Sermon reflection by Abbie Coburn
Mar 30th
The Procession Continues
This week the Rev. Dr. Tom Dipko preached a wonderful sermon that highlighted for us the dual processions that were coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. On the one hand, Jesus was processing in on a poor donkey, with the streets lined with the poor, but faithful, who were witnesses and believers to his glory. On the other hand there was a large parade for Pontius Pilate, with the streets lined with the rich who, as Tom reminded us, were throwing their expensive robes on the ground in front of Pilate’s chariot. Tom pointed out that these were the residents with deep financial pockets, complicit in the occupation by the Roman Empire. We were asked to reflect on these two parades and to remember the one that was for Jesus.
I cannot help but see the parallels to our current times and wonder how Jesus would feel about how absent we are from his procession. With tax season upon is I am more acutely aware than ever that we, as US taxpayers, are lining the streets of the occupation of Palestine with our $3 billion in foreign aid to Israel, used to buy weapons and build walls, every year. More than any other nation in the world, we support the continued violent occupation of the land where Jesus processed to his death.
As we processed on Palm Sunday throughout the Mission, so too did 150 Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals attempt to walk from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, a distance of only a few miles, but one that has become nearly impassable. On a road reserved only for Israelis and certain internationals, this group of nonviolent resistors waved their palms and escorted their donkeys past the Israeli military on their way into Jerusalem. The procession was stopped well before ever entering Jerusalem, and 4 Israelis, 1 American, and 11 Palestinians were arrested, with the Palestinians still being held today. The donkeys were also taken into custody. Jesus at least was able to get his donkey all the way into Jerusalem.
And so, as Tom stood up there speaking to us of these processions that took place 2000 years ago, we could all sit and nod our heads at which parade we’d choose to be a part of. But, today, when this testament of human will and goodness and grace continues, which procession do we choose to throw our cloaks before? I not only mourn the death of Jesus this week, but also the deaths all those who work nonviolently everyday against this illegal occupation that we are all complicit in, and that brings us further from the grace of God every time we look away. I hope to one day feel that I can fully be on the path that would line Jesus’ procession.
Abbie Coburn
For more information you may visit:
http://www.imemc.org/article/58309
qumsiyeh.org
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/
This week the Rev. Dr. Tom Dipko preached a wonderful sermon that highlighted for us the dual processions that were coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. On the one hand, Jesus was processing in on a poor donkey, with the streets lined with the poor, but faithful, who were witnesses and believers to his glory. On the other hand there was a large parade for Pontius Pilate, with the streets lined with the rich who, as Tom reminded us, were throwing their expensive robes on the ground in front of Pilate’s chariot. Tom pointed out that these were the residents with deep financial pockets, complicit in the occupation by the Roman Empire. We were asked to reflect on these two parades and to remember the one that was for Jesus.
I cannot help but see the parallels to our current times and wonder how Jesus would feel about how absent we are from his procession. With tax season upon is I am more acutely aware than ever that we, as US taxpayers, are lining the streets of the occupation of Palestine with our $3 billion in foreign aid to Israel, used to buy weapons and build walls, every year. More than any other nation in the world, we support the continued violent occupation of the land where Jesus processed to his death.
As we processed on Palm Sunday throughout the Mission, so too did 150 Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals attempt to walk from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, a distance of only a few miles, but one that has become nearly impassable. On a road reserved only for Israelis and certain internationals, this group of nonviolent resistors waved their palms and escorted their donkeys past the Israeli military on their way into Jerusalem. The procession was stopped well before ever entering Jerusalem, and 4 Israelis, 1 American, and 11 Palestinians were arrested, with the Palestinians still being held today. The donkeys were also taken into custody. Jesus at least was able to get his donkey all the way into Jerusalem.
And so, as Tom stood up there speaking to us of these processions that took place 2000 years ago, we could all sit and nod our heads at which parade we’d choose to be a part of. But, today, when this testament of human will and goodness and grace continues, which procession do we choose to throw our cloaks before? I not only mourn the death of Jesus this week, but also the deaths all those who work nonviolently everyday against this illegal occupation that we are all complicit in, and that brings us further from the grace of God every time we look away. I hope to one day feel that I can fully be on the path that would line Jesus’ procession.
