The Blessing of Tithing

a reflection by Karl J. Vidt

Each week as I place my offering in the plate at MCC San Jose, I feel the blessing of God wash over me.  The blessing is substanStial.  I experience God’s blessing in many experiences in my life.  This one has a particular history in its making.

 In 1985, a year after I became a member of MCC San Jose, I accepted an invitation to join its Board of Directors.  In doing so I was surprised to learn that it takes a bit of money to keep a church running and for the most part, the only place that money comes from are the people that attend the church.  Up until that point, I had dropped the occasional $20.00 bill in the offering plate and felt good about doing so.  I realized that I cared a great deal for MCC San Jose and wanted to support it in a more substantial way. 

I decided to look into the practice of tithing.  To me that meant giving to the church 10% of what I made.  I calculated the amount and was astounded at how much it appeared to be. Read more »

The Storm is Passing Over

Please click below to watch “The Storm is Passing Over,” a sermon from Rev. Sky Anderson in which he talks about his experiences with the LGBT movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and relates his story to the experiences of young LGBT people today.

If you’d like to comment on or rate this video, please click on the following link to go to the video on YouTube.

MCC San Jose is now meeting at S Tenth & E San Fernando!

MCC San Jose meets at:
Grace Baptist Church
484 East San Fernando Street

Sunday Evening Service at 6:00pm

(408) 279-2711

Need directions? Please click the following link for information about how to get to our new location.

What’s next for Rev. Mike?

Here’s a short piece that Rev. Mike wrote with answers to some of the common questions that he’s received about the transition:

A lot of my friends have been wondering what’s next for me after I leave MCC San Jose.

In terms of work, I’m thinking that I would like to go back into software design and implementation for a while. That was a fun career, and it exercised a part of my brain that I haven’t gotten to use a lot while working as a senior pastor. I will probably take a month or two before I begin my job search in earnest. I’ve been out of circulation for a while, and I would like to take a little time to play with some of the new development tools before I really start looking.

In terms of church, I’m planning to be a church tourist for a while before I settle at another faith community. As a pastor, one doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to visit other houses of worship to see what they do, and I’m looking forward to a period of exploring before I settle down again. I will be maintaining my MCC affiliation, and I also look forward to spending some time with other faith communities both inside and outside of Christianity. I don’t plan to take another senior pastor position for a while, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself back in a full-time ministry role at some point in the future.

In terms of MCC San Jose, our denomination’s guidance is very clear. Once a senior pastor leaves a church, he or she is not supposed to return for at least a year. While I will be sad to leave the wonderful community that is MCC San Jose, I recognize the wisdom of our denomination’s policies and I will abide by them.

In terms of the council of churches, I will be continuing to serve as the president of the Council of Churches of Santa Clara County until my term of office expires in June.

In terms of geographic location, I am planning to remain in San Jose.

Overall, I don’t have a lot of specific answers about what’s next, but I have a very strong sense that I am on the right path, and I’m doing what God is calling me to do.