Seasons, Cycles, and Mothers Day: Oak Life Updates
 
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Seasons, Cycles, and Mothers Day

This week we continued our Roots & Branches conversation by showing some love to our moms and also reflecting the wisdom of seasons and cycles.   In our culture and in our faith it can often feel like our lives are always supposed to be going great, that we're always supposed to be in Spring or Summer, but what about the times in our life where things aren't going that great?  As we engaged scripture together, it was encouraging to see that part of the faith journey includes seasons and cycles like Winter and Fall, and that God is with us through them all.   These ideas were particularly present for our community this week as we celebrated Rachel finishing her season of Pastoral Residency with Oak Life.  Over the coming weeks we'll continue to explore the ways we sense God leading us to extend our roots inward and our branches outward.  Whatever season you might be in on your journey, our hope is that we can journey together.  As always there are lots of things going on in our community beyond Sundays, be sure to read below:
Things Going on In and Through Oak Life:

BRANCHES-    

Project Peace Day of Service: 
On June 3rd, we'll be joining folks from around the area for a day of service.  Some Oak Life folks will be volunteering at the Harbor House, but any of the other locations are open as well.  Space is limited at Harbor House,so you'll need to reserve your spot ahead of time by registering here

Third Sunday Donations:  Every third Sunday we donate our entire offering to a local non-profit or cause.  Last month we donated $860 to Regina's Door, a local organization that works to end child trafficking here in Oakland.  If you'd like to suggest a 3rd Sunday giving option you can email leadershipteam.oaklife@gmail.com

Homeless Community Support: Oak Life is connected to a local camp community and we're always looking for donations to bring our friends.  Current needs include: bottle waters, packs of socks, cold meds, and gift cards.  If you'd like to donate, just bring something in on a Sunday and we'll deliver it that week.

ROOTS-


Stuff Exchange on Sunday June 11th:  Bring in your "stuff" that you don't need anymore and you'll get to take whatever you want- just make sure it's not garbage. The exchange will be between 9:30-10 so come early and get some sweet stuff!   Afterwards the leftovers will be donated to a local charity.

Clobber Passage Discussion:  Sunday May 28th from 1-3pm at the office.  As a church Oak Life strives to be both an inclusive space where each of our stories matter and a community that values the Bible deeply.  For many these two ideas have not always worked out in practice, especially regarding issues of sexual orientation and the Bible.  It's been our experience that the few scriptural passages that mention these issues are more complex and nuanced than many Christians might think, and have often tragically been  used as a means of exclusion and judgement.  Join us for a introductory discussion based on an audio resource produced by our friends at FIC Church SF where we re-examine these texts and their original context.  RSVP is required so we can provide the right amount of resources, so please email back and let us know if you'd like to attend. 


Summer Bible Study at the Scott's: Wednesday's starting June 14th, we'll be hosting a 7 or 8 week group study on the book of Galatians.  This study will be weekly from 7pm-8:30 and a great chance to go deeper in community and into the Bible.  If you'd like to attend, email us back for the specifics. 

Life Group Update:  An important part of being a deep community is our regular Life Groups that happen throughout the week at various folks' homes.  During the Summer most of these groups stop in order to give leaders a break and because so many of us have inconsistent schedules.  As we approach Fall we'll be re-opening groups and also looking for new hosts.  If you're interested in forming or hosting a group starting in the Fall, let us know!  In the mean time, there will be lots of hang outs throughout the Summer to keep the community going.

Volunteer at Oak Life: As a growing community, we need lots of hands to keep things awesome.  Some areas that could use volunteers are: set up, coffee/hospitality, music/sound, prayer, etc.  Volunteer any way you can, whether it's once a month or whatever!  This is a great way to connect with other folks and build community.  If you're interested you can email Rachel: volunteer.oaklife@gmail.com

Baptisms: Baptism is a beautiful way to outwardly show an inward faith in Jesus.  We're working on scheduling a baptism up at Lake Temescal soon, so if you'd like like to learn more about Baptism, just email us back!


Facebook Group:  Got a prayer request or community event you'd like to share?  Join our Facebook Group to keep the conversation going.

Facebook Daily Common Prayer: This year we've put together a Facebook group with a posted prayer each morning from the book Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.  If you'd like to join or read more about you can check out the page here.

Sunday Starting Time Announcement:  Just a friendly reminder we're trying to start at 10am sharp, so come before to grab coffee, mingle, and hang out!




Other Stuff?  Got ideas for other ways we can serve our community?  Want to start a new group?  Interested in organizing a hike our outing? Oak Life is a community led church- so let's make it happen.  Just shoot us back an email.




That's all for now!



Grace and Peace, 


Chris Scott


Oak Life Church
www.oaklifechurch.com
Sundays 10AM at The New Parkway Theater
474 24th St, Oakland, 94612
Twitter / Instagram: @oaklifechurch


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Sundays 10AM at The New Parkway Theater
472 24th St. Oakland, 94612