Join members of St. Paul's and other parishes in the San Francisco Pride Parade. Bishop Marc will celebrate Eucharist before the march.
Meet at St. Paul's at 8:45 (after the 8:00 am service) to take BART together.
Join Oasis for a statement of God's love for all of us.
See you at church!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
What are the Episcopalians up to now?
June 1, 2010
They're out there again. On the corner of Montecito and Bay, in front of the huge, brick church. On Palm Sunday, they marched into the church behind a trumpet and the choir. They lit a fire on the night before Easter. Now, they're on the sidewalk again -- a bunch of them milling around as if a Tuesday morning at 8:00 was some kind of special time.
They're all looking up now. Oh, one of them is up on top of the tower. It looks as if they're going to run a new flag up the flagpole. They got together to celebrate that? Wait, there's a second flag. Hey, it's a rainbow flag. The flag that signifies unity and that everyone is welcome inside the church. Neat.
Now, they're holding hands and praying. Awwww. And they're singing. Not very well, but it is early in the morning. (One of the women has a nice voice, though.) Somewhere over the rainbow. Cute.
They're smiling. Those Episcopalians are always smiling. Makes you want to go to their church. Hey, that's not a bad idea.
See you in church!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
What do you believe?
This Sunday, May 30, 2010, St. Paul's kicked off Pride Month with a sermon by Tom Jackson, the President of Oasis, California -- the LGBT ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of California.
"Am I going to hell for this?" Tom heard that question from a woman in labor and delivery in the hospital where he serves as chaplain. She was preparing to induce labor to end a pregnancy that would have produced a child who wouldn't survive. She was doing it to save her own health. And, she thought she was going to hell. She kept pressing Tom to tell her what he believed. Normally, a chaplain doesn't express his own beliefs, but she wouldn't let the question drop. "What do you believe?"
At St. Paul's -- and at most other Christian churches -- we believe in a loving God, not a judgmental God. If God gave his only begotten son to save us -- and to die in a particularly violent and
painful way -- why would He not continue to love us through trials like the one that woman was going through?
If God loves us, and He does, why would He not love us all equally?
So often the voice of Christianity in the popular press and popular culture is the judgmental one. When a local city put together an educational program to teach children and their parents how to cope with bullying based on LGBT orientation, the only Christians who showed up to comment were ones who wanted the program canceled. So often, that viewpoint is represented in the media as the Christian view of what's the correct and incorrect way of loving.
The opposing point of view -- that we're all God's children and worthy of His love -- gets drowned out. For one thing, most of us practice what Jesus taught us and pray in private. And then, too, it's rude to tell people that their religious views are wrong. The accepting view of God isn't particularly newsworthy, anyway. "God loves us all. Pictures at 11:00" doesn't make for great drama.
What's the solution? For the short run, who knows?
In the long run, we may well have already won. All the polls show that younger people don't make the old judgments against our LGBT brothers and sisters. In fact, practitioners of the old, narrow-minded views have become particularly strident and incoherent precisely because they know they can't hold back justice.
In the meantime, what's important is that we continue to strive to be heard. We also need to let people know that everyone...everyone!...is welcome in our churches.
See you in church!
P.S. The gentlemen in the picture are Bishop Marc Andrus, Episcopal Bishop of California, and Lutheran Bishop Mark Holmerud in preparation to participate in the SF Pride Parade.
"Am I going to hell for this?" Tom heard that question from a woman in labor and delivery in the hospital where he serves as chaplain. She was preparing to induce labor to end a pregnancy that would have produced a child who wouldn't survive. She was doing it to save her own health. And, she thought she was going to hell. She kept pressing Tom to tell her what he believed. Normally, a chaplain doesn't express his own beliefs, but she wouldn't let the question drop. "What do you believe?"
At St. Paul's -- and at most other Christian churches -- we believe in a loving God, not a judgmental God. If God gave his only begotten son to save us -- and to die in a particularly violent and
painful way -- why would He not continue to love us through trials like the one that woman was going through?If God loves us, and He does, why would He not love us all equally?
