and former Yellowstone Park Ranger Wally Hennessy. Wally led us on treks to remote thermal and geological features including Obsidian Cliff, a remnant of a one hundred and fifty thousand year old slow moving viscous lava flow that became an important source of tools and weapons of the local indigenous people. We were also guided up the steep slope of Specimen Ridge through scattered needle and leaf fossils for close views of several four hundred million year old petrified trees, still standing remnants of a succession of primeval forests.

Digging roadside fossils, visiting rock shops, scrambling up volcanic mountains, and a career of making books are now cherished memories that instantly flash back with a single glance at that piece of petrified wood.

IT SEEMS TO ME

It seems to me that as we age,
and settle in to enjoy music of “our day”
and lose touch with current movie star names
and long for some “good ole tv programs”
we used to enjoy
that we reach a Decision Portal:
We look at the turmoil in the world

Yes, we experienced turmoil in our day,
but never like this – such divisive comments
such unrest – such selfishness and violence
as said our parents as our world emerged
as said their parents about their world . . .

We stand on the threshold asking
am I to become a crabby old person –
always hankering for what was
seeing nothing good in what is and
ever criticizing and complaining
I’m not talking about
living in an unreal world
pretending that violence,
unrest and selfishness,
do not exist.

I’m talking about the complaining
whose only purpose
is to make us comfortable
about not changing,
the complaining that supposedly
affirms “our generation had it all” and was a perfect world.

We know better – down deep
we are trying to make sense of it all
We are trying to survive

May we have the courage
to acquire wisdom
to bring forth what was good
leave behind what no longer is
and enter a new life-giving
portal of choice
beyond mere survival!

- Jackie Freitas

Upcoming at UCH

Oakland Observatory

Canadian born Anthony Chabot began working in California’s mining industry in the 1850’s devising the first hydraulic mining technology and establishing two water driven sawmills. Gaining the reputation of “Water King”, he built San Francisco’s first public water system and those in Portland Maine and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He founded the Contra Costa Water Company in 1866 that supplied water to Oakland and surrounding communities, and created a reservoir on San Leandro Creek that would later be named Lake Chabot. 

Businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Chabot donated a telescope to the City of Oakland in 1883 along with sizable funds to build an observatory.  Dubbed “Leah”, the state of the art 8-inch refractor telescope was located near downtown in Lafayette Square near Oakland High School in a specially constructed observatory. Unlike nearby San Jose’s Lick Observatory, constructed for astronomical research, Chabot designated that the Oakland Observatory was to be used by students and for public viewing at no charge.

By 1915 urban congestion and light pollution was impacting viewing and the decision was made to move the observatory to a remote location on Mountain Boulevard in the Oakland Hills.  A second telescope was added, “Rachel”, a 20 inch refractor with a 28 foot focal length making it the largest public refractor in the western United States at the time. During the next fifty years the observatory was expanded to include classrooms, a planetarium, and staffing by Oakland Unified School District personnel and volunteers. Renamed the Chabot Science Center, seismic safety concerns for the thousands of Bay Area students visiting  the observatory resulted in limiting access to the aging facility in 1977. The Oakland Unified School District, The City of Oakland, the East Bay Regional Park District and the East Bay Astronomical Society formed a Joint Powers Agency in 2000 creating the nonprofit Chabot Space and Science Center, a state-of-the-art science and technology education facility. A third telescope was added, Nellie, a 36” reflector telescope housed in a rolling roof observatory, along with a full dome Zeiss Planetarium, IMAX style theatre, displays and immersive activities.