April 2002

EVENING PRAYERS 7:30 PM    

Wednesday, April 3

“JUST FOR THE BIRDS!”

A CONCERT OF MUSIC INSPIRED BY OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS

Saturday, April 6, 2002, 8:00 pm

Pamela Sebastian, soprano

Jennifer Chung, flute

Bryan Baker, piano

Songs and instrumental works by Bishop, Brahms, Handel, Haydn, Messaien, Moussorgsky, Rodrigo, Roussel, Schubert & others

General admission $15; seniors/students $10

HYMN-SING SUNDAY APRIL 7

As is our custom, we will celebrate the Good News of Easter with a mostly-music worship service on April 7. Come back to church on the Sunday after Easter prepared to sing!

OLD-FASHIONED ICE CREAM SOCIAL APRIL 7

The Sunday after Easter is  Ice Cream Sunday. Join the Deacons for our annual ice cream social in the Fellowship Hall after the service on April 7.  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 Deacons’ Fund. 

APRIL 20 KICKOFF CELEBRATES THE NEW WELCOME MINISTRY

The Homelessness Task Force is re-establishing itself as a new non-profit corporation to be known as The Welcome Ministry, a Service to the Homeless. This milestone will be celebrated at a fund-raising reception on Saturday April 20th, 5 to 7 pm, at our partner St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 1755 Clay Street between Van Ness and Polk. Old First members and friends are cordially invited to help celebrate.

The goal is to have a good time and to raise at least $10,000. The celebration will showcase the art and life of our homeless neighbors as seen through their own photography. There will be an opportunity to meet the volunteers and staff who minister to our homeless neighbors and to get involved in the work.

Several nearby restaurants are contributing appetizers for the celebration. Don Pender and Jennifer Henderson will provide musical entertainment.

Tickets are $100 for a Sponsor, $50 for a Benefactor, and $20 for a Supporter and can be obtained by calling the church at 776-5552 or Michael Berg at 217-3585. Validated parking for $5.50 will be available at the Old First Garage.

The Homelessness Task Force is comprised of several nearby churches; Old First has played a leading role in this community service since 1996. Hospitality for our homeless and low-income guests is offered at the Welcome Center Tuesdays and Thursdays at Old First, and at monthly Saturday evening dinners alternating between St Luke’s and Old First.

POLLY DAY’S RECITAL APRIL 27

You are invited to a piano recital of Italian music performed by Polly Day on Saturday, April 27, at 3:00 pm. The recital is given as a benefit for Old First Concerts. Any donation you may care to make will be gratefully received. A reception will immediately follow the recital.

TOWN HALL MEETING

SUNDAY, APRIL 28 - AFTER WORSHIP SERVICE 

To talk about Old First’s response to the defeat of Amendment A

Old First’s Session has empowered a subcommittee of elders, headed by Michael Berg, to consider and recommend our response to this action. This meeting is for members of the congregation to express their opinions.

APRIL CHOIR CONCERT

Sunday, April 28, 4:00 pm

This concert will be a bit different. How different? Most of the music will be a cappella (the sesquipedalian way of saying “unaccompanied”) music for the choir. The concert begins with works from England, including William Harris's Faire is the Heaven (for double choir) John Sanders's The Reproaches (for six-part choir), and John Taverner's Song for Athena (which was sung at the Westminster Abbey funeral of Princess Diana).

For the second part of the concert we will cross the Channel to France and the music of Jean Langlais. The wonderfully gifted pianist Daniel Glover will join Ken Matthews to play Langlais's beautiful four-hands  Suite for Piano. The choir will conclude with the Messe en style ancien  (Mass in the Old Style) of Langlais. Music Director Ken Matthews has studied much of the music of Jean Langlais with Marie-Louise Langlais, the widow of the late composer.

The suggested donation for the concert is $6 general admission, $4 for seniors and students.

