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Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Members of St. Cyprian's,
In 2004 Paul Loeb published a beautiful book with a title inspired by a line from a song sung famously by Billy Holiday, "The Impossible Will Take A Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear." This wide ranging collection of essays, poems, lectures, speeches and histories provides, much like the work of historian Howard Zinn, resources for contemporary movements for change, justice and peace. I think we need a sequel or two. One that could help give context to the Occupy demonstrations, and help us nurture alternatives to the failures of economic deregulation and corporate person-hood. So often criticisms of the current system are challenged with questions like "well, what's your alternative". There seems to be a groundswell across the political spectrum of this country in different ways speaking up for significant change. I wonder what ways we at St. Cyprian's might participate in the larger conversation happening in our world? How is our shared yearning and hard work for vitality and sustainability at the intersection of Turk & Lyon related to the committed and creative engagement of Occupy demonstrators? Melinda Stone, USF Professor on Saturday movingly spoke at our Dinner for a Neighborhood Kitchen about how she saw the project as deeply connected to the growing desire for community, and increasing calls for economic justice.
Below is one of the poems featured in "The Impossible Will Take A Little While."
Hope
Human beings suffer,
they torture one another,
they get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
can fully right a wrong
inflicted or endured.
The innocent in gaols
beat on their bars together.
A hunger-striker's father
stands in the graveyard dumb.
The police widow in veils
faints at the funeral home.
History says, Don't hope
on this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
the longed for tidal wave
of justice can rise up
and hope and history rhyme.
So hope for a great sea-change
on the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
and cures and healing wells.
Call the miracle self-healing:
The utter self-revealing
double-take of feeling.
If there's fire on the mountain
Or lightning and storm
And a god speaks from the sky
That means someone is hearing
the outcry and the birth-cry
of new life at its term.
See you soon at Turk & Lyon!
Peace, Will
St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church
415-987-3029
turkandlyon@gmail.com
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Dinner for a Neighborhood Kitchen
On Saturday, November 12 nearly 70 people gathered at St. Cyprian's for a delicious dinner helping us build momentum and share ideas for creating a community kitchen space for the neighborhood. Many thanks to USF's Melinda Stone and her crew of student gardeners and cooks, thank you to Chef Eddie Dick and Jeff Hanak of NOPA restaurant for providing the meal. St. Cyprian's Kitchen Team leader Gigi Smith along with other members of St. Cyprian's (Willie Collie, Norma Planiczka, Jennifer Wolfe) provided delicious appetizers.
The evening began upstairs with music, appetizers and a communal art project in which guests were invited to draw images of their dream community kitchen space. After a welcome by Norma Planiczka (who talked about the important role of cooking and sharing food in St. Cyprian's history), St. Cyprian's acolyte Kira Smith led the large group by a candle (representing our shared dreams) down through the kitchen to the Community Hall where guests enjoyed a meal of Braised Chicken, Roasted Vegetables, Farro, Salad and Apple Crisp. A number of ingredients came from the nearby USF Garden.
University of San Francisco Professor Melinda Stone, led the large group in a discussion about what we hope to see happen in the new space. Many amazing ideas were shared including collaborations with local non-profits serving seniors, families and youth, canning workshops, classes on herbal remedies, and providing support for culinary entrepreneurship. Before dessert, guests were invited to fill out an information card explaining their level of interest and capacity to assist with various aspects of the project. After the official ending of the event, guests mingled well into the night and helped with the clean up. Neighbor, Wigg Party co-founder and urban gardener Clint Womack did a heroic job helping with all the dishes.
St. Cyprian's Kitchen Team intends to submit new grants to foundations, large churches and organizations this fall and winter and is developing plans for a fundraiser in early-to-mid 2012. We look forward to continuing to deepen and expand our relationship with neighbors eager to be part of a new space for sharing food and community. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to this inspiring event.
-The St. Cyprian's Kitchen Team
P.S. You can donate to the Cyprian's Community Kitchen
via paypal by click here.
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St. Cyprian's at the Energy Oscars
 | | St. Cyprian's Members Glenda Smith, Lee Dora Rigmaiden and Kira Smith enjoy the lively reception |
 | St. Cyprian's Michael Helquist, Dale Danley
& neighborhood supporter Lenore McDonald |
On Tuesday, California Interfaith Power & Light recognized congregations throughout the state for their green and sustainable projects this year. The community effort to go from Grey2Green with the sidewalks along St. Cyprian's and our Lenten Series focused on livability helped us get the nod from CIP&L. Read more about the nomination and California Interfaith Power & Light.
St. Cyprian's friends and members attended a reception with food provided by Greens Restaurant and met founder of CIPL, the Reverend Canon Sally G. Bingham.
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Green Cyprian's
presentation by USF Students
Students from Professor Monika Hudson's class at USF presented last Sunday information from their research on how St. Cyprian's can be an even greener community. Students Sean Culligan, Donald Tung, Nick Momenah, and Alex Michel presented on the following topics: Solar Power, Green Flooring, Recycling, The 3 R's, Green Cleaning, Green Financing
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Eric Metoyer
on a grace filled parking ticket
Intern & Ordinand Eric Metoyer reflects on a recent experience on the street outside St. Cyprian's.
