Mark Your Calendar!

Come join us on May 18^th at 2:00p.m. for a return production of Voices, Voices of Economic Hardship from Generations Past and Present.  Lizann Basham at Front Porch Spirit wrote this amazing piece of reader’s theater in 2011 and it debuted that year.  Last year, she was gracious enough to allow Night Ministry to use the script for a fundraiser and supported the volunteers we had from our Open Cathedral congregation who performed it.  The show was well received and this year we’ll be performing it again as a thank you to the various congregations and organizations who so kindly provide the lunches we serve after Open Cathedral each week.  Once again, we’ll have parishioners from Open Cathedral as our performers.

In addition to the churches that support Open Cathedral, we’d like to invite you to join us.  Don’t miss your chance to hear  this amazing production.  We will take an offering at the end of the show, but there is no admission.    Come support our performers and allow yourself to be both moved and informed by this production.

St.Mark’s Lutheran has kindly donated the hall in their Urban Life Center at 1091 Franklin Street for the performance.   There is parking in the St. Mark’s parking lot at 1111 O’Farrell, with the entrance on Gough St.  A short reception will follow.  Please RSVP here so we know how many goodies to have.

What do we have to offer each other?

Desserts for the Hospitality Hour at St. Francis

Have you checked out the ‘Get Involved’ tab lately?  It’s right up there, two tabs over from the ‘Home’ tab where you’re reading.  That was easy to find, wasn’t it?  If you click on it you will find a list of opportunities to develop a heart for service, a list of volunteer positions available, and what kind of donations we’re looking for. 

I’m going to highlight a couple of service opportunities below because that is where we are most looking for help right now, but what I want to write about is the kind of different model SF CARES and our collaborators use. 

If you clicked over to the Get Involved tab, you saw that the first things on the list are the things we would like to offer you: a variety of worship experiences, opportunities to meditate, opportunities for self-reflection and learning and fun.  Everybody who serves with us and everyone we serve has something to teach and something to learn.  Everybody who serves and everyone who is served needs nourishment.  So many of our volunteers tell us they get more out of serving than the feel they are giving.  That may be so.  Either way a little extra to replenish one’s soul can only make it more true, can only leave one more ready to serve and be served.  So even if you aren’t ready or able to help with the specific needs below, come get you spirit fed at one or more of our programs soon.

Every Saturday:

• 9:30am-1:00, Hospitality Hour Preparation, (152 Church St) Food sorting and some prep work.  Come help us sort donated food and do some of the prep work for Sunday's meal. 

Every Wednesday

• 10a.m - 2p.m.Senior Program, (152 Church St), activities, lunch and hospitality for seniors are provided at St. Francis Lutheran Church.  We are looking for people to help serve the meal, to sit and visit with our guests, and to assist them as needed.  We can use kitchen help from 10a.m. until 1p.m.and folks to help clean up from 1p.m. until 2p.m. 

You can see the details of these projects here.  http://sfcares.blogspot.com/2013/02/our-newest-project.html

Every Thursday

• 5:30p.m. - 6:30p.m. Bring Food for 70 to Open Cathedral Mission (Mission and 16th St. BART station).  This can be a very simple meal - a sandwich and drink to take away is fine.

Every Night:  

• Crisis Line Counselors, at Night Ministry.  Our next Inquirers Evening is June 14^th at 6p.m.  There is more about what’s involved in this older post.  Only the training dates are out of date, everything else is the same. http://sfcares.blogspot.com/2011/08/font-definitions-font-face-font-family.html

You can contact us at 415-673-3572 ext. 105 or sfcares@welcomeministry.org to learn more about any of our opportunities.  And come back regularly and click the Get Involved tab to see what’s available to you as well as for you to do.

It’s Time for Night Ministry’s Spring Concert!

It’s time for one of the best events of the year! All of Night Ministry’s fund raisers rock, but your loyal Minster of Volunteers looks forward to the Spring Concert the most.  It often is the best show I go to all year and I go to some really good shows.  Last year we had a wonderful assortment of performers that had the audience captivated. Gryphons Wild blessed us with an assortment of medieval tunes including one about a miracle involving Mother Mary and a lost pork chop.  Where else are you going to find that?  There were plenty of songs to laugh at but Joey McGuire also had the whole crowd in tears with one of his songs.  And there’s the campaign and chocolate intermission of course. 

Get your tickets now for this year’s concert so you won’t miss out on all the great acts we have this year.  As usual we are blessed with the talents of many fine performers you won’t want to miss.

The music is priceless, and the intermission alone is worth the ticket price of $20 ($10 for seniors and students).  You can get them at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/343347

Tickets will also be available for $25 at the door.

Don’t miss this wonderful event!

Alternative Spring Break

Open Cathedral

It’s January and I know some of you working out there in colleges are already planning Alternative Spring Break for your group.  If you come to San Francisco, SF CARES can help you plan the whole week.  We can offer experiences your group won’t find with larger groups like St. Anthony’s and Glide, though visiting them is useful as well.  Would you like your group to be able to come along with the San Francisco Night Ministry and learn what is involved in doing night time street ministry?  We can offer you opportunities to serve at smaller venues like the Friendship Banquet and the Community Dinner where your group can see what it takes to feed a large group a sit down meal and have a chance to visit with our guests.  We have the option of an visiting OpenCathedral, an open air worship service as well.  Would your group enjoy urban gardening at a farm where all of the produce is given away?  What can your group learn on a day long Street Retreat with the Faithful Fools?

Friendship Banquet

Gardening in the city

If these opportunities sound good to you, if you’d like to give your group a broader experience than the usual alternative spring break and expose them to some truly innovative programs, give us a call at 415-673-3572 or drop us a line at sfcares@saintpaulus.org and we’ll get you all set up.  And there will even be time left in your week to visit some of the bigger programs as well.