Called to Accompaniment: St. Aidan's Flame for Friday, February 10, 2023

View this email in your browser

Called to Accompaniment:

St. Aidan's Flame for Friday, February 10, 2023

It’s a grey Friday, with a decent chance of rain tomorrow after a week of cool sun. This morning the SF/Marin Food Bank brought quite an abundance of produce for our Friday Food Pantry. Eggplant, oranges, mandarin oranges, spinach, celery, broccoli, brussels sprouts, onions, very large turnips, small red apples, blueberries, and more are all arrayed in our sanctuary as we speak. The volume is in significant contrast to the smaller amounts of food we’ve been provided to give away over the last several weeks, and I’m grateful for the bounty. We also had a new volunteer this morning, brought by a longtime one, and that extra assistance was especially appreciated today.

As one of the volunteers and I put vegetables into a bin, I asked how she was doing. There was a pause. Then she said, “I don’t know what to do with the news about the baby born in Turkey.” I immediately knew what she was referring to: a baby was born to a woman who died in the rubble of the earthquake along with other members of her family. The baby has survived and is reportedly doing well. I confessed I don’t know exactly how to hold that news either. I have found it so overwhelming that before finding a link for this piece, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to read about it. I’m amazed that this baby has survived in the midst of such layers upon layers of loss in Turkey and Syria – not only earthquake but ice cold winter, and not only winter but years of war and strife. The baby has lost so much without even having the capacity to know that, at this point. And the baby is alive, being cared for, making her way into the mystery of this life.

The stories of devastation in Turkey have also come on the heels of news of the devastating loss of Tyre Nichols in Nashville and the continuing epidemic of systemic racism and police brutality in this country, witnessed by upwellings of grief and anger after the video of his beating was released. I continue to feel raw about all of this, and I especially appreciated Canon Stephanie Spellers’ piece “We Must Stop Forgetting”, that arrived in my inbox about a week ago with the subject heading: “For Tyre - Special Becoming Beloved Community Newsletter.” Canon Spellers, you may recall, wrote The Church Cracked Open, which we read as a congregation in 2021. She says of the released video, “I have not looked at it, yet it is all I can see…. I have not seen the video, but I cannot unsee it, and I honestly don’t want to unsee it.” She reflects on how it is all too easy to forget, and how important it is to sit with what has been revealed. I highly recommend her reflection.

I hear a call today to sit with that which is overwhelming in our world—truly to stay with one’s emotions, to not simply push them away or numb them. I hear a call to invite God into our emotions, to be present to and with them, with God's help. I hear a call to be present to and with one another, to support one another as we take in the raw contexts of our world. That can happen in any number of places, from one’s inbox to the grocery store, to a coffee shop conversation to a Zoom meeting. “I have not looked, yet it is all I can see.” “I don’t know what to do with this news.” Our analysis and our action (our call to “get up and move” as Canon Spellers puts it) begins with our emotion, with our hearts calling us to dwell with and share what truly matters. As the season of/after the Epiphany shifts toward its close a week from Sunday, that invitation to sit with, to be present to what is being shown to us feels very much of this season. We are called to accompaniment, together, with God’s help.

In that spirit, please see the announcement below about St. Cyprian’s co-sponsoring and co-leading worship with us a week from this Sunday, February 19^th. I am excited about that chance to walk and worship together. And in that spirit as well, I give thanks for the vestry retreat at Bishop’s Ranch last weekend. Your 2023 vestry came together to plan for the coming year (as I wrote about last week), to begin to walk together. I look forward to all that will unfold.

Peace,

Cameron

VITAL + THRIVING UPDATE
Come to a cottage meeting!

The next step in the Vital + Thriving process Is “corporate spiritual discernment.” The V+T steering committee is preparing a report summarizing all the data and insights gathered from the activities we have completed so far: the Timeline Event in July, the household surveys, the interviews the Listening Team conducted, and our operations data report.

Throughout March, we will share the report and lead small-group conversations around targeted questions designed to help us discern the future God imagines for us. (See list below for times/dates and details. We will ask everyone to COVID-test before in-person meetings.)

Thank you for your faithful participation in this important work.

V+T Steering Team: Cameron Partridge, Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, Nicole Miller, Barbara Stevenson, Jim Oerther.

Sunday March 5, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at St. Aidan’s. Facilitator/host: Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain. Simple light brunch
***This in-person session will be held outdoors, on the patio outside the church. In case of rain, we will go into the narthex (and keep the doors open).

