April 2001

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER SERVICES

Worship on Palm Sunday (April 8) will be a dramatic service beginning with a palm processional led by children, who will stay through the whole service.  We will move from "Hosannas" through the tragic events of Holy Week in dramatic readings and song. 

On Holy Thursday (April 12) we will begin with a potluck supper at 6 pm in the Social Hall and will celebrate communion at the supper table just as Jesus did in the Last Supper.  Then we will move to hear the story in the garden and the passion story in other parts of the building, remembering the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested.  Children will participate and be especially welcome.

The Good Friday (April 13) Tenebrae Service of Light and will be held at 8 pm.

On Holy Saturday (April 14) we will gather at Old First at 8:30 pm for an introduction to the Vigil, then walk together to Grace Cathedral to partipate in the service.

On Easter Sunday (April 15), we will have our traditional two services -- an informal early service  at 8 a.m. followed by the “lilification’ of the Sanctuary, and the festive 11 am service, with special music and Holy Communion. Between services, a pancake breakfast will be served in the Fellowship Hall at 9 am.

IT’S THAT FIRST PERSON YOU KNOW

by Betty Voris

It was Easter week and my husband was after me to find us a church where we could worship on Easter.  It had been over a year since the National Park Service had closed the chapel at the Presidio where we had worshiped for 16 years.  In that year we had visited churches of every size, denomination, and location.  All left us with a total feeling of hopelessness.  When we first moved to San Francisco, a good friend had suggested that we visit Old First and we never had.  That was the church I chose for us to visit on that Easter Sunday morning. 

It was at first overwhelming, walking into a church bursting with people we did not know.  But the music was thrilling and the service touched us both.  As we were leaving, we were warmly greeted by the minister, who introduced himself as Tim, and by a friendly woman who quickly took an interest in us and welcomed us profusely and sent us down for coffee.  Pam Byers took it upon herself to greet us every time we came to church, to chat with us and learn about us and our family.  She introduced us to others.  Tim thought it hilarious that we came from Indiana, introducing us to what we came to know was a significant number of members who also originated in Indiana. 

When I became overwhelmed at the thought of soon-to-be major surgery, it was Tim and Pam who prayed with me.   Steve was sitting with me as I waited to be taken to the operating room and whose friendly faces appeared but Tim’s and Pam’s.  Who was there after surgery praying with me and bringing me good cheer? Tim and Pam.  Who brought meals over in those early days of my recovery?  Pam!!  Although she was swamped with work (and then I knew not what), she was running into the kitchen and putting together noodles and meat and salad.  When I was able to return to church, both Pam and Tim were there cheering me on (even in that ridiculous and massive collar I was forced to wear).  What a blessing both of them were to Steve and me during those six months.

Is it any wonder there was no question that we would join this church whose members had taken us so under his/her/their wings?  On Palm Sunday , before the next Easter could pass,  we were welcomed into the membership of Old First.  It has been a place of joy and belonging for us now for two years, a true church home.  It would not have happened without those first few words of welcome and friendship from Tim and Pam.  There is a sonnet that someone once gave to me that personifies exactly what they did  - and it goes like this:

                        It’s the human touch in this world that counts

                        The touch of your hand in mine,

                        That means far more to the fainting heart

                        than shelter or bread or wine.

                        For shelter is gone when the night is o’er,

                        and bread lasts only a day.

                        But the touch of a hand

                        and the sound of a voice

                        Lives in the soul always.

That’s what you do when you greet a guest or a member in our church.  You reach out and you touch a soul.  You touch a life.  And it lives in their heart.   Reach out next time to someone you don’t know; welcome them into the world of Old First.  You both will be blessed by that simple deed.  

On Easter Sunday, April 15, please remember your special offering to One Great Hour of Sharing

RELIEF AND REBUILDING:  AFTER THE CAMERAS HAVE LEFT

What happens when a crisis becomes a way of life? It’s easy for us to respond to needs as Christians when we see them as somehow out of the ordinary. When a natural disaster destroys the order of people’s lives, we feel moved to help restore that order. After a couple of days of seeing the news clips of families huddled in overcrowded shelters, we may give to a special appeal for relief from the damage; maybe we even volunteer to go help dig out the survivors of the flood or earthquake, to rebuild the damaged homes and clinics. The need is clear and pointed, and we know it could just as easily have been our houses the tornado hit.

But what happens to us when the news crews move elsewhere? It’s all too easy to assume the crisis is over, or at least is under control. And frequently, thanks to the cooperation of church and government agencies, it is. We can all be proud of and thankful for the ministries of our own Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) as it stands with those families whose lives have been disrupted by disaster until they are on firmer footing, long after the cameras have left.

