This past Wednesday I prepared a table, with a red checkered tablecloth, under the magnolia tree across from the parish hall, for a special lunch with Jeannie Cobb. Jeannie and I have had many a meal together these past years. We have come to love and respect each other greatly. This Sunday, August 23, Jeannie will be our music director for the last time. Like everything she has done there will be excellence and love experienced by us all. Her work with the choir and the music chosen for this Sunday are a message that God and singing are among her greatest gifts.

We cannot be in person in a packed church to give her a standing ovation as the last chords are sung but we can bless her with thank you notes and gather for a car parade at 1pm this Sunday. (Line up at the top of Via Rosa and start down at 1pm. Jeannie and Clayton will be near the fountain in the bottom parking lot.)

When Jeannie and I finished our long, leisurely lunch and I heard about future ideas and feelings of moving on it was time to clean up. At the sink in the parish kitchen I turned and with tears in my eyes said how much I was going to miss her. And yet I am so happy for her and Clayton and the rightness of this moment. Every moment is packed with the presence and love of God holding us and moving with us, knowing and blessing our feelings and thoughts with a dynamic grace. Yes, God’s grace is not static. It is bigger than our thoughts and feelings, always inviting us to live more life and eventually into the fullness of eternal life.  So let us be as faithful and alive as Jeannie has been with how she has been living her one precious life!

Speaking of life, receive the life of Jesus, the Body of Christ, after the 10 am service…see details below!

With love and care ( after a restful and special vacation),

310-995-6519

310-375 4617 x223.

You are invited to receive the Body of Christ on Sundays in our St Francis Garden in a reserved spot for Holy Communion under Special Circumstances at 11, 11:15, 11:30, 11:45. Social distancing markers are in place and we ask you wear a mask. The wafer is in a paper cup on a tray, distanced from everyone.

To receive this Sunday - August 23, Please reserve a spot with Paula+ by email or text (310-995-6519).

Morning prayer twice-weekly, led by Paula+, and Compline three times per week, led by Jude+ and a team of lay leaders. Each service includes the traditional service, plus words from the leader, and explanations of the readings. They are prayerful and quiet, a far cry from the turmoil of the world, and medicine to help us heal and be comforted and inspired.

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Livestreams are also saved to our Facebook page, so you can watch again at any time if you miss one. Plus our sermons are also available as separate audio recordings here.

Zoom groups -

Zoom meetings -

This fall, we will make our way through ISAIAH, the first of the prophetic books in the Hebrew Bible. Scholars divide ISAIAH into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ISAIAH and have determined that parts were written at different times, probably by different authors and then edited and added to for two centuries, becoming an extraordinarily important book for Jews and Christians. All agree that 1st ISAIAH, chapters 1-39 are a complete work, and we will focus on those chapters this Fall.

Please stay tuned for more information. ISAIAH needs to be heard, not just read, so I am working on that!!

Mark your calendars!! Tuesday Nights 7:00-8:30pm on the following dates:

   September 1, 8, 29

   October 6, 20

   November 3, 17

   December 1, 15

Jude+

310-701-5966

The Outreach ministry at St. Francis, shepherded by Gayle Taylor, is hard at work even under these pandemic circumstances.

The major effort at the moment is the St. Francis commitment, on the third Saturday every other month (the ‘odd’ months) to provide food for those in need who gather at St. Luke’s in Long Beach, a program that has been in operation for over 20 years. Instead of a hot breakfast, a team of 6 parishioners prepare 120 bag lunches, 2 dozen each, in their homes, and then Gayle picks them up takes them to St. Luke’s, where they are safely distributed to grateful recipients.

A thank you and shout out to those who are making the bag lunches: Julie and Tim Coleman, Susan Egan, Michelle Petersen, Alyce Metzroth, Susie Zimerman, and Joyce Alley.

Needed: 2 people willing to go to St. Luke’s 6 times a year and help distribute the bag lunches. Currently, Gayle and a friend are doing this, but to smooth the operation they could really use 2 additional people. Gayle says the risk is minimal; she wears a mask, gloves and washes her clothes when she gets home as an extra precaution. St. Luke’s follows a strict protocol of mask wearing and social distancing, but if you are considering going to St. Luke’s to help you need to be aware of the circumstance. The help, however, is really needed for those 6 Saturdays a year.

Also needed: St. Luke’s Men’s closet has a desperate for men’s belts, also baseball caps, decent men’s pants or jeans (sizes 34, 36, 38), and decent blankets and sleeping bags. [If you come to St. Francis for Communion on Sundays, you could drop off donations at that time for Gayle to pick up]

A special thank you for Susie Zimmerman and her heroic efforts to organize everything – outside, in her neighborhood, in her driveway—to pack boxes for the Military. She reports that it was a huge success, and others report that her efforts were indeed heroic.

Look for more information about the Outreach at St. Francis in these enews blasts. If you want more information about how you can help or contribute, please email Gayle Taylor.

At the current time, we're not creating issues of this, but we'd still love to hear from you. If you have any updates or items you would have submitted for publication in normal times, send them along to Susan and we will publish them in this enews instead!

We are here to do our best to help you with whatever you may need. We know circumstances are difficult for many at this time. For help of any kind, or just for a Zoom or Facetime or phone call, please email or call Paula+ or Jude+ at any time.

If you are in a position to do so, (only if - no guilt), you may also donate to Paula+'s Discretionary Fund to help those at St. Francis in financial need. Send checks to 2200 Via Rosa, PVE 90274, made out to St. Francis Church, with 'Rector's Discretionary Fund' in the memo line. Thank you!

Email Paula+, 310-995-6519

Email Jude+, 310-701-5966.

View or download our bulletins - bulletins will be posted in time for livestreaming.

Contacts:

Paula+, 310-375 4617 x223.

Jude+, 310-375 4617 x225.

You are not interrupting our work - you ARE our work!