OLD FIRST’S 153RD BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Sunday, May 19, 2002

On Pentecost Sunday, May 19, we will celebrate the 153rd birthday of Old First Presbyterian Church at a fun and festive luncheon party.

Since everybody enjoyed it so much, we’re repeating the format of our 152nd celebration. There will be a buffet of ethnic foods reflecting the diverse origins and tastes of our membership and a program of “More Presbyterian Tales of the City” about some memorable people and moments from our past.

To share a favorite food from your family cookbook or your corner deli, look for the signup table at Coffee Hour. Tickets are $5 for adults, $2 for ages 6-12.

AMENDMENT A IS DEFEATED

The Presbytery of South Louisiana cast the 87th and deciding vote against Amendment 01-A on Feb. 19. The amendment’s defeat ensures, for at least one more year, that officers of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will continue to be required to practice “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness.”

The vote on Amendment 01-A — which would delete section G-6.0106b from the church’s Book of Order — stands at 122 presbyteries against, 45 in favor as of March 15. A similar measure proposed in 1997 was defeated 57-114.

G-6.0106b states: “Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”

In a statement  acknowledging with regret the defeat of Amendment 01-A, the Covenant Network of Presbyterians said, “Our congregations will continue to extend the welcome of Jesus Christ to all who trust in him as their Savior and wish to share in the mission and ministry of his church. We grieve with all who are excluded by the policy of the church, and we are saddened by the waste of gifts from which the church will not benefit.

“........ Although the amendment has failed, we note that 43% of ministers and elders voting in presbyteries thus far have voted for it. We are grateful for the tireless efforts of colleagues in every presbytery who envision a more open church. Despite this vote, the issues involved have not gone away.”

PASTOR'S PONDERINGS

Dear Friends,

Fresh from a stimulating weekend among the Redwoods at Westminster Woods, I write to tell you how glad I am - still - to be your pastor. Barbara and I enjoyed our time leading the retreat and look forward to more moments of study and reflection with you. It is good to be among people who like each other so much, especially in view of the turmoil absorbing our denomination.

Some of you may not know about the struggles the Presbyterian Church has been having "lo these many years." Some of you may not really care - after all, this congregation does not suffer from the same turmoil that the national church is dealing with. But still, what goes on outside us does have an impact on many within our midst, so I'd like to offer a few words.

Many of you know by now that "Amendment A," (an effort to remove the language prohibiting Gays and Lesbians from being ordained in the PCUSA), has been defeated. I'm disappointed - and angry - but not surprised. The question that is ringing in everyone's ears right now is, "What will happen next?" Will the "winners" in this vote pursue their advantage and begin bringing charges against congregations who cannot, in good conscience, adhere to the current ordination standards? Will the denomination divide? What will this congregation do to support those among us who we dearly love, as they are rejected by the larger church? Is now the time to push forward, or is now a time to "count to ten?" I have no definitive answer; I'm going to be interested to see what many of you feel.

Having said that though, I do have one or two thoughts. It is possible that there are irreconcilable differences within the Presbyterian Church. People are angry. We may not be able to hold together, but neither is it certain that we cannot. So, before we come to such a parting of the ways, I think people on all sides of the ordination standards debate need to find some way to understand each other - not just understand where and why we stand on ordination standards, but where we stand on the basic theological questions facing Christians in this post-modern age. I suspect that our faith and our witness will come clear in such a conversation. I suspect it will work that way at Old First as we explore those questions too.

Where do you stand on the basic theological questions facing Christians in the post-modern age? Or better still, . . . What are the basic theological questions facing Christians in this post-modern age? I'm hoping that we will all find ways to think such questions through. One of the responsibilities of membership in our church is to pursue some opportunity to become better educated in the faith. From Adult Education on Sunday morning, to Wednesday Bible Class, Small Groups and the Old First Yahoo discussion group, there will be opportunities to explore your faith. I hope you'll take the chance to engage that process so that our faith and so our witness will become ever clearer and our church can be, what a friend of mine calls, "a living dress rehearsal for the reign of God." (Isn't that a great line? My friend's name is Martha Moore-Keish, Ph.D.)

