The Flame

Each week we send out an e-newsletter, the Flame. It includes a reflection by Cameron, brief articles by parish leaders, community announcements, and the parish prayer list. On Saturdays we also send out "The Spark" with links to the Sunday Worship booklets and brief announcements. Past issues of both the Flame and Spark can be found here. If you would like to add someone to the prayer list for the Flame and the Sunday bulletins, please reach out to our parish administrator. To ask for prayers from the Prayer Chain, please reach out to Lois Roach here.

Life Abundant

The Flame for Friday, August 30, 2024

It’s Friday of a long weekend, the day before our patronal feast, and my goodness, a lot of life was bubbling away here at 101 Gold Mine Drive earlier today!

Our Food Pantry had an especially beautiful array of fruits today, including blackberries and strawberries, pluots and nectarines, three kinds of melon, apples, pears, and an array of baked goods. Once again, we also had a few new shoppers sign up, a trend of increased numbers we’ve observed over the last few months. We’re grateful to be able to share this bounty, thanks to the Food Bank, the Arizmendi bakery who gives us leftover baked goods each week, and the committed volunteers who make all of this happen.

As Food Pantry cleanup has unfolded this afternoon, St. Aidanites have been in the office as well as the sanctuary – I came upon Margie Wolcott showing Nicole Miller the organizing work that she and Anne Edwards had accomplished earlier this week in reorganizing of our kitchenette cabinets. Peter Fairfield, meanwhile, was here, as were Barbara Stevenson and Tim Fabatz who joined Janice Tickner Leonard to help at the door and with food distribution.

Amid this bustle, we’re looking forward to Sunday’s celebration of the Feast of Saint Aidan at 8 and 10 AM, with special prayers and a new seat configuration / space orientation, pivoting toward the Season of Creation that we observe here in September and October. The 10 AM service on Sunday will also mark the return of our choir and the start of a new choir season, led by our Music Minister Mina Marie Jelinek. In addition, Sunday’s 10 AM service will include the blessing of a civil marriage: Tim and Nicole got married in Hawaii last year, and now we’ll have a chance to celebrate them in the context of our patronal feast and Eucharist. A banner day!

Sunday also launches us into a busy September, as the announcements below detail. This Tuesday, Wrestling with the Scriptures will be led by Susan Spencer on Zoom. The next day, Wednesday, Tim Fabatz will provide the main dish for Diamond Diners. A week from Sunday, we’ll welcome Susan Halpern for her workshop. The two Sundays after that will feature Eucharistic Minister and Visitor formation and training, followed by a Whole and Healthy training by Caren Miles. October will bring the Feast St. Francis and St. Clare and several opportunities to lift up the animal companions in our lives, giving thanks for this resplendent creation in which we are situated. We’ll also have a book panel on October 13th with Nico Lang, author of American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era. Stay tuned for more on that!

Life is abundant in this place. This weekend, this Feast of Saint Aidan, and in the days to come, let us rejoice and be glad in that.

Peace,

Cameron

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Men's Group - Saturday, September 7, 9-10:30 am, via Zoom. We will connect for prayer, study and fellowship. All men are cordially invited. If you haven’t received connection information by September 5, contact Dave Frangquist (frangquist@acm.org).

This Sunday, September 8th at 11:45 AM – "Finding Our Way with Giving and Receiving Care: A Conversation with Susan Halpern"

Susan Halpern, Social Worker and Psychotherapist and author of The Etiquette of Illness: What to Say When You Can’t Find the Words, is offering a discussion/workshop at St. Aidan’s.

Life happens! All of us, irrespective of age, whether due to an accident, injury, or acute or chronic illness have found that there will be a time when we need help from others. We may also be in a position to offer help. Often, especially in the dying and grieving process or having received devastating health news, we don’t know what to say and feel helpless.

