Planted Besides Streams of Living Water: Oak Life Updates

Things Going on In and Through Oak Life:

ROOTS:

Letter from a Birmingham Jail: Since we just celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we've posted one of his letters and a poem Greg wrote on our blog. Our hope is that we'll all reflect and consider the ways the work of Dr. King is still going on in our time.

Ordination, Dedication Celebration! We'll be having a special service on Sunday Jan 27th (normal time) as we commemorate some big events for the Oak Life family. First we'll be ordaining Greg as a Pastor, and then we'll be dedicating a few of the newest Oak Life children to God. We hope you can come and be a part of the festivities! If you'd like to have your child dedicated- let us know!

Book Club Starting in Feb: As we enter Black History Month, we'll be facilitating a book club that meets in person and online through Facebook. We'll be reading 'So You Want to Talk About Race' by Ijeoma Oluo. Our first meeting will be after church Sunday church on Sunday February 3rd at Adam's place, and then we'll meet again in person at the end of the month (date TBD). In between, there will be a facebook group to keep the conversation going. If you'd like to get a head start on the book, it's available on amazon and most book stores.

Life Groups Starting back up in Feb LEADERS/HOSTS NEEDED: Oak Life runs two main "sessions" of life groups, one in the Fall and one in the Winter/Spring. This gives hosts a break and also creates lots of spaces for people to join or move on. We'll be starting our new life group session in February- if you'd like to host a group or would like to learn more, let us know!

Got a Prayer request? Every week, the Oak Life Prayer team spends time praying for Oak Life. If you'd like to have us pray for you during the week, please submit your prayer request here, http://bit.ly/oaklifeprayers . Feel free to include your Name and contact info if you'd also like one of us to reach out personally to you. For those who would like to know more info or to join the prayer team, contact monica.a.tzeng@gmail.com. Also, the prayer team meets every 4th Monday at 7pm.

Volunteering at Oak Life: Pretty much everything that happens in Oak Life is a result of folks from the community participating in making us what we are. If you'd like to check out the places to volunteer click here.

Generosity Towards Oak Life: Oak Life's roots and branches depend on the generosity of it's community members. If you'd like to practice financial generosity towards Oak Life, which pays for our rent, staff, and ministry expenses- you can do so online through our website here. There are options to give on a one-time, monthly or periodic basis. If you have any questions regarding financial stuff at Oak Life you can send an email to the team: finance-team@oaklifechurch.com

Facebook Group: Got a prayer request or community event you'd like to share? Join our Facebook Group to keep the conversation going. Also, most Sunday's we live stream part of the service!

Relationship Series Starting in Feb: Starting Feb 3rd our Sunday gatherings will be reflecting on relationships. Some of the topic we'll be covering are: relationships to self, romantic relationships, relationships to church, etc. Be excited!

BRANCHES:

Gardening Project with Sacred Roots this Saturday!!! One of organizations we've supported (Sacred Roots) needs volunteers to work on their garden this Saturday from 10am-12. If you're able to join, email Sadie: sgaff25277@gmail.com

Project Peace Speakers Series: Project Peace is an organization that Oak Life partners with to serve alongside others in the community. They also organize important events that highlight various justice issues. On Jan 30th at 7pm they will be hosting a conversation called "REMEMBERING RIGHTLY: MARK CHARLES, A NATIVE AMERICAN CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE" at Berkeley First Pres. For more info click here.

Third Sunday Giving Update: Once a month we give away our entire offering to a local group or cause and it's been super encouraging to see the ways we've been able to join in good work in our community. Over the past 12 months Oak Life has given away almost $8,000!!! This month we heard from Bridges Myanmar and we were able to raise $296 to support their work. If you'd like to watch a thank you from some of our third Sunday partners click here.

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, clipper/bart cards, 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.

Social Justice Team: We’re steadily building momentum on our first project! (details to come) We’ve also been developing relationships with other social-minded organizations including, OCO, LavaMae, and The Interfaith Council of Alameda. Our current focus is around how we can work toward impacting the housing crisis in our community. If you'd like more info you can contact Greg who will be helping to facilitate: greg@oaklifechurch.com

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