June 2000

Mission Vision Document Adopted by Session

The Old First Mission Vision document adopted by Session on May 23 is now available online.  Whether you are a long-time or prospective member, this document will offer you an insightful summary of our congregation's pas, and its goals for the future. Click here to view the document.  

Old First Choir and Orchestra Concert

Sunday, June 18, 5 pm

Kenneth Matthews, music director

Jay Pierson, baritone

Respighi’s "Ancient Airs & Dances" -- Vaughan a piece by Berkeley composer John Thow for English horn, viola d’amore and harp performed by Julie Ann Giacobassi, Geraldine Walther and Douglas Rioth from the San Francisco Symphony.

Cellist Margaret Tait of the San Francisco Symphony and the Aurora String Quartet performs the West Coast premiere of a work for solo cello. Musicians from the SF Opera Orchestra, including concertmaster Kay Stern and cellist Emil Miland will be joined by pianist Peter Grunberg and violist Elizabeth Prior Runnicles to play portions of Faure’s Piano Quartet No. 1. Former Adler Fellow Sara Ganz will perform Blue Songs, a song cycle by Tiburon composer Ron McFarland. Also scheduled to appear are jazz pianist Mike Greensill and pianist Mack McCray.

Founded in 1970, Old First Concerts is San Francisco’s longest-running concert presenter, with around sixty concerts a year. It provides opportunities for promising young musicians to perform, orchestral musicians to be showcased as soloists, and music-lovers to enjoy fine performances at reasonable admission prices. Many members of Old First first entered this church because of Old First Concerts, and it is a vital part of our identity in the community.

Session Notes

from the April 25 meeting

• As members oWilliams’  "Five Mystical Songs"

Suggested donation:  $2.00-$5.00

June 19 Gala Concert Celebrates Old First Concerts’ 30th Anniversary

 Old First Concerts celebrates 30 years of excellent music-making on Monday, June 19, with a gala concert at 7:30 pm. Members of the Bay Area music community who comprise the Old First Concerts’ Artists Advisory Committee and their colleagues will perform in a gala concert to salute the contributions made to Bay Area music by our church’s concert series.

The Artists Advisory Committee was established by current Executive Director Grayce Dello Joio in 1994 to provide assistance and recommendations in choosing artists for the series; this will be the first time they have performed together for the series. Special ticket prices for this event are $20 for general admission tickets and $15 for seniors, students, and members of Old First Concerts.

Works to be performed include arrangements for two guitars of tangos by Astor Piaz-zola to be performed by guitarists Lawrence Ferrara and Tom Lisek and a piece by Berkeley composer John Thow for English horn, viola d’amore and harp performed by Julie Ann Giacobassi, Geraldine Walther and Douglas Rioth from the San Francisco Symphony.

Cellist Margaret Tait of the San Francisco Symphony and the Aurora String Quartet performs the West Coast premiere of a work for solo cello. Musicians from the SF Opera Orchestra, including concertmaster Kay Stern and cellist Emil Miland will be joined by pianist Peter Grunberg and violist Elizabeth Prior Runnicles to play portions of Faure’s Piano Quartet No. 1. Former Adler Fellow Sara Ganz will perform Blue Songs, a song cycle by Tiburon composer Ron McFarland. Also scheduled to appear are jazz pianist Mike Greensill and pianist Mack McCray.

Founded in 1970, Old First Concerts is San Francisco’s longest-running concert presenter, with around sixty concerts a year. It provides opportunities for promising young musicians to perform, orchestral musicians to be showcased as soloists, and music-lovers to enjoy fine performances at reasonable admission prices. Many members of Old First first entered this church because of Old First Concerts, and it is a vital part of our identity in the community.

Session Notes

from the April 25 meeting

• As members of the corporation of Old First Concerts, Session heard a report from Christopher Burt, President of the Concerts Board. Chris announced that the Board has invited Henry Halpern to be Executive Director, succeeding Grayce Dello Joio. Henry has been Assistant Director since July, 1998; he is a graduate of Golden Gate University’s Arts Administration program.

• The Easter Sunday offering for One Great Hour of Sharing totaled $3,145.15.

• Session approved the Mission Committee’s request to request a Hunger Fund Mini Grant of $500 from the SF Presbytery, to be used to purchase food for the Welcome Center.

• A proposed job description for the Director of Homeless Ministry was referred to the Personnel Committee.

• Session voted to approve, support and promote the alternative worship service known as Jazz Vespers.

Choosing a Pastor Nominating Committee

The Pastor Nominating Committee will be elected by the congregation at a special congregational meeting in late June or early July.  This will follow final approval of the Mission Vision Report by our Session and the San Francisco Presbytery and informational presentations to the congregation.

By our Standing Rules, a PNC has nine members: three from the Session, one from the Deacons, and five from the congregation at large.  The session has chosen Pam Byers, Sydney Hollar and Esther Kim; the Deacons have named Bill Wunsch.

The nominating committee of the congregation is now considering people to nominate for the other five additional places.

Please think carefully about who in the congregation could contribute to the health and mission and future of Old First by serving on the PNC. This could include you!  In selecting people for the PNC, the nominating committee will be looking for people with a strong love and understanding of Old First, representing the whole range of our wonderfully varied congregation -- married and single, parents, young people and older folks, from different racial backgrounds, new members and long-timers, with varied interests and concerns and skills.  And they have to be able to undertake a major commitment: the PNC will meet almost weekly for, probably, most of a year, and will read many dozens, if not hundreds, of dossiers.

