New Life Kids' Nativity Presentation - December 11, 2011

The New Life Kids, led by Miss Gina and narrated by Mr. Thomas, gave possibly the cutest Nativity presentation in North America today. With our Kindergarten Mary and Joseph met by the elementary and jr. high shepherds and their toddler sheep, heralded by the preschool and kindergarten angels and presented with gifts from the preschool kings, the story of Jesus' birth was truly seen through the eyes of our children today.

Many thanks to all of the New Life Kids and their grown-up leaders who gave us such a sweet and joyful Nativity!

New Life All-Church Retreat - October 14-16, 2011

"Let Us Exalt His Name, Together!" was an over the top event! We had a fantastic response and all who attended enjoyed a weekend filled with opportunities for connection and community. From the Friday night campfire and S'mores through our final lunch together on Sunday, meaningful conversations happened right along side lots of laughter.

And, how many church retreats have their own theme praise song complete with kid-supplied movements?!

Many thanks to all who helped pull together the details and activities that made this such a special time together as a church family.

If you have any photos you'd ike to add to our album, please send them to the New Life office, we'd love to share them!

New Life Family Sunday - October 2, 2011

Each year, the New Life Kids have an opportunity to take over Sunday service and teach the grownups a lesson from God's Word. This year the kids taught us all about how God created the heavens and earth and everything in them. The best part about having the kids take over is seeing how God speaks through his youngest. We learned about the oceans and land through sand, water and plants in a bucket, and we saw all the creatures of the ocean swimming up the aisles with our little Sprouts and Seedlings.

Many thanks to Miss Gina and all of the New Life Kids volunteers for helping the children prepare this valuable lesson!

BBQ and S'mores - August 27, 2011

Many many thanks to the Munns family for hosting this fantastic evening of good food, great fellowship and very funny moments for New Life! We had a great time eating, talking, laughing and then eating just a little more!

Vacation Bible School at Renacer Covenant Church - August 2011

Renacer Covenant Church, Led by Pastor Mario Romani, is New Life's church plant partner serving the Alum Rock community of San Jose. This month they held their very first Vacation Bible School for families in the neighborhood. Originally planned as 2 sessions, they quickly added a third week due to demand! Wonderful connections were made with the community and children learned of the good news of Jesus!

Pastor Romani shared this wonderful video highlighting the activities over the three weeks.

Check it out!

A Great Day on the Avenue - June 25, 2011

As part of the Willow Glen Business Association, New Life was invited to take part in this years' Dancin' on the Avenue in Downtown Willow Glen. This gave us an opportunity to serve and meet the local San Jose community through this long-running and very popular street festival.

This year we held our first-ever Saliboat Gutter Races in the Kids Area! What fun! Kids of all ages took advantage of the free opportunity to blow their sailboat to victory. Everyone left the booth happy, maybe a little dizzy! and with a great prize bag.

Our volunteers also had a great time with each other during the set up, booth time and tear down and with the children and parents we met at the event. We even got a chance to share with the local city council member a bit about what we have been doing as a church over the past few years!

Many thanks to Miss Gina for coordinating such a fun community outreach event and to all of the volunteers who braved the crowds to come down and cheerfully help out the local community!

Summer Sunday in the Park - May 29, 2011

New Life celebrated our first Summer Sunday in the Park for 2011 on Memorial Day weekend at Wallenberg Park in San Jose. Always a favorite, we leave the Little Theater at Willow Glen Middle School and gather together at the park for some acoustic worship, time in the Word together, and of course, potluck brunch!

Our next Summer Sunday in the Park will take place on Sunday, July 3. Join us!

HUNT at Roosevelt Park, April 23 2011

New Life volunteers joined together with volunteers from Jesus the Recreator Covenant Church, the Roosevelt Community Center, and the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association to bring HUNT to the community of Roosevelt Park, San Jose. The day was a great event for Jesus the Recreator and for the community. 7,000 eggs were gathered up in just minutes, followed by hundreds of children waiting patiently for their Golden Ticket Prizes, hot dog lunches, face painting, balloon animals, and picture with the Easter Bunny. And more importantly, connections were made between the sponsoring groups and the neighbors they all seek to serve.

Many thanks to all who helped make today very special for hundreds of families in San Jose!

