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St. Francis Times

February 11, 2007
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Presiding Minister    Pr. Paul Brenner
Preacher                  Pr. Robert Goldstein
Assisting Minister     Rachel Hoobing
Healing Minister       Pr. Robert Goldstein
Sacristan                  Samuel Aller
Crucifer                   Eric Shifler
Lector                     Rachel Markel
Ushers                    Timur Muhrlin & Lawrence Mortensen
Coffee Hour Host    Congregation Council
Counters                 Jim Kowalski & Sarah Wells
Altar Flowers          are given to the glory of God from Nancy Loewe in memory of her mother Elsie Moon.

First Reading:      Jeremiah 17:5-10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Holy Gospel:        Luke 6:17-26
Psalmody:            Psalm 1

WE REMEMBER IN PRAYER:

• Robert and John Goldstein, as they remember the full life of their mother, Vera Goldstein who passed recently;
• Bill Hunter;
• Parker Nolen, at home;
• Ollie Payne;
• John Duffy;
• Rick Anderson;
• Mary, cousin of Michael Petrelis;
• Dorothy Smith, of the childcare center, recovery from major surgery;
• David Belcher, son of Fr. George Belcher, hospitalized in Calgary;
• Chris Wogaman and family, on the news that the grandmother of Chris, Doris has inoperable cancer;
• Ed Houck, uncle of Sarah Wells, who has terminal cancer and is not expected to be on this earth much longer;
• Pastor Bradley Schmeling and St. John's; Lutheran Church, Atlanta, Georgia, as they consider the next steps following the verdict of Pastor Schmeling's verdict.

Those serving in the world:

• The Rev. Megan Rohrer, Missionary to the Homeless of SF through The Welcome Ministry;
• The Rev. Pieter Oberholzer and his partner, Fanie Zondagh, and the staff at Inclusive and Affirming Ministries (IAM) in South Africa, serving LGBT people and allies;
• Catherine Coon and the Children of Hope Project in Uganda.

ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING TODAY

The Annual Meeting for 2007 will be held today, following worship service in the Parish Hall. The Council will host an expanded coffee hour preceding the opening of the meeting. A $4 donation is suggested and requested.

All voting members are asked to attend so that a quorum can conduct the business of the congregation which includes adopting the annual budget, election of the Congregation Council and committees, and to renew the term call to Pieter Oberholzer as Missionary at Large for Inclusive and Affirming Ministries in South Africa.

NEW MEMBERS WELCOMED TODAY

We welcome new members today during the worship service. We are pleased have Chung Bae, Gilbert Engelman, Michael Petrelis, and Benjamin Sloan with us.

Here is a short bio of each:

Chung Bae is a classically-trained pianist and educator. Originally from South Korea, he studied piano performance at the University of Texas in Austin, where he was also Music Minister for a Baptist church for ten years. His interests include art, voice, Asian cuisine, child adoption, and decorating. Chung is looking for a career change and studying options in the bay area.

Gilbert Engelman was born July 17, 1936 in Rochester, PA to Jean and Gilbert Engelman. He was confirmed at Grace Lutheran Church in Rochester. In 1956, a good friend was murdered. Gilbert became a Catholic in 1957 to find out why his friend, also a Catholic was murdered. He remained a Catholic for 45 years, but was never satisfied with this pastoral choice. In 2002, Gilbert’s mother died and in the course of arranging her memorial service in Rochester at Grace Lutheran. with Pastor Gregory Clagg, decided to become a Lutheran again, and has been satisfied in the Lutheran tradition ever since.

Michael Petrelis was raised in West Caldwell, NJ, by a single working Italian-American mother. In the second grade, Michael organized his first political action at grammar school when the principal provided only mats for which the could eat their lunches in the gym. A one-day walk-out led the school to purchase tables. Michael’s political activist career has led him to Japan to advocate for murdered US sailor Allen Schindler, and organize on behalf of gays in Iran and around the globe. After decades of trying, he finally was quoted on the front-page of the New York Times on January 31, 2007, which can be read at www.nytimes.com (search for Petrelis). Michael is partnered to Mike Merrigan, who keeps him (almost) sane in a crazy world.