- Abbie Coburn
For more information you may visit:
http://www.imemc.org/article/58309
qumsiyeh.org
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/
Palm Sunday Procession begins at 9:35
Mar 26th
Please join us for our Palm Sunday procession on Sunday morning. We will be gathering with the parishioners from St. John’s and El Buen Samaritano on Valencia between 21st and 22nd Streets for the blessing of the palms and then we will process singing and marching and waving palms to Holy Innocents.
The Blessing of the Palms will be at 9:30 and we are anticipating our entrance into the church will be at 10:00 …
If you do not feel able to make the walk to the church, feel free to bring your car to drive, or to simply meet us at the church at 10. Acolytes please be at the church to vest at 9 and we will go to Valencia together. A couple of cars will be taking us and our materials there, and those cars can also bring a few people back who cannot make the procession.
Additionally, this is the last Sunday of the month so there is just ONE SERVICE … Hospitality is Potluck, and people are encouraged to bring whatever they would like for a brunch-type meal.
THERE ARE HOLY WEEK SERVICES EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK THIS WEEK. PLEASE MAKE YOUR PLANS TO ATTEND ALL YOU POSSIBLY CAN … I will be sending out a more informational email message about the remainder of the services tomorrow, and you can expect me to send several email reminders and updates throughout the week.
As many of you know, Buddy Stallings (my bff from college who served with me here at Holy Innocents for a year) is the Vicar of St. Bart’s in New York City. St. Bart’s is one of the leading parishes in the country. Every week I receive an email from St. Bart’s, half of them Buddy writes and half, their Rector, Bill Tully writes. If you want to start receiving these reflections visit their website at: http://www.stbarts.org
This week’s reflection on Holy Week was by Bill, and I found what he had to say about Holy Week so well said that I wanted to share it with you. He gives us a lovely perspective on ‘The Great Week’ and our participation in it. Please read and enjoy!
May you have a blessed Holy Week,
Rosa Lee+
From St. Bart’s, NYC – The Great Week
In 1987, this item appeared in the famed Diary feature of The Times of London:
“Overheard in a Chiswick jeweler’s shop, assistant to customer examining a collection of crucifix pendants: ‘Are you looking for a plain one, or one with a little man on it?’”
We can’t afford to be judgmental about such breathtaking religious illiteracy, but we can’t be complacent either.
This coming week we commemorate the death of the “little man” on the cross. The death of Jesus has meaning, because his life and teaching had the power to change the world and change lives. Whatever your religion, or none, he is a Big Man of history.
You might want to think of Holy Week as a progression or pilgrimage. The intensity of it, the sheer honesty of it, can be experienced at any point along the way. Of course, the more you take in, the more you’re likely to gain.
And what might that gain be?
You might gain understanding of the human condition. You will certainly hear voices representing the best and worst our kind has to offer. You won’t hear easy answers, but you’ll gain the sense that life can be lived out of a center of faith — a gift, for sure — that means our freedom, our mistakes and our hardest questions are part of the life-giving order of things.
Many years ago, I attended a church where this week was titled simply The Great Week. In it, they lived out the story of the cross in which the little man became a big deal. He has been ever since for me.
May it be so for you. See you along the way.
Bill Tully
2010 Holy Week Services:
Mar 16th
Palm Sunday March 28: Procession begins at 9:30 a.m.; entrance into the church at 10:00 a.m. Potluck follows.
Weeknight Services:
Monday at 7:00 p.m. at St John the Evangelist, 15th & Julian Streets, in the Mission District.
Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at St-Aidan, 101 Goldmine, in Diamond Heights
Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Holy Innocents, 455 Fair Oaks Street
Holy Innocents Traditional Maundy Thursday Dinner
Potluck begins at 6:30 p.m.; service begins at 7:00 p.m.
Good Friday:
Stations of the Cross at Dolores Park at noon
Service of Meditation and Music at Holy Innocents at 7:30 p.m.
Great Vigil of Easter at St-John the Evangelist at 7:30 p.m.
(combined service with El Buen Samaritano, St-Aidan, St-John and Holy Innocents)
Easter Day
Services at Holy Innocents at 9:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.
