Second Hour Sundays
Join us after worship on the following Sundays for discussions and topics to engage your heart, mind and soul.
March 3
This Is Our Story, This Is OUR Song
Rev. Jim Mitulski • Churches continue to debate whether LGBT people should be allowed in the pulpit, and even in the pews, but gay people have always been present in the hymn books! Join us for an hour of song and lecture about queer hymnody—the writers, poets, composers, musicians who have enriched our worship, some of whom have been open about their identity, and some of whom have not been able to tell who they really are. Rev. Jim Mitulski, Major Gifts Officer for the Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies, and interim pastor of Island United Church in Foster City, is a lifetime member of the Hymns Society of the United States and Canada, and has published about this topic. https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/jim-mitulski
March 10
One Love
CCSM Senior Higher Melia Zimmerman • Melia is a volunteer for One Love, an organization seeking to educate young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships and galvanizing them as leaders of change. Join Melia on March 10 as she presents short videos about healthy relationships and leads a discussion on the ten warning signs of unhealthy relationships and what we can do to stop them from escalating. This is a family-friendly workshop, recommended for families with kids ages 11+. While the focus is on romantic relationships, the content is applicable to every kind of relationship.
One Love was created by the family of a girl named Yeardly Love who was killed by her ex-boyfriend. Her family realized that her death was avoidable if anyone in her life had understood the unhealthy and increasingly dangerous relationship behaviors they were seeing.
March 17
Progressive Christians Read the Bible: Part 2
Jorge Perry Bautista • Any time you take something out of context—a word, an event, a person—you misunderstand it. Part of progressive Christianity is to understand the historical Jesus; therefore we have to situate him in his own world, the world of first-century Palestinian Judaism. In this session we will consider Jesus’ context by giving a brief outline of the political history that had shaped Palestinian life. Then we will consider a range of responses that Jews in Palestine had to their domination by the Romans, including various kinds of silent protests and non-violent and violent forms of resistance.
March 24
Progressive Christians Read the Bible: Part 3
Penny Nixon • This session will look at the Gospels as Memory, Metaphor and Method. As progressive Christians, we do not take the Bible literally. So how do we read them? What role does historicity play in our contemporary interpretation? We will practice with a hands-on “bible study” incorporating the scholarship presented.
March 31
Council of Ministries
Everyone, whether a Newcomer or a “seasoned” member of our community, is encouraged to attend the Council gatherings, which are inspirational as well as practical, as we engage in fellowship, visioning, planning, and caring for one another.
As a preface to the Council meeting, during Coffee Hour on March 31 we will offer a Ministry Fair in Kloss Hall. Each Ministry will have a “booth” so that those who wish to find exciting ways to plug into the CCSM community according to their passion can learn more about the purpose and activities of our 12 areas of service: Children, Youth, and Families; Music; Social Justice; Congregational Care; Fellowship; Member Engagement; Liturgical Arts; Spiritual Life; Stewardship; Building and Grounds; Latino; Communications.
Following the Ministry Fair, we invite everyone to share lunch, generate ideas for fun summer worship programming, and look at ways the Ministries can identify and prioritize individual and collective projects. RSVP to mboyd@ccsm-ucc.org or sign up in the office for lunch reservations.
Clergy and staff look forward to connecting with you through the Council, an important and vibrant element of our new structure!