The Pathfinder: January 9th, 2025
On the Wings of the Spirit
As many of you know I am set to leave All Souls at the end of April to head out to launch a new Episcopal church in our east bay area (my last Sunday at All Souls will be April 27th).
This decision has been a tough one, but I feel confident that this is the direction of the Spirit for me and for this new community that I am helping to form. And, in this season, I resonate with Emily Boring’s words from her sermon last Sunday, that being human is “never simple, or static, or fixed…we move from who we are to who we become…and this truth is complicated, and painful, and precious, and beautiful, and hard. It causes frustration, and joy, and savoring, and grief.” Believe me when I say that this transition and this decision to leave All Souls to set out on my own, to plant a new congregation, has been filled with all of those things for me.
That said, I would venture to guess that there are a good many of you who might be wondering why on earth someone would start a new church when there are so many already, and when so many of those are dying. Here’s what I would say:
First, as the writer Debie Thomas said in an article in the Christian Century, “because the hopes, hungers, losses, and loves that have brought people to their knees for two millennia are still alive and well…we are starving for coherence, for awe, for connection, for meaning. We are still hungry for spaces, rituals, and rhythms that will help us beat despair and recover wonder. We need questions worth pondering and truths worth trusting. We still need containers spacious enough to hold our pain.” Even with all its faults, church is still worth trying.
Second, because what I can see in my head doesn’t already exist, at least not that I have found here in the Bay Area. I’m trying to create a space that is sensitive to the traumas of the conservative, Evangelical church, but which holds to some of the liturgy, politics, and structure of the progressive mainline traditions, specifically, in my case, the Episcopal church.
For many years I’ve watched folks leave conservative Evangelical and non-denominational churches, wounded and hurt, and unsure of where to go next (if you’ve ever wondered why, please check out Sarah McCammon’s book The Exvangelicals). While there are plenty of reasons to leave, there are also a lot of reasons to stay. Leaving these churches often leaves us feeling alone, alienated from God, from our families, and often even our own bodies. The mainline traditions often align politically and theologically with where we want to be, but so often they feel very dry and archaic––and it’s very rare to find a progressive Evangelical church. And so I am setting out to start a church that takes the very best of what I have known of the Evangelical church (recovering some of that goodness, even) while also pulling from the very best of what I have experienced of the Episcopal Church, specifically at All Souls.
Back in April of 2024 I dropped to half time at All Souls so that I could spend about 20-25 hours per week working on this new church. I set out with four goals: to pull together a launch team; to work towards becoming an official Episcopal entity (technically we are called a Specialized Mission); to determine some logistics like what we would be called, when we would gather, where we would gather, to build a website, and write a mission/vision, etc.; and to raise $150,000 (at which point I would receive matching $150K from the Center for Church Innovation).
I am so pleased to report that while not all of these are completed, all are very much underway. For starters, I’ve got a launch team complete with some names y’all might recognize: the Rev. Maggie Foote, Tommy & Lizzie Belgum, Jenn Ying, Brenna Hall, and Abbey Taunton. We’ve got some of the logistics covered, like, for example, we have decided to call ourselves St. Lucys!
St. Lucy is the patron saint of sight and of light. She’s creepy, she stands up to power, she provides food to the hungry, and she carries her eyeballs on a tray. We resonate with her resilience, her subversive power, that she makes people feel seen, and that she provides for those in need under the cover of night.
We don’t yet know where we will be meeting, but we know that we will be a Sunday evening service and we have a preliminary mission statement: We are a church in the East Bay, pursuing wholeness by celebrating the mystery of Christ through worship, conversation, and neighborliness, in a space where stories are seen and honored. Our website should be out in the coming weeks, and when we’re live you can find us at stlucyschurch.org. For now, you can find more information at neweastbaychurch.org.
On the Episcopal front, I’ve met with the Standing Committee, the new Bishop, and the new Canon to the Ordinary and it looks like all is in motion for us to be the first new mission of this diocese in 45 years (St. Gregory of Nyssa was the last successful church plant in this diocese!). If the next few months move along with the Standing Committee and Bishop, I believe we will be an official Specialized Mission of this diocese in the spring.
