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Let Our Light So Shine:
St. Aidan's Flame for Friday, February 3, 2023
It’s Friday evening and the vestry has arrived at Bishop’s Ranch for our annual retreat. It is cool and clearing here after rain earlier in the day. Frogs, coyote, and (I think?) ducks were sounding into the night air as I got out of my car. On this beginning of a new cycle in our parish leadership, I am grateful to be here, and for all the leadership exercised in various groups and activities in the St. Aidan’s community.
 
Last Sunday we held our annual meeting, looking back over and giving thanks for the past year, particularly for our outgoing vestry members: Elena Wong (Senior Warden), Nicole Miller (Junior Warden) and Christine Powell (vestry member). Thank you to each of them for their contributions to the ministry of St. Aidan’s, both over the last three years and ongoingly. You are very much appreciated! 
 
Sunday we also elected delegates to Diocesan Convention – Dave Frangquist and Peter Fairfield – and alternate delegates – Nicole Miller and Elaina LeGault, and I also shared that our new Senior Warden is Kate Fritz! This weekend, as in years past, the vestry will elect the positions of Junior Warden, Treasurer, and Clerk, and together we’ll be reflecting and planning for the year to come.
 
Looking toward this Sunday’s gospel reading (and Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain will be preaching at St. Aidan's this Sunday, with Don Fox presiding), our conversations will be launched from Matthew’s imagery of “light of the world” and “salt of the earth.” How is God calling us to be light and salt in this moment?
 
I leave you with photographs from the Annual Meeting, with thanks to Betty Carmack and Ray Wong for sharing them. Blessings and gratitude to all. Let our light so shine.
 
Peace,
 
Cameron
VITAL + THRIVING UPDATE
Come to a cottage meeting!
 
The next step in the Vital + Thriving process Is “corporate spiritual discernment.” The V+T steering committee is preparing a report summarizing all the data and insights gathered from the activities we have completed so far: the Timeline Event in July, the household surveys, the interviews the Listening Team conducted, and our operations data report.
 
Throughout March, we will share the report and lead small-group conversations around targeted questions designed to help us discern the future God imagines for us. (See list below for times/dates and details. We will ask everyone to COVID-test before in-person meetings.)
 
Thank you for your faithful participation in this important work.
 
V+T Steering Team: Cameron Partridge, Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, Nicole Miller, Barbara Stevenson, Jim Oerther.
 
Sunday March 5, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at St. Aidan’s. Facilitator/host: Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain. Simple light brunch
***This in-person session will be held outdoors, on the patio outside the church. In case of rain, we will go into the narthex (and keep the doors open).
 
Saturday March 11, 10 a.m. – 12 noon at Mealy/Stevenson residence in Glen Park.
Facilitator/hosts: Barbara Stevenson & David Mealy. Brunch.
 
Tuesday March 14, 6 – 8 p.m. at St. Aidan’s. Facilitator: Cameron. Soup supper.
 
Sunday March 19 – 5 to 7 p.m. at Oerther residence in the Bayview. Facilitator/host: Jim Oerther. Soup supper
 
Sunday March 26 – 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Zoom Session. Facilitator: David Mealy
For this session, an unlimited number of slots is available. The group as a whole will be together for the V+T steering team report and Q&A and then we will break down into small groups via breakout rooms for discussion. 
 
HOW TO SIGN UP: Sign-up sheets will be available in the narthex after Sunday services. You can also sign up online here. If none of the dates/times listed is possible for you, please contact Barbara at Barbara.f.stevenson@gmail.com.

ANNOUNCEMENTS


St. Aidan's Annual Report is attached here, or can be accessed at this link: https://www.staidansf.org/_files/ugd/785659_a7871d8a8080404e9a122885118583f8.pdf

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.

Updated Mask Policy:  After carefully considering survey input from parish members, as well as City and diocesan guidance and the current practices of other churches and public venues, the Regathering Committee has concluded that it is time to revise our mask policy.  Beginning Sunday, November 20, if you are fully vaccinated and are comfortable removing your mask, you may do so during church services.  We will respect the preference of anyone who feels safer by remaining masked.  In accordance with diocesan guidance, the celebrant will still be masked while consecrating and distributing the elements for the Eucharist.  We will also maintain a well-ventilated sanctuary by opening doors and windows, so remember to dress warmly as winter approaches.  We acknowledge that COVID is likely to be with us in some form for the foreseeable future, and we will be monitoring public health advisories.  Our mask policy be modified again as is appropriate.  Please pray for the health and safety of all our members and friends as we continue to navigate this challenging time.

Men's Group
Tomorrow, Saturday, February 4, 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 February 2, contact Dave Frangquist (frangquist@acm.org) or Peter Fairfield (peterlinnea@earthlink.net).  Please notice that the Men’s Group has switched back to the first Saturday of the month in the new year.

