June 2001

PENTECOST SERVICE JUNE 3

  "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability." (Acts 2:4).

The Day of Pentecost worship service will be filled with many languages. We will hear the scripture read in different tongues, separately at times and in a babble at other times. The Assurance of Forgiveness will also be spoken in different tongues.

The children will display their art dealing with the split in the Tower of Babel story in Genesis and the unity in the birthday of the church story in Acts.  The Rev. Cornel Barnett will integrate these stories in his sermon. Holy Communion will be celebrated.

Worship attendees may wear red - the liturgical color for the day!

CHURCH PICNIC JUNE 3

On Pentecost Sunday, June 3, after a thrilling experience in morning worship, you can join your church family for a fabulous, fun, food-filled, fantastic picnic in the new Crissy Field park in the afternoon.  All are welcome - young and old.

We will have cold drinks, kites, a long wonderful beach, grassy fields, games, a parachute, and terrific people gathered in the meadow by the Bay.  You bring picnic food to share, lawn chairs, and yourself to join us.  

Watch for details in the bulletin about where to meet and when, and save the afternoon of June 3 for a chance to do something fun with your church family! 

TEACHER APPRECIATION SUNDAY JUNE 10

Those wonderful volunteers who teach our adult and children's church school classes and who sit with our children in the nursery will be thanked during and given a gift during worship on Sunday, June 10. 

We especially appreciate the contributions of these wonderful teachers:   Preschool - Lisa  Bartschat,  Jeannie Choy Tate, Heather McGaughey, and Jonathan Lee; 1st-3rd  Grades - Nina Berg, Maria Calame, and Rick Wiebe; 4th-8th Grades - Connie Johnson, Julie Castelero, Sally Spencer, and Kelly Cunningham;  Senior High - Mary Russell, Libby Klitsch, Becca Smith, Amy Marlo and David Lo; church school administration - Marilyn Campbell and Phil Pollock; Adults - Joan Dills St. Clair, Dan Joraanstad, Harriet MacLean, Jean Olson, and Oliver Spencer; Nursery - Polly Day, Marnie Krozek, and Frank Tobin.

TOWN HALL MEETING ON JUNE 17

The 213th General Assembly meets June 9-16 in Louisville. Please hold the participants and our denomination in your prayers. There will be a special Town Hall meeting after worship on Sunday, June 17, when Pam Byers and Bill Moss report to the Old First congregation and answer questions about the events of this General Assembly.

OLD FIRST CHOIR & ORCHESTRA CONCERT

JUNE 24, 4 PM

The program includes Gabriel Faure’s beautiful "Ballade" (featuring pianist Daniel Glover) and Randall Thompson’s "Testament of Freedom".  Suggested donation $3.00 - $5.00

CHURCH TOWN HALL MEETING

Fifth Sunday, July 29,  after the worship service to talk about what’s happening at the church, including a proposal for a columbarium in the building

FUNDING THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY MINISTRY AT OLD FIRST

What does Old First mean to us? It means wonderful worship services, great and different music, an eclectic mix of parishioners, jazz vespers, town hall meetings, and dinner circles to name but a few. It also means caring for those less fortunate than ourselves in very tangible ways. This is the mission of  Community Ministry.

Old First doesn't just talk about community ministry, we do it. We feed the homeless, we aid the elderly right in our own church building. These programs are the lifeblood of our service to our community. Now they need help. Funding the Future of Community Ministry at Old First  is in the works! The goal is to raise a minimum of $60,000 by the end of June.

$40,000 is to support the salary of the Director of Community Ministry for the years 2002, 2003, and 2004. The Mission Vision, which was approved by Session in May 2000, asks us for this commitment.  $20,000 is to fund the Senior Center salaries for the same period of time. Again, we promised to do this when we approved the Mission Vision. By raising the funds now, we are ensuring the future of these programs. They will not need to depend on the fall Stewardship drive every year to know whether they have enough funds to keep going.

Think about it. By the end of 2004 our new pastor will be well established, the congregation will be growing faster than ever, and we will have the resources to readdress the methods of funding these programs. The Homelessness Program will have local partners and more outside funding, and the Senior Center will be self-sufficient due to increased contributions to the Doctor’s Daughter's Fund, which is the fund it depends on.

Sound too optimistic? We'll never get to find out unless we help now. Please consider a generous gift. Let us

FUND THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY MINISTRY AT OLD FIRST CHURCH!

You should have received a letter in the mail that includes a pledge form  If not, simply call the church office and one will be sent right out. Thank you !