But what of Burma’s Karen people, or the Christians in southern Sudan? What about the Palestinians or the peoples of various parts of the former Yugoslavia? When their situation becomes chronic, that doesn’t make it easier for them to bear. Because it makes it harder for us to bear thinking about, we often tend to let these painful reminders of our common failure to live God’s shalom slip from our minds and hearts.

Yet even when we forget to pray for people trapped in these limbos, the gifts we make to One Great Hour of Sharing remember. The relief and rebuilding ministries of PDA continue to proclaim the hope and grace of God’s love. The development ministries of Self-Development of People and the Presbyterian Hunger Program witness to the persistence of that love. Through these programs, our hands continue throughout the years to reach out to people who need to hear a voice of hope. May God’s blessings accompany the gifts we give on Easter Sunday to all of God’s children in their hour of need .......... or weeks of need ........ or years of need.

HYMN-SING SUNDAY APRIL 22

As is our custom, we will celebrate the Good News of Easter with a mostly-music worship service on April 22. Come back to church on the Sunday after Easter prepared to sing!

OLD-FASHIONED ICE CREAM SOCIAL, APRIL 22

The Sunday after Easter is our traditional Ice Cream Sunday. Join the Deacons for our annual ice cream social in the Fellowship Hall after the service on April 22.  The cost is only $2.50 for adults and $1.00 for children 12 and under.  We will have flavors and toppings to suit every taste.  Limited quantities of sorbet also will be available as an ice cream substitute.  All proceeds benefit the Deaconsí Fund.  Don’t miss this sweet, sweet Sunday.

CHURCH TOWN HALL MEETING APRIL 29

Let’s talk about it! What’s going on at Old First, that is.  If you want to hear the latest from the Pastor Nominating Committee, the Congregational Care Committee, and the Community Ministries Task Force -- among other groups -- please gather after worship on Sunday, April 29. If you have questions, a number of church officers will be on hand to answer them.

MAY 20:  CELEBRATING 152 YEARS

Is it a birthday or an anniversary? Whatever you call it, Sunday, May 20 will be the occasion to celebrate Old First’s 152 years of serving God and our city.

Watch for details of a special luncheon to be held in the Fellowship Hall after the worship service. Some “Presbyterian Tales of the City” will enlighten and entertain you.

The Congregational Care Committee will be sponsoring this event, and they welcome any and all offers of assistance.

SESSION NOTES

from the February 27, 2001 meeting

Membership - Session approved a revised procedure for removing members from the active rolls. In the future, members who have moved out of the area or who no longer attend the church and who fail to respond to repeated attempts to contact them will be considered to have “renounced the jurisdiction of the church” and may be removed from the active list without further delay, per Book of Order

G-10/030b(4).

Community Ministry Task Force - The first reading of this group’s recommendation to Session was discussed at length. It was agreed to devote a significant portion of the March meeting to discussing this report and considering its approval.

Old First’s 2001 Goal - Session was reminded of the goal as determined at the January Leadership Retreat: “To focus special attention on integrating new members into the life of Old First and on reaching out to current members who seem to have dropped out of the life of the church.”

IN MEMORY - CONNIE HOLLAND

Connie Holland died on March 3 at The Sequoias. Memorial service date to be announced.

IN MEMORY - LORNA LOGAN

Lorna Logan, a passionate advocate for the rights of Asian immigrants and the director for almost half a century of Cameron House, a Presbyterian settlement house in Chinatown, died in San Francisco on March 6. She was 94. A memorial service was held March 25 at The Sequoias.

Miss Logan was born and raised in Seattle, where she received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Washington. Raised by devoutly Christian parents, both she and her older sister, Florence, became Presbyterian missionaries. Florence went to work in China, and in 1931, Lorna came to San Francisco's Chinatown.

There she worked alongside pioneering missionary Donaldina Cameron in rescuing Chinese women and girls who had been smuggled into the United States and sold into slavery as prostitutes and servants. "It was a daring escapade," said Buddy Tate Choy, who succeeded Miss Logan as director of Cameron House and who is now the administrator of social services for the San Francisco Housing Authority. "Sometimes, the men came into the building and tried to get the girls back, but Miss Cameron and Miss Logan would hide the girls down in the dark basement tunnels. . . . It may have been the first safe house in San Francisco for women who were abused."

After high-profile prosecutions put an end to the slave trade in the 1930s and looser immigration laws brought more Chinese immigrants in the 1950s and '60s, Cameron House evolved, under Miss Logan's leadership, from a haven for mistreated women into a professional social service agency serving the needs of Chinatown's poor families and new immigrants.

