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Cow Hollow
Church News
T h e E p i s c o p a l C h u r c h o f S a i n t M a r y t h e V i r g i n S u m m e r 2 0 1 6
During This Time of Transition
The Very Rev. Dr. Donald Brown, Interim Rector
Transitions are challenging. If you remember back to when you were in grade school and heading into junior
high school, or moving on from high school, the anticipation of the new was tempered by a sense of sadness
about the loss of what was comfortable and familiar.
When transition happens in the life of a congregation, a multitude of emotions arise that are about as varied as
the people who make up the congregation. The issues around the abrupt and unexpected departure of the
rector as well other issues unfolding in parish life have created confusion and speculation among some in our
parish about both the present and the future of St. Mary’s.
Transitions are never easy. St. Mary’s staff and key volunteers are working to
smooth the way for calling our next rector. Part of that effort means
understanding and dealing with patterns of behavior and situations that need to
change but were not previously addressed. In that regard, to ensure that St.
Maryʹs is in compliance with diocesan and national Church policy regarding
“Safe Church,” windows have been installed in doors that lead into staff offices
and Sunday School classrooms. You can learn more about “Safe Church” and
other policies and procedures that St. Maryʹs follows on our website:
http://smvsf.org/policies‐procedures/.
A great deal of study has been devoted to how transitions normally progress. There is a natural cycle to the
emotions and stages a congregation moves through as it leaves what has been in the past and moves forward
into a bright future filled with new life and hope. You can picture transition as similar to being on a roller
coaster ride where you move from the heights of what had been the “status quo,” accelerating as you roll
down the tracks that pass through emotions such as shock, mourning, disorientation, recalling the good old
days, turmoil, anxiety, guilt, feelings of loss, detachment, and distancing from others. Finally reaching the
point where the tracks start to head back up, folks either decide to stick with the parish or they leave.
Congregational studies tell us that most people decide to stay for the ride back up as the natural forces of
transition begin moving the congregation toward a new future.
During the climb, we will participate in exploring options for the parish, problem‐solving, finding new
structures for congregational life, and reattaching to groups and programs that fulfill spiritual, educational,
Page 2 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
and social needs. As the roller coaster continues to
move upward, new energy and excitement develop
concerning the future of the congregation and the
coming of the new rector. Wherever you find
yourself and your emotions and spiritual life on
“The Roller Coaster of Change,” know that God’s
Holy Spirit is on this journey with us, both
individually and as a community. Isaiah, bringing a
message from the Spirit, promises: “For I am about
to do something new. See, I have already begun!
Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through
the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry
wasteland”(Isaiah 43:19).
In order to keep all of our members and friends as
fully informed as possible we will have a new
bulletin board in the courtyard with pictures and
names of members of the vestry and the Profile and
Search Committee. See the story about search
committee activities and read mini‐bios of
members on page 12. Please feel free to seek out
members of the vestry and search committee to
chat about your hopes for St. Mary’s. A summary
of vestry minutes and financials will also be posted
on the bulletin board.
Because not everyone makes it to services on
Sunday, our weekly email of parish Highlights has
been expanded to include most of the printed
announcements available on Sunday.
We are going to have an active summer at St.
Mary’s this year. On June 12th, the summer service
schedule (8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.) commences
with our Annual Parish BBQ in the courtyard
following the 10:00 a.m. service. Our Summer in
the City lecture series begins June 26; see the flyer
for details. On Sundays, in addition to nursery care,
we will offer programming for children in
kindergarten through 5th grade; look for details in
the Sunday Announcements and Highlights.
As in the recent past, we will worship using
alternative liturgies adapted from Lutheran and
Anglican sources. It’s going to be a good summer at
St. Mary’s, so if you are not away on holiday,
please join us.
News of Note from the Sr. Warden
Jim Griffith
Who’s in Charge in the Interim?
Episcopal Church laws state that the Senior
Warden is the ecclesiastical head of a parish during
a time of transition. This means that the primary
decision‐makers during St. Maryʹs interim period
are the wardens and vestry, with support and
counsel from the interim clergy team. New clergy,
serving at the behest of the vestry, typically take up
their duties in new ways. Even small change can be
confusing to any institution, and when a three‐
person team arrives instead of an anticipated single
interim rector, the reverberations of change can
seem magnified. So our clergy have set down
descriptions of primary responsibilities for each
interim team member, and how the interims plan
to share in the existing and ongoing work of our
associate rector and deacons.
Clergy duties will shift in October, when Associate
Rector Claire Ranna, who is expecting her second
baby with her husband Haamid, goes on maternity
leave. At that time we will not be adding any new
clergy; however, Verger Natalie Hala will assist in
some liturgical duties, as Kathleen Bean did while
Claire was on maternity leave in 2014.
Please note that all of our clergy are available for
pastoral care and that all of the priests will be
participating in regular worship services, as well as
officiating at weddings and funerals. Don and
Claire will be at St. Mary’s every Sunday unless
otherwise announced in advance. Deb and Ted will
each be at services at least one Sunday per month.
All of the clergy will also participate in planning
and leading Adult Education/Formation
opportunities.
To help you better understand clergy duties and
responsibilities, as well as to determine whom you
should contact for various questions, here is a brief
(and necessarily incomplete) list of who is doing
what.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 3
Don Brown
Primary Role: Interim
Rector
[email protected] (20 hours
per week)
Primarily responsible for:
Personnel issues
Church administration
Buildings and Grounds (with vestry member Rick
Darwin)
Financial concerns
Liturgical oversight (with other clergy)
Clergy liaison to Legacy and Endowment Board
Clergy liaison to vestry
Deb White
Primary Role: Interim Pastor
[email protected] (10 hours per week)
Primarily responsible for:
Intentional interim ministry work
Parish Retreat at the Bishop’s Ranch (with Claire)
Liturgical oversight (with other clergy)
Church administration in Don’s absence
Clergy liaison to Search Committee
Clergy liaison to Climate Care Committee
Clergy liaison to Deanery (with Claire)
Clergy Liaison to vestry in Don’s absence
Ted Thompson
Primary Role: Interim Pastor
[email protected] (10 hours per week)
Primarily responsible for:
Formal healing and reconciliation work
Liturgical oversight (with other clergy)
Church administration in
Don’s absence
Clergy liaison to music
ministries
Clergy liaison to lay pastoral
committees
Clergy liaison to liturgical
staff and volunteers in
Claire’s absence
Claire Dietrich Ranna
Associate Rector
[email protected] (40 hours per week)
Primarily responsible for:
Liturgical scheduling (including Baptism and
Confirmation)
Liturgical oversight (with other clergy)
All Parish Retreats (Ranch retreat with Deb)
Clergy liaison to Newcomer’s Ministry
Clergy liaison to liturgical staff and volunteers
(including Altar Guild, Flower Guild, Ushers,
Lay Eucharist Ministers, Lectors, Director of
Music, Associate Director of Music)
Clergy liaison to Youth Ministries and Affinity
Groups
Clergy liaison to Planned and Major Gifts
Committee and Legacy Society (with Don)
Clergy liaison to Deanery (with Deb)
Clergy liaison to 125th Anniversary Committee
Communications
Nancy Bryan
Deacon
[email protected] (volunteer)
Primarily responsible for:
Pastoral Care
Clergy liaison to Pastoral Care Committee
Liturgical oversight (with other clergy)
Tim Smith
Deacon
[email protected] (volunteer)
Primarily responsible for:
Outreach
Clergy liaison to Outreach Committee
Clergy liaison to Cursillo
Liturgical oversight (with other clergy)
THE VESTRY
Jim Griffith – Senior Warden
Liz Paxton – Junior Warden
Roulhac Austin Donna Davidson
Ronald Clark Jeff Landry
Jane A. Cook Creighton Reed
Martha Daetwyler Ruth Tatum
Rick Darwin Rob Vanneman
The Revs. Deb, Don, Claire, and Ted.