And finally, we have raised $102,000 of the $150,000 needed to get our matching half. Our goal is to have this amount (and hopefully a lot more!) raised by March, which I trust will happen.
If you feel like you would like to support this work with a financial pledge or gift, I’d love to meet up and chat, and you can give any financial gifts through this link. Another way you can support this work is by praying for me and for us as a team. There are a lot of decisions to be made over the next few months and we need a lot of clarity to be able see the road ahead. Personally, I’ve also just started CPE (as a requirement for ordination) and so am juggling quite a few things in this season.
I have been so honored and grateful and shocked and inspired and scared-out-of-my-mind at what has happened since we put this idea in motion back in April of 2024. I certainly feel that this thing is out of my hands, out of my launch team’s hands, and that this vision is out on the wings of the Spirit. I guess we’ll watch, together, to see who and how and what the Spirit brings.
Peace,
–Emily HC
December Vestry Meeting
After an opening reflection by the chaplain, the All Souls vestry spend most of our December meeting reviewing various proposals for the 2025 operating budget.
On the revenue front, Richard Lynch gave us an update on the fall pledge campaign, “Answering the Call”. The total number of pledging households was strikingly similar to the prior year, but the pledge totaled $792,000, a 15% increase over the prior year. This increase was driven by the fact that 40% of households increased their 2025 pledges by 25% or more. In addition to the pledges, the church received an additional one-time gift of $25,000 to support next year’s budget.
The 2025 budget also includes some proposed changes on expenditures. The Rev. Emily Boring has requested to move to 80% time in 2025 in order to work on her book, which is due to the publisher late in the year. Father Phil has asked Diana Markley to take on an extra day of work to help fill this gap, and she has agreed. In addition, the Vestry also proposes to hire a new part-time Associate for Welfare and Kinship as Emily Hansen-Curren transitions to her new ministry.
In order to realize a balanced budget, the Vestry proposes to commit $25,000 in investment income, which will support additions to family and young adult ministries as well as funding a new ongoing line for deferred maintenance of $12,000. Father Phil noted that the church has experienced positive and sustained growth over the past year, with average Sunday attendance up 10% over the prior year.
The Vestry also heard a promising update on the Living Waters capital improvements. The project had budgeted $200,000 for a three-phased power upgrade by PG&E. The actual quote came in at $109,000, which could be further reduced by a payment provision to roughly $68,000. This proposal does not include some infrastructure work needed to be done by our general contractor, but should yield some savings to add to our contingency budget. The Vestry also approved using $15,000 from the Jordan Fund principal to provide a seismic assessment and retrofit possibilities, which may be necessary to house a preschool moving forward.
–Nathan Brostrom
Vestry Class of 2025
On behalf of the Vestry nominating committee, I’m pleased and proud to share the names of a slate of candidates to be considered for election at this year’s Annual Meeting: Molly Nicol, Sarah Bakker Kellog, Joe Garrett, Jesse Kadjo and John Gearen!
Brief bios for the candidates appear below so that you can get to know them a bit better. Please join me in expressing my gratitude for these individuals who are prepared to answer the call to serve our congregation in this way!
For those who are unfamiliar with what the Vestry is and what it does, the Bylaws of our Parish tell us that the Vestry constitutes the board of directors of the Parish and directs and manages its temporal activities and affairs. The basic responsibilities of the Vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation, support the church’s mission by word and deed, ensure effective organization and planning, and manage resources and finances.
The Vestry is composed of the Rector and twelve elected lay members of the Parish. The term of service for Vestry members is three years, and each year the congregation elects four lay members to replace the retiring class and may also elect members to fill any vacant positions.
Our Parish Bylaws require the nominating committee to submit a slate of nominees to serve as members of the Vestry by the second Thursday in January. Additional nominations may be made by any member of the Parish within five days of this announcement. The final slate of nominees will be announced to the Parish by the third Thursday in January.
If you feel a call to serve as a Vestry member in 2025, or if you wish to nominate another member of our congregation to serve, please reach out to me by phone or email (my contact information is available on Realm and is in the blue sheet in the Bulletin). All nominations are due by Tuesday, January 14th at 9p.m.
