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.

During Celebration on Sunday, May 20th, the MPC Church Choir will take part in a performance of Josef Haydn’s Creation (Part One).  They will be joined by Rita Lilly (soprano), Brian Thorsett (tenor), Robby Stafford (bass) and the Montclair Chamber Orchestra.  Please join us for what is sure to be a stirring performance of an inspiring, dramatic work.

The Annual Pasta Dinner Youth Mission Trip FUNDRAISER will be on Sunday, April 29 from 5:30-7:00pm. This is an excellent event to invite family and friends who might be interested in learning more about our youth ministry program, to hear about the mission trip destination in greater detail (there will be a presentation from 6-6:30), or simply dining in fellowship with good neighbors and happy youth servers.

“One Great Hour of Sharing” is the special offering of the PCUSA which will be collected at our church on Palm Sunday (April 1st) and Easter (April 8th). It brings hope to people in more than eighty countries, including our own. The PCUSA works with international partners to provide sources of clean water and food, small business micro-loans, emergency relief, and advocacy and resettlement for refugees. The offering also supports ministries for disaster preparedness and response.

Taizé prayer, a form of meditation that is relatively new to MPC but draws on rich years of tradition elsewhere, now takes place monthly. Our next service is Wednesday, March 21st at 7 PM.
In words attributed to St. Francis de Sales, “half an hour’s meditation daily is essential, except when one is very busy. Then a full hour is necessary.” Join us for some spiritual refreshment.

BOLIVIA DELEGATION TO DEPART SOON: Jay Gregory, Jean Norris, and Brad Hestir, our 2012 delegation to Bolivia will be departing in the wee hours of February 21 to meet with our partners in several Bolivian cities. They will be consulting with community leaders, and perhaps government officials concerning issues affecting poverty, health and hunger such as global warming, environmental pollution from mining, just trade, and land grabs.

This Sunday, January 29, family and friends of Serin Eggling and daughter Vanessa Hammack will gather to celebrate Serin‘s life. The Celebration will be in the Sanctuary at 2:00 PM followed by a reception in the Family Room. All are invited.

Mark your calendars: on Wednesday, April 4th, author Anne Lamott will be coming to MPC to talk about her new book: Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son. The book is a follow-up to Operating Instructions, a journal of her son’s early years.