As one addicted to my gasoline motor I routinely face the challenges of bringing my automobile into San Francisco. Driving through the traffic of the streets, my hybrid suffers the ignominy of dents, scratches, and the occasional flat tire, as well as dodging the Dept of Parking and Traffic's Traffic Control Officers: TCO's, meter persons, and their ticket writing capabilities. In a residential zone, every two hours I make the dance of moving my auto around the block for a new parking spot and avoiding the sixty-five dollar ticket....
Click here to read his complete post. |
Building Update from Michael Helquist
The project is going so well but we've reached the hard part: being patient for the final work to be done. Everyone wants this months-long project to be completed, the scaffolding to be removed, the new wall colors to be displayed. We're almost there. We're so ready to celebrate.
Coming up:
- Take a peak behind the scaffolding and screen: 95% of the painting is done and looks great
- Two rainstorms and no leaks; it's been years since it's been dry after a storm; more flashing and drain pipe installation next week
- Touch-up painting indoors remains for next week
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Next at Cyprian's...
Fri Nov 18 8pm
Traditional bluegrass band whose "Where Is My Little Cabin Home" claims most bluegrass chart time in 2010-2011. The current Kathy Kallick Band lineup has been described by Chris Stuart of Sing Out! as "a wonderful combination of youth and experience."
Jeanie & Chuck's Country Roundup
Holcombe Waller returns to San Francisco to play a special one-evening engagement at Cyprian's. Starting at 8pm Waller will play two sets with his long-time musical collaborator Ben Landsverk. The concert will focus on brand new songs ( Waller is currently writing a new album) as well as old favorites, delivered on a range of instruments including St. Cyprian's concert piano. If you've been looking for "the perfect date" on a Saturday night, you just found it.
Waller's appearance coincides with the release of a new music video for his cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie's song "Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan," a track from his critically acclaimed 2011 album Into the Dark Unknown.This year he and his album have been lauded by Ann Powers, The New York Times, and PASTE Magazine, among others. His song "Hardliners" was featured in August as a Pick of the Week download card in Starbucks cafes throughout the US and Canada.
Waller is an "SF ex-pat" now living in Portland, Oregon. He has a rich history with San Francisco, having collaborated with Joe Goode Performance Group, performed in Marc Bamuthi Joseph's Left Coast Leaning East Festival at YBCA, and generally kicked around the Mission for seven years until he moved to Portland in 2005.
Cyprian's is excited to welcome and host Holcombe Waller. He was looking for an alternative venue in San Francisco that is intimate with superior sound. We think we're a good match.
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Thank you Jennifer Wolfe
for Cyprian's Event Poster
St. Cyprian's member Jennifer Wolfe, our volunteer print communications designer created a beautiful poster which is now hanging all over the neighborhood sharing some of the amazing things happening on Turk & Lyon. Check it out, better yet print one out and post somewhere.
Click here to check it out.
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EAT, SHARE, PRAY returns (after a break this coming week) November 30th with "Soon & very soon" our Advent Formation Series Every Wednesday @ 6:30 p.m.
Each week, friends, neighbors and members of St. Cyprian's gather over a simple meal, share a conversation about topics that matter and close the evening with meditation & Night Prayer. All are welcome.
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Seeking A Partner
St. Cyprian's is seeking a congregation or group to share our space.
Who we are/what we offer: A small but dynamic and diverse group that lives its tagline: faith, action, community. We come from many parts of the city to be here at the corner of Turk and Lyon and have made reintegrating this church into the neighborhood a priority in the past year. Our church was founded as a spiritual home for black Episcopalians in the 1870s and drew Afro-Caribbeans and West Indians in the early part of the 20th century. St. Cyprian's has a long and storied history that we are committed to remembering, and it has a future for which we are laying a new foundation.
What we are seeking: A congregation or group in need of weekly space for meeting or worship on a year-round basis. We are not looking to merge with another faith group at this time but would be open to joint activities in spiritual formation, neighborhood outreach, and our community-based programs.
What we've been doing: More than would seem possible with a small group. We have a full schedule of concerts in conjunction with SF Live Arts, community hall rentals, and faith programs. We also have regular space-use arrangements with several organizations, including the Bay Area Organizing Committee; the Village Project, an after-school program for underserved children; Al-Anon; Alcoholics Anonymous; and Simply Sandwiches, a group that makes sandwiches for clients of the AIDS Housing Alliance.
We are an open-minded, open-hearted congregation and seek a space-use partner with similar values.
Interested? Contact us for more information turkandlyon@gmail.com
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Weekly E-Mail Archives
In January St. Cyprian's began sending weekly e-newsletters. You can find an archive of all these messages here. Forward messages and invite friends, neighbors, and distant congregants to join our list. |
| Saint Cyprian's Episcopal Church has been a member of the San Francisco community for over 88 years. We are a passionate group of seekers, thinkers, dreamers, doubters and believers from many walks of life. We hope you can come join us on Sundays and throughout the week as we together seek to be a people of faith, action & community. |
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