Please think and pray about this, and then give suggestions, in writing, to any member of the nominating committee: Rosemary Bledsoe, Dick Bobb, Jeanne Choy Tate, Heather Losee, Linda Reyder, Colleen Weems, and Pam Byers (Moderator).  Please include a sentence or two about what strengths and interests you think the person would bring to the PNC.

This is a crucial part of our next steps together, and we strongly invite your participation.

            • Pam Byers, Moderator

                 Nominating Committee

"A Faithful Response to Homelessness

by Roger Lindahl

Old First's existing ministry of compassion to our homeless neighbors evolved through a purposeful process of discussion and planning. This process took place first within our church community and was later expanded to include representatives from our neighborhood and San Francisco at large. It began in 1996 when the Session adopted as a church goal "to develop a faithful response to homelessness."

The Homelessness Task Force was established by Session in 1996. Under the leadership of Bill Meadows, the task force began several initiatives during its first year. Most visible to the congregation was a Christian Education series on Homelessness in the fall of that year. Tied to the CE series, a Sunday worship service focused on the theme of homelessness. The task force also moved ahead to study the issue and to communicate with our homeless neighbors as well as merchants, local residents and the Mayor's office. People living on the street outside our church were invited inside for dinner. We began to know their names and their background.

Following the departure in late 1996 of Bill Meadows, Roger Lindahl took over as HTF moderator. The task force began intensive planning for a neighborhood meeting in 1997. A Statement of Principles on our homelessness effort was also drafted by the HTF and approved by Session in May of 1997, as follows:

            I. All people, regardless of their economic condition or residential status, are children of God  and equally deserving of respect, friendship, compassion and care.

            II. God commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Our neighbors include residents, merchants, other religious communities and homeless people in our neighborhood.

            III. We are called to seek harmony among all neighbors as well as dignity for all.

            IV. It is our Christian responsibility to help the poor and those most in need, which includes our homeless neighbors.

            V. It is our Christian responsibility to open the doors of our church to all God's people and enthusiastically embrace all seekers, regardless of  socioeconomic status.

 A well-attended "Neighborhood Conversation on Homelessness" was held at Old First, also in May of 1997. This meeting was organized by the HTF and co-sponsored by Old First, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and the San Francisco Interfaith Council. The meeting brought together members of the faith community in our area, advocates for homeless people, merchants, residents, city government representatives, private service representatives and our local police captain. Efforts were made to present the perspectives of all groups and brainstorm practical approaches to homelessness.

As a result of the conversation, the HTF was expanded to include members from the broader community, including representatives from several local churches. This expanded task force met on a monthly basis until early 1998, when planning and implementation functions were turned over to a smaller steering Committee. The efforts of the steering committee were helped enormously by the hiring of Susan Young as a community ministries intern at Old First and the faithful support of Father River Sims of Temenos Catholic Worker, a local street ministry. Michael Berg took over as moderator of HTF in 1999, as our Welcome Center and regular monthly meals were instituted.

The Welcome Center: a Ministry of Presence

In February 1999, the Welcome Center, a neighborhood hospitality center for homeless people, opened at Old First Church on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Volunteers serve lunch and spend time with our homeless neighbors, listening to their stories and providing a caring presence.  Susan Young provides a pastoral presence, praying with guests, referring them to health care and social services, and visiting them in the hospital, at drug treatment centers, or the jail. 

We would like to continue our ministry to our homeless neighbors, but the church budget has no funding for the Welcome Center or community ministry programs after June 30, 2000.  We need nine months’ lead time to secure grant funding; to continue this ministry through March, 2001, we need to raise $35,000.  Thanks to the generosity of several donors who have contributed $17,000 to be matched by members of Old First, we are well on our way.  But we need your contribution to make it happen. 

Please consider making a special contribution to support our homelessness ministry  by sending a check to Old First by June 25, 2000 (being sure to note “homelessness ministry” on the check).  On May 21, there will be a special event in worship to celebrate the collection of this offering; we invite you to be part of that event as well.  Your money will be used to help us continue to provide a meaningful presence in the lives of others, people like Craig Kehne, Roger Ulibarri, and Jasun Harmell, three people whose lives have been changed with the love and support they have received from this faith community.

Craig Kehne first became acquainted with Old First through Emma Lee, who would stop by the parking lot where he often slept to give him a sandwich.  Then he met Roger Lindahl, Michael Berg, Tim Hart-Andersen and other Old Firsters while he camped out in the Great Western Bank parking lot on Sunday mornings.  But it was not until Tim personally invited Craig to a community meeting about homelessness that he finally came to the church. He says now that he went to that meeting for the free meal, but he continued to go to the subsequent meetings because of the way members of Old First treated him — people like Joan Dills St. Clair, Roger, and Michael, who valued Craig's opinions and his candor about life on the streets.

Craig says his relationships with people from this church gave him an anchor to hold on to while struggling with drugs, alcohol, and homelessness.  He finally went into recovery after Roger and Michael went searching for him in the middle of a rainstorm and found him in the bank parking lot.  Michael sat down in the rain with him late at night and helped him figure out how to get into recovery.

