On Nov 6 St Cyprian’s will celebrate All Saints Day. In the calendar of the church this is the day we remember the saints who precede us. In the history of the church this day was established to remember the martyrs of the church during the persecutions, then expanded to include the remembrance of the saints of the church who don’t have feast days. Who are the saints? Faith filled people; some performed miracles, some became martyrs, some were missionaries, others translated the Bible, became lay preachers, or led the struggle for civil rights for all peoples. They all led lives which were encouraged and strengthened by their faith; so much so that their work inspire us to this day. In the epistle to the Hebrews we read:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Come join us on Nov 6 as we remember the saints in our lives, the ‘cloud of witnesses’ who built our church, made it grow, and guide us then and now onto the right path and run the race. Email the name of the saints who inspired you to eric_metoyerATmac.com and we will read their name in the prayers of the people.
Blessed Saint Cyprian, pray for us!
See you about the church.
-eric
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Our Seminarian Jack shares his story...
Hello everyone. For my first blog post on the St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church blog I figured I would announce my presence on the blog, why I will be blogging, and tell you all a little bit about myself.
I’m a third generation, born and raised, San Franciscan who comes from a family of Irish and Guatemalan immigrants. Growing up, mostly, in the fog shrouded southwestern corner of the city called the Sunset District I was raised by my mother, a nurse, and father, a laborer for the San Francisco Parks & Recs Department.
Both of my parents, and both grandfathers, were members of unions and were involved in working class politics and organizing within their respective unions. I myself became a janitor in San Rafael for four years and then began working as a truck loader for UPS where I also became the union representative of my shift back in the Summer of 2007.
I have also been actively organizing in the Filipino American community (of which I grew up on the boarders of in southern San Francisco) for many years now with the US chapter of an alliance called Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) and have been going back and forth between the US and the Philippines for the past three years; organizing with unions, youth and students, and peasant organizations.
For my blog posts, which I will write a couple of times a month, I want to focus on the intersection of community and national politics with theology while also keeping an eye on class analysis and the way theological reflection can help shape, and better, the struggle for the betterment of the working class in the US and abroad.
I look forward to my time at St. Cyprian’s and to future blog posts and would love to get some feedback from any of my readers. See you soon (on the Web).
I’m a third generation, born and raised, San Franciscan who comes from a family of Irish and Guatemalan immigrants. Growing up, mostly, in the fog shrouded southwestern corner of the city called the Sunset District I was raised by my mother, a nurse, and father, a laborer for the San Francisco Parks & Recs Department.
Both of my parents, and both grandfathers, were members of unions and were involved in working class politics and organizing within their respective unions. I myself became a janitor in San Rafael for four years and then began working as a truck loader for UPS where I also became the union representative of my shift back in the Summer of 2007.
I have also been actively organizing in the Filipino American community (of which I grew up on the boarders of in southern San Francisco) for many years now with the US chapter of an alliance called Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) and have been going back and forth between the US and the Philippines for the past three years; organizing with unions, youth and students, and peasant organizations.
For my blog posts, which I will write a couple of times a month, I want to focus on the intersection of community and national politics with theology while also keeping an eye on class analysis and the way theological reflection can help shape, and better, the struggle for the betterment of the working class in the US and abroad.
I look forward to my time at St. Cyprian’s and to future blog posts and would love to get some feedback from any of my readers. See you soon (on the Web).
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Who is God?
Hello All,
‘Eat Share Pray’ is our Wednesday night series discussing our faith and where faith intersects with our lives today. This week I’ll share comments from our group about who is God, to us, today:
God is as close as the breath we take
God is strength
God is
God is love
God the liberator
God is beyond definition or description
God offers us the second chance, always
God the almighty, creator of heaven and earth
God is a noun and a verb
Who is God in your life?
Come join us next week, 19 October, when we will discuss the Sacraments followed by a screening of the film ‘Traces of the Trade’ 26 October. Wednesday, 6.30 pm. Come share a simple meal and share your faith with us.
Sunday, 30 October, the Bishop of California, the Right Reverend Marc H Andrus, will visit St Cyprian’s at 10.10am. Do come and celebrate the institution of our vicar, the Reverend Will Scott, baptisms, confirmations, and celebrate the ministry and life of our parish St Cyprian’s!
See you around at Turk and Lyon!
Peace
-eric
‘Eat Share Pray’ is our Wednesday night series discussing our faith and where faith intersects with our lives today. This week I’ll share comments from our group about who is God, to us, today:
God is as close as the breath we take
God is strength
God is
God is love
God the liberator
God is beyond definition or description
God offers us the second chance, always
God the almighty, creator of heaven and earth
God is a noun and a verb
Who is God in your life?
Come join us next week, 19 October, when we will discuss the Sacraments followed by a screening of the film ‘Traces of the Trade’ 26 October. Wednesday, 6.30 pm. Come share a simple meal and share your faith with us.
Sunday, 30 October, the Bishop of California, the Right Reverend Marc H Andrus, will visit St Cyprian’s at 10.10am. Do come and celebrate the institution of our vicar, the Reverend Will Scott, baptisms, confirmations, and celebrate the ministry and life of our parish St Cyprian’s!
See you around at Turk and Lyon!
Peace
-eric
Thursday, October 6, 2011
The Catechism & Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
Hello Friends,
Eat, Share, Pray is our weekly dinner and conversations about our faith. This past Wednesday we talked about the Outline of Faith, or Catechism.
