The Pathfinder: March 13th, 2025
Look How Far We’ve Come, Together
Time after time at All Souls, I’ve been amazed at what our community has the skill, generosity, vision, trust, and faith to do together. The Living Waters project has spanned over five years now, from visioning, re-visioning (thanks, Covid!), receiving community input, planning, guiding, and building. And we’re on the home stretch!
In the past eight months, we’ve rebuilt the Spruce-side stairs, refinished the courtyard, installed new bathrooms in the undercroft, refurbished the classrooms, Chapel, and Common Room downstairs, installed new windows and ducting in the Parish Hall, redone our kitchen, and more. By Holy Week, we plan to see nearly everything else completed, including new flooring the Parish Hall, our heating system operational in most of the building, ADA doors into the foyer and outside the Chapel hallway, bits and pieces in the kitchen, with cabinetry, shelving and storage squared away, among other finishing touches. The elevator pit is built and waiting. Our final building phase will come this summer when our elevator is finally delivered and installed, and our three-phase power is connected (allowing us to run all our kitchen appliances and elevator).
A tithe of our campaign funds has been awarded to four deserving organizations by way of the Isaiah Project group. More information about ways to engage with and support these organizations is in the works and you will be hearing more soon.
And there’s more good news. Pledges to the Living Waters campaign have been fulfilled steadily and thoroughly (please keep up the good work!), and some newer gifts have raised our total a bit. The construction work overall has remained in budget. In fact, the cost of PG&E’s electrical work turned out to be a great deal less than what we had budgeted, and our campaign funds have been earning interest prior to their use. With this extra money, the Property Committee will be making recommendations to the Vestry soon to revisit landscape work, our AV system, and other items we had intended to fund but had to leave out of our final plans. When approved, these additional items will be addressed this spring and summer.
I am grateful, I am excited, and I am hopeful. Together we are creating a more sustainable, welcoming, and accessible space for the All Soulsians of the present and the future. I thank one and all for your time, talent, treasure, and patience you’ve contributed to our progress.
–Grace Telcs, Junior Warden
An Interfaith Reflection
In the Bible, God often reveals God’s self through dreams and angels—Jacob in the Book of Genesis, Zechariah in the Book of Matthew. When All Souls welcomed members of Congregation Beth El and St. Paul’s AME to our Sunday morning service a few weeks ago, I felt like angels were in our midst.
My long-held dream of harmony between Jewish and Christian communities was set before my eyes. The morning was all the sweeter by the presence of Joyce and Mary from St. Paul’s AME, who bring wisdom from their own faith tradition, rooted and grounded in the African American church. We sang and prayed together. We listened to readings from the Book of Genesis, the Letters of Paul and the Gospel of Luke, and no one seemed threatened. We looked into each other’s eyes, saying, “Peace be with you.” To me, this was the culmination of the mission of Building Interfaith Bridges; and the work continues.
After the service, our guests had many questions. They were curious about our sacred objects, the choice of readings, names and colors of vestments, other Christian denominations, the participation of young people as acolytes, Church history, and the red Gospel Book on the altar. From their front row pews, they had watched and listened very closely and with interest. More than once, someone would comment about the many similarities between the Reform Jewish Shabbat service and the Christian Sunday service. In these instances, Rabbi Rebecca Stern would show a half smile and a twinkle in her eyes, knowing that Jesus was a Jew.
Emily B. and Marguerite Judson answered every question with poise and clarity. Emily even demonstrated how to tie a cincture with its knots and loops. Marguerite gave a three-minute explanation of church history, from the time of Paul to the modern day. Amazing! All too quickly, morning had turned to midday. Other activities beckoned our attention. Our guests took their leave, but hopefully they kept with them the joy of the morning.
The BIB team has many opportunities to engage in the coming weeks and months. Mark your calendars to join us for the next event that will be held on Thursday, March 27th at All Souls. At 6:30pm that evening, we will gather in the Jordan Court Community Room to screen "Same God," a documentary featuring Dr. Larycia Hawkins - a black, female professor at a prominent Christian college who wore a hijab in solidarity with Muslims and said that Christians and Muslims worship the Same God. The firestorm that followed exposed the rifts among evangelicals over race, Islam, religious freedom and politics. The evening will follow this schedule:
6:30pm: Gather and snack
7:00pm: Movie
8:35pm: (optional) Small group reflection and discussion
9:00pm: Adjourn
For questions regarding this event, please contact Paul Mathew or Bonnie Bishop. We hope to see you there!