My hometown
Mar 12th
I thought I’d share this with my Holy Innocents Family.
I grew up in a county of 17,000 people and a hometown of 2,300. There were 121 people in my graduating class. My dad was editor of the paper, and subsequently, so was I. It was a small town and we knew EVERYBODY. Really. Everybody.
Imagine my surprise when the news started being posted to Facebook that a high school in Mississippi was canceling its prom and that it was MY high school.
All day today I’ve been pretty obsessed with taking action on trying to make sure that there is a prom for everyone in Fulton. I wanted to fly back to help it happen, but as fate would have it, the prom is planned for GOOD FRIDAY! Me being there on Good Friday is not gonna happen …
So anyway, I’ve started a Facebook group for Itawambians who want the prom to happen anyway. We only have seven members so far, but I trust it will grow – a little bit anyway.
And I’ve written the following letter to the Superintendent of Education, and also sent it to the local newspapers. The weekly that I used to be editor of, and the daily that the Bishop of Mississippi’s brother is currently editor of. What a FREAKIN’ small world it is.
I’ve also offered to do some fundraising to help pay for a prom for everyone, but it ‘appears’ that the parents are going to do that. I’m still not positive about the ‘everyone’ part of it, but am staying on it.
The RIGHT thing to do will be for the school board to rescind its decision and have the prom as planned. The Superintendent of Schools’ email address is: tmcneece@itawamba.k12.ms.us (if you want to help!)
Here’s my letter:
March 12, 2010
Dear Editor,
I am a 1970 graduate of IAHS. My memory of my own prom, with a bit of chagrin, is that we had our prom at the country club because the school didn’t think it was a good idea to have an integrated prom. Blacks and whites shouldn’t dance together.
But shortly after that we were so proud when the Itawamba County School District was reported to be the first in Mississippi to be taken off of the watch list by the Justice Department because our integration went so smoothly. And of course, 40 years later we know the prom with black and white students turned out to not be a problem as it was in other places. It was fewer than five years before the prom was back at the “IJC” Student Center, everyone welcome, and I’ve never heard anyone say anything other than ‘we should never have cancelled it’. The Class of 1970’s class reunions now include everyone and one was even held at that same country club.
Clarksdale did not have an integrated prom until a couple of years ago when Morgan Freeman said he would pay for it if they would have one for ALL the students. They took him up on it and made a wonderful documentary called “Prom Night in Mississippi”. Looking around the South, I have always been proud of Itawamba County and how we didn’t have to be challenged from the outside to do what was right.
My experience during integration Itawamba County was a significant part of making me who I am today. It is part of what has made me a person who is open to change and helps me always try to look for ways to be compassionate to ‘the outsider’.
In story after story in the gospels, we see Jesus in relationship with the people who aren’t just like everybody else. In fact we see him eating with (a symbol of close relationship for the first century) Samaritans, with tax collectors, even with prostitutes. I believe in those stories that Jesus is telling us we can’t judge people with our eyes, our preconceptions, that God’s love extends to all regardless of how we as humans see or understand them.
I do not believe that homosexuality is wrong. I believe that crazy idea that God created us and that God did not make mistakes in creating us. But even for those who believe that being gay is a sin, I cannot imagine them saying that Jesus would think “these kids should not have a party together because one of them is gay’.
I really do hope that the school board will ask themselves a few questions and reconsider: What is right here? Is it fair to all the kids in the high school to cancel this prom because one child who wants to go is different from the way we might think she should be? How does this nurture and support kids in our care who feel excluded or different? What is this decision to cancel the prom teaching the children of Itawamba County about they should think about people who are different? And finally, even though it is not a ‘legal’ question to consider, I think it would help inform a decision for the Christian people of my hometown to ask: What would Jesus do? Since Jesus had dinner with tax collectors and prostitutes, I think Jesus would support and ATTEND a prom that included everybody.
I cannot imagine the Jesus we read about in the gospels supporting turning our backs on the kids who are different. I cannot imagine how canceling the prom is helpful in growing and shaping young people’s minds unless the goal is to teach them that bigotry is okay. That you want to teach kids that it is okay to be scared of people who are different and to discriminate against them. What IS the goal in canceling the prom? What do the people who made that decision think is being promoted here?
