18.06.2026
Saint Francis
ST. FRANCIS LUTHERAN CHURCH
https://www.facebook.com/stfrancissf
St. Francis Lutheran Church’s Impromptu Choir meets today 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM and Sunday, June 28, 2026, for two important rehearsals. We will be singing special music on Sunday, 28 June, 2026 during our 11:00 AM worship service (Pride Sunday).
After Pride Sunday, the choir will be more or less on a break during the summer months, returning in mid-August. Stay tuned for updates, or feel free to send a message to Director of Music, Ray Capiral: musicdir@sflcsf.org
Good in the kitchen? The Senior Lunch program is looking for an additional Lead Chef on Wednesdays to help prepare meals for seniors. If you enjoy cooking and would like to make a difference in our community, we'd love to hear from you. Please see Alice Ann if you are interested or know someone who may be a good fit.
Pride Weekend, June 27 and 28 St. Francis will have a booth at San Francisco Pride this year and we would love your help! We are looking for volunteers to join us at the booth on Saturday, June 27th and Sunday, June 28th. If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to Angela at outreachcoord@sflcsf.org with your name and availability. Let us know which day or days you are available, and we will be in touch with details on location, timing, and what to expect.
March with St. Francis in the Pride Parade, Sunday, June 28
St. Francis Lutheran Church will march in the 56th San Francisco Pride Parade on Sunday, June 28, as part of the United in Spirit contingent. We invite all members and friends to join us as we celebrate God's love for all people. Participants are asked to wear a white top and khaki bottoms; rainbow sashes will be provided. If you would like to march with us, please contact William, Vanessa, or Paul. Additional details regarding lineup time and location will be shared with participants as they become available.
Summer Adult Study: Honoring Our Neighbor’s Faith | Sundays, July 5 – August 30 at 9:30 AM
Join us this summer for a thoughtful and engaging adult study series as we explore different faith traditions and how they understand God, worship, community, and the spiritual life. Together we will practice respectful conversation, curiosity, and deeper understanding of our neighbors and ourselves. Some of the traditions we may explore this summer include:
July 5 — Roman Catholic
July 12 — Lutheran
July 19 —Baptist
July 26 — Pentecostal
August 2 — Judaism
August 9 — Islam
August 16 — Buddhism
August 23 — Jehovah's Witness
August 30 — Latter-Day-Saints (Mormon)
Come for one session or join us for the entire journey — all are welcome. For those interested in membership at St. Francis, attendance at the first five sessions is encouraged. For more information, please contact Pr. Christian (pastor@sflcsf.org ).
Membership Are you interested in becoming a member of St. Francis? Voting Members are baptized and confirmed adult (or youth) members. They can have their membership transferred from another congregation, or complete a New Member class. Associate Members hold membership in another congregation, but wish to have a more permanent relationship with St. Francis. For more information, please contact Pr. Christian at pastor@sflcsf.org.
Pr. Christian is available for prayer, spiritual care and conversation The best way to contact him is by email (pastor@sflcsf.org) or by calling the church office at (415) 621-2635. In an urgent situation or emergency, please call his cell phone at (510) 717-3221.
Bishop Jeff's Synod Assembly 2026 Gratitude Letter
Beloved friends on the journey! They still frustrate me, glitches, I mean.
Saturday's online business session began with a little glitch. Despite having the correct settings in place, Zoom unexpectedly imposed a room capacity limit just as participants were joining the meeting. But thanks to the quick work of the Bishop's Team and our partners at Big Dog Sound, we resolved it in short order and carried on.
My first response was mild exasperation. Best laid plans! My second was gratitude. Increasingly, I find that these small disruptions offer opportunities to practice patience, flexibility, and trust in one another. Perhaps even minor moments of disorder can teach us something about what matters most.
That insight echoes a reflection by Mark Yaconelli that I shared at the beginning of the meeting. He writes that disorder can be a "necessary state for transformation." Order. Disorder. Reorder. Reflecting on the disruptions of recent years, he suggests that such moments uncover our deepest longings: for one another, for healing, for rest, for reconciliation, and for a life centered on what matters most.
In many ways, this year's Synod Assembly has invited us into that same rhythm. We gathered not in a single room but across three regional gatherings and an online business session. The format was different. It required adaptation. It occasionally revealed a few glitches. Yet throughout it all, I witnessed people choosing connection over frustration, curiosity over complaint, and patience over anxiety.
