Karl Vidt to Teach about Reiki at the DeFrank Center

Karl Vidt will be leading the DeFrank Center’s “Soul Support” session on July 28, 2008.  He’ll be teaching an introduction to Reiki and giving participants a chance to experience a Reiki treatment.  Please join us from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at 938 the Alameda in San Jose to support Karl and encourage those who would like to learn about Reiki. 

For more information, please click the following link to see a flyer. 

Community News for July 18, 2008

Congratulations to Larry Zellers who is opening Boomerang Hair Studio, located at 303 Grand Avenue, Suite #2 in Pacific Grove.  The Grand Opening Celebrations will take place on Saturday, July 26th from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and on Sunday, July 27th from Noon to 5:00 p.m., and will feature “A Weekend of Champagne and Orchids.” Everyone is welcome.  For more information about Boomerang Hair Studios, please click the following link to see Larry’s website.

Rev. Carol Lowe will be returning to San Jose this week as she takes a brief vacation from her work with MCC of Corpus Christi.  She invites us to join her for dinner at 6:00pm on Sunday, July 20. 

Praise to Erico, John H, Joe, Michael I, Rev. Mike, Nancy, Judd, Dick, Sherry, Kevin and everyone who has been continuing helping Sky and his family as Sky recovers from his surgery.  Sky is now home from the hospital, and will be taking things very easy for the next few weeks as he regains his strength. 

Do you know someone who deserves kudos, congratulations or praise?  Please send us suggestions at news@mccsj.org.  Watch this space next week for more MCCSJ news.

How hot was it in San Jose? It was this hot!

How hot was it in San Jose?  The photo to the left gives you some idea!

Congratulations to Michael Ingrassia, whose generative art was used on the cover of a recently-published economics textbook.  Here’s a link to a web page about the book, including a photograph of Michael’s art on the cover.  If you’re interested in learning more about Michael’s art, you can visit his Flickr page to see more images of his work.

Praise to Erico, John H, Joe, Michael I, Rev. Mike, Nancy, Judd, Dick, Sherry, Kevin and everyone who has been helping Sky and his family as Sky recovers from his surgery.  

Kudos to Ruth Huber, who will be traveling to Florida this week with the Rainbow Women’s Chorus to participate in the GALA Chorus Convention.  Click here for more information about the GALA Convention. 

Do you know someone who deserves kudos, congratulations or praise?  Please send us suggestions at news@mccsj.org. 

Rev. Vicky gets Married (and Other Community News)

Kudos to Rev. Mike, who co-led a workshop on June 13 about “How to Talk about the Freedom to Marry.”  About 30 people from a variety of faith communities attended, including Erico, Rev. Sky, and Michael I. from MCC San Jose.

Praise to the MCC San Jose choir, who sang at the annual Celebration in Spirit worship service in San Jose on Saturday, June 14.  Kudos also to Ruth Huber who was the music director for the service and also to Rev. Mike, who led a “blessing of relationships” as part of the service.

Many thanks to everyone who worked our Pride Booth this year, including Karl, Nancy, Judd, Paul, James, Erico, Rev. Mike, Rev. Sky, and probably some other great volunteers too!

Praise also to all of the MCC Folk who marched in this year’s pride parade.  This year’s contingent included Rev. Mike, Rev. Sky, Paul, Lannie, Misha, Rosalea, Kevin, Erico, Michael I., Judd, Nancy, Dal, Joe, John H., and James B.  

Kudos also to everyone who participated in the Sunday worship service that we did in cooperation with the First Congregational Church of Campbell at the Pride Festival.  To the left you’ll see photos of Rev. Mike serving communion and Rev. Sky praying with people at the service.

Congratulations to Rev. Vicky Kolakowski and her partner, Cynthia Laird, who were married on Monday evening, June 16, in Oakland.  Oakland Mayer Ron Dellums presided over the ceremony, and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee served as the witness. 

Kudos to Rev. Mike, who was quoted in Wednesday’s San Jose Mercury News.  Click here to see the article. 

Finally, congratulations to Rev. Mike who has been named to the Honorary Board for the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band’s 30th Anniversary Concert, which will be held in San Francisco at 8:00pm on June 26 and 27 at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco.  For more details, please visit the band’s website. 

Do you know someone who deserves kudos, congratulations or praise?  Please send us suggestions at news@mccsj.org.

Presbyterian Revival for LGBT Rights – June 24, 2008

At 8:00pm on Tuesday, June 24, there will be an outdoor revival service at the Presbyterian General Assembly in San Jose.  The revival is being coordinated by “That All May Freely Serve,” a Presbyterian group which works for LGBT rights.  The service will be held on the Parkside Walkway in San Jose, across San Carlos from the McEnery Convention Center. 

MCCSJ Supports MCC Youth Outreach to the Domincan Republic

On Sunday, June 8, Brionna Acker from MCC of Redwood Empire in Guerneville came and spoke to us about a mission project that youth from throughout MCC are doing to provide help to people in the Dominican Republic. To the left you’ll see a photo of Brionna with members of our congregation. You can click the photo for a larger view.

Our congregation took up a special collection to support this project. Even if you missed our June 8 service, you can still donate. Please click the following link to make a donation via our website. You can also bring a contribution to church anytime before the end of June.

If you’d like to follow the progress of the youth as they do their important work, here’s a link to the project’s blog.

MCC San Jose and the Fight for Equal Marriage Rights

MCC was very active in the legal proceedings that led to the May 15, 2008 California State Supreme Court decision on equal marriage rights for all couples! Here are some of the ways that we’ve been involved:

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