Join us as Susan Halpern presents thoughtful responses to the common experiences her clients, people like you, have had and learn:
How to support someone without being intrusive while honoring boundaries;
What to say or not to say to someone who is grieving or dealing with a life threatening illness;
How to offer help in an effective manner, and
How to navigate the struggle of changes in roles, moving from independence to dependence on others for some of life’s basic needs.
Most importantly, by sharing our experiences, we can be open to kindness, love, acceptance, and compassion for ourselves and others.

The conversation will also be accessible via Zoom; reach out to office@staidansf.org for the link.

Discerning God's future for the Diocese of California: An invitation to join the Strategic Vision process

Last year, the Executive Council of the Diocese of California established a Strategic Vision Committee (SVC) to foster long-term planning for adaptive change in response to the challenges and opportunities facing our diocese. The SVC is working collaboratively with Bishop Austin to co-create a strategic vision plan. This work invites the active participation of the wider diocesan community as we prayerfully and joyfully discern God’s promised and preferred future for our diocese. We are all in this together, and your involvement is essential to our success.

Click here to learn more about the Strategic Vision process and read answers to frequently asked questions. In the meantime, we warmly invite you to attend one of the listening sessions scheduled for September:

Thursday, September 5, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.; St. Stephen’s, Orinda
Saturday, September 14, Noon – 2:00 p.m.; Nativity, San Rafael
Monday, September 16, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.; St. Ambrose, Foster City
Thursday, September 25 – 27, Clergy Retreat*; The Bishop’s Ranch

UPDATED: Tuesday, October 3, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.; Online Zoom Meeting

Spanish interpretation will be available at all listening sessions, and written materials from each session will be translated into Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Tongan.

The SVC will present its learnings from the sessions at this year's diocesan convention (October 25 and 26).

Our St. Aidan's Women's Spirituality Group will meet via zoom Saturday September 14th, at 10:15. As before, we will have time for both checking in and personal sharing as well as time for spiritual growth. We are certainly open to formats and approaches such as reflections on a poem, scripture, narrative passage or another focus for our growth. We want our group to meet the needs and desires of those who participate. If you want to join us, and we hope you will, please contact Elaine Mannon at elaine@mannon. com to get the information for signing into our meeting.

Good News Gardens - Coming up September 14th
Our remaining 2024 dates are: Sept. 14, Oct. 12, Nov. 9. (We’ll take December off…) Timing – 12:30-2 pm. Please feel free to reach out to Deacon Margaret with any questions at mdyerc@stanford.edu.

Eucharistic Minister & Visitor Training - coming up September 15 at 11:45 AM

Would you like to be a chalice bearer at church on Sunday mornings, or bring Communion to members of our community who cannot attend the Eucharist in person? This is a powerful ministry of visitation and presence that we can share, bringing communion beyond our walls in addition to the ways our Zoom worship keeps us connected. Come attend a training, led by Cameron, after the 10 AM service on Sunday, September 15th. Then come the following Sunday to the Whole & Healthy training, led by Caren Miles of our Diocesan staff. Thank you for your commitment to one another

Whole & Healthy Training with Caren Miles + & Livescan Background Checks Coming Up September 22nd at 11:45 AM
Caren Miles from the Formation Working Group on the Bishop's Staff will be joining us on Sunday, September 22 at 11:45 AM to lead a Whole & Healthy (formerly known as “Safe Church”) training for all parish volunteers (e.g. vestry, food pantry, pastoral visitors). This training must be done once every three years. If you haven’t done this training within the last three years, please mark your calendars and plan to attend. Our diocese also now requires Live scan fingerprinting background checks (one every five years) for parish volunteers. While this can be done through places like UPS, a company from the East Bay has agreed to come and do them here in conjunction with Caren Miles’ training. Live scan cost $20 per person, and the company takes debit cards, credit cards Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, or cash (but not personal checks). Please reach out to Cameron if the $20 presents a hardship. Thank you so much to all who volunteer in the various facets of St. Aidan’s life and the life of our wider neighborhood and diocese, and thank you for your care and commitment in upholding the safety of all.

