Opportunity to Donate: Day in the Park!

Hello, and thank you for your willingness to contribute to our 4th “Day in the Park” at Defremery Park in West Oakland on Saturday, May 19, 2012 from 12-5pm!

In May 2009, a group of us from Convergence Church began planning a free afternoon event that would invite the entire community. Being new to Oakland ourselves, our hope was to create an event that would allow the community to come together and give us an opportunity to meet some people in our city. With the help of local supporters and volunteers, we were able to host this free event with over 400 people attending. We’ve since held the event annually with overwhelming community feedback and had over 800 people attend in 2011.

We are a faith-based community located in West Oakland and we believe that partnering with our communities to bring positive change in our city is part of living out our faith. Our hope is that these events will bring joy to the communities, bring laughter to children and their families, break down the walls that separate us, and inspire others to be catalysts for change.

This year we’re looking to bring over 1,000 people together for an afternoon of activities, games, raffles, good food and community. We’ll be grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, have jumpers and entertainers for the kids, team games and relays for all ages, face painting and arts and crafts, educational activities, raffles, a photo booth, music all day and more! We’re also adding a new element this year that promotes public health and wellness by providing healthy snacks, resources such as a public health booth and The Breathmobile® to treat kids with asthma.

We are very excited and invite you to join us in this journey! Any contribution is appreciated!

A Day in the Park! – Razoo

A Thank-You Note from MLK Elementary

This summer, we took a love offering for MLK Elementary School teacher Lindsey Smallwood’s classroom supplies and materials. We received a package of thank-you notes, pictures, and drawings from Lindsey and her students telling us how the supplies have made a difference in their learning. Here’s what Lindsey said:

Thank you so much friends at Convergence Church for your incredible generosity toward me and my students at MLK. We have made use of the money you’ve donated for so many classroom items and projects, including: books, notebooks and paper, markers, crayons, pencils, supplies to make a volcano, recess equipment like jump ropes and balls, photos and compassess to create a neighborhood map, materials for a science experiment and much more! Your gifts have been such a blessing to our little classroom and words can’t express how grateful I am.

Thank you Convergence for stepping up to invest in Lindsey and her wonderful students!

Ladies Night- Let’s Go Bowling!

Calling all women of Convergence! It’s time for our monthly Women’s Ministry Gathering! This month we’re going bowling at Albany Bowl on Saturday, October 22, 2011 from 6-8:30PM. Please RSVP with Becca at rebecca@convergeoakland.org or call (510) 463-1011. See you there!

What’s With the New Logo?

Notice something new on our website lately? No, you’re not seeing doubles…you’re seeing circles! Our new logo was designed by a member of our church family, Kelsey Jones, and holds significant meaning to the vision of our church. If you look closely, the circles are purposely drawn imperfectly to represent us, an imperfect people. In our diversity and imperfection, we gather around the perfect Cross to experience what it means for our lives to converge with His Kingdom.

A huge thank you to Kelsey Jones for beautifully capturing the heart of Convergence and translating it into art!

Habitat for Humanity Building Day- October 15, 2011!

Our upcoming Habitat for Humanity building day is this Saturday, October 15, 2011! As a church we have been partnering with Habitat for Humanity East Bay to build homes in East Oakland for the past year. Currently we’ve been working on interior painting the past month and there’s still a lot to be done with the houses. The Habitat for Humanity crew is awesome and fun to work with and very willing to teach volunteers new skills! No experience is necessary, breakfast and lunch will be provided by the Convergence building team leaders. Contact Ted Huynh at ted.huynh86@gmail.com to get further instructions on signing up. We’ll see you there!

Life Groups Launch October 2011

Convergence Life Group

October is an exciting month as four Life Groups are launching at Convergence!  Life Groups are smaller groups of people that meet during the week to learn what it means to follow Christ, share life and love, and serve one another and the community.  You can learn more about Life Groups and all of the details to get connected on our website http://convergeoakland.org/life-groups/

Life group launch dates are: October 10, 13, and 20, 2011- don’t miss out!

What Now America Back-To-School Event Reflections

What Now America, Back-To-School Event

Here’s what one of our own, Jeff Chou, had to say about the event:

We’ve had the opportunity over the past year to serve and invest at a local Youth Resource Center operated by the non-profit What Now America.  The Resource Center aims to provide “basic societal needs” to the youth of West Oakland by combining an educational curriculum with healthy eating, and physical education.  In September, What Now America hosted their annual “Back to School” event on a Saturday afternoon at Defremery Park.  In addition to fun booths like face painting, there were also interesting hands-on educational opportunities for children such as making their own ice cream.  The event culminated in the distribution of hundreds of bags of school supplies that were put together through a cooperation of local businesses and an army of volunteers.

Convergence continues to maintain a monthly presence at the Youth Resource Center, helping with tutoring, leading games and activities, preparing healthy foods, and interacting with the kids.  If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact me at jeff@convergeoakland.org for more information.

Spooky Halloween Family Fun Night!

Join us for a night of spooky, friendly, trick or treat Halloween Family Fun Night on October 27, 2011, 6-8pm at DeFremery Park. Contact Jenn Wu at jenn@convergeoakland.org to get volunteer details! Come help make this an unforgettably eerie fun night for all!

Convergence Weekly 9/24/2011

MLK Tutoring We are looking for volunteers to be reading tutors to 2nd and 3rd graders this year at MLK Elementary, right here in West Oakland! The proposed time for now is Mondays from 12:45-2:45pm. Tutors can come for for the first hour, second hour, or both. We are teaching the next generation how to read and what is more rewarding than that?? Contact Jeff Chou at jeff@convergeoakland.org for details.  Champions for Children 5K Walk/Run Save the date for Faith Network’s 1st Champion for Children 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, October 29 at Lakeside Park in Oakland!  We will be having a girls team, led by Becca Craft (rebecca@convergeoakland.org), and a boys team, led by Michael Chen (michaelchen15@gmail.com).  Please let them know ASAP if you are interested in joining the team!  More details of the race will follow!

Convergence Weekly 9/10/2011

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