Molly Nicol
I grew up in an Episcopal church called Emmanuel. As the youngest of a slew of girls to a single working mom, Emmanuel was even more than a second home to me. I loved how I felt when I was there, with those people, and so I stayed involved in just about everything I could: choir, acolyting, youth group, summer musicals, etc. My experiences as a child at Emmanuel were incredibly formative as they made me a witness to how God shows up in the form of people. For me, some of their names were Anne-Marie Ruhlin, Jim Friedel, and Larry Pickeral. They gave more to me than they'll know and are why I think it is so important, now that I'm an adult, to be what I refer to as an "OCA" - or other caring adult - in kids' lives. I try to do this both at All Souls, as part of the Children and Family Ministry team, as well as in my career as an educator. I'm grateful to All Souls for giving me and my family a church home for the past eight years and, while I've seen a lot of transformation in that short amount of time, I also know that God's love and grace will always remain steady.
Sarah Bakker Kellogg
I have been a member of the parish since 2016. Over the years, I have been privileged to contribute to the parish community in ways small and large, from helping out with weekly collection plate accounting to serving on the Justice and Peace committee and teaching multiple adult formation classes related to my ongoing research and teaching on Christianity, culture, politics, and society. As I enter a new chapter in my life, I feel a pull to serve in a new, more collaborative way, as part of a team of people dedicated to envisioning creative, expansive, and life-giving responses, rooted in careful conversation and deep discernment, to the challenges of the coming years.
Joe Garrett
My husband Spike and I have lived in Kensington for 36 years. I was attending St. Aidan’s in the city, where my aunt, Nedi Rivera, was the rector, then left to be Bishop Suffragan in the State of Washington. Her mom suggested we try All Souls. I came one Sunday in 2011, Phil+ delivered a knockout sermon, I loved the music and felt like I had come home.
I served on the Vestry during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was privileged to be Senior Warden. All Souls responded immediately: what could be done to carry on our vital work, our vibrant services, our passionate ministries? When Shelter-In-Place was announced, we moved quickly to reach out to everyone in the congregation: How are you faring? Is there anything you need? Is there anything we can do? We began live streaming our Sunday services over Facebook and the Parish website when conditions called for it. Your staff persevered. Your Vestry continued its work.
I helped close the Jordan Court Project, worked on and reviewed the legal documents, and together with Toni Martinez Borgfeldt, signed all the documents through the closings which took place in our backyards due to the pandemic.
I’m a writer and am finishing a second novel, and have had two short stories published the last few years. I work with people in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. For many years, I served on the nonprofit boards of large footprint AIDS organizations. I’m a member of the State Bar (a retired lawyer), and am passionate about the wilderness, backpacking and fly-fishing. With my husband and another couple, we’ve been turning an over-grazed horse and cattle ranch in south central Oregon into a wildlife preserve, Harmony Preserve.
I feel complete at All Souls, and want to give back some of what I’ve received from this extraordinary, loving community. I want to support the work of our unbelievable staff. Most importantly, I want to help ensure All Souls continues to grow and thrive for future generations.
Jesse Kadjo
I've been attending All Souls for the last two years. I've been an active member of my previous parishes, most notably as a lector and eucharistic minister for the last 20 years. If elected to the Vestry, I hope to bring my experience with working on teams, managing shared goals and working to improve the church experience for all members. I feel drawn to do so at this time as I've felt supported and enriched by this community whether it be through Taize services the last two Advents, or Soup and Story group during Lent. I want to do what I can to be of service to this church community.
John Gearen
I have been an All Soulsian for most of our time in Berkeley since arriving in 2008, along with my wife Molly Christiansen, and joined along the way by daughters Maya, Anna, and Hazel. Phil has rightly described our family’s orbit around All Souls as sometimes closer and sometimes farther, as we followed our kids’ schedules from infancy, through the napping years, now into sports and activities. Previous formative church experience includes growing up in a social justice-oriented Catholic Parish, in an extended Irish Catholic family outside of Chicago.
Work relevant to Vestry includes my current work on structured finance for a mission-driven nonprofit in the environmental sector, and previous work on an advisory council to growing nonprofits.