Craig describes the role Old Firsters played in his recovery as “a ministry of presence.”  We helped him see that he could change his lifestyle and that people did care about him.  Now, as a member of Old First and a recently-ordained deacon, Craig in turn provides the same caring presence to our homeless neighbors as they come to worship on Sunday mornings, visit at the Welcome Center or join us for our monthly Saturday night dinner. 

For Roger, Old First was also an anchor as he moved from homelessness into recovery.  Like Craig,  he felt nurtured by members of this church and encouraged to believe that a clean and sober lifestyle is possible.  Recently, Roger described Old First “as the place where he goes to fill his gas tank every week.” Through his own volunteer work at the Welcome Center and participation in the choir, he is reminded that with the love of God, he can achieve all things.

Jasun Harmell, a young man who came to us through the Welcome Center, describes the center as a safe haven, a place where he could escape the craziness of the streets and the harassment of the police.  Now Jasun is living at the St. Anthony Foundation drug treatment facility. By helping with our monthly dinners and being part of the volunteer staff at the Welcome Center, Jasun learned that he wanted to be part of  what he describes as "something good" and this desire led him into recovery.  Now, five months later, members of Old First continue to care for and support Jasun, visiting him at the treatment center and praying with him.

Can you see what is happening here? We are really making a difference!  Our ministry of presence is so vital, so desperately needed, that even those still in transition want to participate — not just as receivers, but as givers of help themselves!             

We are creating a community of hope, empowering people who thought they had lost all hope and all power over their own lives!

Being present with people in their pain, their addictions, and their struggle to live on the street is what we do here.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we can do no less, for Jesus himself provided a ministry of presence with outcasts.  Through our ministry at the Welcome Center and our monthly community dinners, we, like Christ, can share our love with another human being and practice what it means to be a neighbor. Jesus describes the greatest and second greatest commandments as loving God and neighbor as we love ourselves.

Please help Old First continue this vital ministry by making a contribution to the homelessness ministry by June 25.  Remember, every dollar up to $17,000 contributed by the church will be matched by anonymous donors and help to keep the Center going until outside dollars are found.

Potential donors can be influenced by a high level of personal involvement among church members and the living proof of others like Craig, Roger and Jasun. Volunteering at the Welcome Center has been a significant experience for many. Even those who found it daunting at first soon joined in the camaraderie of the volunteers working together, the friendly and grateful response of the guests, and the clear contribution we are making in Jesus’ name. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Susan Young.

If you would like to find out more about our financial needs and how you can help as part of the fundraising effort, contact Pam Free or Michael Berg.

Lectionary

June 4   7th Sunday of Easter

                Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26; Ps. 1;

                1 John 5: 9-13; John 17: 6-19

June 11  The Day of Pentecost

                Acts 2: 1-21 or Ezek 37:1:14;

                Ps. 104:24-34, 35b;

                Rom. 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

June 18  Trinity Sunday

                Isa. 6:1-8; Ps. 29;

                Rom. 8:12-17; John 3: 1-17

June 25   12th Sun. in Ordinary Time

                1 Sam. 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49; Ps. 9:9-20 or 1 Sam.

                17:57-18:5, 10-16 & Ps. 133;

                2 Cor. 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41

July 2    13th Sun. in Ordinary Time

                2 Sam. 1:1, 17-27; Ps. 130;

• The Easter Sunday offering for One Great Hour of Sharing totaled $3,145.15.

• Session approved the Mission Committee’s request to request a Hunger Fund Mini Grant of $500 from the SF Presbytery, to be used to purchase food for the Welcome Center.

• A proposed job description for the Director of Homeless Ministry was referred to the Personnel Committee.

• Session voted to approve, support and promote the alternative worship service known as Jazz Vespers.

Choosing a Pastor Nominating Committee

The Pastor Nominating Committee will be elected by the congregation at a special congregational meeting in late June or early July.  This will follow final approval of the Mission Vision Report by our Session and the San Francisco Presbytery and informational presentations to the congregation.

By our Standing Rules, a PNC has nine members: three from the Session, one from the Deacons, and five from the congregation at large.  The session has chosen Pam Byers, Sydney Hollar and Esther Kim; the Deacons have named Bill Wunsch.

The nominating committee of the congregation is now considering people to nominate for the other five additional places.

Please think carefully about who in the congregation could contribute to the health and mission and future of Old First by serving on the PNC. This could include you!  In selecting people for the PNC, the nominating committee will be looking for people with a strong love and understanding of Old First, representing the whole range of our wonderfully varied congregation -- married and single, parents, young people and older folks, from different racial backgrounds, new members and long-timers, with varied interests and concerns and skills.  And they have to be able to undertake a major commitment: the PNC will meet almost weekly for, probably, most of a year, and will read many dozens, if not hundreds, of dossiers.

Please think and pray about this, and then give suggestions, in writing, to any member of the nominating committee: Rosemary Bledsoe, Dick Bobb, Jeanne Choy Tate, Heather Losee, Linda Reyder, Colleen Weems, and Pam Byers (Moderator).  Please include a sentence or two about what strengths and interests you think the person would bring to thespan>    2 Cor. 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43 

Welcome

to Sarah Lansing Dubbs, born on May 12, 6 lb, 9 oz; daughter of David and Suzie Dubbs, sister of Andrew.

