The Work of Christmas

This blog post takes its title from the name of one of my favorite poems, The Work of Christmas, by Dr. Howard Thurman.

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

This has been a slow month for blog posts, but the SF CARES collaborators have been as busy as ever providing pastoral care, soul growth opportunities such as worship, Bible study, writing groups, meditation and street retreats; growing food; feeding people, and giving away all the hundreds of pairs of socks Crystal Springs Sangha, Presbyterian Church in Chinatown, and St. John’s United Church of Christ collected for us in December. 

We were blessed with an abundance of volunteers, as we are each year during the holidays.  Now we’re moving into the time of year when we usually have a bit of a lull. Not a lull of need as those we serve still need all that we have to offer, but a lull of volunteers.  Our regulars like the Congregational Church of San Mateo, the Congregational Church of Belmont, Old First Presbyterian and Saint Paulus Lutheran are all already scheduled for their usual shifts, but we need you to help us continue the work of Christmas.  We would welcome your help as:

• volunteers to serve at the Community Dinner any second or fourth Saturday from 5:00 - 7:00 from January 26^th onward
• hosts for the Friendship Banquet Tuesdays beginning on January 15^th  
• a group to provide simple lunches for 100 people for Open Cathedral Civic Center January 13^th or February 10^th or 17^th
• a group to bring simple food for Open Cathedral Mission for 60 on any Thursday evening except the fourth Thursdays of the month
• folks to come weed and plant and other gardening tasks at the Free Farm any Wednesday or Saturday anytime between 10:00 - 2:00 from January 12^th onward
• Crises Line Counselors for the Night Ministry willing to serve one night a month from 9:45p.m. until 2:15a.m.

You can click on the highlighted text above (or just scroll down in this blog) to get a more full description of any of these opportunities.  We hear from our volunteers all the time that they get more than they give as they serve with us and we are working on even more ways to nourish our volunteers to do all the wonderful things they do in the new year.  So come out to get your soul fed and to help us continue Christ’s work in the world.  You can contact us at sfcares@saintpaulus.org or 415-673-3572.

Volunteers Needed For Foot Washing At Project Homeless Connect Next Week.

This time it is way better.  This time we have nearly a week to find people to serve washing feet at Project Homeless Connect   Last time when the group that was signed up to do it cancelled, we only had a day to find people.  I worked the afternoon shift and it was actually a lot of fun, even though it was hard work.  This time is better, this time we have time to find three or four people to cover each shift instead of only two, like we had last time.

This service is vital to the folks who come to Project Homeless Connect and there is very high demand for it.  It gets people ready to see the podiatrist, as well as starting them back out into the world with clean feet - a real luxury for those who live outside.  Healthy feet are vitally important to people who have to walk all day, every day, too.


Plus, there's the whole emulating Jesus thing. 

We'll have all the equipment ready for you, and you get to get trained by Angela Guida, the director of Project Homeless Connect, herself.

(Angela is also the newest member of SF CARES Board.  Help us look good for her, people.)

So come to do some good, come to feel good or come to make us look good, but come.

We need three or four people to cover each of two shifts, one from 9:45 to 12:40 and one from 12:30 to 4:00 on Wednesday, December 12th.  If you can help, please email Angela  directly at angela.guida@sfdpg.org.