I am drawn to Vestry by what I see as All Souls’ beautiful expression of a millenia-long tradition of love in action through community, by the reminder that we all make church and if I can pitch in I am delighted to; I know I would learn and grow in the process.
Deanery Alternates for 2025
If you're looking for another way to serve the congregation, you might also consider the role of Deanery Alternate. You may know that our parish belongs to the Alameda Deanery, which is made up of clergy and lay representatives from member churches. Deanery Alternates represent their congregation at quarterly Zoom meetings and the annual Diocesan convention. This is a two-year commitment, and Alternates become Deanery Delegates in the following year.
If you feel a call to serve as a Deanery Alternate, or wish to nominate another member of the congregation to serve in this capacity, please reach out to me directly by Tuesday, January 14th at 9p.m.
–Sarah Kern, Senior Warden and Chair of the Nominations Committee
This year’s Epiphany Kings!
–Cake Team
Amazing: startlingly impressive. Wow, look at these amazing photos of elevator progress! A large pit has been dug, some boulders removed, and shoring has commenced. There is a hole in the roof where the elevator shaft will end, and there are two 7000# I-beams holding things up at the moment. A huge and exciting undertaking for sure!
As you can see on Sunday, the wall in the nave where the elevator door will be is paneled and due for stain soon.
The “candy cane’” heating duct in the parish hall has been straightened and moved.
A reminder: although we are turning rooms over for use, work is still in progress! If you have questions or concerns about what you see, please contact Ann Myers @ annclairemyers@gmail.com for clarification. Thanks.
Egress continues through both Narthex doors and out the nave to the Jordan Courtyard. Remember to bundle up!
Left: HVAC duct in chair storage area. Right: Relocated duct in Parish Hall.
Left: Ongoing roof work. Right: Wood paneling in Nave.
Left: 27' x 21" I-beams being used to shore concrete column. Each beam weights 7000lbs. Right: Kip brackets through bolted with 2" all thread.
–Ann Myers and the Property Committee
Announcements & Events
Happening This Sunday
7:00am, Reading Between the Lines Bible Study, either in person in the Common Room or Click here to join by Zoom.
8:00am, Holy Eucharist in the Chapel. Please access the Chapel through the copper doors on Cedar St.
9:15am, Adult Formation: “Repairs in the Bay Area",” with Isaiah Project partners, in the Jordan Court Community Room.
9:15 Book Group, Augustine’s Confessions 2.0, with Jack Shoemaker, in the downstairs Common Room
10:30am, Sung Eucharist in the Nave. Join us via livestream here.
7:00pm, Youth Group - High School Small Group
Join us each Wednesday for the Eucharist in the Jordan Court Community Room at 9:00 a.m., or by Zoom here.
Adult Formation
“Repairs in the Bay Area,” with Isaiah Project partners
The Isaiah Project team is introducing each of the four organizations that are receiving All Souls grants through the tithe from our Living Waters campaign. A representative from each organization has or will join us to talk about the work of repair that they are performing in our local East Bay communities. The four organizations and the dates they will join us are:
Elizabeth House (January 5)
The Center for ArtEsteem (January 12)
The American Indian Child Resource Center (January 19)
Youth Spirit Artworks (February 2).
We meet at 9:15 am in the Jordan Court Community Room on the following Sundays: January 5, 12, 19 and February 2nd.
Book Group: Augustine’s Confessions 2.0, with Jack Shoemaker
Please join our small group as we continue reading The Confessions by St. Augustine. Among the most important and influential books written in the history of Christendom, it is today among the least read of our founding texts. We will begin with Chapter 9 and read our way thru Chapter 13 in our allotted three weeks. Having not read the first half does not disqualify you from joining – all opinions and pronouncements are welcome. 9:15 in the All Souls Common Room, Jan 5th, 12th, and 19th.
Children & Family
Sunday School Sunday School (for kids pre-K through 5th grade) happens every week during the 10:30 service, in our newly-renovated classrooms in the undercroft! Enter the narthex and walk down the stairs. There will be signs, and/or an usher can help you find the way. Children return to church at the “Peace.”
Exciting news: The playground is now open! Come join other All Soulsian families and kids in the courtyard after church. Please be mindful of fencing around the perimeter.
