Please join us Sunday as we welcome the Rev. Roberto Ochoa from the national offices of the United Church of Christ as our preacher. Roberto has many responsibilities as a national officer, including shepherding Congregations of Color in the UCC. I have known him for many years, and he is the consummate pastor. I know his presence will be a blessing for us as he preaches on John 12:20-33.

Please keep Asian and Asian-American members of our communities in your prayers during a time of increased and documented violence. I know we are especially horrified by what has happened in Atlanta, which we are still learning about as I write this. Nine of us are reading Know My Name by Chanel Miller right now, which describes her experience of sexual violence as an Asian-American woman in this area. This is a time for solidarity. Here is one statement by communities most immediately affected in Atlanta. Stay tuned for further responses as we learn more. In the meantime, please pray and reach out to the Asian and Asian-American people in your life and in our community to say, “We notice, we care.”

Hope to see you Sunday.
Rev. Jim Mitulski

This week’s gospel lesson (John 3:14-21) is about the Love that is at the heart of Lent. It contains the verse that is sometimes famously quoted: “For God so loved the world….” The lesson follows the story of Nicodemus and Jesus’s teaching on spiritual rebirth, but it isn’t really attached to it or any particular story. It can be applied to all of our stories. The whole Lenten journey is one of sacrificial love on the part of Jesus. In our lives we engage in and often benefit from this love toward and from others. And we all experience God’s unconditional love.

Join us as we look at Love in the context of Lent, anticipating what we will testify to on Easter when we sing “Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!” in our most famous Easter hymn.

On the Lenten journey together,
Rev. Jim Mitulski

P.S. Have you signed up for this Tuesday’s Passover Seder yet? Do so today! Remember to register for both our special social time with Peninsula Temple Beth El AND for the main Seder; there are two separate registration links.

ALSO – Urgent:
I need someone to meet Ken from PTBE at church – preferably tomorrow (Friday) – to put our Passover bags indoors. We have to figure out how to get them to you before Tuesday. Maybe they can be left outdoors by the office door and we can deliver some. Because of the registration process, I don’t know who signed up.

Let me know if you can help with this ASAP at revmitulski@gmail or text/call me at 323-578-4454.

I know there has been a lot of notice in the news about the changing levels of quarantine and safety surrounding Covid-19, especially as people are beginning to get vaccinated. Thankfully, a number of people in our own congregation have been vaccinated.

It has been almost a year exactly since we moved to Zoom community while continuing to maintain the fabric of our community both on Sundays and on weekdays. Thank you for your faithfulness in participation and financial support. It has and will make a difference as we begin to enter what I am calling re-entry or maybe more properly re-emergence over the next 6 months. Your presence is especially vital in this phase about which I’ll be saying more in the weeks to come. For now, we are not resuming in-person worship, even if our friends at neighboring churches do so. Plan on a fully scheduled week of liturgical celebrations for Palm Sunday, Maundy/Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and of course Easter, all via Zoom.

I hope you will register NOW for the upcoming Freedom Seder and for this special social/reception/breakout time in advance with our friends from Peninsula Temple Beth El. We need to have a head count in advance because they are preparing special “Seder bags” for us that you will be able to pick up at church or that we will get to you in advance. We plan to welcome in true Island “United” fashion some of the Sisters from the Mercy Center (mercy-center.org) as part of our group that night. You are also welcome to bring friends and family members. It is a great way to prepare spiritually for the events of Holy Week.

We welcome a truly talented preacher this Sunday, Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw, one of the best students I ever worked with and now pastor of his own church for 10 years in Tampa, Florida. Hope to see you in Zoom church this week.

Faithfully,
Rev. Jim Mitulski

P.S. At this past week’s meeting of the Peninsula Multifaith Coalition, Rabbi Corey from Foster City’s own temple – Peninsula Sinai Congregation – did an “introduction to what a Seder is in 15 minutes.” Here’s a link to the engaging presentation. He’s an amazing teacher, which really comes through in this. He also recommended this resource article if you want to read about what is a Passover Seder: Passover 2021 – My Jewish Learning

This week we conclude our celebration of Black History/Black Futures Month. I was proud to be able to represent the church along with Alexis Lewis at the County Board of Supervisors meeting this week to make a presentation on Black History Month for the over 100 people who were present via Zoom, along with other members of the NAACP, and to be able to say that we observe as sacred the time they were recognizing with the proclamation (see pictures below). I was able to remind them that some states still choose to honor Confederate Memorial Day in place of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

My sermon will take us deeper into Lent as we look at Mark 8:31-38. You still have time to join us in our weekly Lenten Prayer Group on Tuesdays from 6 to 6:45 pm. Though small, our group prayed powerfully together this past week about what kind of resurrection we are looking for on Easter.

You can also join our current Tuesday book discussion if you read chapters 1-5 of Know My Name by Chanel Miller for next week. For our first session there were ten of us from all over the country (including two from Texas!). One of the members shared this video by the author describing an art exhibition she did at the Asian Art Museum:  https://exhibitions.asianart.org/exhibitions/chanel-miller-i-was-i-am-i-will-be/

Spirit is moving at Island United Church. Be sure to be part of it! Hope to see you in Zoom church this week.

Rev. Jim Mitulski

This is an early “Mardi Gras” edition of the eweekly to remind you of our Ash Wednesday service tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17, at 7 pm. We are coming together with 5 churches to have an experience we wouldn’t have had in our individual groups. Lent is better together!

I’m also doing a special Lenten prayer group on Tuesdays at 6 to 6:45 pm, starting February 23. A time to check in and a time for prayer, focusing on our prayer lives and these questions: What resurrections are you preparing for? What new life do you seek? This is especially for people who are using the daily Lent of Liberation prayer booklets. I mailed them directly to people who requested them, and Amazon promised a Thursday delivery to you. I also ordered some directly to my house, which I will bring to church. Please let me know if you want one.