                                                Grace and peace,

                                                                   Sam Alexander

SESSION APPROVES DEVELOPMENT OF COLUMBARIUM CHAPEL

At its February meeting, Old First’s Session approved the development of a columbarium chapel in the southwest stairwell, contingent upon completion of final plans which are subject to Session’s approval, and execution of a construction contract with a fixed or “not to exceed” price.

It is understood that design and construction will not begin unless funds are available from the sales of niches and plaques, and that no other church funds will be used for the columbarium.

SESSION NOTES FROM THE FEBRUARY 26 MEETING

Presbytery - The new five-member executive team of the Presbytery is now in place. Catherine Renyon is the new Stated Clerk of Presbytery.

Mission - Session voted to retain the Tutorial Program as one of Old First’s ministries and to strengthen and improve the program.

Amendment A - It was agreed to plan a Session discussion at the March meeting on Old First’s response to the issue of gay and lesbian leadership.

VOLUNTEER HELP WANTED

Old First Concerts is seeking an office volunteer to help with data entry, folding brochures, preparing items for the mail, processing ticket orders.  Flexible hours, appreciative staff, free concert tickets.  Call Mike Tekulsky at 474-1608.

APRIL LECTIONARY

Apr 7 - Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Ps. 16; 1 Pet. 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

Apr 14 - Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Ps. 116:1-4, 12-19; 1 Pet. 1:17-23;

                  Luke 24:13-35

Apr 21 - Acts 2:42-47;  Ps. 23; 1 Pet. 2:19-25; John 10:1-10

Apr 28 - Acts :55-60; Ps. 131:1-1-5, 15-16;  1 Pet. 2:2-10;

                        John 14:1-14

May 5  - Acts 1:22-31;  Ps. 66:8-20; 1 Pet. 3:13-22; John 14:15-21

WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS RECEIVED MARCH 10

Margie Baygell has attended Old First off and on for four years as a "friend of the church," but has recently felt that God was inviting her to make the commitment of joining.  Recently retired from a decades-long career at Bank of America, she is an excited "returning student" in City College’s liberal studies program.  She and her husband Milton live near the Financial District.  Margie grew up Roman Catholic; she joined  by Reaffirmation of Faith.

Jerry Grace is that rare person, a native-born Bay Area resident.  He grew up in Oakland and whenever he’s gone away, he’s always come back home.  While his family was not religious, he started attending Old First a couple of years ago with Craig Kehne and Jasun Harmell, as he began to take a deliberately new turn in life.  He has volunteered in our Welcome Center.  He joined by Profession of Faith and Baptism.

Cynthia Kang was raised Buddhist, but when her family moved to this country from Korea her father decided they would become Presbyterian.  She was a "casual" member of Old First a few years ago; as she looks toward her upcoming marriage, she and her fiance Nils Welin want to be part of a church family and raise their children in the church.  Cynthia is Senior Administrator in San Francisco’s Department of the Environment and lives in Potrero Hill.  She joined by Reaffirmation of Faith.

Britt La Gatta is known very well at Old First, even if not always by name: she has been our soprano soloist and section leader for the past four years.  She also leads our children’s choir.  Britt has been singing in church choirs and elsewhere ever since she auditioned into the local Episcopal church’s adult choir at the age of ten.  Currently she leads a monthly Taize service at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Rafael, and gives private singing lessons.  She and her husband Lou live in Corte Madera; their sons Robert and Steven are active participants in our church school and youth programs.  She joined  by Reaffirmation of Faith.