More often these days, things do not unfold exactly as we expect them to. Perhaps part of our calling as disciples is learning to remain present to one another anyway, trusting that God continues to work in both the order and the disorder, leading us toward something new.
Perhaps this is one reason St. Paul encourages us to "hold fast to what is good." In a world that often feels marked by disruption, anxiety, and division, we are invited to pay attention not only to what is broken, but also to what is beautiful, hopeful, and life-giving.
And over the past month, across worship, workshops, conversations, elections, resolutions, and shared meals, I saw abundant evidence of that good at work among us.
We elected a new Synod Vice President, Sal Espino (Resurrection, Granite Bay), and celebrated the outstanding leadership of outgoing VP Simon Wong (Hope Lutheran, El Sobrante). We also elected new Synod Council members, Beth Williamson (Davis Lutheran) and Pastor Gabi Schroeder (Faith Lutheran, Meadow Vista). I am grateful for all who offer their gifts in service to this church.
We introduced a new framework for our shared ministry, On the Way of Jesus, Together, grounded in four commitments: inviting interdependence, cultivating discipleship, accompanying leaders, and fostering belonging. We also unveiled a new logo to help tell that story visually and to remind us that our work is not merely organizational, but deeply rooted in Jesus Christ.
We were challenged and inspired by keynote presentations from PLTS Rector Colleen Windham-Hughes, Brother Steve Jerbi, and Pastor Khader Khalilia. We heard from leaders throughout our synod in well-attended workshops, learned from one another's experiences, and enjoyed the generous hospitality of three congregations and conferences.
We heard a compelling call from Pastor Daniel Solberg (St. Paulus, San Francisco) to resist tyranny and authoritarianism. We watched presentations from Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, the ELCA's SUMUD project in solidarity with our Palestinian siblings, and our Synod Mission Table. Together these voices reminded us that our ministry is always connected to the wider church and the wider world.
Our assembly also attended to the practical work of stewardship and leadership. We passed resolutions on compensation for rostered leaders and organizing for climate change. We heard from Treasurer Scott Taylor (St. Mark, SF) about the clean audit of last year's financials and preparations for the September budget assembly, and from Jim Kowalski (St. Francis, SF) about the transformational work of the Synod's Generosity Team. We also welcomed Dr. Robert Pitts (University Chapel, Berkeley) and Jamie Stark (St. Mary & St. Martha, SF) as new members of our Disaster Response Team.
One particularly hopeful moment came through our support of Tent of Nations. Together we raised more than $10,000 to plant over 200 trees for our friends at the family-owned farm in the West Bank. If you would like to join in, donate here. Their witness continues to inspire me: "We refuse to be enemies. We refuse to be victims. We refuse to hate. We act because of our faith."
Finally, we invited each of you to consider joining one of our synod teams or working groups, including Generosity, Finance, Investment, Disaster Response, and Climate Change. The work before us belongs to all of us.
We also announced upcoming opportunities to gather again. The Bishop's Convocation will take place November 9–11, 2026, at Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg with Professor Karoline Lewis. Next year's Synod Assembly will be held May 14–16, 2027, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Sacramento. I hope you will make plans to join us.
I am grateful that we were able to gather together in different ways over the past month. Thank you for your commitment to our collaboration together. Thank you for the multitude of ways you invite interdependence, cultivate discipleship, accompany leaders, and foster belonging.
As we concluded our gatherings, I found myself thinking about a poem that Pastor Tim Brown shared this weekend at the Grand Canyon Synod Assembly. It captures something of what many of us are feeling as we seek to "hold fast to what is good" amid the complexity of this moment.
The World is Both Burning and Blooming
You get the bad news and the sunrise in the same day.
You cry over the headlines,
then you laugh at a baby wearing a hat shaped like a bear.
This is the dual citizenship of being alive.
Rage and reverence. Grief and grace.
You are allowed to feel both.
You are allowed to scream, and still notice how good the soup is.
You don't have to choose.
Let it all in.
Thank you again for your presence, partnership, faithfulness, and hope. Thank you for the many ways you continue to hold fast to what is good, and to one another.
Peace,
+ Jeff
The Rev. Jeff R. Johnson
Bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