In support of her vision, Miss Logan spent a year in China studying Cantonese and earned her master's degree in social work from the University of California at Berkeley.  Although friends and colleagues described her as humble, gentle and soft- spoken, Miss Logan was a fierce crusader, lobbying at City Hall and in Washington, D.C., against discriminatory laws and for services for Asian immigrants.

After her retirement from Cameron House in 1981, Miss Logan served on the boards of many nonprofit organizations working in Chinatown. She was also proud to become the first woman elected moderator of the San Francisco Presbytery.  "All the social service agencies that exist today -- Chinese Newcomers Service Center, On Lok Senior Health Services -- Lorna had a hand in all of them," said Choy.

Miss Logan was honored with the 1968 Phoebe Apperson Hearst Distinguished Women Award, with a Liberty Bell from the San Francisco Bar Association, and as a Woman of Achievement, Vision and Excellence by Alumnae Resources.  Although predeceased by her parents and her sister, Miss Logan is survived by a large circle of loving friends.  

LECTIONARY

Apr. 1 - Fifth Sunday in Lent

                Isa. 43:16-21; Ps. 126; Phil. 3:4b-14; John 12:1-8

Apr. 8 - Palm/Passion Sunday

                Luke 19:28-40; Ps. 118:1-2, 19-29; Isa. 50:4-9a; Ps. 31:9-16;

                Phil. 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56 or Luke 23:1-49

Apr. 9 - Monday of Holy Week

                Isa. 42:1-9; Ps. 36:5-11; Heb. 9:11-15; John 12:1-11

Apr. 10  - Tuesday of Holy Week

                   Isa. 49:1-7; Ps. 71:1-14; 1 Cor. 1:18-31; John 12:20-36

Apr. 11 - Wednesday of Holy Week

                 Isa. 50:4-9a; Ps. 70; Heb. 12:1-3; John 13:21-32

Apr. 12 - Maundy Thursday

                  Exod. 12:1-4 (5-10), 11-14; Ps. 116:1-2, 12-19;

                 1 Cor. 11:23-26;  John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Apr. 13 - Good Friday

                  Isa. 52:13-53; Ps. 22; Heb. 10:16-25 or

                  Heb. 4:14-16, 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42

Apr. 14 - Great Vigil of Easter

                 Gen. 1:1-2:4a Ps. 136:1-9, 23-26; Gen. 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18,                  9:8-13; Ps. 46; Gen. 22:1-18; Ps. 16; Exod. 14:10-31, 1

                 2:20-21; Exod. 15:1b-13, 17-18; Isa. 55:1-11; Isa. 12:2-6;

                 Prov. 8:1-8, 12-21; 9:4b-6; Ps. 19; Ezek. 36:24-28;

                 Ps. 42 and 43; Ezek. 37:1-14; Ps. 143; Zeph. 3:14-20; Ps. 98;

                 Rom. 6:3-11; Ps. 114; Luke 24:1-12

Apr. 15 - Easter Sunday

                 Acts 10:34-43; or Isa. 65:17-25; Ps. 118:1-2, 14-24;

                 1 Cor. 15:19-36 or Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18

               or Luke 24:1-12

Apr. 22 - Second Sunday of Easter

                 Acts 5:27-32;  Ps. 118:14-29 or Ps. 150;

                 Rev. 1:4-8; John 20:19-31

Apr. 29 - Third Sunday of Easter

                 Acts 9:1-6 (7-20); Ps. 30; Rev. 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

May 1 -  Fourth Sunday of Easter

                Acts 9:36-43; Ps. 23; Rev. 7:9-17; John 10:22-30

Greetings!

As many of you are aware, Colleen, Jake & I recently gave up our view of San Quentin for a house in suburbia -- Antelope, to be exact.

Yes, it's really called Antelope . . . 15 miles east of Sacramento, elevation 120 feet, population ??? and no actual antelope to speak of.  We certainly hope you will look us up for a quick dinner or beverage on your way to Tahoe.

Workwise, I'm back at Arthur Andersen with the U.S. Marketing & Alliances team and Colleen will keep raising an amazing son and do some PR-related consulting work.

Please keep us posted on what's new.  We do plan to visit S.F. on a regular basis, so a brunch would be outstanding.

And keep checking www.weemsfamily.com for updates on Jake!

            Best,

                   John, Colleen & Jake Weems

                    jwweems@yahoo.com

 Dear Tracy:

I am asking that you remove my name from the membership rolls of Old First. I have joined the Metropolitan Community Church of the Coachella Valley. They do not need a letter of transfer.