So often the voice of Christianity in the popular press and popular culture is the judgmental one. When a local city put together an educational program to teach children and their parents how to cope with bullying based on LGBT orientation, the only Christians who showed up to comment were ones who wanted the program canceled. So often, that viewpoint is represented in the media as the Christian view of what's the correct and incorrect way of loving.
The opposing point of view -- that we're all God's children and worthy of His love -- gets drowned out. For one thing, most of us practice what Jesus taught us and pray in private. And then, too, it's rude to tell people that their religious views are wrong. The accepting view of God isn't particularly newsworthy, anyway. "God loves us all. Pictures at 11:00" doesn't make for great drama.
What's the solution? For the short run, who knows?
In the long run, we may well have already won. All the polls show that younger people don't make the old judgments against our LGBT brothers and sisters. In fact, practitioners of the old, narrow-minded views have become particularly strident and incoherent precisely because they know they can't hold back justice.
In the meantime, what's important is that we continue to strive to be heard. We also need to let people know that everyone...everyone!...is welcome in our churches.
See you in church!
P.S. The gentlemen in the picture are Bishop Marc Andrus, Episcopal Bishop of California, and Lutheran Bishop Mark Holmerud in preparation to participate in the SF Pride Parade.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Want to help with creating the ceremony?
On June 1 at 8:00 am, we'll be raising the unity flag over the church. Here's your chance to participate in creating a ceremony.
Trish Grima wants suggestions for hymns. Pllease post your ideas here or contact Trish. She's at trishgrima@yahoo.com.
This may not sound like a very big deal, but it's actually an exciting opportunity. In recent years, the church has re-iterated its support for justice and love for our LGBT members. Now, we find ourselves exploring what form our expression of that support will take in practice. Ritual and liturgy in the Episcopal church -- and certainly at St. Paul's! -- are beautiful and both solemn and joyful at the same time.
Here's your chance to direct one of the steps we mentioned in the first post on this blog. Think of your favorite hymns and nominate one or more for the raising of the unity flag.
Trish Grima wants suggestions for hymns. Pllease post your ideas here or contact Trish. She's at trishgrima@yahoo.com.
This may not sound like a very big deal, but it's actually an exciting opportunity. In recent years, the church has re-iterated its support for justice and love for our LGBT members. Now, we find ourselves exploring what form our expression of that support will take in practice. Ritual and liturgy in the Episcopal church -- and certainly at St. Paul's! -- are beautiful and both solemn and joyful at the same time.
Here's your chance to direct one of the steps we mentioned in the first post on this blog. Think of your favorite hymns and nominate one or more for the raising of the unity flag.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Pride Events at St. Paul's
You have to love a bishop with a kazooSunday, May 30
Sermon by Tom Jackson, head of the Bay Area Oasis group (http://www.oasiscalifornia.org/).
Also, Blessing of the Unity Flag
Tuesday, June 1 – in front of the church
8:00 am flying the Unity Flag
Wednesday, June 2 – parish hall
7:00 pm Movie night
Popcorn provided!
Sunday, June 13 – church courtyard
After 10:00 service
Pride Barbecue
Sunday, June 27 – San Francisco
San Francisco Pride Parade
March with the Dioceses of California
See you in church!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
A journey of a thousand miles...
We are Oasis at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Oakland, California. We are lesbian, gay, bisesual, transgender, and others in support of full equality and love for all of our members and brothers and sisters in the community around our church and around the world.
Pretty ambitious, huh? What is it the say about the journey of a thousand miles? It starts with a single step.
In this blog, we hope to accomplish at least two things: chronicle the steps we take for social justice and to show that a Christian church is a place of inclusion, not judgement. Much more later...
In the meantime...see you in Church!
Pretty ambitious, huh? What is it the say about the journey of a thousand miles? It starts with a single step.
In this blog, we hope to accomplish at least two things: chronicle the steps we take for social justice and to show that a Christian church is a place of inclusion, not judgement. Much more later...
In the meantime...see you in Church!
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