And to two new members of Old First, received on Easter Sunday, April 23:

Ken Everett attended the Southern Baptist church in his youth. After college and the service, he came to San Francisco 24 years ago and worked in Accounting at UCSF for a number of years. A long-time hospice volunteer, he has always felt a spiritual element in his life, but didn’t find a church where he felt at home. When Brian Nichols invited him to Old First, he felt a welcome from both the pulpit and the people. Ken and his partner Michael manage a building of executive suites near Union Square. He joined by Reaffirmation of Faith.

Kathy Lipset grew up singing in the choir at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian and also attending Walnut Creek Pres, but she wasn’t baptized until she was a young adult in Iowa. Kathy has recently moved back to San Francisco from Sacramento. After many years of working in marketing and training for Pacific Bell, she is considering further training in Chinese medicine, a long-time interest of hers. She first attended Old First on impulse, “just passing by.” She felt so welcome she attended the congregational retreat only a couple of weeks later! Kathy has a 16-year-old son. She joins by Letter of Transfer from Westminster Presbyterian in Sacramento.

And Goodbye ....

to the Rev. Jim Juhan and Cynthia Conners, who have moved to Nevada. Jim and Cynthia are long-time Old First members who have contributed much in many ways, not the least of which has been the pleasure of their company. Jim has served as elder, parish associate and Interim Church Administrator; Cynthia as elder and deacon.

Hugh Swaney and Richard Schnitgen have given up their “bi-city-al” lifestyle and returned to their home in Palm Springs.

Excerpts from our On-line Discussion at http://www.egroups.com/group/oldfirst

Our Mission, our Vision, our Future

The Mission Vision study is a document to get us thinking and to get us talking to each other about who we are as a church and who we want to be. It has been discussed at Session meetings and at after-church gatherings of the congregation.It has also been a topic of Old First’s internet study group; here are excerpts from on PNC.

This is a crucial part of our next steps together, and we strongly invite your participation.

            • Pam Byers, Moderator

                 Nominating Committee

"A Faithful Response to Homelessness

by Roger Lindahl

Old First's existing ministry of compassion to our homeless neighbors evolved through a purposeful process of discussion and planning. This process took place first within our church community and was later expanded to include representatives from our neighborhood and San Francisco at large. It began in 1996 when the Session adopted as a church goal "to develop a faithful response to homelessness."

The Homelessness Task Force was established by Session in 1996. Under the leadership of Bill Meadows, the task force began several initiatives during its first year. Most visible to the congregation was a Christian Education series on Homelessness in the fall of that year. Tied to the CE series, a Sunday worship service focused on the theme of homelessness. The task force also moved ahead to study the issue and to communicate with our homeless neighbors as well as merchants, local residents and the Mayor's office. People living on the street outside our church were invited inside for dinner. We began to know their names and their background.

Following the departure in late 1996 of Bill Meadows, Roger Lindahl took over as HTF moderator. The task force began intensive planning for a neighborhood meeting in 1997. A Statement of Principles on our homelessness effort was also drafted by the HTF and approved by Session in May of 1997, as follows:

            I. All people, regardless of their economic condition or residential status, are children of God  and equally deserving of respect, friendship, compassion and care.

            II. God commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Our neighbors include residents, merchants, other religious communities and homeless people in our neighborhood.

            III. We are called to seek harmony among all neighbors as well as dignity for all.

        &nbe week’s on-line exchange of views:

Hello everyone:  it's time to move on to Mission Vision's third question: Do we have and can we get the volunteer resources we need for all we want to do?

We have a large number of volunteer-dependent programs....... a huge list for a church our size!  My impression of this congregation is that the membership is MUCH more involved than in most congregations.   I estimate  about half the membership participates in some way beyond Sunday worship.  In my last congregation less than 20% participated in any way outside of worship.

But — can we manage to continue all of these programs and more with the membership we have now?                                                             • Erwin Barron

My view on this is that the volunteers determine which programs work and don't work.   If enough volunteers can't be found, that might be a good indicator that the program should be discontinued. Other programs (worship, nursery, children's education) might be deemed "critical".   If we can't muster the volunteers here, we should think maybe the program needs to be better publicized, organized, reduced in scope, or if all else fails, staffed by professionals.                               • Steffen Bartschat

If only a few people can make a program survive, is real burnout the point when we decide to discontinue the program?  I was thinking we would want to have specific points prior to burnout when we can re-assess any program to determine if it should continue. This in no way speaks to the validity or value of any specific program, but we may have a fear of "failure" for specific programs we know are valuable and don't really want to end.                                                                 • Tom Culp

When is burnout occurring? 1)  If you publicize the need for volunteers for a certain activity and nobody shows up to help/sign up.  2)  If you need to call/coax people re-peatedly to show up for their volunteer task. 3)sp;   IV. It is our Christian responsibility to help the poor and those most in need, which includes our homeless neighbors.

            V. It is our Christian responsibility to open the doors of our church to all God's people and enthusiastically embrace all seekers, regardless of  socioeconomic status.