Good News Gardens Dates for 2023 - Next Date: Tomorrow, Saturday, February 4, 2023, 12:30 pm.
We’ll continue our Good News Gardens dates on the first Saturday of each month (although we skipped January 7 due to rainy weather and a schedule conflict). Please mark your calendars for February onward – Feb. 4, March 4, April 1, May 6, June 3.  We’ll sort out plans for summer as we get closer. All are welcome – we garden from 12:30-2 pm at the church. Questions – contact Deacon Margaret, mdyerc@stanford.edu.

News from Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Our local Episcopal seminary, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, where our seminarian Weston currently attends (and where Amy Newell-Large, Susan Stanton, and Mia Kano attended), made a major announcement this week that it is shifting to a fully hybrid educational program, beginning next academic year and will ultimately no longer have a residential model of seminary education. You can read about it in their announcement here. Please pray for all in the CDSP community -- especially current residential students, faculty, and staff – as they enter this time of transition. 

Our St. Aidan's Women's Spirituality Group will meet via zoom Saturday, February 11th, 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.
 
Roger Wolcott Service Scheduled for February 18, 2023 at 2:30 PM
On Tuesday morning, December 6th, Roger Wolcott was seriously injured in a bicycle accident, and early in the morning of Christmas Eve he died. We will celebrate Roger’s life in a service here at St. Aidan’s on Saturday, February 18th at 2:30 PM. For several brief posts about Roger’s journey and many messages of support, please see his Caring Bridge page. There is also a Go Fund Me site to help pay for medical bills related to Roger’s care. 

Caring Bridge: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/rwolcott 
Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/f/roger-wolcott 

Thank you for your prayerful support for Roger and please continue to surround Margie with your love and care.
 
Support for Barry Koron
Barry Koron's family has set up a Go Fund Me (linked below) to help support the care he needs that is not covered by insurance. If you are able to lend your support to Barry and family in this way, they would very much appreciate it. Thank you.
Barry’s  GoFundMe, https://gofund.me/1a227c81

Voting for the Next Bishop:  Every year at our January Annual Meeting, we elect two delegates to Diocesan Convention plus two alternates.  In 2023, this election is a big deal, because our delegates will not only participate in the Annual Convention in October, they will also vote for the next Bishop of California at a special convention on December 2nd.  We want to make sure we have a full slate of delegates and alternates to ensure that St. Aidan’s gets to participate in this important decision for the future of our diocese.  If you want to learn more about what it means to be a delegate or alternate, you can talk to one of our current delegates, Peter Fairfield or Dave Frangquist.  If you would like to be nominated for one of these positions, contact a member of the nominating committee, Elena Wong, Nicole Miller or Christine Powell.

Help Habitat Greater San Francisco spread the news about a new program for our neighbors
Since we are loyal volunteers at the Amber Drive Site, our Habitat friends have asked for our help in spreading the word about a valuable service now available to low-income homeowners residing in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. A recent grant allows residents with fixed incomes to receive help with low-cost critical repairs so they can keep their homes and age in place. The “ask” is for us to walk with Habitat staff while performing the important outreach task of hanging information on doors in the neighborhood.  We’ll have the chance to get to know our Habitat friends better and also to discover the vibrancy of this family-oriented, working class neighborhood.  Volunteers need to be 14 years of age for this one.
Date and time:  Saturday, February 25, 2023, noon – 4 pm. 
There will be snacks!  And we can arrange carpooling also.
Please contact Deacon Margaret if you are interested in joining, mdyerc@stanford.edu.

St. Aidan’s Gourmet Book Group - Next Date:  Monday, February 27, 2023, 7pm
We will continue to meet via zoom with LeeAnn DeSalles serving as our zoom master.  She has set up a zoom link, listed below,  that will serve for all our meetings.   If you would like help with zoom, please contact LeeAnn at leeanndesalles@comcast.net<mailto:leeanndesalles@comcast.net>.  If you would like to join the Book Group, please contact elaine@mannon.com<mailto:elaine@mannon.com>.
  •  Monday February 27, 2023 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
    • Languages of Truth by Salmon Rushdie  (368 pages) - Gathering pieces written between 2003 and 2020, Rushdie immerses the reader in a wide variety of subjects as he delves into the nature of storytelling and the nature of "truth."
  • Monday, March 27, 2023 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
    • Still Alice by Lisa Genova   (292 pages) – A compelling novel about a 50-year-old woman’s sudden descent into early-onset Alzheimer’s disease
       
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: Wednesdays at 6:30 PM via Zoom
Our CDSP Seminarian Weston Morris has resumed the service. 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
St. Aidan's Vestry
Kate Fritz, Senior Warden
TBD, Junior Warden
Dave Frangquist, Clerk & Treasurer 
Anne Benniger, Anne Edwards,
Sarah Glover, Lee Hammack,
Michael Jennings, Elaina LeGault
Jim Oerther, Barbara Stevenson     
 
5th Sunday After the Epiphany

8 AM Communion (Hybrid)
The Rev. Don Fox, Presider
The Rev. Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, Deacon & Preacher
Jackie Buckley, Altar Guild