Wouldn’t it be great if a documentary could be made about Itawamba Agricultural High School called “Another Prom Night in Mississippi”. The story line could be that after stopping to reconsider, the Itawamba County School Board decided to have an even bigger and better prom that included all the children of IAHS, regardless of who they are.
Sincerely,
Rosa Lee Harden
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(The Rev.) Rosa Lee Harden
Holy Innocents Episcopal Church
Cell Phone • 415 515 0425
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Spring forward!
Mar 12th
This weekend we change the clocks and lose one hour of sleep. If you don’t want to arrive during communion, move your clocks and watches forward on Saturday night!
Letter from Rosa Lee …
Feb 28th
February 28, 2010
Dear Holy Innocents Friends,
I am quite certain that this is the hardest letter I’ve ever written because I’m writing to tell you that after a lot of soul searching, prayer and conversation with Kevin and our family, I have decided that the time has come for me to move on from Holy Innocents.
When I came to Holy Innocents, first as a student in 1997 and then as your vicar in 2000, it never occurred to me that I would be here some 13 years later. As most of you have known about me before I got to Holy Innocents I would sometimes refer to myself as a ‘serial entrepreneur.’ I had started or rebuilt seven businesses one right after another prior to going to seminary. When Roy Oswald (a consultant who came in to work with us at Holy Innocents at the end of my first year) told Kevin and me that in order for me to do the work he felt needed to be done at Holy Innocents I needed to stay at least five years, and that eight would be preferable, Kevin and I laughed out loud.
I think that many of us felt that my time at Holy Innocents was likely going to be a shorter tenure with me helping this congregation heal on from a pretty traumatic and divisive time. I could help Holy Innocents get back on a firm footing and I could get “via media’ up and started, then I would leave and go do ‘via media’ full time. And, as Kevin and I pointed out to Roy, neither of us had ever been in any one place for more than seven years. It was fun to write Roy on Facebook last week to tell him that I was well into my 10th year as vicar and to report all that we have done together.
Until the last couple of years, I haven’t felt a need to ‘move on’ and do anything else. Holy Innocents has provided a wonderful, nurturing place for me to do the other work I also feel called to do in the national church. You have been generous in allowing me to work part-time and to continue developing other ideas and to grow in ways that the typical parish priest is not usually privileged to do.
One exceptionally serendipitous thing has also happened, that along the way I have become a go-to ‘expert’ on children’s ministry concerns. I certainly never thought that would happen at Holy Innocents (considering who we were 10 years ago), but that is a huge gift that God has given to our community and to me. And other churches want to know how we’ve done it and I want to spread that good news, too.
I know that the big shift happened for me and the creeping realization that I would not ‘retire’ at Holy Innocents came when our own kids moved back to the South – taking Logan and Asher with them! Until then juggling my life as part-time vicar, wife, mom, daughter, sister and grandmother, and continuing to develop ‘via media’ and my vision for how to bring even more creative and important curricula to the national church seemed possible. Our desire to spend larger amounts of time with the kids and grandkids shifted the balance so that it just does not seem workable for me any longer.
But more important, it has become clearer and clearer that with the work that Holy Innocents is doing, – growing a vibrant children and family ministry, the significant outreach into the community, the growing ministry around the environment and all that is here to be done in this amazing neighborhood where people NEED a place to come to grow spiritually – that it is time for you to have a vicar who will be able to focus much more clearly on the work to be done here.
I cherish the time here and know that these 10 years have been a gift to me and to this community. I know that what we have been doing together was exactly the right thing for that time. We have been creative with time, money and energy and have seen an amazing thing grow up here. In all this you helped give birth to ‘via media.’ More than 1000 congregations have used it across the country and it is still being used and MANY people give ‘via media’ credit for helping keep the Episcopal Church together through the trying times of the last seven years. Holy Innocents not only allowed me time to help create ‘via media’ but also gave me the vision for what the Episcopal Church could be and why we so desperately needed to get that word out.