 A well-attended "Neighborhood Conversation on Homelessness" was held at Old First, also in May of 1997. This meeting was organized by the HTF and co-sponsored by Old First, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and the San Francisco Interfaith Council. The meeting brought together members of the faith community in our area, advocates for homeless people, merchants, residents, city government representatives, private service representatives and our local police captain. Efforts were made to present the perspectives of all groups and brainstorm practical approaches to homelessness.

As a result of the conversation, the HTF was expanded to include members from the broader community, including representatives from several local churches. This expanded task force met on a monthly basis until early 1998, when planning and implementation functions were turned over to a smaller steering Committee. The efforts of the steering committee were helped enormously by the hiring of Susan Young as a community ministries intern at Old First and the faithful support of Father River Sims of Temenos Catholic Worker, a local street ministry. Michael Berg took over as moderator of HTF in 1999, as our Welcome Center and regular monthly meals were instituted.

The Welcome Center: a Ministry of Presence

In February 1999, the Welcome Center, a neighborhood hospitality center for homeless people, opened at Old First Church on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Volunteers serve lunch and spend time with our homeless neighbors, listening to their stories and providing a caring presence.  Susan Young provides a pastoral presence, praying with guests, referring them to health care and social services, and visiting them in the hospital, at drug treatment centers, or the jail. 

We would like to continue our ministry to our homeless neighbors, but the church budget has no funding for the Welcome Center or community ministry programs after June 30, 2000.  We need nine months’ lead time to secure grant funding; to continue this ministry through March, 2001, we need to raise $35,000.  Thanks to the generosity of several donors who have contributed $17,000 to be matched by members of Old First, we are well on our way.  But we need your contribution to make it happen. 

Please consider making a special contribution to support our homelessness ministry&n  If, upon running a volunteer event, you get the feeling that nobody is enjoying themselves. 4) If volunteers don't show up at planning meetings (perhaps because they are run inefficiently). I have a feeling that many volunteer hours are spent out of guilt.  This will lead to burn-out.                                                                    • Steffen Bartschat

 I want to add one more thing about vounteer burn-out. I am pretty sick of serving on committees, especially Presbytery and denominational committees but church committees too, where people volunteer because they think they have to and then don't really have the time or energy to do a decent job, or they don't do any follow through between meetings. I hate to think of how many hours I have wasted in church committee work because people couldn't say 'no' when they should have.

                                                   • Jeanne Choy Tate

The supply of volunteers tends to expand to fill the need, within certain limits.  Obviously, a limited pool of people with a limited amount of time will define some outside range.  From a practical perspective, however, each person will have an incentive to volunteer if that person perceives a benefit from volunteering which is equal to or greater than the cost of volunteering.  A very interesting book entitled "The Logic of Collective Action -- Public Goods and the Theory of Groups", by Mancur Olson, analyzes the dynamics of volunteer activity.  Using a lot of math and technical language, this book argues that smaller organizations tend to attract volunteers more readily than large organizations........

I volunteer for a huge number of things, both  within the church and without.  My general rule is that if anyone else can do it, I will try to say "no," because there are too many important things which I could volunteer for which would not otherwise get done.  My big problem is trying to extricate myself from projects for which my involvement is no longer essential.                                                   • Stephen L. Taber

Perhaps the problem is not so much having more volunteers but that some areas of church life are not seen as rewarding as others, or that they don't really apply to me or something like that. I have recently heard CE and Stewardship say they have a very difficult time getting volunteers. I understand the same is true for office volunteers and tellers. These are things we obviously cannot do without but what should we do? All rotate taking a turn? Publicize their needs better? Any ideas?

                                                                               • Jeanne Choy Tate

 The smaller the organization, the less likely it is that someone else will perform the volunteer work from which you benefit. Conversely, in a larger organization, there is a greater chance that some one else is doing the work, so you can go along for the ride.  (I once heard a sermon by John Buchanan at Fourth Church Chicago, a church of 4,000 members, who said that people from smaller churches attended his church in order for them to be anonymous and just worship without being expected to volunteer for something).

At our size and level of volunteering, I do not see that we necessarily have a problem.  For sure, we will always have "freeloaders," but this is in the nature of a voluntary organization and, furthermore, it is understood that, in the Christian spirit, those who volunteer do so cheerfully for the glory of God and for the benefit of their fellow human beings.

                                                                                  • Stephen L. Taber

 I get very nervous when we talk about evaluating how much people contribute. That means someone gets to decide what a contribution is and how much is enough. Is a life of prayer and meditation for instance a contribution? Does it always have to be committee work?! I believe this puts us back into the 'product' and 'task' mentality which we al-ready have way too much of as far as I am concerned. Who is to say how God is working in my life? I guess I am of the 'Let go and Let God' mentality. Sometimes I think if we spent more time praying to discern what God wants us to do, we would only do half of the tasks we currently perform and would be much better at them.                                                                            • Jeannie Choy Tate

 Chris and I recently worshipped at 4th Pres Chicago......We were of course impressed by the cathedral-like building -- such a  LARGE, wealthy, and successful Presbyterian church!  .... Lots of interesting and varied things going on--something for every age and persuasion--a real community center.  In the worship service itself, however, we were struck by the lack of lay participation.  Laity collected the offering, but that was it.  The service was lead by the paid staff  and the paid choir. It certainly wasn't worship as the work of the people.