                          • Amelia Kaymen, Moderator, Stewardship Committee

HOMELESS MINISTRY REPORT

by the Rev. Kathleen McAdams

First,  a bit of news  before I say "goodbye." The Community Dinner on June 9th will be here  at Old First,  and  the one  on July 14 will be  at St. Luke's.  The dinners will alternate  back and  forth, on the 2nd Saturday of each month, from here on out.

My contract has been extended until a permanent Director is hired, with a one-week overlap. We anticipate that to be in the latter half of June. It's been an honor to be amongst you these past ten months, joined in a ministry of hospitality to your homeless neighbors. You have many gifts for ministry, and much passion for extending God's justice to the world. I ask God's blessing upon your continued discernment of the Spirit, your life together as a church community, and your work in this neighborhood.

I hope I've had, or soon will have, the opportunity to say goodbye to each of you - Welcome Center volunteer chaplains and guests, staff, church members. Toward that end, we had a volunteer appreciation day at Just Desserts on the 23rd, and will have special celebrations on my last Welcome Center day, last Staff Meeting, and last Sunday at Old First.

On June 2, 11am at Grace Cathedral, I will be ordained a Priest in the Episcopal Church. Please come and join me in celebrating.

As of this writing, I don't yet know which Episcopal congregation will have me as their Priest - perhaps in the Bay Area, perhaps elsewhere. But please know that I will take all that I have learned and experienced here at Old First, as part of whom I am, to serve a new congregation. You have become part of my Priesthood, and in that way your ministry will reach far.

The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

SESSION NOTES

from the April 24, 2001 meeting

Special Announcement - The Rev. Chuck Lewis, former San Francisco Night Minister, recalled the life of the late Vera Parker, a member of Old First; he had become a friend of hers near the end of her life. Vera’s only relative was her brother, who died before she did. When she named the Rev. Lewis as her heir, he was certain she had wanted to make bequests to several organizations.

On her behalf he has made a gift of $55,000 to Old First Church, requesting that $3,000 be used in the computer center, $2,000 for music, and the balance as determined by the church. The Rev. Lewis was thanked profusely, and the matter was referred to the Finance Committee for their recommendation.

Personnel Committee - After considerable discussion, a recommended job description for the Director of Homeless Ministries was approved. A job description for Director of the Senior Center was also approved, and the Personnel Committee was authorized to solicit and interview candidates for these position, and to authorize the Head of Staff to hire satisfactory candidates. The position of Interim Senior Center Director was extended until the end of June, 2001.

Deacons - The Board of Deacons thanked the Rev. Barnett for his excellent pastoral care and eagerness to address parish concerns.

WHAT HAPPENS SUNDAY MORNING AT OLD FIRST?

by the Rev. Erwin Barron

Every Sunday morning Old First Church has an exciting educational program.  We have interesting options in adult education, inspiring and challenging worship, and a vital, alive children's church school program.   Things are going great, but the folks on the Christian Education committee want to explore some problems that keep arising:

a. Our children have almost never heard the Lord's Prayer spoken in a group or scripture read in worship.

b. A typical seventh grader at Old First has heard over 500 prayers of confession over the years but heard only about 15 prayers of intercession for other people.  No wonder they often think "telling God what you do wrong" is the essence of prayer.

c. A typical fifth grader in the children's choir at Old First has heard the adult choir sing a brief introit over 400 times, but has almost never heard a complete anthem and has not learned to appreciate good church music.

d. We have been trying to get our senior high youth to stay in worship on Sunday mornings and go to church school at another hour.  They refuse, saying that they don't like worship and don't understand what is going on.  What should we expect when they have almost never experienced a full worship service in their growing-up years?

e. Old First recruits more than 15 church school teachers for only about 20 students, because no teacher wants to miss worship consistently to teach children.  As a result, teachers only teach their classes off-and-on, and don't get to know their students week-to-week.

  f. We pride ourselves with the intergenerational quality of Old First Church, but we separate out the children and send them elsewhere for the central event of our community life together - worship.

Why does all of this happen?  Can we do things any differently?  We're not sure.  We have a wonderful education program now and do not want to do anything to hurt that program.  The Christian Education Committee is discussing these issues and the possibility of some Sunday morning schedule changes, but we even disagree with each other about whether anything needs to be done 

We invite the congregation to begin thinking about the issues with us.   You are invited to speak to members of the committee (Sidney Hollar,  Marilyn Campbell, Jean Olson, Mary Russell, Linda Reyder, Tom Culp, and Erwin Barron) and to come to a discussion meeting sometime this fall.  No decisions have been made to change anything.  And perhaps no changes will occur.  We simply want to think about why we do what we do!

