Spiritual Life

Oct. 28 was supposed to be a festival day in our congregation. The sanctuary had been decorated for the day. Two trumpet players were scheduled to play. Our talented organist, who had been on leave, was back. The bells would play and the choir sing. But as I put on my robes that morning, they felt oddly out of place – as if I should be vesting in black. Violence had struck again.

Renard

Event celebrates arrival of French pastor

The French Catholic community has scheduled a “Beaujolais Nouveau” wine and cheese event 6:30-8:30 p.m. Nov. 16 at St. Nicholas Hall, 473 Lincoln Ave., Los Altos.

Proceeds from the event will contribute to establishing the newly hired French-speaking priest in the parish, the Rev. Michel Renard. Renard arrived in August from France on a three-year visa through the Diocese of San Jose. Bishop Patrick McGrath nominated him as parochial vicar at St. Nicholas and St. William parishes and chaplain for the French-speaking community.

After 40 years of imprisonment for his faith, in his visit to Paris in 1911, Abdu’l-Baha, the eldest son and successor of the prophet founder of the Baha’i faith, spoke to an audience about the importance of spirituality:

Breedlove

A yearlong pastoral search led to the arrival of the Rev. Dr. Christopher Breedlove, new senior pastor at Foothills Congregational Church in Los Altos.

Breedlove, his wife, Amy, and their four children come to Foothills from the Community United Church of Christ in Fresno. He also served as chairman of Faith in Community, a community organizing network; as steering board member on California Interfaith Power and Light, a network of religious communities committed to addressing global warming; and as vice chairman of the Human Rights Coalition of the Central Valley.

I am not one of those people who was born into the United Methodist Church. I wandered into the church as an adult, at a time when I was restless in my career as a lawyer and looking for something that would help me make sense of the world.

School shootings have become an epidemic. As school systems, mental health professionals, advocacy groups and the federal and state governments engage in efforts to prevent such incidents, it is important to understand the abilities and needs of middle schoolers and high schoolers.