I went away from that service feeling unnecessary and anonymous.  Maybe some people like that feeling, but it's like being alone in a crowd .... To be needed, acknowledged, and remembered is a human need.  To be needed and wanted by an employer is nice, but it only goes so far, and it doesn't speak to the spirit.  But, in a church the size of Old First or smaller, you can't be anonymous.  And it's pretty clear, you're needed!  It takes you out of the preoccupations of a "self" centered existence.                                                                                                                  • Cindy Burt

 Thanks to Steve  for your scholarship.  Who else would have monographs on volunteerism?!  I did find your logic quite clear and insightful. Thanks to Cynthia for underscoring why volunteering or community ministry is a core identity at Old First  This is exactly true.  Look at what our volunteers have done. 

Bear with me for three brief examples:  1) we have a very fine website, much better than most church sites I have seen. Where did it come from?  The volunteer effort of one very motivated Steffen Bartschat. 2) we have a jazz vespers service that is interpreting worship in new ways and appealing to a new congregation, thanks to the efforts of one very motivated Ed Klitsch. 3) And why do we have such a (superb monthly newsletter) (well known concert series) (wonderful new library) (you add your example)?  Because of passionate volunteers.  Together we will move mountains.  Eventually we will test our limits and maybe we are now by taking on new work in community ministry.  But isn't it compelling that we try so many things in the name of our church and succeed so much?  Whether process or product we have a diverse and rare array of endeavor at Old First. 

                                                                         • Dan Joraanstad 

We do need to have enough members to allow everyone to have different seasons in their church lives, including "sabbaticals" formal or informal.  Sometimes we "do" a lot; sometimes our contribution is primarily or only in the form of prayer and worship. It appears to me that we have a very broad range of people who step into more active involvement and leadership and then back off for a while -- which is as it should be. 

There needs to be a critical mass of members who care deeply about a "program" -- deeply enough to invest themselves in it, and ideally to excite others about it.  It doesn't  require a unanimous "buy-in" -- just enough folks to sustain it.

I suspect many of you share my experience of being grateful for all the ways I've been stretched by various volunteer experiences/ assignments at Old First that I wouldn't initially have thought of!                                                                    by sending a check to Old First by June 25, 2000 (being sure to note “homelessness ministry” on the check).  On May 21, there will be a special event in worship to celebrate the collection of this offering; we invite you to be part of that event as well.  Your money will be used to help us continue to provide a meaningful presence in the lives of others, people like Craig Kehne, Roger Ulibarri, and Jasun Harmell, three people whose lives have been changed with the love and support they have received from this faith community.

Craig Kehne first became acquainted with Old First through Emma Lee, who would stop by the parking lot where he often slept to give him a sandwich.  Then he met Roger Lindahl, Michael Berg, Tim Hart-Andersen and other Old Firsters while he camped out in the Great Western Bank parking lot on Sunday mornings.  But it was not until Tim personally invited Craig to a community meeting about homelessness that he finally came to the church. He says now that he went to that meeting for the free meal, but he continued to go to the subsequent meetings because of the way members of Old First treated him — people like Joan Dills St. Clair, Roger, and Michael, who valued Craig's opinions and his candor about life on the streets.

Craig says his relationships with people from this church gave him an anchor to hold on to while struggling with drugs, alcohol, and homelessness.  He finally went into recovery after Roger and Michael went searching for him in the middle of a rainstorm and found him in the bank parking lot.  Michael sat down in the rain with him late at night and helped him figure out how to get into recovery.

Craig describes the role Old Firsters played in his recovery as “a ministry of presence.”  We helped him see that he could change his lifestyle and that people did care about him.  Now, as a member of Old First and a recently-ordained deacon, Craig in turn provides the same caring presence to our homeless neighbors as they come to worship on Sunday mornings, visit at the Welcome Center or join us for our monthly Saturday night dinner. 

For Roger, Old First was also an anchor as he moved from homelessness into recovery.  Like Craig,  he felt nurtured by members of this church and encouraged to believe that a clean and sober lifestyle is possible.  Recently, Roger described Old First “as the place where he goes to fill his gas tank every week.” Through his own volunteer work at the Welcome Center and participation in the choir, he is reminded that with the love of God, he can achieve all things.

Jasun Harmell, a young man who came to us through the Welcome Center, describes the center as a safe haven, a place where he could escape the craziness of the streets and the harassment of the police.  Now Jasun is living at the St. Anthony Foundation drug treatment facility. By helping with our monthly dinners and being part of the volunteer staff at the Welcome Center, Jasun learned that he wanted to be part of  what he describes as "something good" and this desire led him into recovery.  Now, five months later, members of Old First continue to care for and support Jasun, visiting him at the treatment center and praying with him.

Can you see what is happening here? We are really making a difference!  Our ministry of presence is so vital, so desperately needed, that even those still in transition want to participate — not just as receivers, but as givers of help themselves!             

We are creating a community of hope, empowering people who thought they had lost all hope and all power over their own lives!

Being present with people in their pain, their addictions, and their struggle to live on the street is what we do here.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we can do no less, for Jesus himself provided a ministry of presence with outcasts.  Through our ministry at the Welcome Center and our monthly community dinners, we, like Christ, can share our love with another human being and practice what it means to be a neighbor. Jesus describes the greatest and second greatest commandments as loving God and neighbor as we love ourselves.

