|
In Anger, Struggle, and Support:
The Flame for Friday, June 24, 2022
Today I am angry, and I know many of you are as well, having awakened this morning to news that Roe vs. Wade has been overturned by the Supreme Court. The constitutional protection of a woman’s right— indeed of any pregnant person’s right – to choose whether to carry their pregnancy to term, has been removed. Now it is up to the states to protect access to abortion or to ban it. This deeply politicized, decades-long battle is not ultimately about protecting life. It is about systemic sexism and misogyny. It’s about the social control of women’s bodies. It’s about the right to bodily autonomy. It’s about access to reproductive healthcare and the lifelong, generational impact of not having such access.
In a statement released earlier today, the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said, “While I, like many, anticipated this decision, I am deeply grieved by it. I have been ordained more than 40 years, and I have served as a pastor in poor communities; I have witnessed firsthand the negative impact this decision will have.” He continued, “We as a church have tried carefully to be responsive both to the moral value of women having the right to determine their healthcare choices as well as the moral value of all life. Today’s decision institutionalizes inequality because women with access to resources will be able to exercise their moral judgment in ways that women without the same resources will not.” Access to reproductive healthcare should not be a matter of location and resources.
The President of the Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies Gay Jennings reflected on the personal and generational impact of Roe vs. Wade: “coming of age with access to safe and legal reproductive health care, including birth control and abortion, shaped my life and the lives of many women of my generation. Our ability to plan our families made it possible for us to use our God-given talents to pursue lives, careers, and ambitions our mothers and grandmothers could only imagine. Now those rights, in many parts of the country, will be denied to our children and grandchildren.”
The Roe decision came out the year I was born. It has been in place my entire life up to this point. Its protection of women’s reproductive agency, and its connection to broader freedom of bodily autonomy, has had a huge impact on my life both before I transitioned and now. And even if Justice Thomas had not issued his egregious concurring opinion that the court should also reconsider the Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell decisions—that is, the right to contraception, consensual same-sex intimacy, and marriage equality – I have been under no illusion that the overturning of Roe vs. Wade will stop there, as horrendous as this decision is in its own right.
Earlier this week I was honored to preach for the Vine at Grace Cathedral’s annual Singalong Pride Mass, organized under the theme “we are family.” The point of the service was to celebrate how Jesus broke open the whole idea of family, asking such questions as who are my siblings, my parents? LGBTIQ people and our allies have for decades created expansive bonds of family, coming together to support one another in an all too often hostile world. We have raged against those who would undermine the rights women and of bodily and relational autonomy more broadly under the banner of so-called “family values,” values that do not reflect the ministry of Jesus himself. In my sermon, I told a story about an odd, touching encounter Kateri and I had with a stranger on the streets of New Haven in 1995. You can see the sermon here (starting around the 31 minute mark), but I’ll tell you now, the story’s punchline was the stranger’s statement, “we know us when we see us on the street.”
In light of today’s news, I need to “see us on the street.” And so this evening, as Pride weekend begins, I’m heading out to the Trans March. If you would like to join several of us from St. Aidan’s and the wider diocese, please reach out to me. Or look for us at Dolores Park at 6 PM.
As President Jennings wrote earlier today: “we Episcopalians must now turn our attention to peacefully protesting state laws that seek to deny reproductive health care; to protecting clergy and lay leaders who will be caring for and counseling pregnant people in an ever-more perilous environment; and to fighting the movement, outlined in Justice Clarence Thomas’s radical concurrence with today’s decision...”
All of us are in this struggle together. I send out love to all of you on this difficult day, and particularly to the women of St. Aidan's. I welcome conversation and I offer my support, however you may be feeling today. Please feel free to reach out. And whether we talk individually or collectively, on Sunday or before, I look forward to seeing you.
Peace,
Cameron
|
|
|
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hybrid In-Person/Zoom Worship Continues This Week
This week our worship will continue to be hybrid, with both in person and Zoom platforms available. We encourage you to connect to with worship in whatever way is comfortable and feels safest for you.