Page 4 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Sunday School News Nancy Clark, Sunday School Co‐Director
At this writing, we are nearing the end of the 2015‐
16 Sunday School year with June 5th slated to be
the last teaching Sunday before the summer
schedule kicks in. The spring was filled with Lent
and Easter lessons and projects, most notably and
traditionally the Sunday School’s full participation
in Heifer Project activities. As always there was a
bake sale organized by the 5th and 6th graders and
in spite of a surprising downpour at the peak of
courtyard commerce time, sales of cookies,
brownies and lemon cakes netted over $200 or, in
terms of Heifer animals, a goat or a sheep.
Meanwhile, the assorted coinage and contributions
in the little Heifer “ark” boxes totaled almost $300.
As it happens, this year’s pre‐school children—and
of course that must include the guiding hands and
generosity of their parents—returned the most
boxes of any group. We are gratified that our
youngest parishioners are learning at very early
ages the pleasures and importance of philanthropy.
On Mothers Day, as a tribute to St. Mary, special
saint of our parish, and to mothers and fathers and
role models, the Sunday School children presented
a special wreath and also the final tally of their
Heifer outreach contributions. The wreath then
rested at the foot of the courtyard statue of Mary.
Following the last teaching day of Sunday School
in early June, if you are looking for activities that
are an extension of Sunday School and church
endeavors, consider the following:
Look for “good news”—random acts of
kindness and generosity in the news or in
the good deeds of people you know.
Identify them; talk about them.
Lay your hands on an age‐appropriate book
of Bible stories and read about the
adventures, challenges, triumphs of Old
and New Testament heroes. Tomi di Paolo
and Bishop Desmond Tutu are among
many who have created compelling Bible
storybooks for young children and
readers—and beautifully illustrated, too.
Talk about and practice what it means to be
“good stewards of creation.” Put the 3 R’s—
reduce, reuse, recycle—into every‐day use
wherever you are, even on vacation. At
home, work hard to fill the green compost
and blue recycling bins and strive for ever
smaller quantities in the black garbage can
headed for the dump. A question to
ponder: Why is environmental stewardship
not only an essential social concern but also
a religious value?
Visit art and history museums. Look for
art—there’s lots of it in Medieval and
Renaissance galleries—with biblical themes
and symbols. What’s going on? Who are the
people? What symbols can you find? In
history museums, talk about the qualities
that make the historical people featured
there heroic, enduring, great. What is
courage? What makes a good leader? What
is perseverance?
And of course, say family prayers. If you’re shy
about this, consider Anne Lamott’s three
categories: “Wow,” “Help,” and “Thanks.” That
will cover just about everything.
Mother’s Day wreath resting at the foot
of our statue of St. Mary the Virgin.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 5
Youth Group News Mike Stafford, Director of Youth Programs
Youth Mission Trip to Kenya
This summer, seven young people and two adults
from St. Mary’s are heading all the way to Kenya to
serve the Nambale Magnet School (NMS) for the
Youth Mission Trip. The Nambale Magnet School
was founded in 2009 by the Rev. Evalyn
Wakhusama, a Kenyan Anglican priest who
wanted to serve children made vulnerable by
HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty in Western Kenya.
The school now serves more than 300 children in
Pre‐K through 8th grade. Some of the kids who
attend could be considered the poorest of the poor
on the planet.
The Youth Group was introduced to NMS by the
Rev. Claire Ranna, who met Evalyn at Yale Divinity
School, and who currently serves as the Social
Media Liaison for the school. Claire and Mike’s
hope is to establish a lasting relationship between
the school and St. Mary’s, and this trip is just the
event to get that relationship going. The itinerary is
very exciting: two days of travel, ten days of service
at NMS, two days of safari, and two days of travel
home (over 21,000 miles round trip) from June 19 to
July 4. The service to be done at the school remains
to be determined, but Evalyn has many ideas. The
school is working towards total self‐sustainability,
and is committed to improving its environmental
sustainability. The school has a fully‐functioning
farm, including gardens, cows, chickens, pigs, and
rabbits. Chores abound around the school, and
there might well be some physical labor needed.
As Youth Group members have experienced on
many previous trips, some of the best service will
come as we connect with the students at the school,
teaching them, reading with them, and playing
with them. Missioners will be in residence at the
school for the ten days of service, and time with
NMS students will certainly be a highlight of the
trip. The youth who signed up for this mission,
comprising both Youth Group members and others
from the parish, will be accompanied by Mike
Stafford and junior high teacher Riley Haggin.
Fundraising
efforts to
underwrite the
trip have already
proven very
successful, and
most of the trip
has already been
paid for. That
being said,
probably the
best form of
service to NMS
by St. Mary’s
would be to
contribute
financially to
the school, so
our young
missioners have set a goal of raising $10,000 to
benefit the school. To that end, they have identified
two major fundraising activities: selling baked
goods on Sundays until we depart, and selling
advance tickets to see a documentary that we will
film during the trip. The film will be presented
sometime in the fall. Every online donor will be
signed up for tickets automatically, as will those
who buy tickets in the courtyard after church.
Tickets are priced from $50 to $100 (or more) per
ticket. It is exciting to see the continued outpouring
of generosity from St. Mary’s reaching all the way
to Africa. We are still looking for donations big and
small to support our trip and NMS.
Youth Mission Trips have the opportunity to be
transformative not only for the people we serve,
but also for the youth who participate. This trip to
the Nambale Magnet School has the potential to be
transformative for St. Mary’s as a parish, as we
make what might be a long‐term connection to our
lovely brothers and sisters in Christ on the other
side of the world.
Mission Trip co‐leader Riley Haggin
serving cake and raising funds.
Page 6 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Reflections from Deacon Tim The Rev. Tim Smith
Together with other parishioners and Deacon
Nancy Bryan, I have been busy helping to sustain
and grow our parish’s external ministries in the
community. These ministries serve particularly
those on the margins in our city.
It has been a joy for me personally to see the
enthusiasm and commitment that parishioners
display as they serve the community and live out
their baptismal vows of seeking and serving Christ
in all persons, loving their neighbors as themselves,
and respecting the dignity of every human being.
Truly, they have heard and responded to the call of
the Holy Spirit in their lives and our world!
Following is an update of parish community
ministries with which I have been directly
involved.
San Francisco‐Marin Food Bank
Our partnership with the San Francisco‐Marin
Food Bank that began in January to deliver food
every Thursday to those unable to procure it
themselves continues to grow and flourish.
Wonderful stories have emerged about the passion,
compassion, commitment, and joy of our
volunteers as they serve elderly and disabled
program participants who are unable to procure
food for themselves. One volunteer has dedicated
himself not only to providing food but also to
helping to locate resources from the city and family
for a participant whose health has deteriorated and
leaves him vulnerable and alone in his residence.
Another team of volunteers has been able to
provide food and compassion to a hard‐to‐please
elderly
program
participant
with whom it
had been
difficult for
Food Bank
staff to
communicate
effectively.
Another team
related that a
participant,
who is a
disabled
former chef,
prepared a
meal for
neighbors and
friends
consisting
almost entirely
of carrots from
the Food Bank
delivery that
they had
brought to him!
Members of our Food Bank ministry in front of the church unloading food from the Food Bank
delivery truck; left to right: Marta Johnson, John Addeo, Stephanie Lehman, Alisa Quint Fisher,
Tom Austin, Lee Walsh, Anne Williams, and Laura Secour Lehman.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 7
Next Door Shelter
Deacon Nancy and I provide liturgical support for
weekly Eucharists for residents of the Next Door
shelter on Polk and Geary. It has been a joy and a
gift to worship with residents of the shelter and to
share prayers and homilies with them. We invite
parishioners to join us. It promises to be a
meaningful experience for anyone joining us, just
as it is every week for Deacon Nancy and me.
