Community News for August 22, 2008

Many thanks to Judd Ingram, who took our fire extinguishers for their annual check-up.

Praise to Karl Vidt, who gave a presentation on Reiki at the DeFrank Center.  Kudos also to Nancy and Judd Ingram, Phyllis Gallagher, Sue Orr, and Shannon Robinson from our Reiki ministry who attended the presentation and helped give Reiki treatments to the attendees. 

Congratulations to our choir for reorganizing and cleaning out our choir books.  The new choir books feature the MCC San Jose logo on the front cover and the MCC denominational logo on the back. To the left, you’ll see a photo of some members of the choir with the new choir books.  

Many thanks to James Briones and Rev. Mike, who attended a Ritual of Healing and Hope at the First Unitarian Church of San Jose after the tragic church shooting at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Knoxville, Tennessee. Both James and Rev. Mike spoke as part of the service and they also sang “Hashivenu,” a Hebrew lament, as a duet during the service.

Praise to Reiki ministers Judd, Dal, and Rev. Mike, who volunteered to give Reiki treatments at the Center for Living with Dying’s most recent Rejuvenation Retreat.

Many Thanks to Rusty and Eric Tooly who donated a media tower to the church.  The media tower serves as a much better platform for our worship slide projector – not only is it more attractive, but it keeps the projector from shining in the eyes of our choir folk.

Kudos to Rev. Mike, who spoke to a class at Santa Clara University about the lives, spirituality, and experiences of LGBT people.

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. Mike in HIV Testing Video (and Other Community News)

Rev. Mike is one of the local personalities featured in the AIDS Coalition of Silicon Valley’s short new video “Easy Fast and Free.”  This video is part of the AIDS Coalition’s efforts to promote HIV Testing.  Click below to see this one-minute video featuring Rev. Mike, Ken Yeager, Ronnie Grigsby, Nori Herras and others.

Rev. Vicky’s wedding made the Bay Area Reporter’s Wedding Announcements page, complete with a photo of Vicky and Cynthia at their ceremony.   Here’s a link to the B.A.R.’s coverage.

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

March with MCCSF in the SF Pride Parade – June 29

MCC San Jose will be having Sunday services in our usual location at our usual 10:30am time this Sunday.  However, if you are going to be in San Francisco for Pride, MCC San Francisco invites you to march in their parade contingent.  They will be meeting at 10:30am, and and having a short service with communion at 11:00am. 

Read more »

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.