Easter Weekend With New Life - April 22-24, 2011

All are welcome to join New Life as we celebrate Easter with friends at The Bridge Community Church and Jesus the Recreator Covenant Church:

April 22 at 7pm - Good Friday Service with The Bridge Community Church at The Hayes Mansion (200 Edenvale Avenue, San Jose 95136).

April 23 from 12-4pm - HUNT and Community Fair at Roosevelt Park with Jesus the Recreator Covenant Church (901 E. Santa Clara Street, San Jose 95116).

April 24 at 10am - Easter Service at New Life Covenant Church. Join us as we worship together at Willow Glen Middle School's Little Theatre (2105 Cottle Avenue, San Jose 95125).

"He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!"

Good Friday at The Bridge Community Church - April 22

New Life will be sharing in the Good Friday service hosted at The Bridge Community Church of San Jose. Join us on April 22 at 7pm at The Hayes Mansion to worship with Jay Correa and The Bridge Band!

Details and directions to Hayes Mansion are on The Bridge web site, http://thebridgesanjose.org/blog/?p=587.

Farewell to Friends - February 13, 2011

After service this Sunday, the New Life family gathered to share lunch and to spend some time saying farewell to the McGhee family. Adam and Emily and their children have already left for Indiana, but the time they spent here in California impacted our entire church family and they will be missed.

Many thanks to the Susewitz' for hosting this special time together.

Understanding Homelessness in Our Community - January 24, 2011

Many thanks to Julia Burkhead of InnVision as well as the members of FROST and everyone who attended the event, Helping the Homeless in Our Community, last evening at the Santa Teresa Library.

Julia presented a clear and detailed overview of homelessness in general and in Santa Clara County in particular; covering not only the common causes of homelessness, but the many and varied resources available to those facing homelessness in our community.

Following her presentation, Julia answered numerous questions from the audience, explaining the many ways individuals and groups can get involved and help through organizations like Inn Vision (http://www.innvision.org/). Several people asked Julia for access to her presentation so they could share it with friends and colleagues. New Life will work with Julia to make this available as soon as she is able to do so.

Those who were interested were also invited to provide an email address for New Life's Social Justice mailing list. This list is used to invite individuals and groups to events like this where issues of social justice are explained by experts in the field. This list is always available to join, just email office@newlifesanjose.org and ask to be added. No emails beyond those for social justice events will be sent to that list.

Again, many thanks for making this event happen!

Helping the Homeless in Our Community - January 24

Santa Clara County is the 19th wealthiest county in America. The median household income is more than $87,000, but it is estimated that 135,000 of our neighbors live in poverty and more than 12,000 are homeless every year. Ever wonder how to help someone who is without resources? As winter approaches, what can we do to help? Does it help to give money to people on the street?


Julia Burkhead, Program Director for Women and Family Services at InnVision, will educate attendees on resources and services available in our community and share her insight on the best ways individuals can effectively help those who are homeless.


This event is free and open to the public. Date: January 24, Time: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Place: Santa Teresa Branch Library (290 International Circle, San Jose 95119 )


InnVision is Silicon Valley's leading provider of housing and services for homeless families and individuals. InnVision served more than 27,000 people in need last year at their 26 program sites in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

After-Christmas Combo Service - December 26, 2010

For the second year, New Life has invited all of the San Jose Covenant churches to join us for worship the first Sunday after Christmas. This year there are two new churches, for a total of 6 San Jose Covenant churches. This is an exciting time of sharing and worshipping together during the holiday season.

New Life will be joined by The Bridge Community Church, Renacer Covenant Church, Jesus the Recreator Covenant Church, Alum Rock Covenant Church and Church of Philadelphia.

We will meet at 10am in the Little Theater at Willow Glen Middle School - 2105 Cottle Ave. San Jose, 95125.

We'd love to have you join us!

Dual Baptism on Sunday, November 7, 2010

New Life's Refugee Ministry has blessed our congregation by allowing us to meet and learn from people all over the world. And, in some very special cases, to share in their challenges and triumphs as they navigate their way in this new phase of life; far removed from the refugee camps, war and persecution they suffered for so many years.

Emmanuel and Bingwa are both originally from Congo. Because of the war, they fled to refugee camps in Tanzania. Both young men spent much of their childhood in those camps.