Audrey Prescott, a member of our parish Youth
Group, recently visited Next Door. While there she
invited residents in the shelter cafeteria to attend
the Eucharist and then helped the presiding priest
and me (in my role as deacon) prepare for and
conduct the worship service. She wrote this
account of her visit:
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of
accompanying Deacon Tim Smith to an evening
Eucharist service at the Next Door Residential
Shelter. About eight residents, mostly women,
participated in this small, yet powerful service
that took place in the shelter’s library. As a
lifelong member of the Episcopal church, I am
quite familiar with the progression of the typical
service, so it was interesting to see how the Next
Door Eucharist was both similar and different.
The most notable distinction was the shared
homily. Following the Gospel, everyone was
invited to share their reactions, ideas, and
experiences. I enjoyed hearing what the residents
had to say and seeing how the discussion
progressed. Overall it was a lovely service and a
great experience.
Stop Hunger Now
Thorough and extensive preparations for the Stop
Hunger Now event culminated on May 21 in the
Great Room, drawing support from 50 parishioners
and friends in the community. We aimed to
package an astounding 10,000 (!) meals in just two
hours for an impoverished community in the
Philippines. All parishioners were invited to
attend, help package, and thereby help to sustain
and heal those suffering from hunger in the world!
To learn more about Stop Hunger Now, visit
http://www.stophungernow.org/.
Larkin Street at Edward II
Our ministry led by Marta Johnson to prepare
dinners twice a month on Sundays continues for
residents at Edward II, a residential facility near the
church. Sponsored by Larkin Street Youth Services,
it’s where 18 to 24‐year‐old youth live while
studying and working in preparation for
meaningful careers. My wife Ilia and I recently
prepared dinner with Jessica Metoyer on a St.
Mary’s team ably led by Pat McGuire. We then
joined eight young adults who reside there for an
enriching dinner filled with stories, laughter, and
camaraderie. We were deeply touched by the joy
and the hope that the young people demonstrated.
We were also struck by how much the residents
with whom we were familiar had grown in
maturity, self‐confidence, and presence between
our last time there and this time.
Our deep gratitude goes to all of the parishioners
who are ministering with others in Jesus’ name in
the above ministries! And we still need volunteers!
Please prayerfully consider whether God is calling
you to live out your baptismal vows by serving in
one of these ministries. If so, please contact Deacon
Tim or Deacon Nancy!
St. Mary’s volunteer Vanessa Lane makes cookies
with a resident at Edward II.
Page 8 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Deacon Nancy’s Corner The Rev. Nancy Bryan
Blankets Galore!
Our 5th and 6th graders made
seven fabulous “tie fringe”
blankets for the homeless that
were distributed by the San
Francisco Night Ministry. This
hands‐on project was a success
in every way: They worked
together to measure, cut and
tie two blankets together and
they learned more about how
the Night Ministry serves those
on the streets and counsels
callers by telephone every
night of the year, rain or shine.
A big thank you to this Sunday
School class, and to Todd and Lisa Reynolds, our
dedicated and enthusiastic teachers!
I would like to thank all of you who have donated
these blankets, plus sleeping bags, T‐shirts, scads of
toiletries, and even a tent from the Burnam family.
All of you show the generous heart of St. Mary’s
outreach, and each item is appreciated more than
you can know. Because these items come from the
parish, we all have a part in this outreach, touching
the heart of a friend or a stranger, reaching out to
someone in need, and helping to make another
person’s day a little warmer and brighter.
The Presidio Gate
At the Presidio Gate
residence, located at
Lombard and Lyon
streets, we conduct
an abbreviated
communion service
for several residents
on the 2nd and 4th
Mondays of every
month. Anna
Sylvester assists me.
Our conversations
mean a great deal to
those who cannot
always maneuver a
bus to attend church
elsewhere.
Blanket makers and their creations, left to right: The Rev. Nancy Bryan, Bo Darwin, Thomas
Woeber, John Hibbard, Oliver Hocking, Sophia Gnuse, Charlotte Wyman, and the Rev.
Claire Dietrich Ranna.
Caiden León‐Duffey and Eva Toney stitching fleece blankets for distribution by
the San Francisco Night Ministry.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 9
Golden Gate Nursing/Rehab Facility
Another communion service takes place on the 4th
Sunday of every month at Pine and Divisadero. Jan
Bolles assists me. St. Mary’s started an outreach at
this facility in the 1980s and has continued to serve
residents regularly ever since.
Open Cathedral
Open Cathedral is on our calendar for June 19. We
will assemble lunch bags for 100 in our courtyard
after the 10:00 a.m. service. You are most welcome
to help us assemble lunches and to attend the
outdoor service at 2:00 p.m. near Civic Center
Plaza, at McAllister and Leavenworth streets.
Team Deacon
This group of Episcopal deacons provided meals
for the “Winter Shelter” program that feeds and
sleeps approximately 110 men every night during
the winter at St. Mary’s (Roman Catholic)
Cathedral. Team Deacons and parishioners
prepared two complete meals. It is quite an
experience to cook for an “army” while making
new friends as we stir the pots! The end result is an
abundance of gratitude from the 110 or so men
being served a delicious meal. I invite you to join
me next year when Winter Shelter dinners are
again on the calendar.
Deanery Meets at St. Mary’s David Crosson, Deanery Delegate
The San Francisco Deanery convened at St. Mary’s
on March 12th.
Deanery? What is a deanery, and why should I
care?
Deaneries are groups of people who help run
Episcopal dioceses, carrying out policies and rules
agreed on at the annual convention, vetting
questions posed by the diocese, and pursuing
matters of interest in their own areas. They meet
four times a year. Deaneries also bring together
people from different parishes to work with one
another on common goals such as greater
communication and education among
congregations, diocesan staff, and local ministries
and organizations. The Diocese of California has six
deaneries, arranged by geography: San Francisco,
Marin, Alameda, Southern Alameda, Contra Costa,
and the Peninsula.
Deanery delegates also act as delegates to the
annual diocesan convention. The convention
approves the assessment formula, the diocesan
budget, canonical changes, and, rarely, elects a new
bishop.
Delegates are elected from the laity of every
congregation or Episcopal organization in each
deanery area. St. Mary’s has seven delegates and
up to seven alternates, elected each year at our
annual meeting. In January 2016, we elected the
following people: Alisa Quint Fisher, Gretchen
Lintner, Roulhac Austin (the Deanery Convener for
St. Mary’s), Carl Zachrisson, David Crosson, Fred
Martin, and Steven Currier.
When the San Francisco Deanery convened at St.
Mary’s in March, Sarah Lawton of the Church of St.
John the Evangelist presided. The meeting began,
as always, with a worship service, this one led by
the Revs. Claire Dietrich Ranna and Deb White.
The most extensive and controversial discussion
arose from a presentation by Bill Cullen, Chair of
Sunday Schoolers making sandwiches for Open Cathedral.
Page 10 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
the Diocesan Nominating Committee. The
committee proposes to collect individual
demographic information, including parish
participation and ministry interest, through a
diocese‐wide census in order to ensure that
nominations for various diocesan ministries and
functions represent the true demographics of the
diocese. Mr. Cullen is meeting with all of the
deaneries in order to receive feedback on the draft
census tool.
Impassioned discussion focused on the need for
collecting information on self‐identified preference
for gender and sexual identification – and how to
word questions about these designations. The
general sense of those expressing opinions was that
collecting gender‐identification information, even
as self‐defined, was fraught with difficulties of
intent, definition, and perception. The delegates
also firmly requested that the goals for, and use of,
the census be clarified and specifically stated. This
discussion provides a sterling example of the
critical dialogue between parish and diocese that
can only happen at the deanery level.