LECTIONARY

June 3      Day of Pentecost

                   Acts 2:1-21 or Gen. 11:1-9; Ps. 104:24-34, 35b;

                   Rom. 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21;  John 14:8-17 (25-27)

June 10    Prov. 8:1-4, 22-31; Ps. 8:  Rom. 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

June 17    1 Kings 21:1-10 (11-14) 15-21a; Ps. 5:1-8; Gal. 2:15-21;                         Luke 7:36-8:3

June 24    1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a; Ps. 42 and 43; Gal. 3:23-29;                         Luke 8:26-39

July 1        2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Ps. 77:1-2, 11-20; Gal. 5:1, 13-25;                            Luke 9:51-62

IN MEMORY

JENNIE LOGAN NASH, 1905-2001

When Bessie Shepherd died in 1988 at the age of 94, she had been a member of Old First longer than anyone else. That honor then passed to her cousin, Jennie Marguerite Logan Nash. Jennie was still in high school when she joined First Presbyterian of San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1921, with her parents, Sarah and James Logan.

The Logans were survivors of the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906, which destroyed their home on Larkin Street when Jennie was only a baby. James Logan was a construction worker who was proud to help rebuild the city after the disaster. Jennie went to the Pan American Exposition when she was ten years old, and to the end of her life recalled the event in detail and with great excitement.

Jennie was an avid swimmer in San Francisco Bay as a teenager, winning two trophy cups for her efforts. She was also a member of the church’s Christian Endeavor group, enjoying their picnics, trips, parties and special teas at the minister’s home. The group was large and active enough to have their own newsletter, and she was assistant editor.

She met Henry Nash at a Christian Endeavor party. They were married in 1931 in Fresno. Henry’s work with PG&E kept him out on the road, so Jennie lived in San Francisco with her parents to raise her children. The Nash’s first son, Jimmy, was born in 1933; he was a model for one of the faces on the bas-relief  in the Children’s Chapel. Jimmy died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24. A second son, John Henry, died at the age of two in 1937. Her surviving children were Jennie Ann, who had three daughters, and Robert.

Jennie earned a teaching credential from U.C. Berkeley. Her experiences teaching Native American children in Challenge had a profound effect on her life. She was proud of her Irish heritage and grateful to be able to visit her parents’ homeland as a child and again at the age of 92.

Jennie was less active in church after her children were born, but she continued to teach in the Sunday School until they graduated. She attended worship regularly until her husband became incapacitated in the mid-1980’s, and she was housebound with his care. She lived in her family’s San Francisco home until she was 85, when she went to live with her daughter. Her granddaughters tribute at her funeral said, “She gave her love unconditionally and will always be remembered by her family and many friends for her warmth, patience and generosity.”

PASTOR'S LETTER

Dear Friends:

“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”

I was informed recently that if you inadvertently send email to OFC.org instead of to oldfirst.org it lands up at the Oregon Fishing Club.  It occurred to me that OFC (Oregon) and OFC (San Francisco) are both about fishing.

Ours extends the practice, as did Jesus with the fishing disciples as found in Matthew.  “As he (Jesus) walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen.  And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’  Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (4:18-20).

The rest is history — salvation history!

Liturgically speaking, it is about now that the fishing spoken about by Jesus kicks in for the disciples.  Jesus’ last words to the disciples, just before his ascension, are these, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).

We know what Pentecost is all about.  It is the Spirit of God coming upon and within the gathered disciples.  This is recorded in chapter two of Acts.  The dominating theme of this book is the power of the Spirit manifested in and through the members of the early church.  The church is founded and it grows and spreads throughout the Near Eastern World.

That spread reached our shores and in 1849 this church was founded.  We are here because of that amazing activity in The Acts of the Apostles (or, The Acts of the Holy Spirit) all those years ago.  We are here because of faithful OFC members through the generations. 

This church will continue to be here as we continue to take seriously that we are a fishing church.  A fishing church witnesses to Jesus Christ in San Francisco, the U.S., and the ends of the earth.  This is evangelism, the best kind, which is personal, social, communal, and public, according to a brilliant study on the subject by the National Council of Churches (1987). 

May God bless us all as we move into the fishing season.  Let’s go fishing!

                                         Shalom,

                                                                        Cornel