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Prayerful Support Matters:
The Weekly Flame for Friday, March 18, 2022
“At Tara in this fateful hour,
I place all Heaven with its power,
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And the fire with all the strength it hath,a
And the lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their steepness,
And the earth with its starkness:
All these I place,
By God's almighty help and grace
Between myself and the powers of darkness!”
This quote is an adaptation of the Lorica, or “breastplate,” of Saint Patrick, whose feast day was yesterday. This version is as rendered in Madeleine L’Engle’s novel A Swiftly Tilting Planet, third in her famous Time sequence ( A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door are the first two). Enwrapped with this prayer thanks to Branwen O'Keefe, Charles Wallace Murray manages to ward off the catastrophic impact of a raging, out-of-control world leader.
I thought of this prayer last night as I was cleaning up from dinner, my mind swirling with news of the last several weeks of the fighting in Ukraine, and the deep concerns I know we all share about its current and future impact.
I thought, too, of these words from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who preached at this week’s House of Bishops meeting—the first in-person meeting of this group since the start of the pandemic: "Pray for Ukraine. Don’t give up on them. Do other things, send money to the refugees— Episcopal Relief & Development is working with other Christian groups in Hungary and in Eastern Europe…. And there may be other things we can do, but do not abandon them without prayer. Pray. Pray for Ukraine. Pray for Russia. Pray for Putin, that unlike Pharaoh his hardened heart may be turned."
Prayer is impactful. It is concrete. It is real. So too are donations prayerfully offered, as the Presiding Bishop indicates.
In moments like this, as our own daily lives and concerns are put into global, historic perspective, it can be easy for our everyday lives and actions to seem small and not especially impactful. Yet as a people of prayer, as members of the collective body of Christ, we believe our lives are deeply interwoven with people far beyond our immediate circles, with our planet far beyond our everyday environs. Our interconnection reverberates precisely from our everyday lives and worlds. As a St. Aidanite reflected to me several months ago, even the little pea plants in our raised bed garden somehow matter more than their tiny footprint could ever obviously suggest.
Here at St. Aidan’s, we are preparing for – are actually in the midst of – our annual Spring fundraiser, Raise and Shine. It’s an effort that might seem small and insignificant in the scheme of things. Yet efforts like this make our ministry possible. Our impact as a community of faith is rooted here in the Diamond Heights neighborhood, and from this place our work reverberates out into the wider world. The efforts we prayerfully support matter. We are in the business of proclaiming and participating in God’s good news of liberation, justice, and peace, of prayerful solidarity and hope here and now even as the horizons of our imaginations are always being exceeded by God’s in-breaking future. “Raise and Shine” is all about cultivating that hope concretely and prayerfully, believing that all our efforts, whether of local or global scale, truly matter.
So please join us in this hopeful effort. Our silent auction is happening even as we speak. Our live auction and entertainment take place tomorrow evening at 7 PM online via Zoom. You’ll receive the Zoom link once you register, as explained below. Thank you for your support, your prayer, your hope.
Peace,
Cameron
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hybrid In-Person/Zoom Worship Continues This Week, with Worship Leaders Unmasking
This week our worship will continue to be hybrid, with both in person and Zoom platforms available. We encourage you to connect to with worship in whatever way is comfortable and feels safest for you.
As mask mandates increasingly lift in the Bay Area, and as COVID-19 moves in an endemic direction, we look forward to making masks optional for gatherings here at St. Aidan’s. While we are not yet ready to take this step for everyone, we are moving in that direction by inviting worship leaders who are fully vaccinated and boosted, and who feel comfortable doing so, to remove their masks when exercising that leadership in order to be more clearly heard. One exception to this shift is that worship leaders will remain masked while consecrating the elements at the altar. This modest step beyond our practice of the last several months is in accordance with diocesan guidance, the latest version of which can be found at:
https://mcusercontent.com/55a4c86d3e04b0a68eba23b20/files/66ccd2e4-65ab-4b6f-c949-a7101f319652/COVID_Response_Team_Guidance_9Mar21.pdf
Raise and Shine: St. Aidan's Spring Auction - Silent Auction Happening Now; Live Auction is Tomorrow, Saturday, March 19th!
We are getting ready for our 2022 Spring Silent and Live-Online Auction Fundraiser " Raise and Shine" in support of St. Aidan's ministries. The silent-online auction is happening now and running through March 20th at 6pm. The live-online auction is tomorrow, Saturday, March 19th at 7pm on Zoom. The Zoom invite will be provided to ticket holders by email on March 19th, the day of the event.
Register to attend by navigating within the St. Aidan's Virtual Auction website menu to " Auction" and then to " Catalog" and to " Buy Now" to purchase a ticket. Tickets are $25 per person. A ticket is required to bid and attend the live-online auction.
Please forward our auction link to friends and family as well. We hope that you will attend and enjoy the auction! Thank you!