Mike Chambers, who represents the San Francisco
Deanery on the diocesan governing Executive
Council, requested input into priorities for the 2017
diocesan budget. On behalf of the Commission on
Ministry, David Crosson reaffirmed the call of all
baptized Christians to faithful service and stressed
the importance of Local Discernment Committees
in helping all people discern how to best live their
calls, whether or not to ordained orders.
Chair Sarah Lawton introduced an exercise to
allow attendees to learn more about each other and
the wide variety of congregations and ministries
that comprise the deanery. Networking and
personalizing the face of the Church are two of the
more important functions and bi‐products of
deanery participation. We are not alone.
This is why deaneries matter and why you may
want to share with clergy your interest in running
for election as a delegate to the Deanery/Annual
Convention next year.
For All the Saints:
Marta Johnson Kim Regan
This is one in a series of articles on long‐time
parishioners of St. Mary’s.
On Ash Wednesday, the Editor of the Cow Hollow
Church News received an email from Marta
Johnson. It read, “I was driving by Union Street
after the 7:00 a.m. service, when I saw Natalie Hala
standing on a corner. Thinking she was waiting for
a bus, I backed up to see if I could offer her a ride,
and then I saw the whole gang distributing ashes. I
LOVE it. 50 people in an hour. That is huge.” So,
she stopped in the middle of an errand (taking
jambalaya left over from the previous night’s
Mardi Gras dinner at St. Mary’s to the residents at
Edward II), got her camera, and took pictures of
our three clergy distributing ashes to 50 people. She
then emailed them in, adding; “Now I’m running
off to Larkin Street where I volunteer on
Wednesdays. That’s an education in and of itself.”
Observing Marta Johnson in action is also an
education in and of itself. Cheerleader, doer, and
organizer par excellence, Marta puts every bit of
her dynamic energy into everything she does. As
Sandy Briggs puts it, “Marta is an amazing force at
St. Mary’s. She takes on big jobs, especially in
Outreach, but she is important in many small, quiet
ways as well. She greets newcomers, helps them
get involved, and continues to be there for them
long after they are no longer newcomers.”
On most Sundays, Marta can be found in the
Courtyard after the 8:00 a.m. service, greeting folks
at the Newcomers’ table, her four‐foot‐eleven‐inch
frame standing tall. Often she is organizing a
carpool or a dinner party to welcome friends.
Marta is one of those unsung heroines who gives
life to a community. Many parishioners share
vestry member Donna Davidson’s view. “I am at
St. Mary’s because of Marta,” says Donna. “When I
first visited St. Mary’s, I happened to sit next to
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 11
Marta and she invited me to a newcomer’s dinner
at her home. Having come from the South, I
thought this was the most hospitable gesture! I so
enjoyed Marta and the other guests that I joined the
church.” It is clear that many of her efforts over the
years have grown the community that rewards her
and the rest of us so richly.
A member of our parish for
almost 44 years, Marta has
been actively chairing
events at St. Mary’s for the
last 20 years. She served on
the vestry from 2001 to
2003 acting as Junior
Warden running the Parish
Council, and then as Senior
Warden. She has chaired
the Outreach Committee,
co‐chaired Foyer Groups
and Home for Christmas,
served on the Deanery and
the Granting Team, and
even planted nursery stock
at the Presidio.
Currently, she holds two
significant parish jobs:
organizing the schedule of
60 St. Mary’s volunteers
who prepare meals and
other activities for the residents at Larkin Street
Youth Services’ Edward II housing, and running
the Legacy Society’s Campaign for St. Mary’s 125th
Anniversary. She also participates in the weekly
Food Bank delivery program and wouldn’t miss
her twice weekly walk on Crissy field with St.
Mary’s walking group. She takes Spiritual Hikes on
local trails with other parishioners, and even finds
times to proofread this newsletter before it goes to
press. As Georgene Keeler says, “When Marta says
she is going to do something, it happens.”
Marta says, “St. Mary’s rewards with a deeply
satisfying sense of being held in a community, if
you invest yourself in this community.”
When we sat down to talk about Marta’s gifts to St.
Mary’s, in typical fashion, she spoke about the gifts
she receives. For her, the parish embodies
community. Marta believes that seeing people
frequently—at Sunday services, walking, working
together on projects—builds the bonds that are so
critical to our health and
happiness. Her two children
and four grandchildren are
the center of her life, but
they live far away in Ohio
and France. St. Mary’s
provides Marta with the
feeling and support of
family close to home.
Through the many friends
she has made in the parish,
she has traveled abroad to
exotic locales, subscribed to
the theater, and joined two
book groups.
Despite the “Stop me before
I volunteer again” sign on
her desk, Marta does seem
to do it all. How? Sandy
Stadtfeld tells a story
revealing her extraordinary
organizational skills.
“During a spell of house‐
and cat‐sitting for her (she
actually kept me off the streets when I had
nowhere to live), I was looking for a rubber band,”
he says. “I opened the drawer which in most
kitchens would contain a jumble of keys, tools,
scraps of paper, hardware, small change, and
coupons. Martaʹs drawer has an obvious plan,
including dedicated space for graduated sizes of
rubber bands. The easiest dwelling I have ever
inhabited!” She just makes it look easy.
Like many of us parishioners, someday Marta will
rest in the Columbarium in the inner courtyard.
Today she remains an energetic, living pillar of the
church; one that we gratefully acknowledge makes
St. Mary’s a special place for us all.
Marta Johnson: Cheerleader, doer, and organizer.
Page 12 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Profile and Search Committee News Creighton Reed and Diana Sullivan, Co‐Chairs
Charged with finding a new rector for St. Mary’s,
the Profile and Search Committee spent its first
month together focusing on identifying the scope
of our job, and team building. We’re a new group,
chosen by the vestry, whose members represent a
cross‐section of parishioners, varying in age,
gender, and service time at St. Mary’s. We have
had several in depth discussions on how we can
best support each other and do this very important
work for our community.
Each of us understands the importance of the job
we’ve been asked to do, and want to be sure we are
aligned on how we communicate, discuss, and
make decisions together. Here are mini‐bios for
each of us, beginning with when we first came to
St. Mary’s.
Matt Bartlett Member
since 2006; attends
11:00 a.m. service;
works as an attorney
at DLA Piper LLP;
father of a one‐year‐
old girl and the son
and grandson of
Episcopal priests.
Donna Davidson
Member since 2000;
attends 8:00 a.m.
service; works as an
executive search
consultant; current
member of the vestry
and former Co‐chair
of Adult Formation.
David Gibson
Member since 1971;
attends 9:00 a.m.
service with two sons and four grandchildren; tax
and estate planning attorney; former vestry
member and Parish Warden; serves as a LEV;
served on the Search Committee for Jason Parkin;
married to former Senior Warden Betty Hood‐
Gibson.
Riley Haggin Attending since 2005 and confirmed
in 2012; attends 11:00 a.m. service; teaches 8th
grade History in Los Altos; Young Adults Group
member and Youth Group leader.
Natalie Hala Member since 2006; attends 11:00 a.m.
service; retired non‐profit executive; Verger for St.
Mary’s and LEV; Former Co‐Chair of Adult
Formation.
Anne Kieve Member since 2000; attends 11:00 a.m.
service; architect and designer; former Senior
Warden and active with Buildings and Grounds
and Outreach.
