INTERGENERATIONAL STORYTELLING GAMES AND DINNER with professional storyteller Muriel Johnson this Sunday, October 14, 4-6 p.m. We’ll open with some mixers and then Muriel will tell us a story about a childhood experience with a bully, and share what she learned by developing the story.

EXPERIENCE LIFE’S SEASONS: From baseball to camel races to wild & woolly bus trips to Mexico in this year’s Works in Progress program. Join us THIS SUNDAY, September 30, at 1:30 pm in the Thornhill Room.

Ancient stories, modern anthropology, and brunch! The book of Genesis could be a modern novel or soap opera. It is almost unmatched in terms of family drama. There are brothers who kill brothers, mothers who would like to kill their husbands’ other wives … and, of course, the Creation stories, the Flood story and the Famine.

On Tuesday, September 18th at 7pm, author and journalist Douglas Foster will be coming to MPC to talk about his new book: After Mandela: The Struggle for Freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa. The book, the result of five years’ work in South Africa, is an analysis of Mandela’s impact on the region and of what his passing may mean for the entire continent. The presentation will include recordings of interviews of South Africans, a time for Q&A, and the opportunity to buy an autographed copy of the book.

Kick-off Sunday is September 9th. Godly Play for children will resume.

Stay up with the “happenings” of the MPC Youth Mission Trip. Rev. Katie is doing a beautiful job of including us in their trip as she is blogging each day to give us updates.

We are excited to offer a new children’s program this summer based on Praying in Color, a book by Sybil MacBeth, published in 2009.

We will honor those in our church community who are graduating or being promoted from one school to another. We will honor those who are transitioning from 5th grade to Middle School, those who are transitioning from 8th grade to high school, those who are transitioning from high school to college and those who are receiving a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

FROM THE MISSION STUDY TEAM: Don’t miss our FINAL Congregational Gathering, Sunday, June 3, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Bring your own lunch. Again, we will provide fruit, granola bars, and beverages. The Team will share some of the learnings and questions for further consideration culled from previous congregational gatherings, our survey, and research from our task subgroups.

The Oakland East Bay Gay Men’s Chorus will help us celebrate Pentecost this Sunday, May 27th at 10:00 am!  Wear red, orange or yellow or all of them together.