ivinGiMeS

the St. Cyprian’s newsletter

May–June 2011

INSIDE

THINGS THAT DON’T COMPUTE

Dear friends, neighbors, and members of St. Cyprian’s,

Reverend Will asked me to write this issue’s open letter, and as the weeks went by and the words weren’t coming, a touch of panic began to rise. He kindly suggested looking into Mary Magdalene’s story. Maybe it’s the time of year, but in wracking my brain for what I would write, I kept coming back to a terrible graduation-speech trope: “Class of 2011, resurrection is not the end. It’s the beginning.”

But this is where the rubber hits the road! Loads of words have been written about the lack of agreement between the various gospel accounts of several women who go to the tomb in the pre-dawn of the first day after the Sabbath (Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, Salome, and possibly other women). But the end result is the same: Word gets around, and the disciples who had spent the last three days scattering and freaking out manage to get a hold of themselves and realize that the death of their teacher was not the end: It was the true beginning of their responsibility for the Jesus message.

I have not been able to get out of my head lines from the poem we read at the beginning of the Easter service (the reverend always chooses great poems), Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, by Wendell Berry. My favorites, the essence of the Jesus message:

So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it.

Jesus’ life did not compute in his world. He lived in a way that was guaranteed to bring about his death: He just would not hush up about overturning the entrenched systems of power and raising up those who found no place in those systems—his love had no boundaries, even when he was cross with us humans, and many were considered undeserving of that love. Every year at this time, we are challenged anew to live in a way that continues his purpose. It’s a tough row to hoe day after day, which is why we then need Lent, followed by Easter, year after year.

At St. Cyprian’s we’ve been growing in many directions. We’ve opened our doors to the neighborhood and welcomed people want-ing to use our space for “secular” purposes. In February, we started a partnership with SF Live Arts to host concerts. And we’re doing all sorts of other work to rebuild the church. But arguably our most important work is the selves we take back out into the world every Sunday. Does our light shine a little brighter? Are we taking responsibility for the Jesus message? We’ve adopted the tagline of “Faith. Action. Community.” At the confluence of these streams, we can do great things.

And so, fellow classmates, I return to that terrible cliché at the begin-ning of this message: Resurrection is not the end. It’s the beginning. Let’s go out and do the work we’ve been given to do.

Peace, Jennifer Wolfe

• Kitchen gets a Web site

• Building work from top to bottom

• Gospel concert in May

• Palm Sunday

• Easter

• New faces in our spaces

• Calendar

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COMPrEHENSIvE FIrE SAFETy UPGrADES COMPlETEDWith a new fire alarm bell in place and the last automatic door closer installed, St. Cyprian’s has completed a three-month fire safety upgrade throughout the building. Our small but grow-ing congregation authorized a raft of improvements, including new exit signs and battery-operated automatic lights at each exterior door, fire sprinkler system checked and certified, fire extinguishers re-charged, panic bars improved at all exits, upgraded electrical outlets and circuits, improved door locking devices, and a dozen door closers to keep a fire enclosed.

THE NEWS FrOM ST. CyPrIAN’S...

BUIlDING COMMITTEE TO rEPAIr WAll AND WINDOWSFor years St. Cyprian’s Lyon Street wall has dodged efforts to diagnose the cause of several wall and window leaks. This spring the Building Committee has recommended that the source of the leaks and cracks be identified once and for all and the problems be repaired to the extent that the church’s budget allows. From now until the start of the next rainy season, we will be taking a top-down approach—from the bell tower and steeple to the founda-tions. One advantage of starting at the top is the chance to get sweeping city views from the base of the steeple...

PrAyErS FOr BErT AlSTON On April 26, longtime St. Cyprian’s member Bert Alston passed away after a lengthy illness. On May 1, we were joined by Bert’s son, George, and other family members and friends to remember him. Norma Planiczka and Tommy Collie spoke of Bert as someone who was always there, always involved. “He didn’t always say a lot, but when he spoke, he said some-thing smart,” Tommy recalled. Mr. Alston cared deeply for the life of this church, and we pray for his family.

HElP US SING!Our small but vibrant congregation, rooted in the African-American and Caribbean experience in San Francisco, seeks a worship music coordinator who will be an instrumental part of our congregation’s growth as a vital, inclusive, multicultur-al faith community and neighborhood gathering place. Read more about the position at www.saintcyprianssf.org/jobs or send inquiries to turkandlyon@gmail.com.

MAy AND JUNE WITH SF lIvE ArTS Raising the Roof with an Evening of Gospel, May 14Four powerful voices, led by Pastor Kenny Mason and backed by a dynamic rhythm section, Men of Endurance perform at blues and gospel festivals all over the west and received the 2004 Gospel Singing Award from the Bay Area Blues Society. Opening will be Fret Not, playing boot-stomping gospel from the traditions of America’s white and black rural churches; Lori Arthur lights the vocal fire, backed by fiddle, bass, guitar, and banjo. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door.

An Evening of Song, June 4Joshua Raoul Brody and Merle (Ian Shoales) Kessler host 25 singers performing their favorite song, backed by The Experimental Love Orchestra. Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Our own Norma Planiczka will be singing!

Shows start at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:30.