Susan MacCormac Taylor grew up in a Presbyterian home; her father Earl Mac-Cormac, taught philosophy at Davidson College in North Carolina. She grew away from the church during college (Williams) and grad school (Duke), devoting herself to a career in law. While she has attended Old First sporadically since moving to San Francisco in 1997, recently she has become more devoted to "finding God's will for her life." When she saw the invitation to attend Newcomers' classes, she knew it was the right time. Now a Partner in the Corporate Finance Group of Morrison & Foerster, Susan lives in Russian Hill with her husband Andy.  She joined by Letter of Transfer from Davidson College Presbyterian Church.

Nils Welin began attending Old First with his fiancee Cynthia Kang last fall; they will be married here in April. Nils grew up Lutheran in Sweden, but he notes that although (or perhaps because) the church there is established, it is nearly "irrelevant" to many people.  With an MBA in Finance, Nils is Director of Marketing for Cypress Security.  He joined by Reaffirmation of Faith.

Heidi Zuhl is a lifelong Roman Catholic who also often attends Quaker meetings.  She deepened her understanding and interest in various religious practices as a religion major at Earlham College.  A high-tech public relations consultant, she’s attended Old First off and on for four years with her husband Fritz.  It has become one the "beacon churches" in her life.

Fritz Zuhl grew up in a Presbyterian church in Indiana; during college and graduate studies in the history of science, he developed a more detached and intellectual approach to religion.  He returned to faith through attending Mass with Heidi; now he is bringing her into the Presbyterian family.  Fritz worked until recently for the NPR show "Tech Nation."  The Zuhls live in the neighborhood and want to help Old First be a strong and positive influence. Fritz and Heidi joined by Reaffirmation of Faith.

HOW TO SPONSOR SANCTUARY FLOWERS AND COFFEE HOUR

When the Congregational Care Committee took on the responsibility of coordinating contributions for flower arrangements for the Sunday worship service and for coffee and donuts for Coffee Hour, we thought it would save staff time and strengthen a weak place in the church’s budget. It sounded like a great idea — and it would be, if we could actually get it to work.

We have a handy-dandy, all-purpose form and a procedure. When contributors don’t use the form and don’t follow the procedure, it creates all kinds of confusion. A check turned in without the form might not get credited to the right account, and the donor might not be listed in the Sunday bulletin. A form turned in without the check leads to other problems. The Congregational Care moderator and the church office administrator often have to spend extra time to figure out who’s contributing what, if they’ve actually paid for the donation, what date the contribution is really for (when the date on the form doesn’t match the date on the calendar) and what the Sunday bulletin should say.

We’ve done everything we can think of to make this as simple and efficient as possible. There is a signup table at Coffee Hour every Sunday, staffed by a member of the Congregational Care Committee who can list you on the calendar for the Flowers or Coffee Hour sponsorship you want and receive your form (with all the spaces filled in!) and your check — both the form and the check, at the same time. When all this happens at least two weeks before your chosen Sunday, there should be no problem — but remember:  until you turn in both the form and the check, the Sunday you wish is still not reserved in your name and may be taken by others.

WELCOME

Peter Cullen Burbery was born February 18, 2002.  He is the son of Hannah Hull Burbery and Tim Burbery and will be baptized soon at Enslow Park Presbyterian Church in Huntington, West Virginia by his grandfather, the Rev. Roger Hull, former pastor of Old First.

HOW I CAME TO BELIEVE THAT HOMOSEXUAL PEOPLE
QUALIFY FOR FULL STATUS IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

by Betty Alexander

It is interesting to note that my husband, Julian, a retired Presbyterian minister and my son, Sam, an active Presbyterian pastor, and I have ended up with the same outlook on the position of homosexuals in the Church — yet each one of us has taken a different route to reach the same conclusion. I am a life-long evangelical, with a love for the Scriptures and total confidence in their authority. Indeed, I can testify that Jesus Christ is life itself to me. Two unrelated things happened which have changed how I view homosexual people in the church.