As mask mandates increasingly lift in the Bay Area, and as COVID-19 moves in an endemic direction, we look forward to making masks optional for gatherings here at St. Aidan’s. While we are not yet ready to take this step for everyone, we are moving in that direction by inviting worship leaders who are fully vaccinated and boosted, and who feel comfortable doing so, to remove their masks when exercising that leadership in order to be more clearly heard. One exception to this shift is that worship leaders will remain masked while consecrating the elements at the altar. This modest step beyond our practice of the last several months is in accordance with diocesan guidance, the latest version of which can be found at: COVID-19 Health Guidelines
Empty Homes Tax Proposition
Great news to share! Over the weekend we officially hit our goal of signatures! Together with DSA, Jobs for Justice and other partner organizations, Faith in Action leaders helped to collect more than 13,000 signatures to ensure the Empty Homes Tax Proposition makes it to the ballot. Well done everyone! We are one step closer to ensuring our neighbors struggling to pay the exorbitant rents of this city have the subsidies they need to remain a part of our cherished community while at the same time creating a path to acquiring more affordable housing for the long term.
Resurrection in Little Rock: The following link connects to a moving story involving former St. Aidanites Lisa Thorpe and Jack Dowling. They worked at the Bishop’s Ranch for many years and have relocated to Little Rock where Jack works at the cathedral. After an arsonist set a fire in the cathedral vesting room, Lisa came to the rescue. https://ao.pressreader.com/article/282166474835750
New Jim Crow Anti-Racist Book Group – next meeting is Sunday June 26, 4-5:30 pm
We’re reading Born in Blackness by Howard French, Sections 1-3. All are welcome – please contact Deacon Margaret for the zoom link ( mdyerc@stanford.edu)
St. Aidan’s Gourmet Book Group - Next Date: Monday, June 27, 7pm
We will continue to meet via zoom with LeeAnn DeSalles serving as our zoom master. She has set up a zoom link that will serve for all our meetings. If you would like help with zoom, please contact LeeAnn at leeanndesalles@comcast.net. If you would like to join the Book Group, please contact elaine@mannon.com.
- Monday June 27, 2022 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. via zoom
- The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard – with a sharp ear for conversation and an eye for the defining political moment in a social interaction, Hazzard tells a story not merely about love but more deeply and subtly about power
- Monday, July 25, 2022 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
- Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin. Grandin, writing from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person to give a report from “the country of autism,” introduces a groundbreaking model which analyzes people and their patterns of thought. She charts the differences between her life and those who think in words.
Philadelphia Eleven Documentary Virtual Sneak Peak – Thursday, June 30, 4:30 PM pacific
Join us for the only planned sneak peek of work-in-progress scenes from the highly anticipated documentary film The Philadelphia Eleven about the first eleven women to be ordained priests in the Episcopal Church in 1974. Three of the ordinands, The Rev. Marie Moorefield Fleischer, The Rev. Betty Powell, and the Rev. Nancy Wittig will join the filmmakers for a discussion and Q & A about the film, and how this story is relevant today. We will have time for all who join us to reflect on the footage and the story together.
Originally this was going to be an in-person event at General Convention. Due to COVID restrictions, we pivoted to this online format and we are grateful for the opportunity to gather in community with all who may or may not have been able to be in Baltimore for the Convention. We are planning an hour and fifteen minute gathering. Closed captions will be available.
Please share this event with friends and family, and sign up to attend free today!
Philadelphia Eleven Documentary Virtual Sneak Peak
Good News Gardens – next date: July 2
Many thanks to all who joined our Good News gardening day yesterday June, 4th. Our next garden spruce-up Saturdays at the church will be on July 2. Out of an abundance of caution, we’ll mask and begin after lunch (12:30) so that we aren’t eating together. (Although there will be snacks and drinks available!) We’ll finish by 2 pm. Question? Contact Deacon Margaret ( Mdyerc@stanford.edu)
Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity Housing in Our Neighborhood - next date: Saturday August 6th
Our next Habitat volunteer opportunity is August 6 th! We had a great time at our recent May 21 experience (photos below….) Please let Deacon Margaret know if you would like to join on August 6 th – mdyerc@stanford.edu. We have just a few spots available because the folks who signed up for our cancelled June date will move to this one.
