On June 8th, in response to new guidance from the Santa Clara County Health Department,  and the CDC, the council met to discuss the next stage in our response and adjustments to the COVID pandemic in our life together. 

The short version is this, beginning on June 20th, 

• We will no longer RSVP for worship attendance. All are welcome to come worship in person on any date.
• We will continue to wear masks indoors
• In worship, we will sing with our masks on
• We will continue to meet in the garden for coffee hour
• Outdoors, masks will be optional for all vaccinated persons
• We will begin serving refreshments at coffee hour

There are still capacity limits and addtional modifications to our life together for the safety of the most vulnerable in our midst. To see the whole decision, open the document below. 

As we move forward, the council will rely on the guidance and expertise of the staff, in consultation with lay leaders, to make changes when they become appropriate. 

If you have any questions about this decision, please feel free to contact the council at council@cgslc.org. 

One of my favorite stories in our Bible is in the Gospel of John. In chapter 3 Nicodemus, a church leader, comes to Jesus under the cover of night to ask all the questions he was afraid to ask in the daylight. He asks Jesus what is meant when Jesus speaks about being born of the Spirit and being born anew. Jesus tells Nicodemus in verses 5-8: 
 
“Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
 
I have always resonated with Jesus’ teaching on the action of the Holy Spirit. It moves me, and others in ways that I cannot predict nor understand. Each time it does, it brings new life in ways that I cannot muster with my fragile human will. It has done so once more in my life. I have been asked to serve as the Assistant to the Bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod and I have accepted the call. 
 
Though my call will not be official with the synod until after their council meeting on June 19th, I wanted to share this with you now so that we have time to say goodbye before my last day as the Pastor of CGS on July 4th. 
 
Please know, that I am leaving with a heavy heart. I have loved serving this congregation and you more than I ever knew I would. 
In the next four weeks I hope you will come to the CGS campus so that we can worship together. I hope you will come to one of the events or activities we have planned (schedule on back) so that we can celebrate the past 7 years, and to say goodbye. If it is not safe for you to be at one of these events, I hope you will call, text, or email me so that we can arrange a time to get together. Though I might not be able to do this with everyone in the time we have, I hope to be with as many of you as possible. 
While I will no longer be around after July 4th, it is my hope that in a year we can run into one another again at synod events and in shared ministry. Until then, let’s make the most of the time we have together. 
 
In gratitude, love, and the peace of Christ, 

It didn’t seem like a dangerous activity, but in the age of the pandemic, it could be one
of the most high-risk things to do. ​Seeing a choir perform in a group was a normal
activity over a year ago. And now, even with the easing of restrictions and being able to
gather in our sanctuary for worship, our CGS choirs will have to continue to rely on
technology to create music.
You kind of take it for granted after doing it week after week for over 13 years, but
when it gets taken away, you really, really notice the difference. I had to learn and
hone new technological skills and work hard to make it as consistent as possible for our
singers. Visiting choir members’ homes and hosting recording sessions in our own home
is now a routine to keep our choral ministry going and be part of our weekly worship.
The sound of our voices going though speakers is different than hearing it live, so to get
our choirs to sound like themselves using technology presents a different set of
challenges.
Yet through these, I have beautiful things that I am able to take. Most notably, the
deeper relationships I now have with choir members. Spending one on one times and
talking about personal matters that affect our lives give us deeper understanding,
appreciation, and connection with each other. We share light conversations, lots of
laughs, and also heavy, serious talks, all of which help us build stronger connections.
And as we plan to resume live rehearsals and worship singing in September, I’m looking
forward to how our pandemic experiences will help us make even better music
together. Being able to sing together again in a room will be nothing else like the past
years, and I feel like it’s going to be a powerful experience to some, if not all of us.
I can safely speak for our choir singers that not even a pandemic can keep us from
singing.

​One of the things that makes Rebecca and me such good teammates is our approach to planning. Namely, Rebecca plans, and I don’t; but, having spent my entire career in the non-profit arts, I’ve become very good at adapting to change, often unexpected change. I roll with the punches; I’m malleable.

When we needed to switch to worshipping from home, I shrugged my shoulders and said “OK, how do we make it work?” While I knew I would miss being in the church, honoring my faith and making music in person with friends, I focused on the technological and logistical hurdles of bringing music to the CGS community through a screen. Our faith could be shared through cables and WiFi. Soon, it felt natural, if a little isolated.

So as we were preparing for this past Sunday, I approached it in much the same manner - focus on the process, worry about the details - without much thought as to how I would feel. There were so many more moving parts to think about - microphones, camera angles - actual non-family PEOPLE in the same room as me! We gathered to talk through the service, and suddenly it was 9:58 and I needed to play the prelude, and suddenly there was a hymn, and a sermon, and announcements, and communion, and suddenly it was over.

But there were moments when I could look up, not having to play, not having to mute or un-mute microphones - and I found myself awash in love and gratitude, sharing a sacred space with others. I saw that same love and gratitude in the faces of those who were there, and I imagined the faces of those who would soon also be able to join us. I stopped thinking about logistics and process, and allowed God’s blessings to overtake me.

To be sure, there were bumps and issues to work out, and I’m grateful to all of you for your patience and understanding. But this week’s service was a reminder that we are a community - a community who will soon be able to again share God’s love and peace with one another, face to (masked, for now) face. Change for the better!