COMMUNITy KITCHEN GETS A WEB SITEOur University of San Francisco intern Andy Sakrhrani has created a beautiful Web ste for our kitchen project. Be sure to visit it at www.cyprianscommunitykitchen.org. We are working on getting an online donation feature set up. There is a video in which some us-ers of the kitchen describe their vision for its future, and you can look at the schematic created for the new design drawn up for us by Joe Yick. We have been fortunate to have such dedicated interns from USF over the past year, first in Madelene Parks, followed by Andy. We are so grateful for their time and talents!

PAlM SUNDAyWe had a beautiful Palm Sunday service, with two of our youngsters acolyting. In keeping with our growing connection to the local, member Dale Danley, president of Panhandle Park Stewards, gathered fragrant greenery for us from Golden Gate Park. As Rev. Will pointed out, in Jesus’ time, people spread palm fronds because that’s what was around. The red-wood fronds put a new, St. Cyp’s spin on things.

WElCOME, BENJAMIN rAlPH! On April 8, members Chris, Yaro, and Samuel Ralph wel-comed new baby Benjamin. Blessings and congratulations!

Designer and editor: Jennifer Wolfe • jpaigewolfe@gmail.com Contributing writer: Michael Helquist

Keep in TouchDo we have your e-mail address and correct mailing address? We have a weekly e-mail newsletter in addition to the printed version. If you know of anyone who might want to receive the weekly updates, send their e-mail address to turkandlyon@gmail.com so we can add them to the list.

From Our Priest...These days Turk and Lyon is full of life, whether we’ve been gathering for concerts, sharing meals, meeting to plan repairs to the building, visiting the sick, or opening locked doors. One of our recent visitors had on the back of his T-shirt the words, “Everybody matters” (see the picture at left) Indeed, ev-erybody matters at St. Cyprian’s. Each day St. Cyprian’s affirms the value of every person whether they are here physically or praying with and for us from a distance.

Jesus’ followers could have made different choices; they didn’t have to choose resurrec-tion. They could have believed that death, cruelty, injustice, violence, wealth, and power were the definers of reality. That actually would have been easier. But they practiced resurrection. They told stories that shifted the focus from a dead guy to a living one. Today, we continue to practice resurrection, and are surprised regularly how our teacher comes dressed as a stranger, gardener, cyclist, mother, student, and neighbor.

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lGCSF Fills the Halls with SongThe Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco made its first visit to St. Cyprian’s for an all-day rehearsal retreat on Saturday, April 30. The 30-member ensemble used the rehearsal to prepare both pieces by well-known artists such as Cole Porter and Leonard Bernstein as well as a new piece of music by a living, local LGBT composer—one of the group’s specialties. The chorus was preparing for its upcoming concert, the 33rd An-nual Pride Concert, scheduled for Friday, June 24. Visit SFPrideConcert.org for details. At the end of rehearsal, the chorus welcomed friends, family, and members of the community to join them for a free open rehearsal under the baton of Artistic Director William Sauerland.

AllElUIA!Our Easter service drew more people than expected, and Reverend Will gave a beautiful homily testifying to our long tradition of “active, engaged faith.” Afterward we sat around a giant table to enjoy a potluck of savories and sweets pro-vided by congregation members.

May 25: Pies for Parklets FundraiserHelp Cyprian’s “green” its sidewalks and toast member Michael Helquist as the District 5 Person of the Month for June. Join us for deli-cious food to raise funds for our beautification!

Wednesday, May 25, 5:30–7:30 p.m. Chile Pies, 601 Baker @ Fulton

yoga With Peter WongWe are pleased to announce gentle flow yoga classes on Thursdays, beginning May 26, from 5 to 6:15 p.m. This class will incorporate slow sun salutations, soft move-ments, and openings while concentrating on awareness of mind, body, and breath. The practice will culminate in restorative poses to bring students into a meditative state. The sessions are perfect for seniors and begin-ners. Peter Wong is a certified yoga teacher who fell in love with the practice as his spiritual awakening began. For more information, visit http://peterwongyoga.com. The classes are donation-based; the rate is $10 to $15 per class. Students can pay more or less depending on what they can afford. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church has been a member of the San Francisco community for over 80 years. We are a passionate group of seekers, thinkers,

dreamers, doubters, and believers from many walks of life.

St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church2097 Turk St.San Francisco, CA 94115

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ship

find

SUNDAyS, 10:10 A.M. • lITUrGy AND MUSICWEDNESDAyS, 9 A.M. • MOrNING COMMUNION

415.567.1855WWW.SAINTCyPrIANSSF.OrG

lIvEATCyPrIANS.BlOGSPOT.COM

MONDAyS Al-Anon, 6:30–7:30 p.m.

THUrSDAyS, FrOM MAy 26yoga with Peter Wong, 5 to 6:15 p.m.

FrIDAyS Simply Sandwiches works

downstairs, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.

SATUrDAySAlcoholics Anonymous,

10 a.m.–12 p.m.

SATUrDAy, MAy 14 A Night of Gospel with Fret Not and

Men of Endurance, 8 p.m.

MONDAy, MAy 16 Master guitar class with

vieux Farka Touré, 6:30–8 p.m.Don’t miss this chance for a master class from a

true master of West African desert blues! The cost is only $40. Get tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com.

WEDNESDAy, MAy 25 Pies for Parklets fundraiser at

Chile PIes, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

SATUrDAy, JUNE 4An Evening of Song, 8 p.m.

25 local singers, each performing a favorite song

SATUrDAy, JUNE 11St. Cyp’s work day, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Let’s get together and spiff the place up some more! in anticipation of summer events!

On the Calendar