First, it all started with a newsletter interview I conducted with a Jewish homosexual man in the Continuing Care Center where I live. Peter told me he was born in Austria. When he was a teen-ager, Hitler's troops marched in. He says that in a sense, Hitler did him two favors. First, he was forced to flee and ended up in the United States, and second, he met his partner who was a Christian and with whom he had a stable relationship for 52 years. Once they were living in Florida, Peter went with him to the Metropolitan Community Church every Sunday until his partner's death a few years ago Peter still attends this church each Sunday. The church provided a stable environment for their relationship all those years. Peter says that Christianity gave him much more than "my own religion."

Just at this time, I read a significant article which appeared in the Presbyterian Outlook entitled "Galileo's Telescope," by Dr. Laird J. Stuart. It underlined the importance of the authority of Scripture and at the same time used the experience of Galileo to demonstrate the challenge of interpreting Scripture by taking into account the experience of both the past and the current culture. Interpreting Scripture has always been a challenge and I am grateful for the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit who promised to lead us into all truth. Down through the ages, as each changing culture has been forced to interpret the Scriptures, the Spirit has done just that. The theologians of the time forced Galileo to recant his "heretical" view that the earth goes around the sun and not vice versa, because they did not look through his telescope. Later they did look through his telescope and saw that Galileo was right.  He was reinstated.

I saw that with respect to the place of homosexuals in the church, I too needed to "look through Galileo's Telescope." What I saw when I did, was not the gay community which the Apostle Paul was describing at the end of the first chapter of Romans and other places. I saw the community of the Metropolitan Community Church, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and providing gay people with a stable social environment for relating. In it are many gay couples with a lifelong commitment to each other What a revelation! It is a Christian community describing itself as the 3 "E's" -- Ecumenical (part of the Body of Christ, the church universal and apostolic); Evangelical (standing on John 3:17), and Eucharistic (communion at almost all services).

At Peter's invitation, I attended a moving worship service at his church. In the sermon the pastor urged the congregation to receive the salvation Jesus came to bring and to continue in it.  Anointing with oil followed for those seeking healing of any kind, The service closed with Communion served individually at the front of the sanctuary, and a brief personal prayer for each one as they came forward. The presence of Jesus was there in power.

And so it was confirmed that the gay community with whom I worshipped that day did not bear any resemblance to the people the Apostle Paul had described. I long to have them with us serving Christ with full status in the Presbyterian Church!

THE YAMAMOTOS REMEMBER THE INTERNMENT CAMPS

(Verlin and Dee Yamamoto were sent to internment camps during World War II. They didn’t often discuss this part of their lives, but they did talk to Patty Lindahl several years ago for an eighth grade project of hers. This article is based on Patty’s interview with them, and presented in loving memory of Verlin and with our deep affection, gratitude, sympathy and respect to Dee.)

Verlin was a US Citizen by birth. Dee was born in Japan and came here with her parents as a baby. At that time, no Japanese people could become citizens.

Verlin was working at a photographic shop in San Jose before the war. He and Dee were about 26 years old and planning their wedding when they learned about the camps. They knew their marriage would separate Dee from her parents, since she would have to go with Verlin's family. Dee said, "My father was asked to work at the naval academy, so he didn't have to go to camp; my mother, my sister and brothers went with him. They wanted me to go with them, but I was going to marry Verlin."

They had two months' notice before they had to leave in May, 1942. They were allowed to take only what they could carry. At  an assembly center, they stood in line and waited to be put on buses and taken away.

They were first sent to a camp at Turlock, California, where they shared a barracks room with Verlin's parents and brother George. After three months in Turlock, they were sent to Gila, Arizona for two and a half years. Most of their friends from San Francisco were sent to Utah, but Verlin's father, a doctor, was sent to Arizona to be in charge of the camp hospital. Their first child, Judy, was born at Gila in 1944.

