One of my favorite things about fall is the opportunity to enjoy the earthy flavors of roasted gourds, squashes, and root vegetables. And, as I was enjoying one such dish, I began to reflect a bit about roots and what it means to be radical. While we often associate "radical" with extremes or fringes, the word actually derives from radix – meaning "root." To be radical, then, isn't about dwelling at the margins but rather about connecting to our deepest center: the source of meaning, purpose, and original intent. It is easy to forget the significance of our roots, and the rich soil they need in order to thrive. This is why we weave rhythms of remembrance into our community life – following the liturgical calendar, telling the stories of Jesus to the children of our church, exploring the vision that your elders and I have developed: To be a Jesus-Centered community, attuned to the activity of the Holy Spirit, so that we might courageously participate in the work of God’s transformative love throughout San Francisco.
UNPACKING OUR VISION
Last month, folks had a chance to hear what that meant and engage in some initial reflection as a community at our congregational gathering. Every Sunday since then, we’ve begun to explore each part of that vision in greater depth to help you not only understand where we seek to go, but also who we already are. These first couple of months, we are exploring what it means to be Jesus-Centered. In the new year, we’ll reflect on the nature of God’s transformative love. Through Lent we’ll learn more about what it means to cultivate attunement to the Holy Spirit while also trying on some spiritual practices. And, in the spring, we’ll explore the idea of what it means to courageously participate in this work together. We are also hearing from our ministry leaders about how this vision is being more intentionally embedded in our life together at City Church through key ministry areas.
PARTICIPATING IN THE VISION
You are invited to be part of this vision through making a commitment of time, talents and finances. In addition to increasing your worship attendance by one more Sunday per month, you can make a faithful financial commitment, or pledge. A pledge serves as a promise to the community, a spiritual practice of gratitude and sacrifice, and a disruption of the ways our economic culture trains us to see money as our sole source of personal power. A faithful financial pledge is a vehicle that serves not only your spiritual health, but also our community’s faithful functioning. Help us exceed our goal of receiving 100 pledges.
FINANCIAL UPDATE
As you may recall, we made some key adjustments to our budget as a way of right-setting our expenditures last spring. While challenging, it was also an opportunity for us to have clarity on what our community needs at this time. Because of this, we have entered our fiscal year on more solid footing and look forward to building up our ministries as our community continues to grow and live into our vision. Below is a snapshot of our financial health since the beginning of our fiscal year (Sept 1, 2024):
Over the first two months of our fiscal year, giving levels have tracked above budget by about 14% or $20,000. Total expenses are tracking below budget by about 18% or about $58,000 primarily due to the open Associate Pastor position. All of these numbers are in relation to anticipated pledges, which will help us plan for this budget year. Note: Giving tends to fluctuate over the course of the year (ie, many people tend to give at the end of the calendar year), which is why we are currently spending more than we have coming in
STAFFING UPDATES
Thank you Kasey! Kasey McCoy joined us in September as a college intern and has been a wonderful part of helping our student ministries kick off for the fall. Her time with us will wrap up in early December and she’ll be heading back to Westmont College, so please be sure to say thank you and bless her into her next chapter as she decides on her major.
Associate Pastor Search. The AP hiring team is comprised of Pastor Joshua, Bob Patterson (member of the Personnel Team), and Diana Marin. Over the last few months, we have interviewed several candidates for the pastoral position for Community Life and we anticipate moving forward with final candidates next month. Please continue to pray for this process and that God might bring the right next person to help round out our leadership, care for our LGBTQIA siblings, and build out pathways for mutual aid and care at City Church and throughout San Francisco.
CELEBRATIONS
Earlier this fall, we had an opportunity to hear from Adrian Tirtinadi, Founder of Open Door Legal, as well as the Rev. Paul Trudeau, Founder of City Hope Community Center in worship. It is a true gift to have these partners in helping to advocate and highlight both the challenges and opportunities of serving our city. We celebrate that both organizations were highlighted recently in the media – Open Door Legal with insights around the impending impact of anticipated changes to immigration with the upcoming presidential transition, and City Hope in the ways that their vision for radical hospitality and dignified transformation are inspiring some of the city’s top chefs to get involved. Please continue to pray for Adrian, Paul, and all the folks who join them in being God’s hands and feet in San Francisco!
We often sing the song “Our Salvation is Bound Up Together” and while that might sound like a poetic phrase, it is a reminder that our collective life is truly radical; drawing us back to the root of our faith in the gospel of Jesus. These roots call us to our original purpose: to be transformed by Christ’s love in ways that enable us to courageously participate in the good work that God is doing within us, among us, and through us. Thank you for being part of this radical work!
Faithfully,
Pastor Emily