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Enter with Joy:
The Weekly Flame for Friday, April 8, 2022
This has been an especially life- and activity-filled week at St. Aidan’s.
On Monday evening two St. Aidanites joined an online conversation on Indigenous Solidarity with St. John the Evangelist in the Mission, one of our nearby sibling churches. We look forward to partnering more with them in the weeks to come. Stay tuned in particular for information about watching a film, Dawnland, with them next month.
On Tuesday our monthly Bible study Wrestling with the Scriptures featured an in-depth discussion led by Susan Spencer on the Raising of Lazarus story from the Gospel of John, following on Sunday’s linked gospel passage.
Then Wednesday’s Diamond Diners featured Grace King’s stuffing and turkey casserole (yes, you read that right—it was fantastic to have Thanksgiving in April!), with salad by Susan, bread from Kathy, and cookies from Patricia and Suzy. It was quite a feast. Next month we look forward to putting some tables outside in the driveway and welcoming folks to eat the takeout-style meal together. (See the announcement below about Easter Sunday Welcome Café, on a similar theme.) Wednesday evening we had rich, meaningful discussion during the last meeting of our Lent series “Bless the Middle Space,” led by Susan (this really turned out to be her week!). Thank you very much to all who contributed to the series, particularly discussion leaders Barbara, Elaina, Deacon Margaret, Amy, and Susan.
Meanwhile, last Saturday we held another Good News gardening day, led by Deacon Margaret, which included tending the flowering area near our doors, harvesting beautiful greens and carrots from our plot in the Little Red Hen garden (which were included with the Diamond Diners lunches), and washing our sign. Many thanks to Gilbert, Lisa, Kathy, and Betty for all their gardening, sign-washing work!
Then after church on Sunday, Margaret and I actually installed the Little Free Library! It’s right in front of our flagpole, next to the sidewalk and the ramp leading into the parish hall. As you may recall, we started the LFL months ago at another gardening day, around the same time we constructed our raised bed garden. Margaret painted it the same green color as the church, with red doors and a black roof, and it has sat in the back of the sanctuary for months waiting to be installed. I cannot tell you how many times we’ve tried to bring it to completion. On one such occasion a mouse bolted out of a bush and ran over my foot. Margaret’s and my cartoon-like reactions were witnessed by a random pedestrian who, when he got alongside us deadpanned, “I saw that coming.” On another occasion I heard what sounded like a thousand bees next to my ear as I drilled into the post (but as Margaret reminded me, they weren’t the stinging kind). None of these lovely creatures of course caused our delay. The issue was getting the LFL into the ground on the more-heavily trafficked Diamond Heights Boulevard while a) being reachable from the sidewalk, b) being sunk far enough into the ground to be stable, and c) not hitting any underground gas or electric lines in the process. But now it’s there—please check it out, bring a book, take a book, and read!
The season we have been making our way in and through, as our Lent series put it, a Middle Space. We have been buffeted by waves of terrible news around the world. We have engaged the neighborhood around us with determination and humor. We have been carried by prayer.
All of this is bringing us to Sunday when, at the beginning of the 8 and 10 AM services, those of us in person will gather at the base of the driveway for the start of Palm Sunday. We will bless palms, process inside, and make our way into the holiest week of our church year. As so much life and activity has brought us to the threshold of Holy Week, now the invitation comes to slow down, to let ourselves be carried forward by this current of stories, to allow them speak to our hearts anew, here and now.
Now may we bring this life-filled week, this sacred season, to a close and prepare ourselves, to paraphrase a prayer from Sunday’s worship, to enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts, whereby God has given us life, liberation, and immortality.
Peace,
Cameron |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Hybrid In-Person/Zoom Worship Continues This Week
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
Holy Week Schedule
Our Holy Week and Easter Services will be in person and via Zoom, except for the asterisked services listed below (Mon-Wed Evening Prayer, and Good Friday 12-3 PM). All Evening Services will use the Wednesday Evening Prayer Zoom link. Good Friday midday service has its own link. Holy Saturday will use the Contemplative Prayer Link. Easter Sunday will use the usual Sunday morning link. Please reach out to us at office@staidansf.org for any Zoom links you need, and we look forward to seeing you in these holy days.