Please help Old First continue this vital ministry by making a contribution to the homelessness ministry by June 25.  Remember, every dollar up to $17,000 contributed by the church will be matched by anonymous donors and help to keep the Center going until outside dollars are found.

Potential donors can be influenced by a high level of personal involvement among church members and the living proof of others like Craig, Roger and Jasun. Volunteering at the Welcome Center has been a significant experience for many. Even those who found it daunting at first soon joined in the camaraderie of the volunteers working together, the friendly and grateful response of the guests, and the clear contribution we are making in Jesus’ name. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Susan Young.

If you would like to find out more about our financial needs and how you can help as part of the fundraising effort, contact Pam Free or Michael Berg.

Lectionary

June 4   7th Sunday of Easter

                Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26; Ps. 1;

                1 John 5: 9-13; John 17: 6-19

June 11  The Day of Pentecost

                Acts 2: 1-21 or Ezek 37:1:14;

                Ps. 104:24-34, 35b;

                Rom. 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

June 18  Trinity Sunday

                Isa. 6:1-8; Ps. 29;

                Rom. 8:12-17; John 3: 1-17

June 25   12th Sun. in Ordinary Time

                1 Sam. 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49; Ps. 9:9-20 or 1 Sam.

                17:57-18:5, 10-16 & Ps. 133;

                2 Cor. 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41

July 2    13th Sun. in Ordinary Time

                2 Sam. 1:1, 17-27; Ps. 130;

                2 Cor. 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43 

Welcome

to Sarah Lansing Dubbs, born on May 12, 6 lb, 9 oz; daughter of David and Suzie Dubbs, sister of Andrew.

And to two new members of Old First, received on Easter Sunday, April 23:

Ken Everett attended the Southern Baptist church in his youth. After college and the service, he came to San Francisco 24 years ago and worked in Accounting at UCSF for a number of years. A long-time hospice volunteer, he has always felt a spiritual element in his life, but didn’t find a church where he felt at home. When Brian Nichols invited him to Old First, he felt a welcome from both the pulpit and the people. Ken and his partner Michael manage a building of executive suites near Union Square. He joined by Reaffirmation of Faith.

Kathy Lipset grew up singing in the choir at Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian and also attending Walnut Creek Pres, but she wasn’t baptized until she was a young adult in Iowa. Kathy has recently moved back to San Francisco from Sacramento. After many years of working in marketing and training for Pacific Bell, she is considering further training in Chinese medicine, a long-time interest of hers. She first attended Old First on impulse, “just passing by.” She felt so welcome she attended the congregational retreat only a couple of weeks later! Kathy has a 16-year-old son. She joins by Letter of Transfer from Westminster Presbyterian in Sacramento.

And Goodbye ....

to the Rev. Jim Juhan and Cynthia Conners, who have moved to Nevada. Jim and Cynthia are long-time Old First members who have contributed much in many ways, not the least of which has been the pleasure of their company. Jim has served as elder, parish associate and Interim Church Administrator; Cynthia as elder and deacon.

Hugh Swaney and Richard Schnitgen have given up their “bi-city-al” lifestyle and returned to their home in Palm Springs.

Excerpts from our On-line Discussion at http://www.egroups.com/group/oldfirst

Our Mission, our Vision, our Future

The Mission Vision study is a document to get us thinking and to get us talking to each other about who we are as a church and who we want to be. It has been discussed at Session meetings and at after-church gatherings of the congregation.It has also been a topic of Old First’s internet study group; here are excerpts from one week’s on-line exchange of views:

Hello everyone:  it's time to move on to Mission Vision's third question: Do we have and can we get the volunteer resources we need for all we want to do?

We have a large number of volunteer-dependent programs....... a huge list for a church our size!  My impression of this congregation is that the membership is MUCH more involved than in most congregations.   I estimate  about half the membership participates in some way beyond Sunday worship.  In my last congregation less than 20% participated in any way outside of worship.

But — can we manage to continue all of these programs and more with the membership we have now?                                                             • Erwin Barron

My view on this is that the volunteers determine which programs work and don't work.   If enough volunteers can't be found, that might be a good indicator that the program should be discontinued. Other programs (worship, nursery, children's education) might be deemed "critical".   If we can't muster the volunteers here, we should think maybe the program needs to be better publicized, organized, reduced in scope, or if all else fails, staffed by professionals.                               • Steffen Bartschat

If only a few people can make a program survive, is real burnout the point when we decide to discontinue the program?  I was thinking we would want to have specific points prior to burnout when we can re-assess any program to determine if it should continue. This in no way speaks to the validity or value of any specific program, but we may have a fear of "failure" for specific programs we know are valuable and don't really want to end.                                                                 • Tom Culp

When is burnout occurring? 1)  If you publicize the need for volunteers for a certain activity and nobody shows up to help/sign up.  2)  If you need to call/coax people re-peatedly to show up for their volunteer task. 3)  If, upon running a volunteer event, you get the feeling that nobody is enjoying themselves. 4) If volunteers don't show up at planning meetings (perhaps because they are run inefficiently). I have a feeling that many volunteer hours are spent out of guilt.  This will lead to burn-out.                                                                    • Steffen Bartschat

 I want to add one more thing about vounteer burn-out. I am pretty sick of serving on committees, especially Presbytery and denominational committees but church committees too, where people volunteer because they think they have to and then don't really have the time or energy to do a decent job, or they don't do any follow through between meetings. I hate to think of how many hours I have wasted in church committee work because people couldn't say 'no' when they should have.