I have loved being a member of Old First Presbyterian Church. The members of the church have truly showed me what it is to be a Christian. I certainly plan to keep the many friendships that I have developed. Old First will always be my spiritual home, and I look forward to worship there when in San Francisco.

I wish you all luck in your search for pastoral leadership and your continuing presence of Christian commitment in San Francisco, the world, and the denomination. It is truly sad that the Presbyterian churches here in Palm Springs were not as welcoming as Old First.

So, thanks for the great ride together. I will keep all of you in my prayers.

            Love,

                        Richard Schnitgen

HOMELESS MINISTRIES REPORT

by the Rev. Kathleen McAdams

The host for April 14th's monthly Community Dinner will be Old First's Mission Committee. Volunteers from all area faith communities are welcome to join in preparation at 4 pm and/or serving between 5:30 and 7 pm. On May 12, St. Luke's Episcopal Church will host this dinner at St. Luke's.

My contract with Old First has been extended through May, and I'm happy to have some additional time in the faith communities of the Polk Gulch neighborhood. I am in the process of finding an Episcopal congregation to serve as Associate Rector, and the Homelessness Task Force will soon be seeking a new Director of Homeless Ministry.

Summary of Adult Education Series on Hospitality and Boundaries

The series was quite successful, with as many as 24 people from 4 churches attending each session. Our guest speakers, Fr. Louis Vitale and Rev. Susan Ashton, were very much appreciated. Here's a brief wrap-up of what we discussed:

Each of us belongs to various interdependent communities - family, church, neighborhood, city, nation, world - in which we have some common history, stories, norms and values. These boundaries of community, as well as physical boundaries such as buildings, define who we are as community, protect us, and provide the space of nourishment from which we might nourish others.

Guests can become members of the community, and thus hosts, if they are willing to take on certain responsibilities and to buy into the covenant of the community. Caroline Westerhoff says in regard to covenant, “If belonging is without obligation and accountability, then we finally have not joined much of anything at all, and any significance that community might have held for us evaporates like mist..”

12:28-13:4,5-6 referring to Gen 18:1-8 and 19:1-8). Such incarnation calls us to treat people as sisters and brothers, and to engage them as individuals. We explored the difficult question of, in the face of great need and great scarcity, how do we welcome all the Christs in a way that honors each of them? As Christine Pohl writes, "If you're going to let Christ in, you don't want to have Christ sleep under the sink, and you don't want Christ to crowd out all the other Christs that are already in there."

Conversely, in offering hospitality, we risk that our guests will not be Christ-like. We have to agree as a community to what we are willing to risk. If we never invite the stranger, we may never encounter Christ. If we never lock the door, we may open ourselves to evil. It is in this tension that hospitality becomes a spiritual practice.  Vitale suggested that we "live with one foot in the world as it is, and the other in the world as it should be" (the Kingdom of God).

Pohl writes, “Offering hospitality in a world distorted by sin, injustice, and brokenness will rarely be easy. We need a combination of grace and wisdom. Substantial hospitality to strangers involves spiritual and moral intuition, prayer and dependence on the Holy Spirit, the accumulated wisdom of a tradition, and a pragmatic assessment of each situation. But grace is always primary. Our first priority must always be one of welcome, embrace, hospitality.”

And Monica Hellwig writes, ìTo preach that the salvation of God has come into the world in the person of Jesus, the one and only thing that is necessary is that a community that lives the new life of the Resurrection should touch the lives of the hungry of the world with authentic and generous compassion, drawing on the bread of life that is Jesus, to become themselves bread of life for the needy with their whole heart and their whole mind and their whole substance."

Those of us who have participated in the ministry of hospitality to our homeless neighbors shared a bit about how we've been blessed by the presence of these strangers, and how this hospitality has been transforming to us. We also explored some of the covenants we have with each other.

Each community must have some agreement about what it expects from its guests. We find mutuality in honoring such covenants together, as well as in expecting our guests to honor them. The basis of our covenant as a faith community is our baptismal covenant. This covenant is renewed, and our community nourished through our sharing in the Eucharist and through our fellowship with each other. Acts 2:42, 44-47 describes what the early Christians saw as their covenant together with God.

It is this nourishment from God and the community that empowers us to serve the world, to advocate for justice, and to heal the things that cause or contribute to poverty and homelessness - addiction, disability, lack of job skills, lack of adequate child care, and lack of self-worth. At least 90,000 San Franciscans live below the poverty level. We can help by continuing to support food programs, evaluating our neighborhood resources, and advocating for easier access to government programs - shelters with safety and privacy; welfare and disability assistance that make a difference, and include case management; safe and affordable child care.  Christine Pohl writes, “As a way of life, and act of love, an expression of faith, our hospitality reflects and anticipates Godís welcome.”