-Bonnie Bishop
"Let the Children Come": A New Start to Sunday School!
Every week during the 10:30 service, we offer Sunday School for kids pre-K through 5th grade. Starting this week (March 16th), we’re trying out a new way to begin our time together. At the start of the service, rather than going straight down to the classroom, children are invited to sit with their parents in the nave.
The children will stay through the opening hymn, the procession, and the opening acclamation (the first thing the presider says from the front). Then, during the “Song of Praise,” you’ll see an adult leader walking down the aisle holding a big wooden cross. Kids are invited to follow-the-leader out of the nave and walk down to the classroom as a whole group.
This is a practice that we used to follow, long before Covid. Now that our new classrooms are complete, and our Sunday School program is growing, we’re excited to bring it back. We hope that this change will help kids feel more involved with the congregation at the start of the service, and it will create an intentional transition into the start of Sunday School. Children will still return to church at the “Peace.”
What does this mean for you…?
Parents: when you arrive at church, no need to walk your kids downstairs. You can all enter the nave together and sit down. (If you’re more than 10 minutes late, ask an usher if the kids have left yet; you may need to head straight downstairs).
Kids: Look out for the big wooden cross, and when you see it, join the group and follow!
Everyone else: You’ll have a chance to say “hi” to the kids, help them feel welcome, and see the wonderful young people who make up a part of our parish!
For the first few weeks, the Presider will make an announcement to remind you of this new practice. Feel free to reach out to Emily B or any of our Sunday School teachers if you have questions.
–Emily B+
Fulfillment: the achievement of something desired, promised, or predicted.
We are fortunate this week to have a couple areas where plans have been fulfilled! This is always exciting to see and to be able to check one more thing off the list. If you look up in the nave, to the Cedar Street side, you will notice that the zebra stripes are gone! Stain was applied to the ceiling as well as to the new construction near the elevator to match the rest of the nave. Months ago someone asked if the new ceiling was going to match the old one and when. I can now say a definite yes and it happened on March 10th!
The other photos are the boiler room, obviously without a boiler! The beams that were used for shoring the elevator shaft are gone, cement has been poured, drains have been installed and one can almost envision a new boiler going in. It will be a bit longer but there is now room.
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.
Egress continues through both Narthex doors and out the nave to the Jordan Courtyard. Remember to bundle up when the temperatures are expected to drop!
Left and Right: Staining of roof slats
Left: Floor drains in boiler room. Middle: Shoring. Right: Framing of closets.
–Ann Myers and the Property Committee
Announcements & Events
Happening This Week
SUNDAY
7:00 am, Reading Between the Lines Bible Study, either in person in the Common Room or Click here to join by Zoom.
8:00 am, Holy Eucharist in the Chapel. Please access the Chapel through the copper doors on Cedar St.
9:15 am, Adult Formation in the Parish Hall.
10:30 am, Sung Eucharist in the Nave. Join us via livestream here.
12 noon, Realm Support in the Common Room
7 pm, Youth Group - All Grades Youth Group
Realm/Church Directory Support
Join us THIS Sunday in the Common Room, after the 10:30 service, to get all your Realm questions answered. Realm is our new church directory and database, and you are invited to join! If you are a member here, you should already have received an invitation from Realm to join the online community. If you’re new and looking to join (or didn’t get an invitation in your inbox), see Emily Hansen Curran. For anyone interested in learning more about Realm or need help troubleshooting any problems logging in or using Realm, we’ve got folks with laptops ready to answer your questions and help.
Lenten Home Group Sign-ups
This year, Soup + Story is taking on a new look: we’re calling them Camino Groups. It’ll be the same sort of gathering, but we’ll gather this year in small groups to make pilgrimage together towards Easter. In our weekly gatherings we’ll spend time noticing, journaling, and sharing with each other the moments of joy and calm, the struggles and heaviness, and the graces of the week. If you’re interested in joining a Lenten home group, put your name next to a group that works for you/your family! Click here.
Adult Formation
The Death of the Messiah
Join the Rev. Michael Lemaire this Sunday, March 16th, for the second class in this series looking at the various accounts of the Passion and Death of Jesus in the four gospels. We will explore what is known about the history and origin of the story and explore the different ways each gospel writer shapes the narrative. Classes will be held in the Parish Hall on the following Sundays: 3/9, 3/16, 3/23, and 3/30.