                                                   • Jeanne Choy Tate

The supply of volunteers tends to expand to fill the need, within certain limits.  Obviously, a limited pool of people with a limited amount of time will define some outside range.  From a practical perspective, however, each person will have an incentive to volunteer if that person perceives a benefit from volunteering which is equal to or greater than the cost of volunteering.  A very interesting book entitled "The Logic of Collective Action -- Public Goods and the Theory of Groups", by Mancur Olson, analyzes the dynamics of volunteer activity.  Using a lot of math and technical language, this book argues that smaller organizations tend to attract volunteers more readily than large organizations........

I volunteer for a huge number of things, both  within the church and without.  My general rule is that if anyone else can do it, I will try to say "no," because there are too many important things which I could volunteer for which would not otherwise get done.  My big problem is trying to extricate myself from projects for which my involvement is no longer essential.                                                   • Stephen L. Taber

Perhaps the problem is not so much having more volunteers but that some areas of church life are not seen as rewarding as others, or that they don't really apply to me or something like that. I have recently heard CE and Stewardship say they have a very difficult time getting volunteers. I understand the same is true for office volunteers and tellers. These are things we obviously cannot do without but what should we do? All rotate taking a turn? Publicize their needs better? Any ideas?

                                                                               • Jeanne Choy Tate

 The smaller the organization, the less likely it is that someone else will perform the volunteer work from which you benefit. Conversely, in a larger organization, there is a greater chance that some one else is doing the work, so you can go along for the ride.  (I once heard a sermon by John Buchanan at Fourth Church Chicago, a church of 4,000 members, who said that people from smaller churches attended his church in order for them to be anonymous and just worship without being expected to volunteer for something).

At our size and level of volunteering, I do not see that we necessarily have a problem.  For sure, we will always have "freeloaders," but this is in the nature of a voluntary organization and, furthermore, it is understood that, in the Christian spirit, those who volunteer do so cheerfully for the glory of God and for the benefit of their fellow human beings.

                                                                                  • Stephen L. Taber

 I get very nervous when we talk about evaluating how much people contribute. That means someone gets to decide what a contribution is and how much is enough. Is a life of prayer and meditation for instance a contribution? Does it always have to be committee work?! I believe this puts us back into the 'product' and 'task' mentality which we al-ready have way too much of as far as I am concerned. Who is to say how God is working in my life? I guess I am of the 'Let go and Let God' mentality. Sometimes I think if we spent more time praying to discern what God wants us to do, we would only do half of the tasks we currently perform and would be much betbsp;                                                        • Pam Byers

Silent Auction on June 11  

After a Spirit-filled Pentecost worship service on June 11, Old First will hold its major fund-raising event of the year, a Silent Auction. It will start at 12:45 pm and end before 2 pm. Food will be served, entertainment provided, and child-care services extended.

We will auction off gardening and baby-sitting services, lunch and dinner at the San Francisco Towers, tours of interesting places in the Bay Area with lunches to follow. There will be a quilt made by the Senior Center, a Mary Glunt watercolor painting, and deluxe bound books for children. How about a hotel gift certificate from the Nikko or the Galleria Park, not to mention the famous flower shop in Noe Valley, Accent on Flowers? Thanks to several members with connections with some of the best local wineries, we can offer a fine assortment of wine, including two-bottle gift sets. Since bidding will start at sixty or seventy ter at them.                                                                            • Jeannie Choy Tate

 Chris and I recently worshipped at 4th Pres Chicago......We were of course impressed by the cathedral-like building -- such a  LARGE, wealthy, and successful Presbyterian church!  .... Lots of interesting and varied things going on--something for every age and persuasion--a real community center.  In the worship service itself, however, we were struck by the lack of lay participation.  Laity collected the offering, but that was it.  The service was lead by the paid staff  and the paid choir. It certainly wasn't worship as the work of the people.

I went away from that service feeling unnecessary and anonymous.  Maybe some people like that feeling, but it's like being alone in a crowd .... To be needed, acknowledged, and remembered is a human need.  To be needed and wanted by an employer is nice, but it only goes so far, and it doesn't speak to the spirit.  But, in a church the size of Old First or smaller, you can't be anonymous.  And it's pretty clear, you're needed!  It takes you out of the preoccupations of a "self" centered existence.                                                                                                                  • Cindy Burt

 Thanks to Steve  for your scholarship.  Who else would have monographs on volunteerism?!  I did find your logic quite clear and insightful. Thanks to Cynthia for underscoring why volunteering or community ministry is a core identity at Old First  This is exactly true.  Look at what our volunteers have done. 

Bear with me for threepercent of retail value, you could find some real bargains.

A new feature will be a table with a variety of interesting items to be sold at the prices marked — low prices, of course.

Donations for the auction are being accepted through June 4; as in past years, we anticipate last-minute surprise additions to the catalog. In other words, you never know what might turn up! Please make it a point to check out the Silent Auction. Profits go straight into the church’s operating fund; we hope to raise $8,000 for our 2000 budget.