Sierra Leone girls share some joy.
Sierra Leone Library Project needs you!
Sierra Leone is just emerging from a year-long enforced educational break due to the Ebola crisis. Schools have been closed for a year, and there have been no libraries or books for children.
Only 7% of the schools in Sierra Leone even had a library to close. So Skyland Church's ninth African Library Project shipment will create a new primary school-community library there, in a town yet to be determined.
Thanks to generous contributions of gently used books from the families of Loma Prieta/CTE Middle schools and our community, we hope to reach our goal of collecting 1000 books by early August. We will ship the library by Sept. 1.
We need more primary school storybooks, early readers and science and information books (pre-K through 4th grade reading level). Any monetary contributions will be used to buy used books requested by the school. We also need a chess set and board.
For more information on Sierra Leone, see the fact sheet on the bulletin board in Whitaker Hall; or contact Shannon Edwards (shannonedwards14@gmail.com); Jinni Easterday (othernations@yahoo.com); or Anne Evans (anne_evans@verizon.net) with questions.
--Anne Evans
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Altar Flowers
Please check the calendar in Whitaker Hall and sign up for an open date in June.

plump, ripe apricots
guarded by tin foil's glitter --
sorry, birds, they're ours.
-- haiku by John Heyes
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Minister's
Column
Listening for the Calling
June is a time of transition. Millions of children, youth and young adults are concluding a school year, sometimes graduating to the next level of schooling, or moving out into the working world. Lots of parents are thinking about how to manage these transitions and what their role is now with their children.
Couples have made plans to marry and are in the last stages of preparation for the big day. Even if we don't have a big event in our lives this month we feel the shifting energy in the air, as summer arrives.
I think that June is a great time to think about our vocations. (Yes, I am thinking about vocations, not vacations, though those are important too!) The word "vocation" comes from the Latin word for calling and means how God is calling us into the world. When we are practicing our calling, we feel in sync with who we are and why we are here; so discovering and living out our calling is crucial to our sense of meaningful participation in the world.
Most people think of vocation in connection to their job, but if we feel a strong connection to Christianity, our vocation is very closely linked to sharing God's love in the world. Whether we are running the company or emptying the wastebaskets and cleaning up, what matters is more the love we bring to this day in our lives and the people we meet than the title we hold and the amount of the paycheck we earn.
Since June is a time of transition and change, it is a great time to review why we are here. If you would like to do that, especially in reference to your spiritual life, I would be delighted to have some conversations with you about your vocation, what God may be calling you to do. It might be time for something new or a time to think about what you have been doing in a new way. One of my favorite inspirational writers, Father Thomas Keating, suggests that we live our "ordinary lives with extraordinary love." That pretty well sums it up for me. Want to talk about it?
--Stephen
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Finishing the Year in
the
Bl
ack
NOTE from your treasurer:
Final F
iscal Year 2014-2015 Report
Pledge gifts not only caught up but exceeded original commitments by $670. Offerings also exceeded original planned donations by $1,482.
In addition, your generous Year End gifts and $4,364 less in expenses result in the year's operating surplus of $12,341.
$8,000 of the surplus is allocated to help support 2015-2016 operations. The remainder will be used for exterior painting, a dishwasher, and additions to the facility improvement fund. Here are our operating finances for May 2015, as of May 31:
Summary of Operating Finances
May 2015 | Jun 1,2014 to May 31
Actual Planned | Actual Planned
Income $ 10,397 $ 9,361 | $176,766 $168,790
Expenses $ 9,324 $ 12,086 | $164,425 $168,789
Net $ 1,073 $ -2,725 | $ 12,341 $ 1
- Gerald J. Alonzo, Treasurer
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Meditation Moment

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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