Resilient Diamond Heights (RDH) Meeting Thursday, September 19 at 5:00 pm at St. Aidan’s Church. Agenda items will include discussion of solar power stations and activation of a Heat Relief Center at St. Aidan’s if temperatures exceed 85 degrees three days in a row or two days of 90 degrees and above. For information, please contact Betsy Eddy at betsy.eddy@gmail.com.

St. Aidan's Gourmet Book Club
We will continue to meet via zoom with LeeAnn DeSalles serving as our zoom master. If you need the link or would like help with zoom, please contact LeeAnn at leeanndesalles@comcast.net. If you would like to be on the Book Group’s mailing list, please contact elaine@mannon.com.

Monday, September 30, 2024 7:00 p.m. The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide For Trying Times by Jane Goodall, Douglas Abrams, and Gail Hudson – “Explores through intimate and thought-provoking dialogue one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature: hope.” (272 pages)
Monday, October 28, 2024 7:00 p.m. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. An exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope tracing a widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing in a local aquarium. A beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed. (368 pages)
Monday, November 25, 2024 7:00 p.m. The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt. Relates the quest of a Renaissance book hunter who located a copy of Lucretius’ “On the Nature of Things” that had been lost to history for more than a thousand years. Its re-emergence, suggests the author, was a kind of secular miracle that linked virtue with living a full life and, what would be called the greatest thought mankind ever had, the concept that all matter is made up of atoms that are in eternal, swirling motion. (368 pages)

Resources for Engaging in Anti-Racism, from Elena Wong
Thank you to Elena Wong for sharing this list of resources that were in turn shared with her through her membership in the Western Association for College Counseling:

READ
Resources on talking to young kids about race and racism
The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)

LISTEN (Podcasts to subscribe to)
1619 (New York Times)
Code Switch (NPR)
Seeing White Series on Scene On Radio

WATCH
13th Film (2 hours)
When They See Us (Four episodes)

DONATE
Color of Change
Southern Poverty Law Center

FOLLOW
Groups and people doing anti-racist work, such as @colorofchange @weinspirejustice @showingupforracialjustice

Contemplative Prayer: Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday from 9-10 AM via Zoom
We offer Contemplative prayer via Zoom. Contemplative Prayer is silent with the beginning and ending marked by a bell. You can practice meditation, silent prayer, journal, or otherwise enjoy the collective quiet. Thank you to Susan Spencer for offering to anchor this practice once again, especially the Saturday, during this time. Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org.

Morning Prayer: Mon, Wed, Fri at 7:30 AM - M/W Hybrid, Fri via Zoom
We offer Morning Prayer in hybrid mode (at church and via Zoom) on Mondays and Wednesday, and on Fridays via Zoom only. Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org.

Evening Prayer: Wednesdays at 6:30 PM via Zoom

Cameron leads Evening Prayer via Zoom on Wednesdays. The service usually lasts a half hour. Readings for the day are from the Episcopal Church's daily lectionary or calendar of saints, and the service includes a brief open reflection time on the readings. Please feel free to reach out to the office for the Zoom access information: office@staidansf.org

Hybrid In-Person/Zoom Sunday Worship

Sunday worship is hybrid, with both in person and Zoom platforms available. We encourage you to connect with worship in whatever way is most accessible for you.

Mask Policy: If you are comfortable removing your mask, you may do so during church services. We will respect the preference of anyone who feels safer by remaining masked. We acknowledge that COVID is likely to be with us in some form for the foreseeable future, and we will be monitoring public health advisories. Our mask policy may be modified again as is appropriate. Please pray for the health and safety of all our members and friends as we continue to navigate this challenging time.

To add an announcement to the weekly bulletin of the Flame, please send your edited text no later than 11:00 am Wednesday to office@staidansf.org