Ben Sloan was born in Colorado, raised Methodist in Alaska, and educated in Illinois and Texas. His work in the energy business brought him and Chung to the Bay Area for the first time from 2001 to 2003. Their Market Street apartment around the corner from St. Francis led to their discovery of the wonderful church there. Ben is interested in music, travel, performance art, dodgy clubs and dogs.

THANKS TO ST. FRANCIS

Thank you for the lovely flowers for the funeral, the cards, calls and emails expressing your love and sorrow at this difficult time. Your thoughts and actions were really helpful for us all. Our mother rests in the peace of God. Pastor Robert

IMAGERY

A Study Group is being formed to develop a proposal of how to create a more inclusive visual environment in our Worship Space. Our present imagery is heavily masculine, and we need to include the feminine. Further, the imagery is European, and we have members of many cultures, and also need to examine multi-cultural images as well. If you are interested, please contact Paul Brenner either at prbrenner1102@yahoo.com, or by calling 415-420-0692.

MUSIC AT ST. FRANCIS

CHORAL FAVORITES

The Choir of St. Francis Church under the direction of Dr. David Schofield, performs choral favorites: great anthems and motets spanning 500 years.
Saturday, February 24th at 8 PM - Free Admission

NEW WAY TO CONTRIBUTE

St. Francis can now accept credit card payments through the Simply Giving program for your contributions to Mission & Ministry, Capital Campaign, Senior Center, St. Vincent DePaul, Music Program, and Youth & Family.

We will be able to process MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express. You can have these contributions deducted automatically. There is a processing fee associated with using a credit card.

If you have any questions, or would like to sign up for Simply Giving, please contact Dale Leininger, Treasurer at 415-621-2635, extension 14, or by email at TreasurerSFLC@sbcglobal.net.

ELCA TO REMOVE PASTOR SCHMELING, BUT...

In a decision made public today, the ELCA hearing committee in the disciplinary action against Pastor Bradley Schmeling voted to remove him from the clergy roster effective August 15, 2007.

This comes as no surprise to us at St. Francis. But what is a surprise is that the same committee, although legally bound by the laws currently in force by the ELCA that prohibit practicing homosexual clergy, also overwhelmingly affirmed the ministry of Pastor Schmeling and challenged the validity of the policy precluding pastors in same-gender relationships saying it is "at least bad policy, and very well may violate the constitution and bylaws of this church." The hearing committee called for the removal of the policy, giving two pathways to do so: through the judicial process of the committee on appeals, or through the legislative process of the churchwide assembly. Consequently, the hearing committee delayed the effective date of a decision to remove Pastor Schmeling until after the next ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

Emily Eastwood, Executive Director of Lutherans Concerned/North America, said "This decision is courageous and unprecedented in the history of the ELCA. For an official judicial body of the church to call for removal of the discriminatory policy marks a tremendous shift in the ongoing struggle for equality. While seven of the committee members felt that they did not have the authority to set new policy, the group was nearly unanimous in calling for swift and complete removal of the old."

As a result of this decision, two tracks of action will proceed immediately. Pastor Schmeling has 30 days to decide to submit an appeal. Within 24 hours LC/NA and its collaborative partners under the banner of goodsoil.org will release the legislative package requested by the hearing committee in its decision. LC/NA calls on its members and RIC churches to answer the call of the hearing committee and bring the recommended motions to their conference and synodical assemblies. Organizing for the ELCA Churchwide Convention, August 6-12, 2007 at Navy Pier in Chicago, is already underway.

