San Jose, CA
As our focus on incarceration continues, after worship every Sunday we gather to discuss The Church of the Second Chance: A Faith-Based Approach to Prison Reform, by Jens Soering.
Meet us at 11:30 in room 7. You don’t have to have read it before, or be caught up on anything. We love to learn in community, and all you need to bring is yourself and your questions!
You can catch John, who is now a Very Famous and Important Celebrity, on Sunday mornings, playing piano, singing, setting up mics, and generally being a blessing to everyone he comes across.
Come meet him–and the rest of us–this week, at 10am on Sunday!
After Rev. Sophia Jackson came to USSJ, we knew we had to work with her more. She had so much to teach us.
So, in conjunction with the Joint Youth Ministry, Cambrian Park UMC, Los Gatos UMC, Willow Glen UMC, and SURJ at Sacred Heart, Urban Sanctuary will be participating in a workshop led by Rev. Jackson entitled, Introduction to Racial Injustice, the Prison Industrial Complex & Mass Incarceration and the Church’s Response: more Conversations on Race & Privilege (CRP).
Suggested reading before the workshop: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Minister Sophia Jackson is a graduate of Ohio Christian University. She is currently enrolled in the Master of Divinity & Certificate of Spirituality and Social Change at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley California, where she is pursuing her dream of becoming ordained in the United Church of Christ and becoming a Prison Chaplain; she is also a Member in Training and Care with the Disciples of Christ.
She answered the call to do the work of justice for those marginalized by incarceration and addiction, and her goal is to one day create a foundation that works to end the cycle of recidivism that Mass Incarceration fuels and feeds. She enjoys life to the fullest, even when it is full of the challenges and rigors of being a full-time student, minister, life-partner to Tysha Hayes, and parent to an 2 year old Pitt Bull puppy named Rootie Marie.
We’ll have an informal Q and A with her during coffee hour. Come join us!
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From Rev. Ibarra:
Rosario is building and capital services advisor for Disciples Church Extension Fund and is passionate about the church using its space to its fullest extent. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Ricardo Palma University in Peru and a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. She is originally from Peru.
On Sunday, May 19 at 3pm, we’ll gather in the Sanctuary to do three things:
Pastor Lauren graduated with an M.Div from Emory University in Atlanta in 2013, thinking she wanted to be a hospital chaplain. However, she found after graduation that her call had changed. She didn’t know what it had changed into, until God led her to parish ministry. Now, she’s saying “yes” to the call God has for her life, and being ordained in the United Church of Christ!
An ordination is a special occasion, and we’ll be celebrating with bluegrass hymns, prayer, Communion and of course, the Laying on of Hands to bless Lauren for her ministry. Afterwards we’ll be enjoying some soul food from Jackie’s Place, as well as cake and refreshments courtesy of the hospitality team at USSJ.
This event is free, and the more, the merrier!
Image by Wallpressions.