In that we are all the Body of Christ together, and that our covenant with God is lived out in such community, it is together that we must determine how best to do so. Within this relationship, we may challenge each other. Pohl writes, “The practice of hospitality challenges the boundaries of a community while it simultaneously depends on that community’s identity to make a space that nourishes life.”

A community’s boundaries are those things that we are not willing to sacrifice. (For what would we be willing to die? For what do we live?) They must be held fast, and may only change with the agreement of the community. Caroline Westerhoff writes, ‘A healthy boundary is firm enough to hold, but not so tight that it binds, confines, and cuts. It is flexible enough to allow movement and change within time and circumstance, but not so loose that it encourages sloppiness and aimless wandering.’ Individual boundaries, on the other hand, may be more permeable or flexible, as long as they don’t conflict with those for which the community has covenanted.

In offering hospitality, we invite the possibility of encounter with Christ incarnate (Matthew 25:36-36 and Hebrews

Members of Old First discerned that Christians have covenanted to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. We also noted that God covenanted with us first. They observed that Presbyterians are bound by their Baptismal Covenant - Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, love of neighbor, and the agreement to be part of the church everywhere - as well as the Book of Order and Book of Confessions. They also believe that the community of Old First has a covenant to support each other; to serve God together; to worship together; to preserve the safety of its community and its building; and to offer hospitality through worship and coffee hour which are open to all, as well as through the Welcome Center, Saturday dinners, Senior Center, tutorial, and AA meetings. And they observed that, by not posting "No Trespassing" signs on the building, they are passively allowing people to sleep (seek sanctuary) on the sidewalk.

In exploring what the community of Old First has to offer, members listed friendliness and welcome, love, music, individual gifts, business for local merchants, food, trust, safety, hope, the opportunity for new community or extension of existing community, church (connection with God / Christ), quality of service, relationship, and relative non-judgment.

Lastly, we examined where our hospitality enhances or conflicts with our covenants, and where we draw the lines about what we can offer? Participants stated that guests to Old First must not be intoxicated or out of control, that we must maintain a minimum number of ministers for the Welcome Center, and that we must not allow any kind of unsafe behavior.

My hope is that the entire congregation of Old First, and eventually other congregations with them, will come together to examine how Scripture, tradition of the Church, and our own reason and prayerful experience inform our understanding of the covenants we have with God, with each other, and with the surrounding community. As communities, we need to agree on the boundaries necessary to honor those covenants, decide how we will communicate them to each other and enforce them, then proceed to offer hospitality with love - for each other, for God and for the world.                                                        

PASTOR'S LETTER

It's a beautiful San Francisco evening and the full moon is rising once again outside my window.  This time it is directly over Grace Cathedral.  For another viewer at another place in San Francisco the moon is directly over Old First.

God is great.  God is good.  How magnificent the creation:  God's swirling earth, this city, and the church.

The beauty outside of my window is a reflection of the beauty within this church.  In my two moons here I have encountered a membership wonderfully committed to the well-being and up-building of God's church here in the city.  No wonder, this is a place well worth the energy and time members put into it.

As I look out of my window onto buildings I wonder also how we are doing in presenting God to the city.  I am gratified to know that our Welcome Center, Tutorial program, and Senior Center meet needs of our immediate environment.

The Welcome Center provides caring and compassionate service to the many who come off the street on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and Saturdays once a month) for a meal, pastoral care, conversation, and sanctuary.  The Senior Center offers a comprehensive program that touches holistically the lives of our senior population.  While I have not been as close to the tutorial program as I have to the others I do see children bounding into the building and caring tutors greeting them.

The Session has been discussing the church's role with these three ministries.  Please remember the Community Ministry Task Force and the Session in your prayers as they consider the future of ministry here at Old First.  Let us be thankful and grateful that we are engaged in the significant work of discerning God's will for our church.

Let us thank God for Old First that is concerned not only for itself but also for those outside our doors.  We are grateful for the church as a whole because without the church community ministry would not happen.  Every person and department in the church is important and glorifies God. 

Beyond church and city, we behold God's greater dwelling place, the universe, and the vastness of God who holds reality together in unity and order, and sustains spontaneity within a framework of regularity.  Within all this, God loves us and cares for us individually and corporately.  Thanks be to God! 

May we continue to feel God's presence, strength, and love as we journey with Jesus through the cross to resurrection!

                                   Shalom and Agape,

                                                  Cornel