Saturday March 11, 10 a.m. – 12 noon at Mealy/Stevenson residence in Glen Park.
Facilitator/hosts: Barbara Stevenson & David Mealy. Brunch.

Tuesday March 14, 6 – 8 p.m. at St. Aidan’s. Facilitator: Cameron. Soup supper.

Sunday March 19 – 5 to 7 p.m. at Oerther residence in the Bayview. Facilitator/host: Jim Oerther. Soup supper

Sunday March 26 – 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Zoom Session. Facilitator: David Mealy
For this session, an unlimited number of slots is available. The group as a whole will be together for the V+T steering team report and Q&A and then we will break down into small groups via breakout rooms for discussion.

Wednesday, March 29 – 7 to 9 p.m. at the Nocero residence in Daly City. Facilitator: TBD. Dessert.

HOW TO SIGN UP: Sign-up sheets will be available in the narthex after Sunday services. You can also sign up online here. If none of the dates/times listed is possible for you, please contact Barbara at Barbara.f.stevenson@gmail.com.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

St. Cyprian’s is coming to visit on Feb 19 – let’s do Welcome Café!
On Sunday, February 19, Rev. Hannah and the members of St. Cyprian’s will join us at 10:00 for a joint service. We need volunteers for Welcome Café. If you can help set up, clean up, or can contribute some light finger-food goodies, please let Barbara S (Barbara.f.stevenson@gmail.com or 415.902.4142). Thanks!

Save the Date for our Spring fundraiser, back in person on Saturday evening, March 18th at 6 PM: Fiesta!

•   Entertainment by the Pena-Govea Family!
•   Wonderful Mexican food!
•   Live Auction!
•   Silent online auction!
•   Smack the Pinata!
Come together in community to support St. Aidan’s ministries and have a great time!

Our St. Aidan's Women's Spirituality Group will meet via zoom this Saturday, February 11th, at 10:30. As before, we will have time for both checking in and personal sharing as well as time for spiritual growth. We are certainly open to formats and approaches such as reflections on a poem, scripture, narrative passage or another focus for our growth. We want our group to meet the needs and desires of those who participate. If you want to join us, and we hope you will, please contact Elaine Mannon at elaine@mannon. com to get the information for signing into our meeting.

Roger Wolcott Service Scheduled for February 18, 2023 at 2:30 PM
On Tuesday morning, December 6th, Roger Wolcott was seriously injured in a bicycle accident, and early in the morning of Christmas Eve he died. We will celebrate Roger’s life in a service here at St. Aidan’s on Saturday, February 18th at 2:30 PM. For several brief posts about Roger’s journey and many messages of support, please see his Caring Bridge page. There is also a Go Fund Me site to help pay for medical bills related to Roger’s care.

Caring Bridge: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/rwolcott
Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/roger-wolcott

Thank you for your prayerful support for Roger and please continue to surround Margie with your love and care.

Good News Gardens Dates for 2023 - Next Date: Saturday, March 4, 2023, 12:30 pm.
We continue our Good News Gardens dates on the first Saturday of each month. Please mark your calendars: March 4, April 1, May 6, June 3. We’ll sort out plans for summer as we get closer. All are welcome – we garden from 12:30-2 pm at the church. Questions – contact Deacon Margaret, mdyerc@stanford.edu.

News from Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Our local Episcopal seminary, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, where our seminarian Weston currently attends (and where Amy Newell-Large, Susan Stanton, and Mia Kano attended), made a major announcement this week that it is shifting to a fully hybrid educational program, beginning next academic year and will ultimately no longer have a residential model of seminary education. You can read about it in their announcement here. Please pray for all in the CDSP community -- especially current residential students, faculty, and staff – as they enter this time of transition.

Support for Barry Koron
Barry Koron's family has set up a Go Fund Me (linked below) to help support the care he needs that is not covered by insurance. If you are able to lend your support to Barry and family in this way, they would very much appreciate it. Thank you.
Barry’s GoFundMe, https://gofund.me/1a227c81

Archbishop Naoum asks for support for those affected by the earthquake in northern Syria
Since Sunday night when the first news of the disastrous earthquake in Central Turkey and Northern Syria arrived, we have been watching with great sadness the destruction across the region and the rescue and relief efforts.
The effects of the earthquake were felt far from the epicenter. Archdeacon Imad Zoorob, head of St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Center in Beirut, sent video of light fixtures rattling in this family’s fifth floor apartment. Dua’a Bisharat, director of Saviour’s School in Jordan, said she thought she awoke with a dizzy spell before she realized it was an earthquake.
Read newsletter
Read Archbishop Naoum's Letter
Donate to AFEDJ (American Friends to the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem)

ERD's Turkey and Syria Earthquake Response
Partner with Episcopal Relief & Development to provide support to people affected by the deadly earthquake along the border between Turkey and Syria. Visit episcopalrelief.org today to make a contribution to the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Response Fund.