- **Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday April 11, 12, & 13: 7 PM Evening Prayer (via Zoom -evening prayer link)
- Maundy Thursday, April 14 at 7 PM (in church and via Zoom - evening prayer link)
- Good Friday, April 15
- Midday Worship from 12-3 PM (via Zoom - special link)
- Good Friday Evening Worship at 7 PM (in church and via Zoom - evening prayer link)
- **Holy Saturday, April 15 at 9 AM (via Zoom - Contemplative Prayer link)
- Easter Vigil, April 15 at 7 PM (in church and via Zoom - evening prayer link)
- Easter Sunday 8 & 10 AM (in church and via Zoom - Sunday morning link)
 Special Collection for Easter Worship
If you would like to make a special donation for Easter Worship (including flowers) in memory or honor of loved ones, please include “Easter Worship” in the memo of the check and attach a note with names of your loved ones. The names will be listed in our Easter program. Please get them to us no later than Wednesday, April 13.
Festive Welcome Café for Easter
St. Aidan's will have a festive Welcome Café (aka Coffee Hour) following the 10:00 AM service on Easter Sunday—the first time we will have done this since the start of the pandemic. If you are able to attend in person, please plan to stay and join with other St. Aidanites as we celebrate Christ's resurrection together. This special event will be held outdoors (weather permitting) to ensure adequate air circulation and reasonable social distancing as we doff our masks to enjoy the coffee and food.
The Regathering Committee is interested in determining if this Easter season is the right time for us to return to having Welcome Café on a regular basis. Please let one of us know if you are comfortable with the idea or if you have concerns or suggestions for appropriate safety precautions. The members of the committee are Barbara Stevenson, Elena Wong, Dave Frangquist, Jim Oerther and Cameron Partridge.
 GOOD FRIDAY OFFERING
For The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & the Middle East
For exactly 100 years, Episcopalians have supported the ministries of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East via the Good Friday Offering. Episcopal dioceses in the Middle East maintain a peacemaking and stabilizing presence in the region, serving their neighbors regardless of faith background.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry urges congregations and supporters to participate in the centenary Good Friday Offering. Checks may be made payable to “St. Aidan’s” with “Good Friday” in the memo line. We will forward the total amount collected to the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem.
Christine Ingersoll Ortiz - February 27, 1928 - April 3, 2022
Christine Ingersoll Ortiz, 94, passed away peacefully at home on April 3rd, 2022. Born in Whittier, CA to Marion and Richard Ingersoll, she graduated from Pomona College in 1947. Chris boldly moved to New York to complete a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education at Teachers College - Columbia University in 1949. After teaching school in New Jersey, she relocated to San Francisco in the early 1950s and taught kindergarten in Pacifica until 1957.
The Sierra Club played a major role in her life, where she met her future husband, Oscar, on a Club car-camping trip. Chris shared her love of hiking in Yosemite and on Mt. Tamalpais with her family. Closer to home Chris enjoyed swimming at Oyster Point and daily walks in McLaren Park with Oscar and their dogs. Her 56-year marriage to Oscar was the cornerstone of her life.
Chris wanted to make her neighborhood and city a better place for everyone. She promoted alternative education in the 1970s, volunteering at Corbett Community School. Engaged with both the San Francisco Organizing Project for community activism and San Francisco Community Boards for dispute resolution, she participated in a wide range of projects from the 1980s on. She was most proud of the work that brought forth the new Portola District Public Library. Supporting others through challenging times was another mission as Chris and Oscar opened their home to young people and family.