Profile and Search Committee members at work; left to right, standing: Anne Kieve, Matt
Bartlett, Lauren MacDonald, Creighton Reed, Diana Sullivan, Alan Pendergast, and David
Gibson; sitting: Pleasant Thompson, Donna Davidson, Mike Stafford, and Riley Haggin;
absent: Natalie Hala.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 13
Lauren MacDonald Member since 2013; attends
11:00 a.m. service; professor and academic librarian
for the San Francisco Art Institute; member of the
Young Adult Group and daughter and
granddaughter of Episcopal priests.
Alan Pendergast Member since 1994; attends 9:00
a.m. service; private equity
banker for Bank of
America‐Merrill Lynch; has
two children in Sunday
School; gives children’s
homilies.
Creighton Reed, Co‐Chair
Member since 2003; attends
9:00 a.m. service with
children Will and Bebe;
consults for early stage
tech startups using his
experience as an executive
for tech and finance firms;
current member of the vestry.
Mike Stafford Member since 2008; attends 9:00
a.m. service with two young daughters; teaches
High School at Convent of the Sacred Heart; former
Junior Warden and now is Director of Youth
Programs at St. Mary’s; son of an Episcopal priest.
Diana Sullivan, Co‐Chair Member since 2000;
attends 9:00 a.m. service; works at Price
Waterhouse Coopers drawing from experience in
executive coaching, and management talent
development; former Junior Warden and currently
on Newcomers committee.
Pleasant Thompson Member since 2013; attends
11:00 a.m. service; works as a buyer for Pottery
Barn Kids; member of the Young Adults Group
and Co‐chair of Maundy Thursday dinner.
Since we first met on March 31, we’ve been
convening every week, in a discovery mode about
our tasks, learning from various sources about how
transitions are successfully accomplished. We’ve
gathered information from the Transition Ministry
Team at the Diocese, from our own Interim Pastor
Deb White; reviewed information left by the
previous search committee; and reviewed external
sources including websites and documents we’ve
found from other parishes in transition. These great
resources have provided us both overview and
tactical practices on how
we will be successful in
our role.
We are now entering our
listening and data‐
gathering phase where it is
essential for us to hear
from all of you. We have
set dates in June for Town
Hall meetings, where we
will all have a chance to
discuss what is important
to us about St. Mary’s,
about our own spiritual
growth, and about what qualities we seek in our
new rector.
We have also been working on a survey that
provides another means for us to listen to you. The
survey will be available in early June for a period of
one month.
With information from Town Hall meetings and
the survey, we will then use our time during the
summer and fall to collate our findings, and then to
create the official parish profile. Distilling the
feedback from the parish and creating this profile is
one of the most important facets of our work (along
with preparing other necessary documents to post
the position online). We want to make sure we
capture the essential elements and spirit of St.
Mary’s, and those qualities we seek in a rector.
Before we post this material, we will need approval
from the vestry.
Then applications will come in. Once we have
collected applications, we will move into our
second important phase: screening candidates. This
Please come to one or more of these
Town Hall Meetings
Sunday, June 5 After each service; from 8:45
a.m. to 9:45 a.m.; from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon;
and from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 12 At 9:00 a.m., between the 8:00
a.m. and 10:00 a.m. services
Wednesday, June 15 Immediately following the
7:00 a.m. service
Page 14 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
involves evaluating the candidates by reading their
applications and having phone and/or video calls
with them to identify those we want to meet for in‐
person interviews. The in‐person interviews will
involve travel to meet the “semi‐final candidates”
in their home parishes.
The screening phase leads into our last phase —
discussing feedback amongst committee members
to determine the top candidates. The final step
involves building packages of information on our
final candidates and presenting them to the vestry.
The timeline for the entire search is not yet fully
fleshed out; but we will try to move along at a pace
that makes sense and respects the quality of the
important work we need to do. A reminder to all is
that a typical search process takes from one year to
18 months, and sometimes the process lasts as long
as 24 months. Throughout all our work, we have
been listening, and will continue to listen, to the
Holy Spirit for guidance in our discernment.
Please feel free to reach out at any time if you have
information you wish to share or a candidate you
wish to bring to our attention. Our email is:
Thank you for your support and continued care for,
and attachment to, St. Mary’s. That care and love
are what make our parish family so attractive to a
new leader and so important to each of our lives.
Welcome New Legacy Society
Members
This 125th Anniversary year of the founding of our
church is an ideal time to honor and perpetuate the
strength, beauty, and spiritual oasis that is St.
Mary’s.
We hope you will join with the newest members
of the Legacy Society listed below to ensure that
St. Mary’s continues to remain strong and
moving forward for the next 125 years.
No legacy gift is too small; whatever is comfortable
for you and reflects what St. Mary’s means to you.
Pam and Robert Bledsoe
David and Janet Jeffrey
Cynthia MacKay
Josie and Bill McGann
Alexandra Morgan
Mary Roper
Catherine and Michael Secour
Jane Standing
Robert Tuller
Susan and Rob Vanneman
Chase Young and Judith Branch
Anonymous (1)
Any questions? Please get in touch with Jane A.
Cook at [email protected] or Marta Johnson
Thank you.
Prepaying Your Pledge The summer months can be challenging for the
church in regard to cash flow. If it is possible for
you to do so, please try to pay 50% (or more) of
your annual pledge by June 30. Your attention to
this important detail will make it much easier to
manage our bills and payroll this summer. For
those of you who are new to St. Mary’s or who
did not have a chance to make a pledge last
winter, we would love to hear from you now.
You can make a pledge and/or a donation online
at www.smvsf.org/donation/.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 15
125th Anniversary Spring Celebrations Fragrant with blossoms on an April evening, our courtyard formed the perfect backdrop to throw a party for our 125th
anniversary. Members of St. Maryʹs gathered for fellowship and fun by enjoying a potluck picnic and a delicious birthday
cake, arranged by Events Coordinator Nancy Svendsen. Then the church opened its doors to some lovely piano music, and
a spectacular presentation on our courtyard mural offered by parishioner Lauren MacDonald. But not before Marta
Johnson spoke on behalf of the Legacy Society, pointing out how lucky we are to have this “spiritual oasis” at the corner of
Union and Steiner streets.
We observed a special worship service adapted from 1891, experiencing what worship
might have been like at one of the earliest St. Maryʹs services. Verger Natalie Hala carried
her special spiral verge, Interim Rector Don Brown donned a biretta, and Associate Rector
Claire Dietrich Ranna wore a Canterbury cap for the occasion.
Page 16 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
The Rev. William Washington Bolton (1858-1946) Sandy Stadtfeld
More Than Our First Rector
In 2016, the 125th year of the Episcopal Church of
St. Mary the Virgin, we celebrate a history of
challenge, endurance, grace, and remarkable
people. Let’s start with our founding rector. The
Reverend William Washington Bolton came to San
Francisco in 1890 to assist The Rev. William W.
Davis, Rector of St. Luke’s, who
promptly detailed Bolton to establish a
mission in the unchurched boondocks
of Cow Hollow. Bolton’s strident
negotiations with Frank Morrison
Pixley for the property at Union and
Steiner streets, the apostate Pixley’s
subsequent “conversion” and his
posthumous interment within our
foundation are parts of St. Mary’s
creation legend. (Read the story in our
Fall 2015 issue on our website
smvsf.org/cow‐hollow‐church‐news/
or in the New Fillmore An Argonaut in
Cow Hollow).
Bolton’s own story is not so well known,
but he could be a character out of Jack
London, E. M. Forster or W. Somerset
Maugham.
Before St. Mary’s
Bolton was the fourth of five children; his father a
prominent Anglican churchman and his mother “a
member of an ancient Bedford and Hertfordshire
family.” After schooling at Spencer House,
Wimbledon, and private tuition, Bolton was
admitted in 1877 to Caius College, Cambridge. He
was an outstanding scholar at Cambridge, but left
his lasting mark as an athlete and outdoorsman.
