October 28, 2021

Public Witness Bible Study, November 2 and 3 – November is Native American Heritage Month and our Bible Study will explore the native history of the Ohlone people on whose ancient lands we live. We will discuss what it means to be guests on indigenous land and how we can sup-port Ohlone struggles against invisibility and ongoing colonization. In October we learned about the Doctrine of Discovery and the Church’s role in legitimizing colonization for the past several hundred years. One of the ways we can confront the legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery is to listen to the voices of those who’ve been silenced and nearly erased from history.

Public Witness Forum, November 7 – November’s Forum, following worship, will feature the organization Equal Exchange, a non-profit that supports worker owned small farms and fair-trade economics. They promote international partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound, connecting farmers and consumers for a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world. This Forum will highlight one way we can address root causes of migration. There will also be an opportunity to purchase Equal Exchange’s Fair Trade products at Forum. NOTE: the Forum will take place both in the Sanctuary and on Zoom.

Sanctuary Survey – During October’s Sanctuary Sunday, we celebrated Lakeshore’s commitment to being a Sanctuary Congregation and how we have lived that out over the past five years. As we look to the next five years, the Sanctuary Working Group has created a survey to gather interest and involvement of the congregation. There are a multitude of ways we can continue to support our immigrant brothers and sisters, and with the help of the congregation, we can accomplish much together. If you haven’t already, please complete your survey – you can contact me directly if you need access to the survey. If you were unable to worship with us, you can hear our story, and see the slideshow, on the LABC YouTube channel.

May God bless our ongoing efforts to engage in public witness together.

Peace,
Pastor Allison