Children & Family
Sunday School (for kids pre-K through 5th grade) happens every week during the 10:30 service. Starting this week (March 16th), we’re trying out a new way to begin our time together! Children will begin the service in the nave with their families (rather than going straight down to the classroom before the service). They’ll stay through the opening hymn and procession. Then, during the “Song of Praise” (about 5 min into the service), the kids will see a teacher holding a big wooden cross coming down the aisle. They’ll “follow the leader” as a group downstairs to the classroom. We hope that this change will help kids feel more involved with the congregation at the start of the service, and it will create an intentional transition into the start of class. Children will still return to church at the “Peace.”
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 Emily B.
For Both Kids and Youth: Summer Camps!
It’s that time of year… time to sign up for camp! Kids and youth from All Souls have loved attending camp in two places: Bishop’s Ranch (the same place we have Parish Retreat, near Healdsburg), and St. Dorothy’s Rest. Both have roots in the Episcopal tradition and have programs for all ages (and some for families, too). You can find more information about St. Dorothy’s here, and Bishop’s Ranch here.
For children: It can be especially fun to go to camp at the same time as other kids from church! If you’re interested in coordinating dates, please reach out to Brenna Hall, an All Souls parent (brenna.k.hall@gmail.com).
Youth Program
Youth Group (for grades 6-12) happens on Sundays from 7-8:30pm. Generally, we alternate between an all-grades gathering, and a high school small group (~once a month).
This Sunday (March 9th) is the gathering of the High School Small Group.
Coming up:
March 16th & March 23rd - ALL Grades Youth Group
March 30th - No Youth Group because of Spring Break.
Download our Spring (March/April) 2025 calendar here. To join the weekly youth mailing list, email emilyb@allsoulsparish.org.
Justice & Peace
Open Door Dinner (ODD) happens on the second Sunday of every month. 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.
Building Interfaith Bridges invites you to a movie night on Thursday, March 27 in the Jordan Court Community Room, showing "Same God," a documentary featuring Dr. Larycia Hawkins - a black, female professor at a prominent Christian college who wore a hijab in solidarity with Muslims and said that Christians and Muslims worship the Same God. The firestorm that followed exposed the rifts among evangelicals over race, Islam, religious freedom and politics. The evening will follow this schedule:
6:30pm: Gather and snack
7:00pm: Movie
8:35pm: (optional) Small group reflection and discussion
9:00pm: Adjourn
For questions, please contact Paul Mathew or Bonnie Bishop.
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. With the colder weather, 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.
Needs of the Community
A seminarian at CDSP, Karla Koon, needs temporary help with some domestic chores as she deals with medical treatment. If you are interested in joining a temporary ministry team to provide assistance (between now and the end of May), please contact bonniekbishop@myyahoo.com.
Last but definitely not Least
Lent 2025 Playlist is on Spotify. Matt Wolka invites you to click here to check it out.
Upcoming Poetry Events in El Cerrito: Lovely All Soulsians! As you know I am finishing up a whiz bang year of bringing poetry to El Cerrito as El Cerrito’s poet laureate. It’s been an incredible ride! I learned that Contra Costa has long had some of the worst arts funding per capita in California, so actually getting to plan and do arts events here in the schools I grew up attending has meant the world to me. Kids write great poems! There are some very special public facing events for all ages! I’d love to have you join us! All are welcome.
The El Cerrito Community Center will be hosting two events on Community Poetry Day, March 15th.
4:30-6 pm: Tongo Eisen-Martin will be teaching an intergenerational poetry workshop.
6:30-8 pm: Eminent Bay Area poets will be giving a reading
SAVE THE DATES May 2 & 3 for a two-day youth poetry festival with all kinds of fun poetry activities. Haiku booth, zine booth, record a poem on the radio booth, poetry scavenger hunt, taco truck and more!
Tess Taylor
2024 Contribution Statements: They are already prepared and ready for download on Realm. You'll see a blue button that says "2024 Contribution Statement" on your Home Profile Page, and also on your Giving Page. If you aren't registered yet on Realm, or if you have trouble, just email, text or call Maggie Cooke, Giving Secretary, and she will have an email out to you (or a hard copy mailed if required) within an hour or so. Don't hesitate to ask... but it's a great feature of Realm to see your Giving at any time.
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