The privilege of being in this community, you sharing your stories with me, me being able to share mine with you has been immense. Baptizing your babies, you supporting me as I became a grandmother, being with you in loss and you being with me when my mother died. EfM groups, Godly Play, the food pantry, the work we have done together to produce our amazing Holy Week liturgies, the amazing music that Bill Keck consistently produces, how does one leave a place like this? And without having a new community that I’ve fallen in love with (which is the normal path for a priest to leave) it feels almost impossible to take this step.
Yet, I find it absolutely right we heard a portion of the Story of the Great Family (as we call it in Godly Play) today. I’ve told this story at least twice before as my sermon, and it has become a big story for me, but never more than today. Abram and Sarai leave their ‘household’ where they were comfortable with their relationship with God and head out into the desert, only to discover that God was in that new place, too. These past 10 years I’ve come to find God in so many new places, most of them associated with YOU. I can only imagine how Abrahm and Sarai felt leaving where they knew God so deeply to go to a place they did not know. Yet they followed where God was leading and the blessing of God in their lives is something we still feel today.
I cannot tell you exactly what is next for Kevin and for me. It is our intention to be living approximately half time in the South by next summer, but we don’t yet know where. The first thing on our agenda after I leave Holy Innocents is to spend more time there to sort that out. We are looking at both Nashville (close to Logan) and Asheville (close to Asher) and trying to figure out what works best for us in that mix. I’m talking to clergy and bishops in both those places to see what works best for me in the church world, and Kevin is looking at airports and social entrepreneurs to see which place feels best to him. We both are both deeply involved in SOCAP, and a new business opening this month in the San Francisco Chronicle building called The Hub. Kevin has his work with Good Capital here, too, so we won’t be completely leaving the Bay Area.
Since I do not have a firm place to go, this means that I can stay for a longer than usual time to say goodbye to you all. I will still be at Holy Innocents for three more months. My last Sunday will be May 23, the Feast of Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit comes to the Church. A great day for me to move on, and for you to move more deeply into being who God has called you to be.
I also know that this community is ready for a pastor who will take Holy Innocents to the next place. That your journey is one of building on what we have done here, where all are welcome, where children are fully part of celebrating the Eucharist, and where people find a God who loves them just the way they are. You are the story of what Holy Innocents will become next and I celebrate already what God will do with you and through you.
I have asked Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain and Davey Gerhard to stay on for one more year as Wardens. They, along with the Bishop’s Committee and the Bishop, are already working on what will happen next here at Holy Innocents. That’s their story to tell, yours to develop with them, and I’ll leave that part of the work to you all. My work is spending the next three months saying goodbye to you all and helping us all move into the next stage of our lives.
This letter, even as long as it is, hasn’t said all that needs to be said. I know that many of you will have lots of questions, and the next three months we’ll have time to be together in lots of ways. We’ll continue our Lenten journey of looking at darkness and grief, which I know will be helpful to me. We’ll celebrate the Great Feast of the Resurrection together (Easter!) and live into that through Pentecost. My prayer for me is that during that time that I can come to trust more fully that God is present in my life in ALL the places I go, not just in the wonderful place called Holy Innocents.
I pray for you that you will enter into this new phase of life at Holy Innocents with excitement about the future that is coming!
With much love,
Rosa Lee+
This year’s Lenten Series
Feb 22nd
On Wednesday nights following the potluck, the Rev. Genie Kinney, the Rev. Tim Greene and Lois Williams will be facilitating a Lenten series focusing on YOUR experiences dealing with loss, grieve, death and dying. This year has been an extremely difficult one for our parish in terms of loss (including loss of jobs and security as well as the death of loved ones). It is our hope that by journeying together from DARKNESS IN TO THE LIGHT of faith we will better explore our emotions, our faith beliefs, and the support available to us from scripture and our Episcopal tradition. We want to make this time of Lent a reflective time to safely allow us to grieve, support one another,and learn tools to begin to heal our local body of Christ. It is our hope that through this reflection we will better be able to see the Light of Christ at Easter, and in our future.
Genie Kinney a retired parish priest brings a lifetime of Episcopal tradition and practice to our sessions. Tim Greene ordained in the Episcopal Church has a doctorate in Psychology, and Lois Williams a CDSP graduate has completed her MA thesis for Pastoral Ministry in Episcopal Funeral Rites. They bring a wealth of experience to this topic and are looking forward to the conversation.
