Old business

We discussed the articles that are needed for the March newsletter. T’Shala will write an article about “An Inconvenient Truth” that will include specifics about the evening of March 25th. Mary Ellen will write an article about the school project in Kenya, Africa. Jackie will write an article for the April newsletter about the Crop Walk that will be on April 29th.

The mission board is responsible for coffee hour in March and April. The members volunteered for the following dates.

March 4-Joan and Harold

March 11-Mary Ellen and Jackie

March 25-T’Shala and Nancy Jo

April 1- Anne and Mary Ellen

April 22-Joan and Anne

April 29-T’Shala and Jackie

The planning for showing “An Inconvenient Truth” on March 25th is very exciting.Mary Ellen will put up posters. The mission board will arrive for set-up at 4:30PM. People are encouraged to arrive at the finger food potluck at 5PM. We will show the video from 5:30PM-7PM. Then Jackie will lead the discussion after the showing. Stephen suggested that we discuss what we as individuals can do to help slow down climate change. We then thought up ways to involve the whole community. Stephen will speak about the video in church every Sunday. Nancy Jo will put a sign up at the Summit Store. We encouraged everyone to bring their friends and involve the greater mountain community. .T’Shala added that she had attended a meeting to create “Green Congregations” that would be stewards of the environment.

Another momentous event for us will be Earthday Sunday, April 22. Stephen spoke with John Haak of Mt. Bible church and Father Eugene of Christ Child Church to involve them in planning an ecumenical event with the other mountain churches to commemorate Earthday. Each minister, as well as a layperson from each church, will coordinate this event.Stephen and Nancy Jo will be the representatives from our church. Skyland church will have its regular worship service at 10:30AM with perhaps a speaker, Deborah Streeter, the coordinator of Living Oceans Iniative. Then all the mountain church congregations will gather at one of the churches on Summit Road for a potluck lunch. Then we will all conduct a clean up along Summit Road. Nancy Jo suggested that we invite other people also not just members of our church. T’shala will invite all the other UCC churches in the area to attend. We are looking for our orange safety vests…

Jackie reported on Bread for the World. She has looked on various websites and was encouraged to see that there was more information on the farm bill, which is modified every five years. It includes provisions for food stamps, nutrition programs and small farmers. The vote will not come up until September, which is later than usual. There was some discussion about perhaps having our letter writing campaign and Bread for the World in June.

We discussed the Crop Walk on April 29th. Stephen explained that the Crop Walk was a fundraiser for Church World Service, who also sponsors Blanket Sunday. It is an ecumenical organization dedicated to providing money for disaster relief as well as hunger relief by supporting Second Harvest. The Walk takes place in the Rose Garden section of San Jose and you can walk either a 1 or 5-mile loop. Nancy Jo and Jackie will download posters to advertise the walk. In the past Skyland church sponsors have pledged $500-$600. Our community is very generous.

We will also try to get articles about Earthday Clean-up on April 22 and the Crop Walk on April 29 into the April issue of the Mountain Network News.

New Business

Jackie discussed the membership survey regarding priorities for Mission Funds. She thought that if we put the survey in the bulletin for a month we would get a good response. We discussed a number of different months when we could do that. Stephen thought the month of June. Joan offered that October is really when we begin to discuss the allocation of the race monies. Jackie will search for the previous survey and perhaps rewrite one. We will discuss at a later time when we will distribute the survey and get responses.

Stephen will write a newsletter article about One Great Hour of Sharing (4/8) and co-author with Nancy Jo a newsletter article about Earthday (4/29) for the April newsletter. Jackie will write a newsletter article about Bread for the World for the May newsletter.

Then Mary Ellen gave an update on the Kenya school project and water project as well as Jinn Easterday’s involvement. The water system will be started in March after the funds were raised and with the help of the Kenyan government. Three tribes share the water and there has been territorial controversy over the water. The government recognizes the benefit of the tribal cooperation necessary in order for this project to go forward. The school also will be a cooperative venture among the tribes. Jinn visited a child she sponsors in Kenya and learned about the lack of water and has used her initiative and drive to raise funds for not only a water system but also a school. Keep up the great work Jinn.

Nancy Jo reported on the most recent Council Meeting and the creation of a Vision Committee. This committee will envision the direction that the church will take in the next years and report back to the council. Stephen highly recommended that Joan be the representative from the Missions Board. Her perspective is so unique due to her longevity at Skyland Church and her fine work on the Missions Board. Joan agreed to serve on the Vision committee. Nancy Jo also reported on Jackie’s great recommendation about mentoring for the Board Chair as well as templates for Board reports.

Jackie spoke to us about the Cool Cities Project, which is a Sierra Club sponsored task force that evaluates emissions and energy use in various locations. Jackie will bring a petition addressed to the mayor of Los Gatos in support of the importance of listening to the Cool Cities task force and its recommendations.

Joan reported on the India Student Fund, Anandon and Pradhu. Anandon is better off at his new job. He does say that our contribution is essential for Pradhu to continue his studies. Otherwise Pradhu must work hard in the fields after school and earns only $1 a day.

Joan invited us to her house for our next meeting on March 27th at 7:30PM.

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