In 1879, he won the British amateur
championship for the half‐mile, and at the same
period, set a record for the thousand‐yard race.
He was also a boxer, a footballer (both rugby and
soccer), a long distance swimmer, and an ardent
tennis player when that now universal sport
was in its infancy. He was proud of being a
Cambridge Blue, and a member of the Achilles
Club of London, which is made of both
Cambridge and Oxford Blues. **
After ordination in the Diocese of Lichfield in 1882
and attaining a Master of Arts from Cambridge in
1884, Bolton served as a missionary at Moosomin,
Northwest Territories (now southeast
Saskatchewan) and chaplain to the Rt. Rev.
Adelbert John Robert Anson,
Bishop of Qu’Appelle. He
returned briefly to England in
1886 to fulfill a curacy at Stoke‐
on‐Trent, but by 1887 he was
back in Canada as Rector of St.
Paul’s Anglican Church in
Esquimalt, British Columbia. He
served in that capacity until 1889,
when he became headmaster of
St. Paul’s School, Esquimalt.
San Francisco
Bolton’s move to San Francisco in
1890 was characteristic of his
restlessness and curiosity. After
establishing the new mission in
Cow Hollow, Bolton traveled
frequently. He took absences from St. Mary the
Virgin in 1894 and 1896 to explore the interior
vastness of Vancouver Island. These were serious
expeditions into uncharted country, and
established Bolton as an ardent advocate for
protection of the British Columbian wilderness.
Bolton also traveled in search of a prominent
parishioner’s young wife after she absconded to the
East, and would write a colorful account of his
sleuthing in Salt Lake City, Denver and New York.
San Francisco newspapers were openly critical of
the sumptuous liturgical practices at Bolton’s new
church, St. Mary the Virgin. The incense, vessels,
vestments and chanting of high Anglican worship
The Rev. William Washington
Bolton, recently ordained.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 17
were suspiciously English, if not surreptitiously
Roman to the mind of those adhering to the
popular nativist strain prevailing at the turn of the
19th century. Bolton repeatedly
defended the mode of worship he’d
established at St. Mary’s, even
against attacks by main‐stream
American Episcopalians.
Back to B.C.
By 1898, Reverend Bolton may have
tired of defending “high church”
practices in San Francisco. He
returned to British Columbia, this
time to St. Barnabas Church in
Victoria, where he served for several
years as headmaster of a new church
school for boys. This seems to have
been a speculation on Bolton’s part,
but by 1906 he was a co‐founder and Warden of the
University School, which continues today as St.
Michael’s University School. Victoria newspapers
lauded Father Bolton’s interdisciplinary program:
Mr. Bolton is an ardent athlete himself and firmly
believes that the best way to bring boys out as manly
men is to encourage them to
live healthy lives out of
doors, when not engaged in
their school duties. He is
therefore to be seen with
them at all times during
play hours, on the golf links
or on the shore, engaging in
their pursuits and teaching
them how to play as well as
how to work. **
While Warden of University School, Bolton
continued his wilderness exploration and
advocacy. In 1910, he was a leader of the
Exploratory Survey Trip on Vancouver Island, a
party which included his son Gerald. This
expedition led to the establishment of Strathcona
Provincial Park, the first such park in British
Columbia.
Through Asia and the Yukon
In 1913, Reverend Bolton traveled to England to
visit his ailing mother. As was his custom, he took
the scenic route: from Seattle via Japan,
Shanghai, Nanjing, Pusan, Changchun,
Harbin, and Vladivostok, across
Mongolia and Siberia to Moscow, then
through Belarus, Warsaw, Berlin,
Cologne, Brussels, and Calais, whence
he took the ferry to Dover. After two
months in England he completed his
westerly circumnavigation and returned
to Victoria, BC.
Bolton is likely to have inherited part of
his mother’s annuity upon her death in
January 1914, enabling him to begin
adventuring in earnest. That year,
enticed by tales of the 1897 Alaskan
Gold Rush, Bolton and a companion drifted the
Yukon River from Whitehorse to the Bering Sea on
“a 12 ft. flat bottom boat, brand new, made of
rough lumber and built in a day.”
South Pacific
In 1920, Bolton left Victoria and the University
School for the South Pacific,
with no planned itinerary
beyond Honolulu. He
landed in 1921 on the tiny
island of Niue, 1,500 miles
north of New Zealand,
where he taught and
inspected schools for the
New Zealand government.
During three years on Niue,
Bolton consulted with
resident elders to record
their history and traditions. His research resulted in
a book entitled The Chronicles of Savage Island —
invoking the name bestowed on Niue in 1774 by
Captain James Cook.
In 1924, Bolton returned to Victoria to become
Headmaster of the University School. After only
three years, he was drawn back – permanently – to
Bolton with an assistant teacher outside his town
house at Alofi, Niué Island; April 1924.
Official portrait of Rector
Bolton at St. Mary the Virgin.
Page 18 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
the South Pacific. This time he relocated to Tahiti,
ostensibly to compose a history for the government
of France. Immediately upon his arrival at Papeete,
Bolton began exploring the island on foot,
surveying ancient sites, reading neglected
manuscripts, learning dialects, and becoming
familiar with village elders. In 1935, he published
The Beginnings of Papeete and its Founding as the
Capital of Tahiti.
Between 1939 and 1941, Bolton composed a series
of 93 stories about his travels for his grandchildren
in Victoria, and assembled them as Tales of a
Roaming Grandfather. These are perhaps the most
intimate and revealing of his copious writings. The
Tales reveal that Bolton continued roaming through
the last years of his life, including marathon
“birthday walks” around Tahiti:
Fancy!! the other day I stood at Milestone 82 on
Life’s long happy journey. I hope you do not think of
me as an old, old gentleman, bent nearly double with
a 3rd leg (his stick) to help him along. That would be
a great error. For my Birthday present I gave myself
a special treat, not of good things to eat but a
lovely walk of 5 and 20 miles and finished the Day
till sundown at work in the garden and orchard. **
William Bolton celebrated life with long walks
through 1946. He died on Tahiti, where he is
buried in the Uranie Cemetery. His legacy
includes seminal writings about Polynesian
history and culture, the first provincial park in
Western Canada, a vibrant academic community
in Victoria B.C., the first church in Cow Hollow –
and a lifetime of exuberance, service, inquiry, and
joy in Creation.
** Quotes and citations are from Notes on the Life of
William Washington Bolton 1858–1946; Compiled
by Timothy Adair Lawson March 2011; in “The
Writings of William Washington Bolton” Fourth
Edition, April 2015; Timothy Adair Lawson, ed.;
http://www.mediafire.com/download/a4faerq59b7mhh2/
WWB_2016_03_10.pdf
Small Groups Alexandra Morgan
One of the greatest pleasures in belonging to the St.
Mary’s congregation is in getting to know the
wonderful people who make up our church.
However, with the busy lives we all lead, it is
impossible to commit to attending as many of the
abundant church events offered as we would like.
It is exactly the demands of the world that create a
strong need to feel connected to others at St. Mary’s
for respite and renewal. Since I’d had such a
beautiful experience with my foyer group when I
first arrived at St. Mary’s six years ago, I wanted to
figure out a way to create a similar program
blessed by the clergy, so the Rev. Claire Ranna and
I met early last fall to discuss a way to re‐imagine
Foyer Groups, and came up with Small Groups.
We reached out to the congregation by email and in
person (full disclosure: Claire did most of the
work). Six groups resulted, blossoming into six
little communities that create a new bridge of
understanding between church life and daily life.