This group will meet Wednesday, February 24, March 3, March 17 and March 24.
There will be a special lenten activity for everyone, especially including our children, the SECOND WEDNESDAY in March (the 10th).
Consider a Carbon Fast for Lent
Feb 17th
Elizabeth Krueger is forwarding this suggestion from the Diocese of California: “The diocesan Commission for the Environment encourages you to consider a carbon fast for Lent, and has posted a handy carbon fast calendar created by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington on our webpage, www.diocal.org/environment. Each of these actions challenges us to reflect on our consumption habits, reduce our production of climate change pollution and help to preserve God’s great gift of creation. What better time than Lent to begin practicing such a lifestyle. If you would like to subscribe to the Commission for the Environment monthly e-news, please contact co-chair Barbara Bisel, bsmithbisel@cs.com.”
On our Facebook and Twitter pages, we’ll (try to) post the suggestion du jour! Come back to this post and let us know what you are doing, what’s easy for you to do, what’s hard, and how it affects you daily life.
Ash Wednesday Services
Feb 15th
At Holy Innocents – ALL are welcome at 6:00 for a family-friendly service of imposition of ashes. The service will be very traditional, but will also be welcoming and accessible for children. The liturgy for this year’s service is being designed to help children and adults more deeply understand the role of the ashes, and of the season of Lent, in our lives. Following the service, Sr. Jean will show the kids (and adults!) how the ashes are made from last year’s palms.
BRING A BOWL! We will be having a potluck supper of soup, salad and bread. Please come, bring a dish and bring a bowl from which to eat. Our kitchen is woefully under-stocked with bowls.
At BART – Members of congregations in the SOMA area churches will be at both the 16th and 24th Street BART stations on Wednesday at five o’clock to impose ashes on anyone who would like them. Members of Holy Innocents are particularly invited to assist at 24th Street. If you would like to assist, please be at 24th Street Station by 4:45 and look for Bertie Pearson and tell him you are there to help.
At NOON – Also, if you would like to attend a service with imposition of ashes at noon, St. John’s & El Buen Samaritano, at 15th and Julian will be offering a Spanish/English service. John and Gloria welcome all who need to attend a service at that time to worship with them.
Baptism and high tech meet at Holy Innocents
Feb 15th
Given that Holy Innocents IS right at the on-ramp from San Francisco to Silicon Valley, I wonder why it’s been so long in coming for us to ‘Skype’ someone into a service. But it happened today.
Clair Kane was baptized and her godfather (and uncle) Greg Kane in Connecticut couldn’t make the trip out for a variety of reason, and Clair’s dad, Larry, asked if we could ‘Skype’ him in.
So in today’s service there he sat on the piano, within the frame of a large screen monitor, paying attention right along with everyone else. And in Connecticut he heard the singing, the sermon and pledged his vow help Clair to grow into the full stature of Christ. I heard him. It wasn’t hard, and it wasn’t even weird. It was only new.
And there is nothing wrong with new, especially when new is a new way of bringing us closer together, diminishing distance, building community.
At the rehearsal for the baptism, and for the ‘Skyping’, I got to meet Uncle Greg and his kids, and was there while they all checked in with brothers and sisters on opposite coasts and cousins were reminded that they love and are loved by more people than those they can see and touch every day.
At Holy Innocents we got to see that our community is so important to one of our families that they went to that extreme to bring their distant relatives to us, and Greg and his family got to have a taste of the welcome we proclaim.
All in all it was a very cool thing. Thanks for joining us, Greg! It was a pleasure to have you at Holy Innocents.
And thank you to ALL the Kane family, and to the Wolf family, who came from Southern California, Baltimore, Colorado and parts in between to see cousin nephew grandchild Charlie Wolf and niece godchild friend Clair Kane baptized. Thank you for coming to be with us and for being a part of the extended family of Holy Innocents.
+ Rosa Lee
Davey Gerhard, Kaitlin Kane, Genie Kinney and Eleanor Murphy Weise assist Rosa Lee in baptizing Charlie Wolf. Notice the beautiful pascal candle designed by Sergio Morales!?