Dee told Patty, "Well, of course, it's a little hard if you think of it.  In San Francisco we had an ordinary life.  And all of a sudden we were pushed around and pulled into this kind of living.  And it was a little hard for me because I had to live with his mother and father and brother in one place.  But then, what we did later was to get a smaller place for ourselves, and we managed.  Some people would say it was very hard, but we were so busy with so many things that it didn't matter. We were fortunate to be in Arizona, except we had terrible sandstorms.  I used to worry about my daughter, who was a baby then.  I used to cover her up with a blanket. I used to worry a great deal.”

There was no school in Turlock, so Dee began teaching the children "songs and that kind of thing." In Arizona, she became superintendent of a school that had a few other teachers. She taught classes of four- and five-year-olds. Verlin worked with his father at the hospital.  “We got paid each month, depending on the kind of job we had. Dr. Yamamoto got 22 dollars a month, the highest rate, because he was in charge of the hospital. The rates for other work were 16 dollars, then 12 dollars, then 8. We didn't have to use our money to buy food.  Food was provided by the government. Everything for my baby, including diapers, was provided.  We used the money for some extra things that we wanted.  We went to a little store if we wanted or needed to get something extra.

“There was no church.  We had to start our own church. There was one Japanese-American who used to be pastor of one of the churches in San Francisco.  It was a Christian church.  Verlin and I were active there.

“At mealtimes, all the kids ate with their friends.  The mother couldn't say ‘Take  your elbows off the table’ or anything like that.  All the adults ate together.  It was a  Mess Hall.  You just go and eat.  They piled everything on our plates, which I didn't like.  But, it's the way that they do it in any military camp.  So, that's the way we lived.”

When the war was over, the Yamamotos went to Des Moines, Iowa; they were sponsored by one of the editors of  Better Homes and Gardens.  “One of the editors, Mrs. Hatanlock,  knew Mother Yamamoto very well.  Mother Yamamoto was a fine oriental  florist, well known all over the West  Coast.  Mrs.  Hatanlock  used to travel from Des Moines to San Francisco every month to learn tips  from Mother Yamamoto. When the war was declared and Mrs. Hatanlock found out that we were going to be interned in  camp in Arizona, she said, ‘When this whole thing is ended, I want you to come and stay with us in Des Moines.  And we'll be sure that you have a job.’  So, that's why we went from Arizona to Des Moines.

“Our money and property were not returned to us.  Our property was either stolen or vandalized;  many things were vandalized.  Some  very, very expensive things that Mother Yamamoto brought from Japan were damaged. We did lose a great deal.”

Verlin told Patty, “While we were in Des Moines, I was recruited to the Veterans’ Administration Hospital. We stayed there a long time.  That's when we had our second child, a son, Keith. He and Judy went to school in Des Moines and went to college.  By that time the government wanted me to work for them in Washington D.C., and I was transferred there; the children were already married and away from home.”

Dee and Verlin came back to San Francisco fifty years after they were sent away.  They celebrated their  50th  anniversary in San Francisco, when their children surprised them with a big dinner for about a hundred people.

When Patty asked if they had received compensation from the U.S. Government, Dee said, “Yes.  25,000 dollars.  Each of us received 25,000 dollars when the government decided to do that ten years after the war was over. Our parents were gone.  They were all dead.  But Verlin, George, and I received 25,000 dollars each.

“By that time, I was a citizen.  I became a citizen in Des Moines in 1955. This is my country.  You could be angry at your mother and father,  but then you don't keep that anger, do you? You might not like some of the things they did, but it's a family.  And it's only natural that we love them and we forgive them for whatever they did.  So, this is my country.  And I never thought of thinking that they did terrible things to us and we're going to hate them or do something terrible to them.  No! This is  my country, and I love it.”

Verlin said, “ I agree completely. We were angry at the time.  And I don't think it's right that America put us in separate camps.  But, they made a mistake and I forgive them.”

December 2001, Nov 2001, October 2001,  September 2001, July/August 2001, June 2001,  May 2001,  April 2001, March 2001, 
February 2001, January 2001 

December 2000, November 2000,October 2000, September 2000, July/August 2000, May/June 2000,April 2000, March 2000, February 2000