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Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral is an Episcopal church in San Francisco. A house of prayer for all people, and a center for social justice, the arts and service.

Giving

UPDATED: Fire Relief Efforts – How You Can Help

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UPDATED Friday, August 28th

We continue to pray for those affected by fires across the state, many in our own backyards: 

Holy God, who in Jesus Christ knows what it is to be frightened and in pain, be with all those in the path of danger. Give them courage, endurance and hope, and bring them safely through this time of fire and pandemic. In the name of our companion Christ we pray. Amen. 

While relief efforts are complicated by the pandemic, there is still much that we can do to support our neighbors.  

First, evacuees need care bags.  

Through next Tuesday, September 1, the DioCal Disaster Response Team is collecting care bags for evacuees and donations for relief, coordinating the movement of care bags from church sites in San Francisco to relief areas in the Dioceses of Northern California and El Camino Real. If you are able to contribute care bags to the effort, please email the Rev. Anna Rossi for instructions on arranging delivery to a nearby church. Due to COVID-19, every delivery must be arranged in advance, and there are multiple sites throughout the diocese. 

Care bags should be sealed backpacks or other lightweight, portable bag with: 

  • Toiletries: a comb, shampoo/conditioner, soap, toothbrush/paste, deodorant, moisturizer, sunscreen, paper tissues, disposable razor, toilet tissue, sanitary supplies, diapers  
  • COVID-19 protection: gel hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, mask, disposable gloves  
  • First Aid items: Band-Aids, Tylenol, Aspirin
  • Food: protein bars, nuts, dried fruit, water, chocolate, gum, tea bags  
  • Clothing: underwear, socks, t-shirt, hat/cap  

Also consider: 

  • Pet food and supplies: cans of dog/cat food, small bags dog/cat kibble, cat litter  
  • Other items: Books for adults/children; coloring books/crayons/pens; playing cards; puzzles  
  • Gift cards: Safeway, Walgreens, CVS, etc. 

Second, support fire relief.  

To donate, visit gracecathedral.org/GiveToGrace and under fund, select “Fire Relief.” All donations will be shared among the dedicated fire relief funds in affected dioceses (Northern California, El Camino Real and Los Angeles).  

Third, take care of yourself.

Dust off your own emergency plans. Don’t aim for perfection, aim for what you can do this week. Just a little. And then make a date with yourself and your household to come back to those plans within the month. Don’t know where to begin? Ready.gov offers extensive, free resources; so does the Red Cross.

Stock up on healthy coping mechanisms. Join the Rev. Heather Erickson and Anna Rossi in Self-Care for Resilience: Breathwork and Holistic Wellness. The 45-minute experiential program uses basic breath work and wellness practices to use in times of crisis or heightened anxiety.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to love, refresh and serve our neighbors in distress.  

May the God of Hope fill us with compassion 
and strengthen us to be Christ’s hands 
for the healing of the world. 

The Rev. Anna E. Rossi is the Succentor at Grace Cathedral.

Back to School for Refugee Families

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Refugee families are often forced to leave everything behind when they flee their home countries. In the expensive Bay Area market, this means families with children are left struggling to provide their children with what they need for school. Help give them the new start they deserve through our School Supply Drive this August. The collection will be delivered to Jewish Family and Community Services East Bay, the agency partner in our Team Peg refugee family support effort. 

We are collecting school supplies on Sundays, August 12, 19 and 26 by the St. Francis statue near the entrance of the cathedral. We will hold a special Blessing of the Backpacks before sending off all the supplies on Sunday, August 26. Supplies can also be ordered online and shipped to Grace Cathedral, attn: Rev. Canon Nina Pickerrell.

Questions? Email our outreach team.

Supplies Needed

  • Backpacks
  • Pencils
  • Pens
  • Three-hole binder paper
  • Erasers
  • Rulers
  • Project/report binders
  • Calculators
  • Colored pencils
  • Tape
  • Small Paper clips
  • Black Sharpie pens
  • 3×5 note cards
  • Glue sticks

May Days at Bayview Mission

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“The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May.” – Edwin Way Teale

All things seem possible this May over at Bayview Mission! Our volunteers gathered on May 15, as we do every second Monday of each month, to serve our local families with infants and toddlers in addition to our neighborhood seniors.

First, a special shout-out and thank you to the donors of St Luke’s Episcopal Church and St Matthew’s Episcopal Day School for their assistance. We hosted forty-eight families with their infants and toddlers. (Six grandparents came with their grandchildren.) Our senior neighbors also came by to take part in the activities.

On special duty was Sundi from Healing Circles Massage offering chair massages to those most in need as a special treat. One of the recipients dedicates herself to caretaking for her senior mom. She stopped by for supplies but wanted to hurry back and attend to her mom’s needs. The Rev. Canon Nina Pickerrell insisted she take a small break to make sure she was also taking care of herself that day. After some gentle persuasion, she agreed to a chair massage and, for that small space of time, Sundi was able to caretake the caretaker.