Groups were able to self‐select based on a specific
theme such as parenting, life transitions, or Bible
study. The group that formed around the theme of
fellowship (my group) could not have been more
Enjoying poulet au pot, apple crisp à la mode, Austrian Stroh
rum, and each other’s company, left to right, are: Mike Stafford,
Dave Anderson, Derek Weiss, John Balestreri, Kat Anderson,
Margaret Stafford, and Morgan Sanders. Absent: Alexandra
Morgan and Jessica Metoyer. Photographer: Katie Balestreri.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 19
interesting. Over meals in our homes, we are
getting to know one another beyond, “hello, how
are you,” recounting our backgrounds, and telling
what we do.
In a wide range of topics from
church to children, from work to
inspiration, we started to know one
another in a deeper way that can
provide the glue for life’s inevitable
ups and downs. Perhaps the greatest
part of the program is listening to
new friends talk about what makes
them feel dignified, and how we are
all entitled to the majestic gifts of our
faith. The exchange of experiences and
ideas around the dinner table with a faith‐based
group is nothing short of a blessing; as we grow
together in community and in spirit, we have a core
group strengthening our worship together at St.
Mary’s.
Telling Our Stories The Rev. Dr. Deb White, Interim Pastor
Arnold Toynbee said that history is a vision of
God’s creation on the move – and St. Mary the
Virgin has been on the move for 125 years!
Christianity is a religion of relationship and each of
us has a uniquely meaningful relationship with St.
Mary the Virgin. Scripture tells us the importance
of sharing our faith journeys and exploring the
ways we are connected to one another and to God.
Remembering what initially drew us to St. Mary’s
and to one another is particularly important during
this time of transition when we may feel unsettled
and even a bit anxious about the future of the
parish. One of the ways we can remind ourselves of
the many and varied gifts that St. Mary’s has
brought to our lives is by telling one another about
them and documenting them in an accessible
format. On April 3rd and May 22nd, lively groups
of St. Mary’s parishioners gathered in the Great
Room to share stories and help construct a visual
timeline of the eventful 125‐year history of the
Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin. One tale
quickly followed another as people talked about
what initially led them to St. Mary’s and the love
and fellowship they have found here. According to
many parishioners, seeing St. Mary’s history
visually represented allowed them to “see” what
makes St. Mary’s unique. Storytelling evolved into
evaluation as participants shared their insights
about the spirit of St. Mary’s, and began to identify
how our past will shape our future. You can listen
to audio recordings of these talks on our website, at
http://smvsf.org/st‐marys‐125th‐anniversary/.
The group started a list of core values they
associate with St. Mary’s, including a sense of
welcome, a history of inclusion, and the
empowerment of the laity. They discussed the
importance of knowing and communicating these
values during the search process so that St. Mary’s
can call a new rector who embraces these traits.
Parish leaders want you to know that if you did not
have a chance to attend one of the gatherings you
can still participate in the process by viewing the
timeline on the wall of the Great Room and using
the sticky note paper and pens that have been left
out to write your family name and post it
underneath the timeline on the date nearest when
you arrived at St. Mary’s, as well as by noting any
major parish historical events that have been left
out. Please take a moment to be part of the
important work of thinking about what makes St.
Mary the Virgin our spiritual home and discerning
how to keep the spirit of this place alive and
growing as we move into the future.
A visual timeline of shared stories, linking us to our 125‐year history.
Page 20 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
David Sullivan, Event Chair
On April 30th a hearty team
from St. Mary’s joined forces
with volunteers from St. James
Episcopal Church and Wells
Fargo Bank to help refresh and
make safe the home of Mrs.
Ernestine Ross in the San
Francisco Bayview district.
Volunteers from St. Mary’s
included: (brand new
parishioner) Marissa Dean, Pam Sauer, Deacon
Nancy Bryan, the Rev. Deb White, Marian Brischle,
Ned Mobley, Alexander Burnham, Deborah
Franklin, Steve Hibbard, William Hibbard, and
David Sullivan.
The volunteers painted many rooms and a
stairway in the house, replaced an aging
kitchen stove, reinforced and repaired the back
stairway for safety, cleared clogged drains, cleaned
out the garage, brought in a new washer and dryer,
weeded, trimmed trees, and built raised
beds in the sunny garden. Mrs. Ross, who
lives with her great granddaughter Jayla, is
excited to grow her own vegetables in the
refreshed garden—especially beans. It was
a fun day of fellowship with old and new
friends across communities, hard work,
and the gratification of a job that will be
truly appreciated by the recipients. Many
thanks to our volunteers! Mark your
calendars now for April 29, 2017, the next
National Rebuilding Day. It’s a great way
to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our
community.
Raphael House Award Alisa Quint Fisher, Chair
Volunteers from St. Mary’s faithfully show up on
the first Monday of every month at Raphael House
to prepare food, serve, and clean up for residents of
this shelter for homeless families, the first family
shelter in Northern California. In fact, volunteers
from St. Mary’s have been showing up for over 30
years and the Raphael House staff expressed their
gratitude for this sustained commitment by
presenting its Volunteer Service Award to our
group of 20 volunteers, led by Alisa Quint Fisher.
In the kitchen at Raphael House: (left to right): Susan
Barber, Anne Kieve, Alisa Quint Fisher (holding the
award), Pam Sauer, Steve White, and Anna Sylvester.
Refreshing a home, left to right: Grant Paul (St.
James), Jeffrey Douglass (Well Fargo Bank), Mrs.
Ernestine Ross (homeowner), David Sullivan, Pam
Sauer, and Alexander Burnam. Photographer:
Deborah Franklin.
On the job: (l to r) Marissa
Dean and Deborah Franklin;
kneeling Nelson Heuy.
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 21
Newcomers’ Corner
James Shepherd James Shepherd
From conversations I’ve had with members of St.
Mary’s, I’ve found a variety of stories about how
God has led people into this congregation. Some
are born into it and grow as members of the
Church, while others are guided in by friends or
family. I found St. Mary’s on Yelp.
Growing up in small‐town
Georgia, church was a huge
part of my life. From learning
the Apostles’ Creed in my
fourth‐grade Sunday School
class to going on youth choir
tours throughout high
school, I was at the local
Methodist church several
times a week for ten years. It
was a second home, where a
community that deeply cared
for me helped to care for my
spiritual, emotional, and
mental development.
But my generally loving and
supportive church wasn’t the
only experience I had with
faith – for seven years, while
going to that Methodist
church on Sundays, I
attended a fundamentalist Baptist school up the
road from my house, where I was introduced to an
angry and punishing vision of God who seemed
obsessed with the shortcomings for which He
could condemn me to Hell.
Reconciling these two versions of faith was not just
difficult, but impossible for me to do. So despite the
strong and loving community that I held onto so
strongly in my church, I fell away from all religion
when I went off to college.
Fortunately, God is persistent. After struggling for
several years with a faith I couldn’t shake I started
looking for a church to call home. Having moved
around the country after college and cobbled
together whatever church experience I could find
in each new city, I moved to Cow Hollow and tried
again to find a new church home.
After several frustrating attempts at finding a
church in the city where I felt at home, I finally
turned to the best place to look for just about
anything – Google. What I found
surprised me. Apparently people
have taken to rating churches on
Yelp, and there at the top of the
page was a church just a few
blocks from my house with a
traditional service in the
Anglican tradition (with which I
was not completely unfamiliar) –
the Church of St. Mary the
Virgin.
As soon as I walked into the
courtyard for the first time and
saw children running around the
legs of adults of all ages, I knew
Yelp was right. Like my beloved
church back home, I had found a
Christian community that served
people throughout their spiritual
lives.
Since January of this year when I
first came to St. Mary’s, I’ve been
attending regularly, whenever I’m not traveling for
work (as a management consultant for Accenture
Strategy dealing with tech companies). I try to get
involved wherever possible, including attending
the Lenten Series and various parish meetings.