Here, they are making a new life for themselves. Both Emmanuel and Bingwa accepted Christ before coming to the US, but had never been baptised. This past Sunday, with their new church family surrounding them, they took the step to publicly declare what was in their heart and be baptised by Pastor Kevin.

All who witnessed this day were blessed.

Helping the Homeless in Our Community Event Rescheduled - January 24, 2011

We were saddened to have to cancel this event on October 25 and promised we'd reschedule as soon as possible. We are now confirmed for January 24 at 7pm at the Santa Teresa Branch Library. Please note, the venue is changed.

Reminders will go out once the event gets closer. The event topic and speaker have not changed:

Santa Clara County is the 19th wealthiest county in America. The median household income is more than $87,000, but it is estimated that 135,000 of our neighbors live in poverty and more than 12,000 are homeless every year. Ever wonder how to help someone who is without resources? As winter approaches, what can we do to help? Does it help to give money to people on the street? Julia Burkhead, Program Director for Women and Family Services at InnVision, will update us on resources and services available in our community and share her insight on the best ways we can contribute to helping people. This event is free and open to the public.

Date: Monday, January 24

Time: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Place: Santa Teresa Branch Library (290 International Circle, San Jose 95119)

Helping the Homeless Community Event Canceled - October 25

The scheduled event, "Helping the Homeless in Our Community" set for Monday, October 25 at the Vineland Branch Library is canceled. Due to an issue with the room we rented at the library (no fault of the library) we will not be able to meet as we had planned.

We will reschedule the event in the near future. Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this may cause. We will post an update as soon as this event can be rescheduled.

Helping the Homeless in our Community - October 25, 2010

Santa Clara County is the 19th wealthiest county in America. The median household income is more than $87,000, but it is estimated that 135,000 of our neighbors live in poverty and more than 12,000 are homeless every year. Ever wonder how to help someone who is without resources? As winter approaches, what can we do to help? Does it help to give money to people on the street? Julia Burkhead, Program Director for Women and Family Services at InnVision, will update us on resources and services available in our community and share her insight on the best ways we can contribute to helping people. This event is free and open to the public.



Date: Monday, October 25

Time: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Place: Vineland Branch Library (1450 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose 95118)



InnVision is Silicon Valley's leading provider of housing and services for homeless families and individuals. InnVision served more than 27,000 people in need last year at their 26 program sites in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties

Renacer Covenant Church Preview Service - Aug. 29, 2010

Pastor Mario Romani hosted the first preview service for Renacer Covenant Church on the evening of August 29. Many from New Life came out to suppport Pastor Mario and his team as he began his formal ministry to the Spanish-speaking population of East San Jose.

The service was very well attended and lively! What a blessing and privilege for New Life to be a part of this growing, dynamic ministry!

Stop Human Trafficking - August 4, 2010

Last evening, New Life sponsored a community awareness and training event focused on Human Trafficking and its impact both globally and locally in our own county and city. Lt. John Vanek of the San Jose Police Department's Human Trafficking Task Force presented, giving those in attendance a detailed overview of the global trafficking picture and how he and his team, working very closely with social service providers involved in the South Bay Coalition to Stop Human Trafficking, approach incidents of trafficking here in the South Bay.

Audience participation was encouraged and many had questions about how victims are treated once found, as well as what happens to the traffickers. Others wanted to know what the community can do now to help. Lt. Vanek emphasized that community awareness is the biggest piece right now and that people who work as nurses, teachers, doctors, school administrators and social workers are especially encouraged to consider human trafficking when encountering individuals who display certain characteristics which he described. Others of the community were also encouraged to be aware of what is happening in their neighborhoods, because trafficking takes place everywhere and can be perpetrated by anyone.

This event was New Life's first community awareness event and the church was not sure how well attended it would be. The Vineland Branch Community Room was packed! Attendees came from churches, community service groups, and those who read about the event in the local paper. New Life's FROST Women's Group provided refreshments for all, and Lt. Vanek and his team sent everyone home with what they call their "human billboard" shirts. Everyone who received a shirt was encouraged to wear it often. In a few weeks, Lt. Vanek's team will survey everyone to see what kinds of reactions the shirts have gotten.

Learn more about the Human Trafficking Task Force at http://www.sjpd.org/StopHT

New Life will be planning its next community awareness event for the coming months.....