 Lent Madness 2022 - Support Kateri Tekakwitha. Have you ever followed Lent Madness? It is a whimsical "tournament" featuring 32 saints arranged in an elimination bracket a la March Madness. During Lent, you get to vote for your favorite saint in each pairing, whittling down the original 32 to the "Faithful Four" by Palm Sunday, with the winner determined on Wednesday of Holy Week. This year there is a special treat for us at St. Aidan's: one of the saints in the running is Kateri Tekakwitha, after whom our own Kateri was named. Kateri has already prevailed over Saint Olaf of Norway, and is matched against James Holly (who?) on Friday, March 25. To join in the fun, just go to www.Lentmadness.org. Each weekday, the current matchup will be right on the home page. Click on (more...) to read the descriptions of both saints, and scroll down to get a chance to vote. You can learn a lot about some very obscure saints and it's great fun. If you don't do anything else this Lent, vote for Kateri Tekakwitha on March 25 and help her advance to the next round.
Dave Frangquist
frangquist@acm.org
Bless the Middle Space: A Formation Series for Lent
Join us for our Lent adult formation series "Bless the Middle Space." In it we're drawing on contemplative practices and the arts to reflect together on and to co-create Lent as a sacred "middle space." We're gathering via Zoom after Evening Prayer from 7-8:15 PM on March 9, 16, 23, 30, & April 6, using the Wednesday Evening Prayer link. Please reach out to office@staidansf.org for it, and we look forward to seeing you!
Wilderness Kits
Many thanks to Amy Newell-Large who has prepared new prayers and a music list for this year's Wilderness Kits. They are available for pickup at church – please feel free to reach out to the office office@staidansf.org to arrange to pick one up, or to have one brought to you.
A Thank You for Our New Plaque
 Deep appreciation to Paul Nocero for facilitating the installation of our new COVID plaque commemorating "Lives Lost, Lives Changed By COVID". You'll find the plaque just to the left of St. Aidan's red front doors. The plaque is installed in front of the Meyer Lemon tree we planted, again, to commemorate the losses experienced from COVID.
We dedicated the plaque at our COVID Interfaith service November 7, 2021. It was installed at last week's Gardening Day, and the tree was planted on the Gardening Day in January.
Paul helped us think through the best way to install the plaque, and then he offered to do it himself. Thank you, Paul, once again, for your generous help with getting our plaque installed and now in its place.
Betty Carmack
End of Life Ministry (ELM) Committee
Financial Summary: For the period January through February 2022, total operating income was $71,476 and total expenses were $44,193, for a budget surplus of $27,283. Pledge payments totaled $63,229 compared to a budget of $57,439, for an overpayment of $5,790. There was a net operating deficit for the period of $5,523 due to declines in market value of investments.
Dave Frangquist
frangquist@acm.org
Resilient Diamond Heights Workgroup Meeting, Saturday, March 26, 4-6 pm, St. Aidan's Church
The Public is Invited
Message from Greg Carey
We have missed the chance for Resilient Diamond Heights members to meet each other in person for the past two years. The COVID numbers are finally looking good, allowing in-person meetings to return. Unless something unexpected happens on the COVID front, we plan to return to our meetings on March 26 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. As always, we will meet at the Saint Aidan’s Church. It will be good to spend time socializing and returning to getting ready to help our neighbors in the case of an earthquake or other event.
We thought we would get back to our conversation about safety by looking at how the church can serve as a Neighborhood Support Center during a major emergency or a Heat Center during heat events. Then we will talk about the topics you would like us to cover or review in future meetings.
Please reply to this message to let Betsy, betsy.eddy@gmail.com, know whether you can attend.
Message from Betsy
In addition to meeting in person, we will have a Zoom link available for the meeting. When you let us know that you plan to attend, please indicate if you would like to attend via Zoom and I will email the link.
St. Aidan's at this date requires N95 masks, social distancing and has not yet decided when to allow meals or refreshments. If you do not have an N95 mask, one will be provided.
Looking forward to resuming RDH meetings!
Habitat for Humanity Housing in Our Neighborhood,
On Saturday, March 26th a volunteer team of seven St. Aidan’s people is signed up to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity’s affordable housing effort on Amber Drive. We are also contributing three people to an additional workday on Saturday, May 21st. We will have more opportunities, and in the meantime you can also sign up on your own to volunteer on other days, especially Thursdays and Fridays. To reach out to Habitat for Humanity directly, please contact volunteer@habitatgsf.org. The Volunteer Calendar, updated weekly, is also online: https://habitatgsf.org/volunteer-calendar/
You can also reach out to Deacon Margaret with any questions mdyerc@stanford.edu.
New Jim Crow Anti-Racist Book Group
Our next meeting is March 27, 4-5:30 pm. We’re reading Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead. All are welcome – please contact Deacon Margaret ( myderc@stanford.edu) for the zoom link.