Finding an active church community has been a
huge blessing, and I’m excited to make this my
church home in San Francisco.
Newcomer James Shepherd enjoys a huge
blessing in finding an active community at
St. Mary’s, his new church home.
Page 22 Summer 2016 The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
From the Associate Rector The Rev. Claire Dietrich Ranna
Contemplating Complementarianism
When asked about his religious affiliation, Nobel
Prize‐winning physicist Frank Wilczek frequently
responds, “I’m a complementarian.”
The principal of complementarity was developed
by Niels Bohr, one of the founders of quantum
mechanics, and states that objects have
complementary properties that cannot be observed
or measured at the same time. These properties
frequently appear to be contradictory. A classic
example of this involves the properties of light;
light is sometimes observed as a wave and
sometimes as a particle. Until relatively recently,
scientists believed that light could only behave as
one or the other.
Frank Wilczek, a professor at M.I.T. and author of
the recent book, A Beautiful Question: Finding
Nature’s Deep Design, is not only a successful
scientist; but he is also a curious soul and a deep
thinker. He is known for looking at the cosmos and
human nature with equal intent, searching for
similarities and patterns in the ways that the
universe and consciousness are manifest here and
now.
One way he invites a more robust embrace of
complementarianism, not only as a scientific
principle but also as a helpful philosophy, is by
reflecting on the nature of truth. We often assume
that the opposite of a truth is a falsehood, but in
many cases the opposite of a deep truth is another
deep truth. For example, from our own tradition,
we might say that humans are created in the image
of God and that we are capable of doing things that
break God’s heart; or that Jesus is seated at the
right hand of the Father and that he is here among
us, finding us when we are lost and leading us
home; or that death is both an ending and the
gateway to new life.
Deep spirituality calls for just this kind of flexible,
curious, yet reasoned approach. In this sense,
cultivating a complementarian imagination can
help us to engage the Christian story more
holistically.
As human beings, we tend to focus at any given
time on one particular property or manifestation of
God, but learning to seek God in the places we least
expect to find God can be a powerful and
transformative practice. May we all be willing to
stretch our imaginations a little as we journey
together through the season after Pentecost,
empowered in our quest by God’s own surprising
and sustaining Spirit.
Summer Choir at St. Mary's
The summer choir at St. Maryʹs is a wonderful time
for you to try your hand (or voice, rather) at some
choral singing. The choir has a relaxed commitment
during the summer months. We still sing every
Sunday morning even though a single 10:00 a.m.
service replaces the 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
services. Thursday evening rehearsals for the
Parish Choir and Wednesday rehearsals for the
Youth and Children’s Choirs are suspended. If you
would like to participate, simply show up at 9:00
a.m., an hour before the service for a quick
rehearsal. It is a very fun way to get involved
without making a commitment for the whole year.
Come one and come all. We welcome participation
from people who have much singing experience,
and people who have none. It is a fun, friendly
environment in which everybody participates fully
in the music ministry at St. Mary the Virgin.
Summer Worship Schedule
Starts June 12
Morning Services at
8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Parish BBQ Following the 10:00 a.m. service
Cow Hollow Church News Summer 2016 Page 23
Parish Retreat 2016 at The Bishop’s Ranch
The Pentecost theme at annual parish retreat at the Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg this year was, “Experiencing the
Movements of the Spirit.” On Saturday morning, the Revs. Claire Ranna and Deb White led the adults in playing a
church‐themed Jeopardy game, and discussing how we feel the Spirit moving us at St. Mary the Virgin. We expressed our
sentiments as haikus. An example: Water welling up/ Refreshes our souls daily/ Water cleanses us. Meanwhile, Riley
Haggin and Mike Stafford were helping the kids make Spirit‐related art projects, including kites and origami birds. We
then all gathered together to build a new St. Mary’s. On Sunday, Deb and Claire led us through an instructed Eucharist,
and invited us to participate by offering our own homilies. Bob Bledsoe remarked that it was nice to have a single small
group where everyone could get to know everyone else in easy intergenerational exchanges. “I believe the Holy Spirit is a
moving force,” he said. “And that’s St. Mary’s.” Relaxed, rejuvenated, and filled with the Holy Spirit, we said our
farewells and made our way back to the city. My two children are already looking forward to next year’s retreat!
‐‐ Margaret Stafford
Building a new St. Mary’s: Adults wrote their vision for the church’s future on building blocks, and the children used
them to construct a church. No sooner was it built, but it was torn down. And then rebuilt; and then, by the grace of the
Holy Spirit (in the form of flame‐colored balloons), it held together.
Watching the cows come home.
Gathering together, refreshed with the energy of the Holy Spirit.
First Class Mail
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HIGHLIGHTS—SUMMER - 2016 Also visit www.smvsf.org
SUMMER SCHEDULE STARTS JUNE 12 Summer Schedule for Sunday Morning Worship – Starting
June 11, Service times are 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Regular worship times start again September 11, with services at 8:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., and 11:00 a.m.
SPIRITUALITY & PASTORAL CARE Sunday morning services – at 8:00 and 10:00 a.m.
Holy Eucharist, Rite II – Wednesdays, in the chapel, at 7:00 a.m.
Nursing Home Ministry – every 4th Sunday, Golden Gate Healthcare Center, 2707 Pine Street, at 1:30 p.m.
Presidio Gate Ministry –2nd & 4th Mondays, 2770 Lombard Street, at 11:00 a.m.
Pastoral Emergencies – A priest is always on call. To reach a member of the clergy, go to www.smvsf.org/pastoral-care
OUTREACH Raphael House Ministry – First Monday of each month.
Contact Alisa Quint Fisher at [email protected]
Larkin Street Dinners at Edward II –Sundays June 12, July 10, and August 14, at 4:00 p.m. Contact Marta Johnson at [email protected]
SF- Marin Food Bank – Every Thursday morning deliveries from church. Contact the Rev. Tim Smith at [email protected]
MEETINGS & MISCELLANY Deadline for the Fall 2016 Cow Hollow Church News –
August 1. Please email articles to [email protected]
SAVE THESE DATES Confirmation of 20 St. Mary’s Confirmands – Saturday, June
4, at Grace Cathedral, at 10:00 a.m.
Chefs SummerTini Gala – Episcopal Community Services Benefit – Friday, June 3, 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.summertini.org
Night Ministry Open House – Sunday, June 12, at St. Mark’s Church, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.sfnightministry.org.
Summer in the City Adult Forum Series – Sundays. June 26– August 21, in the Great Room, at 9:00 a.m. See flyer for details.
Open Cathedral – Sunday, June 19, at Civic Center Plaza, at Leavenworth and McAllister Streets, at 2:00 p.m. For information, contact the Rev. Nancy Bryan at 415-608-8777.
N.E.R.T. Training Course – Monday evenings July 18 – August 22, at St. Mary’s. For details, contact [email protected]
Night Ministry Annual Cabaret – Friday, August 12, at St. Aiden’s Episcopal Church, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.sfnightministry.org
2325 Union Street
San Francisco, CA 94123‐3905
(415) 921‐3665 • www.smvsf.org
INSIDE… From the Rector ................ Cover Story
Sr. Warden’s Letter ............................ 2
Sunday School & Youth ................. 4-5
Reflections from Deacon Tim .......... 6
Deacon Nancy’s Corner .................... 8
Deanery Meets at St. Mary’s ............. 9
Saints: Marta Johnson .................... 10
Profile and Search Committee........ 12
Legacy &125th Anniversary....... 14-15
W. W. Bolton, Our First Rector ....... 16
Small Groups ................................... 18
Telling Our Stories........................... 19
Rebuilding Together & Raphael ..... 20
Newcomers’ Corner ......................... 21
From the Associate Rector ............. 22
Parish Retreat 2016 ......................... 23