Let’s begin this Lenten journey together tomorrow night. Just as joy comes in the morning, so Easter (and the promise of a new beginning) is right around the corner. Let’s prepare as a community! Enjoy a treat today (pancakes? I’m doing keto waffles with sugar-free syrup) on this last day before Lent begins.

Happy Mardi Gras!
Rev. Jim Mitulski

We continue this week with our observance of Black History Month. We have a guest preacher from Alameda, Amos White, and more special music history from Rev. Dr. D. Mark Wilson.

We also want to celebrate with all our friends who observe Chinese New Year. Our world is so diverse, a reminder to us of the infinite creativity of the God in whose image we are all created. Join with us this Sunday, and plan to be with us on Ash Wednesday as Lent begins.

Take care,
Rev. Jim Mitulski

This week begins Black History Month, and in a few more weeks the Season of Lent begins, with our theme Lent of Liberation. Listen to this short poem by acclaimed American poet Nikki Giovanni for why we observe African American History Month in church, as well as throughout the year  If you are interested in receiving ashes mailed to you, or our 40-day devotional Lent for Liberation, please let me know by February 10. Be sure I have your address ([email protected]).

Both of these seasons offer us an opportunity for personal spiritual growth. I want to urge you to consider: Next month we’ll observe a year of living with the coronavirus, a year since we began meeting only on Zoom. It’s not too early to start preparing for Easter. This is your personal invitation to attend church on Ash Wednesday, February 17, at 7 pm and every Sunday in Lent beginning February 21. Go for 6 weeks in a row! Let that discipline lead to a deeper experience of Easter on April 4. Growing spiritually is something we can do together. Let’s covenant to show up for ourselves and each other during this sacred season.

Hope to see you Sunday.
Rev. Jim Mitulski

P.S. I’ve been waiting with great anticipation for the debut on our local PBS stations of the two-part series The Black Church, put together by Dr. Henry Louis Gates. Gates was one of my favorite professors when I had him for a seminar on the Harlem Renaissance, and I know you will see why when you watch this series. Bishop Yvette Flunder is from our neighboring congregation in Oakland www.cityofrefugeucc.org. Here is a link to a trailer about the series https://www.pbs.org/video/trailer-ectdli/, and here is the website for the series, which will air on February 16 and 17: https://www.pbs.org/weta/black-church/.

Join us this week as we continue our exploration of stories from the Gospel of Mark. This week the reading group began a new book, The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (you can still join us), and we started out with a background on how the New Testament writings were collected. Mark is the shortest, the simplest, the earliest, and the most direct of the gospel accounts. One early church theologian called it “the memories of the apostles.” This first chapter tells us why and how people were attracted to Jesus and the movement around him. A healing story (Mark 1:21-28) is one of the reasons.

Healing takes many forms. Come with your needs for healing and with your gifts to be a healer. Sometimes speaking a truth can bring a much needed healing. We’ll also hear a moving rendition of You Will Be Found from the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. 

Join us for a time of healing and restoration. Invite your friends and family members, near and far, as we gather in Zoom church, as we will continue to do for a while. 

Rev. Jim Mitulski

P.S. One of my favorite quotes, from the introduction to The Gnostic Gospels: “A heretic may be may be anyone whose outlook someone else dislikes or denounces. According to tradition, a heretic is anyone who deviated from the true faith. But what defines that ‘true faith?’ Who calls it that and for what reasons?” (p. xxii).

P.P.S. I just started reading the newly released book by New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow – The Devil You Know (review: https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891832/charles-blows-the-devil-you-know-is-a-black-power-manifesto-for-our-time).  If you are reading this book too or are interested in reading it, let me know.

I want to commend our congregation for its high visibility and breadth of service over the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend. If it hadn’t been for our participation in a number of activities, it would have been a far less vigorous tribute. Thanks especially to our service captains in the activities offered via the Peninsula Multifaith Coalition. We are foundational partners of the PMC through ongoing representation by Brian Ring and Alexis Lewis. If you donated time or money or crafts in any way, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Join us this week for Sunday worship as we look at Jonah 3:1-5, 10 and Mark 1:14-20. See the young poet laureate Amanda Gorman read her contribution from Wednesday’s inauguration ceremony, and sing along with Garth Brooks to Amazing Grace. I hope you’ll be there.

Let’s continue in prayer for those affected in any way from COVID.

With love,
Rev. Jim Mitulski

This continues to be a time of tumult nationally and one where it is all the more important that we gather for prayer and the breaking of bread.

This week we commemorate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with the same reverence we would accord a saint. Some churches that have a formal process for doing so in modern times, like the Episcopal Church, have accorded him this status. Whether or not we use the traditional religious language, we can likely agree that Dr. King’s influence continues even beyond his death. What he spoke 50 years ago speaks to us still. If he had not been assassinated at the age of 39, we might be celebrating his 92nd birthday this weekend.

Join us on Sunday as we celebrate his life and legacy and how he speaks to us today. My sermon is based on 1 Samuel 3:1-10 and John 1:43-51. I will also include testimony from the landmark case Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that I learned for Dr. Cindy Acker’s play that speaks about the evils of segregation, then and now. I hope you’ll join us for this event and for Monday’s events relating to the MLK Jr. Multifaith Day of Service. (Information about how to do so can be found below).

I want to especially commend all of our members who have made this Day of Service possible, particularly this year for hundreds of participants throughout the county.

Hope to see you this weekend!
Rev. Jim Mitulski