Good News Gardens – next date: April 2
Many thanks to all who joined our Good News gardening day on February 26. We enjoyed the daffodils in front of the church and also did a lot of weeding on the Diamond Heights side of the garden – have a look if you’re walking or driving by. Our next garden spruce-up Saturdays at the church will be on April 2, May 7 and June 4. Out of an abundance of caution, we’ll mask and we’ll begin after lunch (12:30) so that we aren’t eating together. (Although there will be snacks and drinks available!) We’ll finish by 2 pm. Question? Contact Deacon Margaret ( Mdyerc@stanford.edu)
St. Aidan’s Gourmet Book Group
We will continue to meet via zoom with LeeAnn DeSalles serving as our Zoom master. She will be sending you zoom instructions prior to our meetings. If you would like help with zoom, please contact LeeAnn at leeanndesalles@comcast.net. If you would like to join the Book Group, please contact elaine@mannon.com.
The upcoming books and dates are:
- Monday, March 28, 2022 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. via zoom
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings by Plants - by Robin Wall Kimmerer
An intertwining of science, spirit, and story.
- Monday, April 25, 2022 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. via zoom
- The Long Petal of the Sea - by Isabel Allende
Follows two refugees from the Spanish Civil War who start a new life in Chile - an intimate journey in the midst of clashing worlds.
- Monday, May 23, 2022 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. via zoom
- Say Nothing by Patrick Keefe – A true story of murder and memory during the Northern Ireland Conflict
Resources for Engaging in Anti-Racism, from Elena Wong
Thank you to Elena Wong for sharing this list of resources that were in turn shared with her through her membership in the Western Association for College Counseling:
Please send in your recipes for the COVID Connect Cookbook!
As shared in previous weeks, Peter Fairfield and Linnea Sweet are putting together the COVID Connect Cookbook. He's received several recipes thus far but would very much like more. He writes:
We are living through a time that will change our world in ways that we cannot yet begin to understand. We can hope that our shared vulnerability to this virus worldwide will help us see that all humanity is connected and that we must all work together. As we shelter in place, many of us are concerned with food. If we are not working, how will we afford it? If we cannot go out, how will we get it?
In our community of Saint Aidan’s, many are able to feed themselves and to help others get fed. More than that, we appreciate the food that we get and are finding new ways of making the sharing of food as enjoyable as possible.
The soup recipes that Cameron has been sharing have made our diet much more enjoyable and have given Linnea and I the inspiration to collect recipes from all the congregation and share them. We ask that everyone with a favorite recipe email it to us at peterlinnea@earthlink.net. We will collect and edit them into a cookbook which will be a lasting reminder of this strange and special time in all our lives.
We hope to be able to publish this cookbook in printed form and sell it to raise funds in support of Saint Aidan’s food ministries. We know you have been sharing food. Now please share your recipes!
Contemplative Prayer continues: Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday from 9-10 AM via Zoom
Contemplative prayer continues during this time of sheltering in place, via Zoom. Contemplative Prayer is silent with the beginning and ending marked by a bell. You can practice meditation, silent prayer, journal, or otherwise enjoy the collective quiet. Thank you to Susan Spencer for offering to anchor this practice once again, especially the Saturday, during this time. Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org.
Morning Prayer continues: Mon, Wed, Fri at 7:30 AM via Zoom
We also continue to have Morning Prayer to help sustain and ground us, online/over the phone! Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org.
Evening Prayer continues: Wednesdays at 6:30 PM via Zoom
Every Wednesday evening we hold Evening Prayer via Zoom. Evening Prayer usually lasts a half hour. Readings for the day often feature commemorations from the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints, and the service includes a brief reflection time on the readings. Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org
To add an announcement to the weekly bulletin of the Flame, please send your edited text no later than 11:00 am Wednesday to office@staidansf.org
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St. Aidan's Vestry
Elena Wong, Senior Warden
Nicole Miller, Junior Warden
Dave Frangquist, Clerk & Treasurer
Christine Powell, Anne Edwards,
Michael Jennings, Jim Oerther
Anne Benninger, Kate Fritz, Elaina LeGault
Second Sunday of Lent
March 20, 2022
8 AM Communion (Hybrid)
The Rev. Cameron Partridge, Presider
The Rev. Amy Newell-Large, Preacher & Deacon
Doris Weyl Feyling, Altar Guild
10 AM Communion (Hybrid)
The Rev. Cameron Partridge, Presider
The Rev. Amy Newell-Large, Preacher & Deacon
David Austin, Guest Music Minister
Anne Benninger, Lee Hammack, Michael Jennings, Janet Lohr, Jim Oerther, Kateri Paul, George Slaiman, Barbara Stevenson, Jill Tollefson, & Rolf Tollefson, and perhaps you!, Choir
Elaine Mannon & Kateri Paul, Lectors
JoEllen Brothers, Intercessor
Barbara Stevenson, In-Person Greeter
JoEllen Brothers, Zoom Greeter
David Mealy, Sound/Liturgical DJ
Kate Fritz, Bread Baker
CoCo Lin, Child Care
Christine Powell, Altar Guild
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