I want to thank everyone who participated in last month’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Celebrations. We sang, we prayed, we witnessed, we preached, we protested, we marched, and we spoke about justice. Glide Congregation, Clients, Community and Co-Workers came together to commemorate the enduring history of fighting for Civil Rights.
February extends the fight for equality through our Black Futures Month, where we use our radical tools of imagination to imagine a coming future where black people not only exist but are recognized for their humanity, their cultural production, their leadership, their thinking, their resilience, and their joy. Join us for a month-long Afro-futurist celebration where the centering of blackness becomes a unifying force for love in our interracial and intergenerational beloved community.
During Black Futures Month, you’re invited to First Sundays for Speak Out Celebration, where we center the voices of the congregation in our service. Then, join us for Second Sundays, our Sing-Along Celebration, where we become a community choir singing the projected lyrics for all of the songs. On Third Sundays, we have Justice Sundays, our racial, social, spiritual, and creative justice celebrations. And finally, on Fourth Sundays, we extend our weekly Writers Church into a full-fledged in-Celebration creative writing workshop.
Join our community at glide.org/churchannouncements for a full roster of Black Futures Month and year-round activities. You can also join all of our Sunday Celebration events online or in person at 9 and 11 am Pacific. Our services stream on Facebook Live and YouTube.
Click HEREto share how you show unconditional love to Glide Memorial Church.
Happy Black Futures Month.
As Always, Love Always,
Marvin K. White, Minister of Celebration
February Celebrations: You can join all of our Sunday Celebration events online or in person at 9 and 11 am Pacific. Our services stream on Facebook Live and YouTube
Sunday, February 4th is Speak Out Sunday. Minister Marvin K White will be preaching and Rhonda Benin will be our Guest Singer. We will be celebrating National Freedom Day (commemorating the 1865 signing of the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery) and the birthday of Janice Mirikitani. You are join us for communion in Freedom Hall after both celebrations.
Sunday, February 11th is Sing Along Sunday. Our new Theopoetic Artist in Residence, Ramona Laughing Brook Webb, will share a poem and we will celebrate Fredrick Douglass’ birthday and Mardi Gras.
Sunday, February 18th is Justice Sunday. The Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden Jr., will be our Guest Preacher. After the service you can help us distribute blankets and hygiene kits to our neighbors, engage in justice advocacy and register to vote.
Sunday, February 25th is Writers Church and Children’s Sunday. Eric McDonnell will be our Guest Preacher. Youth, directed by Classy Martin, will have a step show.
Sunday, February 11th, Tenderloin Black Presentations and History Tour from 1 -2:30 pm in Freedom Hall. Join GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice and Glide Memorial Church to recognize and honor the achievements, contributions, and history of African Americans. There will be presentations in Freedom Hall from 1-1:20 pm. The Tenderloin Black History Tour, which begins at 1:30 pm, will highlight the contributions and History of Black Americans in the Tenderloin, led by our own Del Seymour known as the Mayor of the Tenderloin.
Sunday, February 18th, 12:30-3 pm Community Care Network Celebration. We will be celebrating everyone who completed trainings through our Community Care Alliance, a collaboration with the MERI Center for Education in Palliative Care (UCSF/Mt Zion) and the Alameda County Care Alliance (AC Care Alliance). The event in Freedom Hall will include food, reflection and evaluation of the trainings. Please join us for this important gathering.
Sunday, February 25th, 1 pm Soul of Justice Hybrid Movie Screening about the Honorable Thelton E. Henderson. Thelton E. Henderson graduated from Berkeley Law in 1962—where he was one of just 2 Black students in his class—and was the first Black attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In the Deep South, he protected voter rights alongside everyday citizens and visionaries like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the federal bench, where he has championed transformative justice for nearly four decades. View the 57 minute film, by Bay Area filmmaker Abby Ginzberg, followed by a panel discussion hosted by Naeemah Charles, Senior Director of GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice. The film will screen in the sanctuary and online. Learn more and RSVP here.
In April 2018, the GLIDE Center for Social Justice and The Kitchen took 85 people on pilgrimage to the opening of the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. In the months before we left, this group gathered several times at GLIDE to study together, to think deeply about enduring racism in our city, our state, and our country and to build relationships across lines of race, class, religion and education. Needless to say, the visits to the museum (which connects the dots from slavery to mass incarceration) and to the memorial (to lynching victims) were searingly powerful. The images we saw and the stories we heard agitated us, summoned us to ask hard questions, and ultimately sent us back home to San Francisco with hunger to deepen our connections to one another and to deepen our collective justice work here in the Bay Area and beyond.
The Alabama Justice Pilgrimage is central to GLIDE’s work to heal the wounds of enduring racism and economic inequality in San Francisco, the Bay Area and beyond. We are going back on our fifth Pilgrimage, a five-day transformational journey in February 2024, with a select group of healthcare leaders from San Francisco.
We hope you will join us in praying for those who are journeying to Alabama and for their efforts to pursue progress for those experiencing mass incarceration and the trauma that comes from it.
Here are a few ways you can support those embarking on this important journey:
Help us bless those going on pilgrimage, by joining us at the 11 am Celebration on February 11th. And continue to hold them in your prayers during their journey.
The ushers were on point and ready to serve the congregation and community with grace, compassion, and love. This is no small feat. They tirelessly did the work that needed to be done to meet the needs of the church, the congregation, the staff, and our community; before, during, and after services. The Spirit of God is moving in our church and our community, as there have been two new ushers in the past month alone!
Our attendance is on the rise and so is the need for dedicated people to step up and answer the call of taking care of God’s people in God’s house! We are actively reaching out to and ready to receive more invested congregants and community stakeholders to support the work of our beloved church. The flow of service would not work without this amazing group of people!
If you have questions about Congregational Life Groups and Events, you can reach out to Freddy Martin (415-674-6168 or fmartin@glide.org) our Congregational Life & Community Engagement Manager.
The Glide Ensemble sings, plays, claps and sways, spreading the spirit of empowerment in an infectious message of diversity, acceptance and love. Want to sing with us? Choose a song that really speaks to you in a soulful way. Make a 3-5 minute video of yourself singing the song from start to finish. Send the video, via email, to the Glide Music Program.
Artistic Spotlight
Did you notice the new art in the sanctuary? It’s a stucco on metal sculpture by Rhonda Holberton (b. 1981) called Lamentations, 2023. The art is a gift from the Marvin K. White Collection. Stop by soon to view it in person.
We Need You
If you are interested in putting your faith into action and being of service to our friends and neighbors, now is the time to sign up and volunteer. We especially need help:
Ushering at Sunday Celebrations
Serving coffee and greeting visitors in Freedom Hall during Celebrations