Help Habitat Greater San Francisco spread the news about a new program for our neighbors
Since we are loyal volunteers at the Amber Drive Site, our Habitat friends have asked for our help in spreading the word about a valuable service now available to low-income homeowners residing in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. A recent grant allows residents with fixed incomes to receive help with low-cost critical repairs so they can keep their homes and age in place. The “ask” is for us to walk with Habitat staff while performing the important outreach task of hanging information on doors in the neighborhood. We’ll have the chance to get to know our Habitat friends better and also to discover the vibrancy of this family-oriented, working class neighborhood. Volunteers need to be 14 years of age for this one.
Date and time: Saturday, February 25, 2023, noon – 4 pm.
There will be snacks! And we can arrange carpooling also.
Please contact Deacon Margaret if you are interested in joining, mdyerc@stanford.edu.

St. Aidan’s Gourmet Book Group - Next Date: Monday, February 27, 2023, 7pm
We will continue to meet via zoom with LeeAnn DeSalles serving as our zoom master. She has set up a zoom link, listed below, that will serve for all our meetings. If you would like help with zoom, please contact LeeAnn at leeanndesalles@comcast.net<mailto:leeanndesalles@comcast.net>. If you would like to join the Book Group, please contact elaine@mannon.com<mailto:elaine@mannon.com>.

Monday February 27, 2023 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
- Languages of Truth by Salmon Rushdie (368 pages) - Gathering pieces written between 2003 and 2020, Rushdie immerses the reader in a wide variety of subjects as he delves into the nature of storytelling and the nature of "truth."
Monday, March 27, 2023 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
- Still Alice by Lisa Genova (292 pages) – A compelling novel about a 50-year-old woman’s sudden descent into early-onset Alzheimer’s disease

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:

READ
Resources on talking to young kids about race and racism
The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)

LISTEN (Podcasts to subscribe to)
1619 (New York Times)
Code Switch (NPR)
Seeing White Series on Scene On Radio

WATCH
13th Film (2 hours)
When They See Us (Four episodes)

DONATE
Color of Change
Southern Poverty Law Center

FOLLOW
Groups and people doing anti-racist work, such as @colorofchange @weinspirejustice @showingupforracialjustice

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: Wednesdays at 6:30 PM via Zoom
Our CDSP Seminarian Weston Morris has resumed the service. 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

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.

Mask Policy: After carefully considering survey input from parish members, as well as City and diocesan guidance and the current practices of other churches and public venues, the Regathering Committee has concluded that it is time to revise our mask policy. Beginning Sunday, November 20, if you are fully vaccinated and are comfortable removing your mask, you may do so during church services. We will respect the preference of anyone who feels safer by remaining masked. In accordance with diocesan guidance, the celebrant will still be masked while consecrating and distributing the elements for the Eucharist. We will also maintain a well-ventilated sanctuary by opening doors and windows, so remember to dress warmly as winter approaches. We acknowledge that COVID is likely to be with us in some form for the foreseeable future, and we will be monitoring public health advisories. Our mask policy be modified again as is appropriate. Please pray for the health and safety of all our members and friends as we continue to navigate this challenging time.

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
Kate Fritz, Senior Warden
Lee Hammack, Junior Warden
Dave Frangquist, Clerk & Treasurer
Anne Benniger, Anne Edwards,
Sarah Glover, Michael Jennings, Elaina LeGault
Jim Oerther, Barbara Stevenson

6th Sunday After the Epiphany

8 AM Communion (Hybrid)
The Rev. Cameron Partridge, Presider
The Rev. Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, Deacon
Weston Morris, Seminarian & Preacher
Doris Weyl Feyling, Altar Guild