What is the Catechism? It is the written instruction of our faith and what we believe, organized in a question and answer format. It provides the teachings of the church regarding of humanity, nature of the God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, what is scripture, etc. In the early church requiring up to two years of preparation prior to baptism. In our Anglican tradition, the catechism ‘is a point of departure for discussion’ of our belief and practice. The Catechism is found on pp 843 – 862 in the Book of Common Prayer and online at http://anglicansonline.org/basics/catechism.html .
Our dinnertime discussion circled around themes of trust, good and evil, hope, God and faith. We talked directly about how these words of instruction are relevant in our life today. In a world where violence is on our corners, where disparity of wealth grows and poverty abounds, where common decency seems in short supply, where is God? What can the Catechism teach us that is relevant anything today?
These are good questions; bad behaviour and evil existed in the world since Cain slew Abel. What are the answers? I suggest we ponder, and pray over what God means to each of us, over our call to action as Christian people and our response as the Christian community in our world. Our answers will vary, and will bring more questions. For myself I believe our Christian hope that harmony and peace will be in the world, I believe my faith in God feeds me like manna in the desert and I pray that we find our answers and strength by following in the ways of Jesus.
Eat, Share, Pray, our dinnertime conversations about faith continue this month:
Oct 12 Who is God is in my life?
Oct 19 Sacraments, let’s talk about them
Oct 26 ‘Traces of the Trade’ will be screened with discussion following.
I want to mention Rev Fred Shuttlesworth, pastor, civil rights leader, citizen, went home to Jesus this Wednesday past. Rev Shuttlesworth fought racial discrimination his whole life; he survived his house dynamited, was beaten senseless trying to integrate high schools, and in the facing the dogs and fire hoses of Birmingham he was in the front lines. Rev Shuttlesworth worked with Dr King and the Southern Christian Leadership conference challenging racism not only in Alabama but also in Cincinnati where he moved in . In remembering Rev Shuttlesworth I also recall his comments against the passage of LGBT equality laws in Cincinnati; that he didn’t equate gay rights with civil rights is personally troubling for me. How complex the human character, he had those views yet he worked with Bayard Rustin , a gay man, and others in founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and in the struggling for civil rights. As a seminarian I read about Shuttlesworth and Rustin, their Christian work for civil rights inspired me to preach about God and Social Justice in the same breath. I am a beneficiary of their work fifty plus years ago for which I say ‘Thank you.’ A complex, brave, and faith filled man; God rest your soul, Rev Shuttlesworth, may light perpetual shine upon you.
See you out and about,
-eric
Eat, Share, Pray is our weekly dinner and conversations about our faith. This past Wednesday we talked about the Outline of Faith, or Catechism.
What is the Catechism? It is the written instruction of our faith and what we believe, organized in a question and answer format. It provides the teachings of the church regarding of humanity, nature of the God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, what is scripture, etc. In the early church requiring up to two years of preparation prior to baptism. In our Anglican tradition, the catechism ‘is a point of departure for discussion’ of our belief and practice. The Catechism is found on pp 843 – 862 in the Book of Common Prayer and online at http://anglicansonline.org/basics/catechism.html .
Our dinnertime discussion circled around themes of trust, good and evil, hope, God and faith. We talked directly about how these words of instruction are relevant in our life today. In a world where violence is on our corners, where disparity of wealth grows and poverty abounds, where common decency seems in short supply, where is God? What can the Catechism teach us that is relevant anything today?
These are good questions; bad behaviour and evil existed in the world since Cain slew Abel. What are the answers? I suggest we ponder, and pray over what God means to each of us, over our call to action as Christian people and our response as the Christian community in our world. Our answers will vary, and will bring more questions. For myself I believe our Christian hope that harmony and peace will be in the world, I believe my faith in God feeds me like manna in the desert and I pray that we find our answers and strength by following in the ways of Jesus.
Eat, Share, Pray, our dinnertime conversations about faith continue this month:
Oct 12 Who is God is in my life?
Oct 19 Sacraments, let’s talk about them
Oct 26 ‘Traces of the Trade’ will be screened with discussion following.
I want to mention Rev Fred Shuttlesworth, pastor, civil rights leader, citizen, went home to Jesus this Wednesday past. Rev Shuttlesworth fought racial discrimination his whole life; he survived his house dynamited, was beaten senseless trying to integrate high schools, and in the facing the dogs and fire hoses of Birmingham he was in the front lines. Rev Shuttlesworth worked with Dr King and the Southern Christian Leadership conference challenging racism not only in Alabama but also in Cincinnati where he moved in . In remembering Rev Shuttlesworth I also recall his comments against the passage of LGBT equality laws in Cincinnati; that he didn’t equate gay rights with civil rights is personally troubling for me. How complex the human character, he had those views yet he worked with Bayard Rustin , a gay man, and others in founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and in the struggling for civil rights. As a seminarian I read about Shuttlesworth and Rustin, their Christian work for civil rights inspired me to preach about God and Social Justice in the same breath. I am a beneficiary of their work fifty plus years ago for which I say ‘Thank you.’ A complex, brave, and faith filled man; God rest your soul, Rev Shuttlesworth, may light perpetual shine upon you.
See you out and about,
-eric
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