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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.

Spiritual Life

Fall 2020 Small Group Registration

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We have extended the registration window for two of our Fall 2020 Small Group offerings and invite you to join us for our next round of small groups. You may sign up using the registration form located below the descriptions. 

Good Grief – A Bible Study of Lament 

Led by the Rev. Jude Harmon 

Tuesdays, October 6 – October 27, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m., culminating in a special Vine Online Service of Remembrance 

In this small group, we will explore Scripture through the lens of grief, loss and lament. We’ll look at some of our most cherished Lectionary readings with fresh eyes, opening up new possibilities for finding God in the Valley of the Shadow. While this is not a therapeutic offering, we will make space for sharing and processing grief together in a safe space. Occasional “homework” may be assigned in the form of reading or journaling. 

Psalms of Mourning, Comfort and Renewal  

Led by the Rev. Anna Rossi and Tandy Solomon | Wednesdays, October 7 – October 28, 11 a.m. 

Over our 4 meetings, we’ll read just a handful of psalms each week, contemplatively and in multiple translations, and use them as tools for deep listening and discernment together. Everyone is encouraged to read through the week, but each session is structured so that everyone can participate meaningfully, even if “life happens” during the week. Please plan to attend all sessions and expect/extend grace as unavoidable or unexpected things arise. Immersive, contemplative reading of 18 psalms (4, 16, 23, 27, 30, 31, 42, 46, 90, 91, 116, 118:14-29, 121, 130, 137, 138, 139:1-17; 22-23, 142). We will read psalms and use multiple translations and interpretations (St. Helena Psalter, Jewish Publication Society, and Nan Merrill’s Psalms for Praying) to engage in deep sharing and listening practices to mine these ancient prayers for signs of God’s presence today. 

New Online Offering: Small Groups @ Grace

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Small Groups @ Grace is an invitation to deepen our faith and strengthen our bonds of fellowship. Small groups, consisting of no more than 10 people, will meet weekly for 8 weeks. Groups will be facilitated by cathedral clergy and lay leaders. Although we will base our discussions on excerpts from the Acts of the Apostles, small groups are not Bible studies in the traditional sense. Rather, they are an opportunity to share our stories, pray with and for one another, and strengthen both our own spiritual lives and our broader cathedral community.

Registration is now full for small groups. If you would like to participate in the future, please add your name here and you will be contacted with the option to register for a future round of small groups.

“Facing our False Sense of Certainty” – A Reflection by Dean Emeritus Alan Jones

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“The Coronavirus has uncovered our false sense of certainty,” says Dean Emeritus Alan W. Jones in this #GraceAtHome reflection. As we head into the seventh week of sheltering-in-place here in San Francisco, Alan shares what he is noticing and wondering.

He says, “It has been said that we are WEIRD. That is, we are Western Educated Industrialized Rich and Democratic. Or, we used to be until this virus showed up. Our confidence in our way of life and who we are has been undermined.” But also, ““One thing the pandemic affords is our recovery of the strangeness of life, the gift of life, the sheer amazing fact that we’re here at all…to see things afresh.” And he asks, “[How do we] have a joyful and generous vision of life even in these times when mortality and fragility demand our attention. How are we going to rejoice?”

What are you noticing and wondering in this time?

Head over to our Facebook page to find more reflections from Grace Cathedral staff and clergy as we seek to live faithfully with Covid-19.

 

From the Archives: Beyoncé Mass

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Even during this time of great challenge, love, peace, hope and the arts live on at Grace. We’re sharing beautiful moments from our archives to remind us of the strength and joy in our community.

On April 25, 2018, almost a thousand people from the Grace and San Francisco communities came together at the first ever Beyoncé Mass – a worship service that uses the music of Beyoncé to foster an empowering conversation about the struggles of Black women and other marginalized groups.

We sang, we danced, we celebrated each other, our differences, our struggles and our community. We heard a message of resistance, empowerment and hope from Rev. Yolanda Norton and learned what it means to be a survivor of injustice.

Two years later, Beyoncé Mass is still going strong. The service has spread its message of hope across the country and around the world, traveling to New York City and even Lisbon, Portugal. Earlier this year, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. hosted a service and Spelman College in Georgia kicked off its celebration of Women’s Herstory Month with a Beyoncé Mass.

Right here at Grace, the legacy of Beyoncé Mass lives on. We’ve continued to reimagine church with courage joy and wonder – innovating and creating uplifting services at The Vine, including our beloved Sister Act Sing-along Pride Masses held these past two Junes. These days, you can join us online for live streamed Thursday Evensongs and Sunday morning services.

You can watch videos and see pictures from the 2018 Beyoncé Mass below.

With the cathedral closed and San Francisco focused on community health, we have a unique opportunity to experience community, faith and one another in new ways. We invite you to stay connected with Grace through our online events, blog and social media.

Listen to a portion of Rev. Norton’s sermon

See photos from Beyoncé Mass

 

A Prayer for When We Miss the Sacraments

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We believe God shows up with outward, physical signs, not just spiritual “ether,” so church can be totally disorienting without the gathering, and without the symbols and mysteries of our tradition. Here’s how the Rev. Anna Rossi is praying about sacraments and absence:

O Christ, in the this time without water,
make us glisten with the baptism of rebirth;
without Bread, satisfy us with spiritual food;
without Wine, let us taste your sweet presence.
Nourish us in this Lenten desert
until at last we feast in the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Amen.

By the Rev. Anna Rossi, Succentor