10 AM Communion (Hybrid)
The Rev. Don Fox, Presider
The Rev. Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain, Deacon & Preacher
Dr. Lisa da Silva, Postulant
Weston Morris, Seminarian
David Austin, Guest Music Minister
Anne Benninger, Lee Hammack, Michael Jennings, Jackie Lewey, Janet Lohr, Jim Oerther, Kateri Paul, Barbara Stevenson, Jill Tollefson, & Rolf Tollefson, and perhaps you!, Choir
Sue McDonald, In-Person Greeter
JoEllen Brothers, Zoom Greeter
??? & Shelley Johnson, Lectors
Michael Jennings, Intercessor
Barbara Stevenson, Altar Guild
Paul Nocero, Sound/Liturgical DJ
Patricia Brown, Bread Baker
CoCo Lin, Child Care
 
Calendar for the week starting Friday, February 3, 2023
Friday,
February 3
Saturday,
February 4
 
Sunday,
February 5
Monday,
February 6
Tuesday,
February 7
 
Wednesday,
February 8
Thursday,
February 9
 
Morning Prayer (via Zoom), 7:30 AM
Food Pantry, 1 PM
Contemplative Prayer (via Zoom), 9 AM
Men's Group (via Zoom) 9 AM
Good News Gardens, 12:30 PM
Holy Eucharist (Hybrid), 8 & 10 AM
 
Morning Prayer (via Zoom), 7:30 AM
 
Contemplative Prayer (via Zoom), 9 AM
Wrestling with the Scriptures Group (via Zoom), 10:30 AM
Morning Prayer (via Zoom), 7:30 AM
Evening Prayer (via Zoom), 6:30 PM
Contemplative Prayer (via Zoom), 9 AM
Kaffeeklatsch (via Zoom), 3 PM
Our Prayers 
In Your Prayers, Please Remember:

In deep acknowledgment that St. Aidan’s is located within the unceded, ancestral land of the Yelamu tribe of the Ramaytush Ohlone people who have lived in vital relationship with this holy place for thousands of years.
 
In the Episcopal Church: Pray for Michael our Presiding Bishop; Marc our Bishop; the clergy of the Diocese; our Rector Cameron; our assisting priests Don and Gary; our Deacons Margaret, and Mark; our Music Minister Barry; our Guest Music Minister David; our seminarian Weston; our postulant Lisa; our Childcare Provider CoCo.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer: Pray for The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea.

In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: Pray for St. Paul’s, Oakland; St. Paul’s, Burlingame; St. Paul’s, San Rafael; St Paul’s, Walnut Creek; St. Timothy’s, Danville, and for Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

In our Parish Cycle of Prayer: Pray for the Communications Committee.
 
For those with birthdays this coming week:  Patrick, Tuck, Andrew, Mary.

For all striving for mental and emotional balance and wholeness, and for their families and friends.
 
For those who have asked for our prayers: Barry K., Dawn, Elaina L., George J., Jack P., Jim F., Kathy R., Margaret T., Margie W., Marilyn W., Michael & Elaine J., Nancy F., Nathan C., Patrick M., Reyna G., Tim F.
 
For the ongoing work against intersecting forms of oppression, particularly racism; and in affirmation of human dignity;

For our work in the world: Habitat for Humanity on Amber Drive, the Friday Food Pantry, Diamond Diners.
 
For Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Elijah McClain, Walter Wallace, Adam Toledo, Daunte Wright, and all whose lives have borne deep witness that Black Lives Matter, and that systemic racism, white supremacy, and police brutality must be eradicated.
                                                   
For our congregation as we embrace our call to be a sanctuary people, may we commit ourselves to prayer, education, and practices of sanctuary to support immigrants to this country and all people who are estranged, excluded, or threatened in 21st century America.
 
For all who are struggling in this time of pandemic, vulnerability, intensified injustice and division; for strength, support, and community across physical distances and for deepened engagement and commitment to our common life;

For those who have recently died: John Anthony Fabatz, Roger Wolcott, Linda, Ann Schembari, Jean Amos, Marjorie Wilkins Jones, John Morrow, Natalie Lloyd, Sabra Sones, Eleanor Elliott, Ellie McCarthy, Christine Ortiz.

Names of the living are printed by first name only unless otherwise requested. 
Living prayer request names will be kept on the prayer list for four weeks;
to keep someone on the list for longer, please notify the office.
To place a name on our prayer list, please contact the church office
 415-285-9540, ext. 3 or office@staidansf.org 






Website and Staff Email Addresses
Our website address is staidansf.org
The email address to reach Cameron, the Rector, is rector@staidansf.org
The email to reach Cary, the Parish Administrator, is office@staidansf.org
The  email to reach Barry, the Music Minister, is music@staidansf.org
The email to reach Dave, the Treasurer, is treasurer@staidansf.org
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101 Gold Mine Drive 
San Francisco, CA 94131

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St. Aidan's Episcopal Church · 101 Gold Mine Dr · San Francisco, CA 94131-2538 · USA

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