Another story that day, related by the Rev. Canon Nina, articulates a sad story about a family in need. “I was called over by Luz, a volunteer, to speak with a woman with three children. Long story – short version – the mother is being deported on June 5. Her husband and three children can stay, although she has to leave. The family made the decision to have the three children go with their mother. This is heartbreaking. We loaded two suitcases with infant/toddler clothing, along with shoes, sandals, blankets, and wipes. The family will come by next Monday and we will pack a suitcase with diapers.”

At Bayview Mission, we witness and experience the highs and the lows of those in our community whom we care for and about. We strive, amidst both pain and joy, to offer our service and support, lifting each other up in the best of times, and holding each other close in the harder times.

By the Rev. Canon Nina Pickerrell & Tracee Zyla

To learn more about Bayview Mission and how to get involved, please visit gracecathedral.org/bayview.

Bayview Mission Shares the Spirit of Christmas

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Volunteers gathered in the morning light at Bayview Mission inside the garage-turned-production area, awaiting Santa’s arrival while packing grocery care bags and diapers for families with infants and toddlers. Soon, Santa sat ready and families lined up to have their photo. Some children gasped with joy and excitement, some felt a little scared of the big white beard, while others looked up in wonder at this visitor for Christmas named Santa Claus.

Life at Bayview Mission continues to be amazing. For example, a family came forward with numerous gifts and a check for their holiday meal. We are also working with one very special young family. Their son (whose name we will keep private) was being teased at school because he was wearing dirty clothes. Bayview Mission went to Target and purchased 4 pants, 3 shirts, underwear in addition to a laundry card, and then we bought his favorite snack: goldfish crackers. When I called his mother and asked that she bring a cart to Bayview Mission, she hesitated and answered, “Oh, I need to fix mine.”

I replied, “More good news: we have a new cart waiting for someone who could use one!”

All in all, we have built a beautiful relationship with this little family. Last year, the boy was taken from his mother and placed in foster care. It turns out that he was not eating well and his living situation was unbearable. Now, however, he has been reunited with his mom and dad, and they live just around the corner of Bayview Mission! We are making a difference! Our Grace Cathedral community’s generosity, along with our wider community at large, is having a visible, measurable, positive impact in our world.

This energetic, soft spoken boy is only 7 years old yet he has a vibrant spirit within. He loves art, especially origami paper. With his immediate needs for clothing, nightwear (sleepers), hats, jackets, and food being met, his sense of belonging and being accepted is blossoming. He came to Bayview Mission and played with the other children in the playground, a big smile across his face. He felt happy.

Then there was the Christmas Party for our Seniors at Bayview Mission.

Shhhh, it was a complete surprise! In advance of the holiday celebration, our seniors came by for warm coats, clothing, hand-knit hats, food, and household items. They were then asked for the names and ages of their grandchildren. An “elf” later brought, for Christmas, one age appropriate toy for each child when the seniors came in December. The grandparents wrapped the gift(s) and took them home to present to their grandchild/grandchildren. Fabulous!

Thank you to all who brought the true spirit of giving and the warmth of the holiday season to Bayview Mission. Know that you have made a difference and continue to do so each and every day that you share your spirit.

Photography by Tracee Zyla

Make Room for Refugee Schoolgirls!

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“Gracious God, in your loving heart, there is room for everyone—without exception,” our Dean Emeritus, The Very Rev. Dr. Alan Jones, reminded us when he created the Home Prayer last year.

This simple, eloquent invocation has become a challenge I hear in my mind daily as I walk along our city streets, prompting me to acknowledge the shared humanity of every individual I encounter. It also fills my thoughts when I turn on the news at night and witness, not just the decline of governmental civility, but yet another refugee crisis.

It’s complicated to make room for others, especially refugees, but it is possible. As the Cathedral’s representative to Interfaith Welcome: Bay Area Refugee Support, I’m working with members of 15 Bay Area congregations committed to extending a welcoming hand of support to refugees locally and around the world. Our activities range from information sessions that raise awareness and understanding across cultures, to a teddy bear drive for Syrian children in refugee camps, to assembling Welcome Kits for newly arrived refugee families.

Our latest collaboration, with Zion Lutheran Church, is a benefit concert featuring the highly acclaimed local pianist Sarah Cahill, to be held on Friday evening, November 10. A reception will follow.

All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Vision Project, a new initiative launched by the International Rescue Committee to empower refugee schoolgirls in Oakland to envision their future by introducing them to a panoply of professional possibilities. Thanks to the pilot Vision session, a group of refugee girls are now contemplating careers as a surgeon, photographer, architect, international lawyer, police officer, even a rock star! Who knows what aspirations will come out of the next session, which you can help support?

WHEN: Friday, November 10, 2017, at 7:30 pm, followed by a reception

WHERE: Zion Lutheran Church, 495 9th Ave. (at Anza), San Francisco

DONATION: Suggested is $15/person or $25/family (credit card, check, or cash)

RSVP: Reservations are not necessary to attend, but it’s helpful for us to RSVP via Facebook here or email Nancy Levine at levinesf@gmail.com

If you’ve been looking for a way to make room for refugees, please come join us on November 10!