To sign up for our Children and Family newsletter, please email emilyb@allsoulsparish.org.
Youth Program
Youth Group (for grades 6-12) happens on Sundays from 7-8:30pm.
This week, January 12th: High school small group.
Look our for a full winter/spring calendar soon! To join the weekly youth mailing list, email emilyb@allsoulsparish.org.
Request for collage materials: Do you have old magazines sitting around at home? We are seeking collage supplies for our children and youth programs, and we’d love to give your materials a home! Please bring them to church on Sundays and/or arrange a time to hand them off to Emily B. Thanks!
Justice & Peace
Open Door Dinner is this Sunday, January 12th. If you are able or interested in helping put the meal together or deliver some meals to the camps around Berkeley, please email Jennifer Akiyama.
Undergraduate Street Medicine Outreach Undergraduate Street Medicine Outreach Undergraduate Street Medicine Outreach (USMO) is a Cal student group that organizes outreach events every Saturday to bring food and resources to homeless encampments in Berkeley. As the weather gets colder, they are especially seeking donations of the following items:
General hygiene products (toothbrushes/toothpaste, deodorant, soap, etc.)
Clothes/cold weather gear
Bottled water
Please bring these donations to the red bin in the Narthex. Email Beth Christensen (beth.christensen) for donation and other direct volunteer opportunities with USMO.
Building Interfaith Bridges January Event
Please join the Building Interfaith Bridges community for “4th Friday Shabbat in the Round” on Friday, January 24, 2025 at 6:15p at Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. in Berkeley.
Congregation Beth El’s monthly extra-musical Shabbat service takes place on the fourth Friday of the month at 6:15 pm and is led by Beth El clergy. Using both the words of our historical liturgy and many wordless melodies, we welcome Shabbat with a focus on the transformative power of music. Bring your voice, your percussion and come play and sing along! Or join us just to soak up the music.
All service attendees are invited to stay after the service for a nosh and meet and greet. Guests from All Souls and Saint Paul’s are also invited to participate in a short Q + A with the Rabbi about the service.
RSVP’s to Anna Fogelman (annaleahfogelman@gmail.com) are appreciated but not required. Hope to see you there!
Questions? Please contact Beth El liaison, Anna Fogelman at annaleahfogelman@gmail.com, All Souls Parish liaison Bonnie Bishop bonniekbishop@myyahoo.com or Saint Paul AME Church liaison Joyce Dawson dawsonje@prodigy.net.
Ladies Luncheon
The second Thursday Ladies Luncheon will return when the Parish Hall is ready!
In Memorium
The Rev. Michael Hiller
With heavy hearts, we report that the Rev. Michael Hiller died Wednesday morning, January 1. Born in Los Angeles in 1945, Hiller was ordained in the Lutheran Church in 1971 and pastored in several of the denomination's churches, including Saint Francis Lutheran Church (ELCA) in San Francisco. While serving at Trinity Episcopal Church in San Francisco, he was received as a priest of the Diocese of California in 2008. Hiller served as Interim Rector at St. Mark’s, Berkeley (twice), and served at St. Mark’s, Santa Clara.
Memorial for Canon Jim Forsyth
Canon Jim Forsyth's memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 1 at St. Luke's, San Francisco and will also be livestreamed on the St. Luke's website. Please mark your calendars with the following details:
Date: Saturday, February 1
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: St. Luke's, San Francisco; 1755 Clay St. (at Van Ness)
Livestream: www.stlukessf.org.
A reception will follow in Dade Hall. Read obituary
Memorial for the Rev. Dr. Fran Toy
A celebration of life is being planned to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Fran Toy's historic ordination as the first female Asian American priest in The Episcopal Church. More details will be shared as we receive them. In the meantime, please mark your calendars with the following information:
Date: Sunday, June 8
Time: To be announced
Location: St. John's, Oakland; 1707 Gouldin Road
Everything Else
You might have noticed, but we have shifted our mailing service from Squarespace to Constant Contact. Hopefully this will not impact any or many of you, but in case it matters, please add allsouls@allsoulsparish.ccsend.com to your contacts. This will hopefully ensure that the Pathfinder arrives in your inbox and not your spam folder.