We will have further opportunities as well, and you can also always sign up on your own to volunteer on other days, especially Thursdays and Fridays. To reach out to Habitat for Humanity directly, please contact volunteer@habitatgsf.org. The Volunteer Calendar, updated weekly, is also online: https://habitatgsf.org/volunteer-calendar/
Call for Little Free Library Donations
Our Little Free Library has been up and running for about a month now, and it has really taken off-- so much so that we are in need of donations! If you have books to donate, please bring them in to church and we will put them into the Little Free Library as the supply runs low. Thank you!
Financial Summary: For the period January thru May 2022, total operating income was $145,215 and total expenses were $119,659, for a budget surplus of $25,556. Pledge payments totaled $100,341 compared to a budget of $93,049, for an overpayment of $7,292. There was a net operating loss for the period of $40,015 after including declines in market value of investments. Dave Frangquist, treasurer@staidansf.org.
Resources for Engaging in Anti-Racism, from Elena Wong
Thank you to Elena Wong for sharing this list of resources that were in turn shared with her through her membership in the Western Association for College Counseling:
Please send in your recipes for the COVID Connect Cookbook!
As shared in previous weeks, Peter Fairfield and Linnea Sweet are putting together the COVID Connect Cookbook. He's received several recipes thus far but would very much like more. He writes:
We are living through a time that will change our world in ways that we cannot yet begin to understand. We can hope that our shared vulnerability to this virus worldwide will help us see that all humanity is connected and that we must all work together. As we shelter in place, many of us are concerned with food. If we are not working, how will we afford it? If we cannot go out, how will we get it?
In our community of Saint Aidan’s, many are able to feed themselves and to help others get fed. More than that, we appreciate the food that we get and are finding new ways of making the sharing of food as enjoyable as possible.
The soup recipes that Cameron has been sharing have made our diet much more enjoyable and have given Linnea and I the inspiration to collect recipes from all the congregation and share them. We ask that everyone with a favorite recipe email it to us at peterlinnea@earthlink.net. We will collect and edit them into a cookbook which will be a lasting reminder of this strange and special time in all our lives.
We hope to be able to publish this cookbook in printed form and sell it to raise funds in support of Saint Aidan’s food ministries. We know you have been sharing food. Now please share your recipes!
Contemplative Prayer continues: Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday from 9-10 AM via Zoom
Contemplative prayer continues during this time of sheltering in place, via Zoom. Contemplative Prayer is silent with the beginning and ending marked by a bell. You can practice meditation, silent prayer, journal, or otherwise enjoy the collective quiet. Thank you to Susan Spencer for offering to anchor this practice once again, especially the Saturday, during this time. Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org.
Morning Prayer continues: Mon, Wed, Fri at 7:30 AM via Zoom
We also continue to have Morning Prayer to help sustain and ground us, online/over the phone! Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org.
Evening Prayer continues: Wednesdays at 6:30 PM via Zoom
Every Wednesday evening we hold Evening Prayer via Zoom. Evening Prayer usually lasts a half hour. Readings for the day often feature commemorations from the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints, and the service includes a brief reflection time on the readings. Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org
To add an announcement to the weekly bulletin of the Flame, please send your edited text no later than 11:00 am Wednesday to office@staidansf.org
|
|
|
St. Aidan's Vestry
Elena Wong, Senior Warden
Nicole Miller, Junior Warden
Dave Frangquist, Clerk & Treasurer
Christine Powell, Anne Edwards,
Michael Jennings, Jim Oerther
Anne Benninger, Kate Fritz, Elaina LeGault
Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 26, 2022
8 AM Communion (Hybrid)
Rev. Cameron Partridge, Officiant & Preacher
Kit Cameron, Altar Guild
10 AM Communion
Rev. Cameron Partridge, Officiant & Preacher
David Austin, Guest Music Minister
Anne Benninger, Lee Hammack, Michael Jennings, Janet Lohr, Jim Oerther, Kateri Paul, George Slaiman, Barbara Stevenson, Jill Tollefson, & Rolf Tollefson, and perhaps you!, Choir
Kateri Paul, Michael Jennings, Lectors
Kathy O'Loughlin, Intercessor
Sue McDonald, In-Person Greeter
Elena Wong, Zoom Greeter
Paul Nocero, Sound/Liturgical DJ
CoCo Lin, Child Care
Christine Powell, Altar Guild
|
|
|
|
