First Congregational Church of Oakland (United Church of Christ)

Preached for the ordination service of longtime member Jean Jeffress on November 7, 2020, this sermon charges the church with the task of becoming alternative to every form of deathliness. The focus scripture is Acts 2: 44-47.

October 2020 is a time of much wilderness wandering and much death. Is there any good news to be found in this story of Moses dying just outside the Promised Land?

This Sunday, October 25, we'll hear a sermon from our own Nichola Torbett. Nichola is a spiritual seeker, recovering addict, gospel preacher, podcaster, writer, resistance fomenter, dog-walker, nonviolent direct action trainer, and abolitionist. Driven by her passion for both spiritual formation and social change, she co-founded Seminary of the Street, a training academy for love warriors, in 2009 and Second Acts, a liturgical direct action affinity group, in 2014. She is co-...editor of RESPISCENCE: A LENTEN DEVOTIONAL FOR DISMANTLING WHITE SUPREMACY and a contributor to THE WORD IS RESISTANCE, a podcast from SURJ-Faith, as well as to GEEZ Magazine, JESUS RADICALS, THE YOKE, and other radical discipleship publications. Join us at 10:30 by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84746478041 Or you can call in to 669 900 6833 then enter the meeting code 847 4647 8041.

Our very own Voices of Praise will be performing with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir this Saturday! OIGC Member Showcase SATURDAY, October 24 - 7:00pm PT www.oigc.org/live... Members of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir share their talent, skills, and stories during OIGC’s October Virtual event. With performances featuring: Terrance Kelly The Goodlings First Congregational Church of Oakland's Voices of Praise ...and others!

Cecilia Lucas brought us this good word on Sunday, August 30. The sacred text was "Please Call Me By My True Names" by Thich Nhat Hanh. A transcript can be found here: https://docs.google.com//1JX6uQKNZEC2KIhQVt4MGnp24Xj/edit

Rev. Dr. Liza Klein brought this word on Sunday, August 23. The focus scriptures are Romans 8: 22-27 and Matthew 11: 15-19. A transcript can be found here: https://docs.google.com//1OTjB9CnEThDrCZxddA8eCgq4sO/edit

We are excited that our own Rev. Dr. Liza Klein will be preaching this Sunday, August 23 (https://www.facebook.com/events/1444025745798265/). Liza grew up in San Francisco but did not start on her faith journey until becoming a Quaker at 30 years of age. She recently retired after serving 15 years as a pastor in the United Methodist Church. The last couple of years she was also a facilitator in San Quentin for victim offender education groups. Before becoming a pastor she had... two other careers. The first as a professor of cultural anthropology, and the second as founder and executive director of Homeplace Family Center, a daytime drop-in service center for homeless parents and their children. Homeplace was just down the street from First Congo at 27th and San Pablo Avenue. Now she is enjoying spending more time with her 3 children and 6 grandchildren, traveling in an RV with her husband Chris to beautiful rural places, discerning if and where she might be called to continue doing restorative justice work, rehabilitating leg injuries, and deepening her relationships here at First Congo.

Join us this Sunday to hear a testimony from a LOOOONG -time member (who wishes to keep it a surprise)! https://www.facebook.com/events/1444025745798265/

Rev. Sandhya Jha brought us this word on August 9, 2020. You can find a transcipt here: https://docs.google.com//1CZyit8BmQikEzid6U3doasJk59/edit

Rev. Lee Whittaker preached this on Sunday, August 2, 2020. For a transcript, click here: https://docs.google.com//1gsh_J-8vm80xjcAkjkvuw0EI-S/edit

We are so excited that our own Sandhya Jha will be preaching this Sunday, August 9,, at 10:30 a.m. For information on how to join us, click here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1444025745798265/ Sandhya serves as founder/director of the Oakland Peace Center a collective of 40 organizations working to create equity, access and dignity as the means of creating peace in Oakland and the Bay Area. A multiply published author and widely requested public speaker and anti-oppression trainer, Sandhya’s over 20 years of community organizing experience position her to help cultivate sustainable social movement work at the local and regional level. An ordained pastor with a masters in public policy, Sandhya is comfortable in the pulpit, on the picket line or hanging out with friends and friends-to-be over a good cup of tea and a good story.

We are excited that our own Rev. Lee Whittaker will be preaching this Sunday, August 2, at 10:30am at our Zoom service. (Info on how to join here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1444025745798265/.) Lee has been a member of FCCO since 2006.He earned his Masters of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry and is an ordained minister with the Progressive Christian Alliance. While at Starr King he served on the Admissions and Scholarship Committee. Lee served on the Lead...ership Council for the Progressive Christian Alliance for two years. Lee also received the Hilda Mason Fellowship where he wrote and taught a curriculum entitled "Dismantling Gender". He also designed and co-wrote high profile services while in seminary which include TDoR, and the Trans Religious Leaders Summit with FCCO's own Ashley Wai'olu Moore. Lee found his love of singing with FCCO's very own Voices of Praise. He also sang with the Oakland Interfaith Community Choir. He currently lives in Newport, RI and will be doing some work with the ministry he started before coming to Berkeley. He believes that this pandemic is a time for reflection and spiritual imagination. See more

We are so grateful for Kate Mancuso's testimony as part of our first-ever Sunday worship focused on disability justice. A transcript of this video can be found here: https://docs.google.com//1MMQWoHQeaEsjp2xlbN57_AQB0D/edit