St. Aidan's Spark for Tuesday, April 28, 2020 

 

In this Issue:
* Sunday Worship recap, including video and sermon links
* Call for Doorway/Window/Threshold Photos! 
* Reminder re: Wed Evening Prayer + Easter Series on the Writings of Paul 
* Reminder: Night Ministry Zoom-a-thon tomorrow night

 

Sunday Worship Recap

On Sunday we held a combined 9 AM worship featuring preaching by our seminarian Deacon Susan, an Earth Day themed video inspired by Deacon Margaret, and music led by Barry and members of the choir. It was a truly spirited Sunday, with a great turnout and conversation after worship.

Susan has shared her sermon in text form which you can read by clicking here. She also has offered to share a paper in which she developed the idea of Mary Magdalene as the Beloved Disciple in John's gospel, an idea that came up in her sermon. You can read the paper here.  For those who would like to watch and listen to a portion of our worship again, we have a video excerpt of the service beginning with the gospel, including Susan's sermon and concluding with the Earth Day video which you can access by clicking here.  
    
For this Coming Sunday: a Call for Door/Window/Threshold Photos!

A few weeks ago, I saw a photo essay in the San Francisco Chronicle called "United in Isolation" that featured people in their windows, sheltering in place. I found the photos very moving. As I started looking toward this Sunday, Good Shepherd Sunday whose assigned readings include the passage from the tenth chapter of John in which Jesus says “I am the gate” (or the door, the threshold, the hinge…) I thought it could be powerful to see photos of St. Aidanites in our doorways (or windows if you want to follow the Chronicle's lead). During Lent, the wilderness felt like a very apt image for this COVID moment, a lens through which to view and wrestle with it. That image still resonates with me. Now the season of Easter gives us the additional image of gate/door/threshold. Please send your photos to me and Diana by Friday -- rector@staidansf.org and office@staidansf.org -- and we will share them this Sunday in conjunction with a musical recording we have for our Psalm. Thank you!

Reminder re: Wed Evening Prayer + Easter Series on the Writings of Paul 

Tomorrow evening will mark the second week of our new Easter Formation series on the Writings of the Apostle Paul. We'll be talking about Galatians, a fairly short letter with some of the most famous and interesting passages of Paul's writings, including Galatians 3:28. Where might that phrase "there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, no male and female..." have come from? How do we make sense of its duality/binary-busting qualities? How do they (or do they) square with some of Paul's other comments that seem more attached to, or at least at peace with, the unjust social order of his day. We're using the Norton Critical Anthology edited by Wayne Meeks called The Writings of Paul, and you can also simply access Galatians in any bible you have access to, including here online. I look forward to bringing in some commentary from several scholars on Galatians 3:28, and will be happy to share references for any who want to dig deeper.

Worship can be access as follows:

Online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/955782882
Phone:  dial (669) 900-9128 
Meeting ID: 955 782 882​ followed by #
Booklet is linked here.

Reminder: Night Ministry Zoom-a-thon tomorrow night

Also happening tomorrow evening, but starting earlier, is the San Francisco Night Ministry's Zoom-a-thon. As you may recall, we had Reverend Valerie McEntee, the Night Miinster, with us as a guest preacher the Sunday before last. She shared with us some of the brutal difficulties that folks on the streets are dealing with right now in the midst of COVID-19. Tomorrow night at 5 PM the SF Night Ministry will be doing an online fund raiser, a "Zoom-a-thon." Here is the information for it from their Facebook page (as of Tuesday evening):

"Channeling the telethons of yesteryear, SF Night Ministry presents Zoom-A-Thon: Hope In Uncertain Times.

The Zoom-A-Thon will raise awareness and funds for our expanded telephone Care Line and general operations.

Join us for an uplifting evening of celebration and service. Just tune into our Facebook page. We will also have a Zoom space available. Return to this event notice for details."

Their Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/sanfrancisconightministry/