Pertinent sections from the ELCA Disciplinary Hearing Committee Report follow:

Seven members of this committee have concluded that they are compelled to follow Definitions and Guidelines. The stipulated facts leave them no choice but to determine the Rev. Bradley E. Schmeling is a practicing homosexual person within Definitions and Guidelines section b.4) and is therefore precluded from the ordained ministry of this church.

The committee is nearly unanimous in its concern that Definitions and Guidelines Discipline and Vision and Expectations-Ordained Ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are at least bad policy, and may very well violate the constitution and bylaws of this church. .... this discipline hearing committee respectfully makes the following suggestions to the assemblies of the synods of this church, and to the Churchwide Assembly itself:

First, this discipline hearing committee respectfully suggests that the synod assemblies memorialize the Churchwide Assembly, and the Churchwide Assembly act, to request that the Committee on Appeals and the Church Council, pursuant to the authority granted to them by provisions 20.71.11 and 20.71.12 of this church’s bylaws, reconsider and revise Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline to remove the language that specifically precludes practicing homosexuals from service as ordained ministers of this church.

Second, this discipline hearing committee respectfully suggests that the synod assemblies memorialize the Churchwide Assembly, and the Churchwide Assembly act, to request that the appropriate churchwide unit, the Conference of Bishops and the Church Council, pursuant to the authority granted to them by provision 7.31.13 of this church’s bylaws, reconsider and revise Vision and Expectations to remove the specific prohibition against homosexual sexual relationships.

Third, this disciplinary hearing committee respectfully suggests that the synod assemblies memorialize the Churchwide Assembly, and the Churchwide Assembly act, to request that the appropriate churchwide unit, the Conference of Bishops and the Church Council, pursuant to the authority granted to them by provision 7.31.15 of this church’s bylaws, reconsider and revise the policy on reinstatement to the rosters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to permit persons who have resigned or have been removed from the rosters of this church solely because they have entered into a loving, lifelong partnership with another person of the same sex that is mutual, chaste, and faithful, to apply for reinstatement immediately, as an exception to the usual requirement of a minimum of five consecutive years without call that must elapse before an application for reinstatement may be considered.

It is the decision of this discipline hearing committee that the Rev. Bradley E. Schmeling be removed from the clergy roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, effective August 15, 2007. Done and ordered this 7th day of February, 2007.

SUNDAY CLASS

We are reading Diana Bass' Christianity For the Rest of Us, a real alternative to the religious right and a model with which to test St. Francis' vision.

PR. MEGAN ROHRER'S COMMISSIONING SUNDAY FEBRUARY 25

St. Francis will formally commission Pr. Megan Rohrer as Missionary to the Homeless of San Francisco through the Welcome Ministry on Sunday, February 25th during the 11 AM worship service. Come to this celebration.

"MY LIFE, MY PLAN"

Are you living your life by "default" or by "design"? Do you have your own plan for your life or are you living according to someone else’s criteria? Give your life more intentionality. "My Life, My Plan" begins with hopes, dreams and goals. It is a program that will help you to dig deeper into what you value and begin to make choices from that place. Join us Saturday, Feb. 24 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm at the LGBT Community Center at 1800 Market St for this important workshop Call Thrivent Financial at (415) 865-5515 to reserve a place or for further information.

RIC VESPER SERVICE

The SF Bay Area Chapter of Lutherans Concerned invites you to a Lenten Vesper Service at the recently restored St. Mark’s Lutheran Church at 1111 O’Farrell Street in San Francisco on February 28, 2007.

The half hour service will begin at 7:00pm. Preceding the service, join us for a simple Soup Supper at 6:00pm. This RIC fellowship opportunity provides a unique worship experience in St. Mark’s sanctuary that now looks much as it did in 1894 and you’ll hear the new Taylor & Boody Opus 37 tracker organ.

Child care will be provided for the 7:00pm worship service. For directions to St. Mark’s visit www.stmarks-sf.org. Please RSVP to your church office if you plan to dine with us and/or need child care.

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Lectionary For Next Week Transfiguration