2 Corinthians 9.

Do you know the Altar Guild? 
The Altar Guild is the name we give to the group of people who work between Sundays and behind the scenes to make our worship happen. 

While we’ve been worshipping from home each of us has been responsible for our own Eucharist elements, paraments, furnishings, and space. 

As we prepare to gather in the sanctuary for worship - TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!! - one of the blessings of community will be that we can share in these roles and serve one another. 
We all know the relief of sometimes resting and being served. And many of us know the joy of contributing and being the one who serves others for a spell. 

This is actually what makes worship so beautiful. Just like the harmony of group singing compares to singing at home, alone, our worship together in the sanctuary can include a chorus of contributions that create something beyond each one of us. 

Most of the help that volunteers do in these roles can be done on your own time, during the week. Most of these things can be done by one person. It’s also a good opportunity for parents to involve children in worship practices, for CGS folk to invite friends to a low-pressure introduction to church, or couples to have a shared spiritual practice. You can volunteer one time, or on a regular basis for one or more roles. 

If this is something you’d be interested in doing, even for the first time, I encourage you to come by the church building on Saturday, May 22nd at 10am. 

If you’re unable to make it to the training session, I encourage you to reach out to Janet to sign up or get one-on-one instructions. Please fill out the form below and indicate what Altar Guild roles you would be interested in. 
​

- Pastor Manda

Why is it that we so often prioritize our bodies needs over our soul’s needs?
We are constantly being told how to care for your physical health. Our bodies need a steady and constant intake of food and water in order to function and be healthy. We need regular exercise to keep all parts active and moving and to care for our mental health. We need a regular amount of hours of sleep in order to allow our bodies and mind to function properly. These are all things we are explicitly and implicitly taught as we develop. There are countless studies and articles on how to achieve maximum physical health that are centered around food, exercise, and sleep.

As Christians we discuss at length how to care for our spiritual selves. We are given a wide variety of ways to worship, pray, and serve. We know how to seek relationship with God and with one another.

Taking care of our physical and spiritual selves is incredibly important. However, how often do we stop to think about how we feed our soul? Why is it that when doing life, time to feed the soul is the first thing to be crossed of a list of things to do in a day? We prioritize our physical and spiritual health, but what about our soul’s health?

I suppose that begs the question of “How do we care for our soul?” I’ve been reflecting on this quite a lot in the past year and I do not have all the answers. Or even any answers really. Not any that are able to be generalized and applicable to the masses. The only answers I have to those questions are directly related to my soul. Which makes sense.

Every soul is woven so specifically and intricately by God.  Everyone is 100% unrepeatable. Just as God intended. So how can the answer to feeding the soul be repeatable. In a Venn Diagram of two individuals there might be some crossover of “foods” for their soul but my guess would be only 25% would be put in the middle. It is important to also note that many things we do to care for our physical, mental, and spiritual self also feeds our soul. If that is the case, then we simply need to be intentional in those tasks and acknowledge our soul. But, we should still stop and think about what our souls need in a specific and detailed way.

So Church here is my challenge to you. Over the next few days or weeks or however long it takes you, answer the following questions: How do you feed your soul? How often do you feed your soul? How often do you prioritize other tasks over feeding your soul? What does your soul crave?

Once you have your answer, make a commitment to yourself: “I will dedicate x amount of time to feeding my soul per day. If I ever need to cross something off my list of things to do it will not be my soul time.”
​
Good luck!

PS. If you haven't watched Pixar's Soul yet, do it! 

On May 2nd our congregation had one of our annual meetings. The primary business of this meeting was to elect new leaders for our community. However, our council also took this opportunity to provide a financial update and propose a capital expenditure. 

As part of their commission to lead us in good stewardship of God’s gifts, the finance committee of CGS took a look at what God has given us and made a plan for the stewardship of these gifts in our common mission. 

The committee presented this plan to council in January of 2021 and the council affirmed the plan for CGS in the coming year. 

The council has been working with the finance committee and property committee to assess the most urgent or necessary project that are needed to create a campus that can serve our congregation and community. Much to no one’s surprise, they identified the need to replace the plumbing in the kitchen and restrooms. 

The age of the building, the construction of this area of the property, and the lack of architectural drawings or records of these facilities has presented the first hurdles of the project. Therefore the council (in consultation with the committees) proposed a contract with an architect to provide the necessary design that must precede construction planning and pricing. 

Our congregation voted to contract with the architect for $36,972. These plans will include all the necessary elements for future projects and will finally fill in the gap of information that has been missing from CGS for so many years. 

The council is immensely grateful for the vision of our finance team in this stewardship plan. As we discussed in the initial presentation, God gives us the gifts for proclaiming, welcoming, and serving if we only have the courage to step out and use them. This year, as we emerge from a period of pandemic-induced rest, we are alight with the Spirit’s fire for how God will make new life through us. 

We are also grateful for the recommendations of builders, the feedback on necessary repairs and improvements, the diligent and relentless work of the property committee and volunteers, and the leadership of Skye thus far. Without their commitment and care, these mountains wouldn’t move. 

If you have a desire to get more involved with the stewardship of our resources, including but not limited to our offerings, tithes, and property, please reach out to any member of council or staff who have the ability to connect you with people who are looking for partners in this ministry.