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| Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Members of St. Cyprian's,
A few years ago, Matt and I spent some time with friends at a Buddhist retreat center down the coast. As we prepared to leave we stopped by the bookstore and I discovered a book by a Catholic monk that grabbed my attention. I was surprised that of all the books I might pick up there, the one I ended up taking home was on the Apostles' Creed and written by Brother David Steindl-Rast. Turns out that Brother David, has many fans, and an organization called A Network for Grateful Living.
Thanksgiving is a strange holiday, and simply by its name one might easily assume that gratitude is something that saturates the day. But that's not been my experience. More often, there's a much wider range of emotions --- obsessing about the amount or taste of the food being prepared, arguments with family members, sitting frustrated in traffic jams, feeling disappointed that A, B, or C is not happening. There are lots of joyful feelings as well --- connecting with friends and distant relatives, enjoying delicious food and the parade or the game. How would this day be different if we made time to really practice gratitude, slowing down enough to really notice the gifts we have been given: things, people, experiences, our surroundings that we might easily take for granted?
That's all well and good you might say, but there's lots of stuff not to be grateful for! True, yet the practice of gratitude, as Brother David and others have written, helps us overcome fear, finding courage and strength to make choices that can make things better. There's a need in our world not just for prophetic criticizing but also prophetic energizing. Practicing gratefulness is about giving energy to that which gives us hope and joy.
So today I invite you to take Brother David's Pledge for Grateful Living:
- In thanksgiving for life, I pledge
to overcome the illusion of ENTITLEMENT
by reminding myself that everything is gift
and, thus, to live GRATEFULLY. - In thanksgiving for life, I pledge
to overcome my GREED,
that confuses wants with needs,
by trusting that enough for all our needs is given to us
and to share GENEROUSLY
what i so generously receive. - In thanksgiving for life, I pledge
to overcome APATHY
by waking up to the opportunities
that a given moment offers me
and so to respond CREATIVELY to every situation. - In thanksgiving for life, I pledge
to overcome VIOLENCE
by observing that fighting violence by violence
leads to more violence and death
and, thus, to foster life by acting NON-VIOLENTLY. - In thanksgiving to life, i pledge
to overcome FEAR which is the root of all violence
by looking at whatever i fear as an opportunity
and, thus, COURAGEOUSLY to lay the foundation
for a peaceful future.
Happy Thanksgiving!
See you soon at Turk & Lyon!
Peace, Will
St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church
415-987-3029
turkandlyon@gmail.com
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Neighborhood Christmas Pageant at St. Cyprian's
December 23rd 5-6 p.m.
 Interested in helping organize the first Christmas Pageant in years at St. Cyprian's? With the assistance of volunteer pageant experts Joe Jennings and Susanna Singer (of St. Mary the Virgin and CDSP, respectively) --- St. Cyprian's plans to tell the old story in new ways. Join us for the next Pageant Planning meeting on Tuesday, December 6th, at 6:30 p.m. Our Pageant's theme will be "Underground Jesus-The Subversive Story of Christmas." The pageant itself will be open to all ages, costumes provided, with no rehearsal required. If you have questions, want to get involved or for more information email turkandlyon@gmail.com
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EAT, SHARE, PRAY returns November 30th with Soon & Very Soon: An Advent 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.
On November 30th, the Reverend Dr. Susanna Singer will lead us in an Advent Wreath-making workshop. All supplies provided. All are welcome.
What's Advent?
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Next at Cyprians...
Friday, December 2 at 8 p.m.
SF LIVE ARTS presents Cascada de Flores & the Stairwell Sisters
Saturday, December 3 at 8 p.m.
SF LIVE ARTS presents Wake the Dead & the Rowan Brothers
Monday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Chamber Music from Stanford
Friday, December 9 from 7 to 11 p.m.
NOPNA + St. Cyprian's Holiday Party
Saturday, December 17 at 7 p.m. Cyprian's Presents Nutcracker for Two Guitars
More information at
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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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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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