10 AM Communion (Hybrid)
The Rev. Cameron Partridge, Presider
The Rev. Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, Deacon
Weston Morris, Seminarian & Preacher
Dr. Lisa da Silva, Postulant
David Austin, Guest Music Minister
Anne Benninger, Lee Hammack, Michael Jennings, Jackie Lewey, Janet Lohr, Jim Oerther, Kateri Paul, Barbara Stevenson, Jill Tollefson, & Rolf Tollefson, and perhaps you!, Choir
Patricia Busk, In-Person Greeter
Margaret Tait, Zoom Greeter
Patrick Hall & Elaine Mannon, Lectors
Margaret Tait, Intercessor
Janice Tickner-Leonard, Altar Guild
Dave Frangquist, Sound/Liturgical DJ
Patricia Brown, Bread Baker
CoCo Lin, Child Care

Calendar for the week starting Friday, February 10, 2023

Friday,

February 10

Saturday,
February 11

Sunday,
February 12

Monday,
February 13

Tuesday,
February 14

Wednesday,
February 15

Thursday,
February 16

Morning Prayer (via Zoom), 7:30 AM
Food Pantry, 1 PM

Contemplative Prayer (via Zoom), 9 AM
St. Aidan's Women's Spirituality Group (via Zoom), 10:30 AM

Holy Eucharist (Hybrid), 8 & 10 AM

Morning Prayer (via Zoom), 7:30 AM

Contemplative Prayer (via Zoom), 9 AM

Morning Prayer (via Zoom), 7:30 AM
Evening Prayer (via Zoom), 6:30 PM

Contemplative Prayer (via Zoom), 9 AM
Kaffeeklatsch (via Zoom), 3 PM

Our Prayers

In Your Prayers, Please Remember:

In deep acknowledgment that St. Aidan’s is located within the unceded, ancestral land of the Yelamu tribe of the Ramaytush Ohlone people who have lived in vital relationship with this holy place for thousands of years.

In the Episcopal Church: Pray for Michael our Presiding Bishop; Marc our Bishop; the clergy of the Diocese; our Rector Cameron; our assisting priests Don and Gary; our Deacons Margaret, and Mark; our Music Minister Barry; our Guest Music Minister David; our seminarian Weston; our postulant Lisa; our Childcare Provider CoCo.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer: Pray for The Episcopal Church in the Philippines.

In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: Pray for SEA Church, San Bruno and South San Francisco, and for Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

In our Parish Cycle of Prayer: Pray for the Community Ministries Board.

For those with birthdays this coming week: Carolyn, Robert, Rebekah, Ella, Lin.

For all striving for mental and emotional balance and wholeness, and for their families and friends.

For those who have asked for our prayers: Barry K., Dawn, Elaina L., George J., Jack P., Jim F., Kathy R., Margaret T., Margie W., Marilyn W., Michael & Elaine J., Nancy F., Nathan C., Patrick M., Reyna G., Tim F.

For the ongoing work against intersecting forms of oppression, particularly racism; and in affirmation of human dignity;

For our work in the world: Habitat for Humanity on Amber Drive, the Friday Food Pantry, Diamond Diners.

For Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Elijah McClain, Walter Wallace, Adam Toledo, Daunte Wright, and all whose lives have borne deep witness that Black Lives Matter, and that systemic racism, white supremacy, and police brutality must be eradicated.

For our congregation as we embrace our call to be a sanctuary people, may we commit ourselves to prayer, education, and practices of sanctuary to support immigrants to this country and all people who are estranged, excluded, or threatened in 21st century America.

For all who are struggling in this time of pandemic, vulnerability, intensified injustice and division; for strength, support, and community across physical distances and for deepened engagement and commitment to our common life;

For those who have recently died: John Anthony Fabatz, Roger Wolcott, Linda, Ann Schembari, Jean Amos, Marjorie Wilkins Jones, John Morrow, Natalie Lloyd, Sabra Sones, Eleanor Elliott, Ellie McCarthy, Christine Ortiz.

Names of the living are printed by first name only unless otherwise requested.
Living prayer request names will be kept on the prayer list for four weeks;
to keep someone on the list for longer, please notify the office.
To place a name on our prayer list, please contact the church office

415-285-9540, ext. 3 or office@staidansf.org

Website and Staff Email Addresses
Our website address is staidansf.org
The email address to reach Cameron, the Rector, is rector@staidansf.org
The email to reach Cary, the Parish Administrator, is office@staidansf.org
The email to reach Barry, the Music Minister, is music@staidansf.org
The email to reach Dave, the Treasurer, is treasurer@staidansf.org

Our mailing address is:

101 Gold Mine Drive
San Francisco, CA 94131

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.