Chris was a long-time member of the St. Aidan's Episcopal Church community in San Francisco. She believed in the power of love and left us this message for all of her friends:
"Hello my friends, on this beautiful planet. Each and every one of you is a piece of the loving space which I inhabit. Each of you has given me your love, true caritas. I love you all, God is love and you are God's love given to me freely and abundantly. I have felt this overwhelming love from all of you, you are the loves of my life."
Chris is survived by daughters Nancy Ortiz, Suzy Ortiz, Elise Ortiz Wylan (Joel) and son Donald Ortiz (Michelle), as well as grandchildren Jessica and Emily Phillips, Francesca Ortiz, Paris and Lauren Ortiz and great-granddaughter Tallulah Bilaniv.
Note new time for Women's Spirituality Group
Our St. Aidan's Women's Spirituality Group will meet via zoom Saturday, April 9th, starting at 10:30. As before, we will have time for both checking in and personal sharing as well as time for spiritual growth. We are certainly open to formats and approaches such as reflections on a poem, scripture, narrative passage or another focus for our growth. We want our group to meet the needs and desires of those who participate. If you want to join us, and we hope you will, please contact Elaine Mannon at elaine@mannon. com to get the information for signing into our meeting.
Men's Group
Saturday, April 9, 9-10:30 am, via Zoom. We will connect for prayer, study and fellowship. All men are cordially invited. If you haven’t received connection information by April 7, contact Dave Frangquist (frangquist@acm.org). Please note that the Men’s Group has switched to the second Saturday of the month this year.
Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity Housing in Our Neighborhood, Sat., June 4th!
On Saturday, June 4th St. Aidan’s will be contributing a second volunteer team to Habitat for Humanity’s affordable housing effort on Amber Drive. We are signed up to bring ten people that day, the minimum age is 16, all volunteers must be fully vaccinated and masked, and no construction experience is necessary. We need to arrive at 8:30 AM, bring our own bag lunches, and the work day will end by 4:30 PM. Please let Deacon Margaret know if you’d like to be part of this team: mdyerc@stanford.edu.
In addition to June 4th are also contributing three people to an additional workday on Saturday, May 21st. We will have further opportunities as well, and you can also always 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/
Good News Gardens – next date: May 7
Many thanks to all who joined our Good News gardening day yesterday, April 2. We enjoyed the daffodils and tulips 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 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)
Financial Summary: For the first quarter of 2022, total operating income was $103,346 and total expenses were $69,633, for a budget surplus of $33,713. Pledge payments totaled $73,334 compared to a budget of $71,479, for an overpayment of $1,855. The “Raise & Shine” fundraiser cleared $12,527 against a target of $10,000. There was a net operating surplus for the period of $2,154 after including declines in market value of investments. Dave Frangquist treasurer@staidansf.org.
New Jim Crow Anti-Racist Book Group
New Jim Crow Anti-Racist Book group – our next meeting is Sunday, May 15, 4-5:30
We’re reading Barracoon by Zora Neal Hurston. All are welcome – please contact Deacon Margaret for the link…..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, 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
- Monday June 27, 2022 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. via zoom
- The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard – with a sharp ear for conversation and an eye for the defining political moment in a social interaction, Hazzard tells a story not merely about love but more deeply and subtly about power
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
Palm Sunday
April 10, 2022
8 AM Communion (Hybrid)
The Rev. Cameron Partridge, Presider & Preacher
The Rev, Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, Deacon
The Rev. Amy Newell-Large, Deacon
Jackie Buckley, Altar Guild
10 AM Communion (Hybrid)
The Rev. Cameron Partridge Presider & Preacher
The Rev. Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, Deacon
The Rev. Amy Newell-Large, 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
Janet Lohr, Patrick Hall, Lectors
JoEllen Brothers, Intercessor
Patrick Hall, In-Person Greeter
Margaret Tait, Zoom Greeter
Nicole Miller, Sound/Liturgical DJ
Kateri Paul, Bread Baker
CoCo Lin, Child Care
Janice Tickner-Leonard, Altar Guild
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