PVLC Vision & Open Questions

The church council met on July 17 in a retreat to reflect on the past year and discern a vision and open questions for the rest of 2021 and beginning of 2022. The Council established a vision for our church:

This vision should not be confused with our mission as a church. Our mission statement has not changed and guides us in what we want to do as a church internally and in the community always. The vision the council came up with, is what the council saw that we as a church should focus on in the next 6 months.

We invite all members to share their ideas and feedback about this vision and participate in accomplishing it. Please speak with me about how you’d like to help in working on this vision. At the same retreat, the council discerned open questions. As a congregation, we want to go about this in three steps: From now until the beginning of 2022 we want to focus inward to understand who we are as PVLC and as part of the Graceful Hills Parish now after the changes through the pandemic. The next step will be from the beginning of 2022 to the summer of 2022 where we focus outward to our neighborhood and community, having gained an understanding of who we are now and what is important to us. Hopefully, the third step is going to be that we become a new, refreshed church.

You are invited to be engaged in these questions through-out the year:

There will be many opportunities to talk about these important questions as a congregation throughout the upcoming year. The idea is that these are questions which the council does not have the answers too, we want to hear your thoughts and reflections on each question so we can discover the answers together. This is an exciting time for our church and I am looking forward to exploring with you who we are and who we want to be in our neighborhood and community.

Blessings, Pastor Sonja Pilman

S’more Jesus and VBS

The second s’more Jesus evening was meaningful and fun having a devotion, prayers, and singing songs together with the kids from VBS at Atonement. Of course, the s’mores where fantastic too and Pastor Sonja brought the tasty Swiss chocolate.

Pastor Sonja gets a hug!
VBS was island themed and here we are singing the camp song “If God is for me, who can be against me?”

Outdoor Service at Terra Sancta July 18, 21

We had a wonderful morning service at Terra Sancta today! The parish came together, it was great seeing everyone, and we made beautiful music 🎼 Thank you for coming!

Pastor Herb gave a sermon reminding us of how we are the salt of the earth. And we enjoyed Rubye’s yummy cinnamon rolls after the service in the shade.
I hope we can do this again!

On a personal note, a big thank you to the councils for your meaningful gift to my one-year-anniversary as your pastor. It is beautiful and well picked with the two intertwined hearts. I have a lot of love for my two churches, this gift will always remind me of that. Thank you and yes, with God, all things are possible!🙏

– Pastor Sonja

Holy Week 2021

Join the Graceful Hills Parish for Holy Week 2021. We will have special music and meaningful liturgies!

Go here to see all the bulletins: gracefulhills.church/bulletins/

Special Services:

April 1, 6pm – Maundy Thursday – at ALC

April 2, 6pm – Good Friday – at PVLC

Saturday, April 3, 7pm – Easter Vigil – at PVLC 

April 4, 6:30am – Easter Sunrise – at ALC 

Join in person with our usual guidelines of social distancing and mask wearing, or join live through our virtual connection on Zoom:

Easter Sunday Services:

Sunday, April 4, 9am – Easter Sunday, followed by Egg Hunt + simple brunch, – at PVLC
Join in person or on GoToMeeting

Sunday, April 4, 10:30am – Easter Sunday, followed by Egg Hunt + simple brunch, – at ALC
Join in person or on Zoom


If you have questions, contact 
Pastor Sonja at pastorsonjapilman@gmail.com
or 650 431 6693

UPDATE Next Steps for Worship guidelines related to the pandemic

UPDATE Next Steps for Worship guidelines related to the pandemic: 

Pastor Sonja assembled a group at Piedmont Valley to reflect on these guidelines. The Revitalization group (Bob Burns, Mike Smith, and Donna Wright) accepted the request to reflect and are highly qualified with their links to healthcare. After discussion together, the Revitalization Group suggested to the PVLC Council that we move to possible decrease mask use with in-person worship in May. Knowing that the state of SD is moving to herd immunity (maybe 70%) with vaccination by May, the council is moving to having “masks optional” starting on May 23, but continuing social spacing. Also keeping the doors open for springtime ventilation. The council is committed to always consider our whole community as we move forward at the Graceful Hills Parish.

At the upcoming PVLC Council meetings on April 19 and May 17, the council will confirm the May 23rd date for change in mask use. The council reserves the right and responsibility to change these plans (to earlier or later adjustment) should the cases and vaccine trends change dramatically in the next few weeks.   At this point our guidelines for mask use will change on May 23, and we will confirm this each week from now until May 23rd.  Our main goal is to be super clear about our plan and communicate it out to all in our community and parish.

The PVLC Council

The ALC council follows the recommendations of the highly qualified Revitalization Group at PVLC.


If you have questions, contact:

Pastor Sonja Pilman
(650) 431 6693
pastorsonjapilman@gmail.com

Baptism at PVLC

Last Sunday we had a baptism at our church. It was a joy to welcome the new member Grayson to the Body of Christ! From our church, Grayson received a handmade prayer shawl, a bible, and a candle. I think he seems very happy with his gifts!

Blessings to all who want to be baptised. Jesus says: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Grief Moves Us – Script

Why is it important to talk about our feelings of grief and loss? To quote Margie Neugebauer, Director of Justice, WELCA:

“Are you feeling tired, sad, angry, lonely, anxious, depressed? Well, the entire world is feeling all these emotions and maybe more. These can be signs of grief and loss. In reality the entire world is grieving. An article in the The American Counseling Association publication, Counseling Today, states; “The foundational emotion attached to the pandemic is grief, and grief — if not acknowledged, felt and addressed — will continue to trigger more easily identifiable emotions such as fear, anxiety, depression, and whatever other feelings and reactions typically present for people in a crisis (Grief and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sophia Caudle.)”

We addressed our grief and shared our experiences, insights, and talked about how to move beyond feeling this way in this adult education. To read the script click the button below:

Contact Pastor Sonja for feedback, ideas or questions:
pastorsonjapilman@gmail.com
or 650 431 6693