Calvary's Blog
Hear from Calvary's many voices.
These blogs are written by our staff and congregation members.
The 2024 Annual Report
Download the PDF of the 2023 Annual Report (15MB)
Download 2024's Lenten Bible Study Guide.
Do simple activities or read books together.
Create hope by composting alongside kids.
Provide an open, calm, and safe space to talk.
Occasionally I hear comments to the effect of, “Calvary’s recent highlighting of political issues can deter people from attending worship services.” My response is something like, “Since July 23, 1854, for 169 years, Calvary has been addressing human rights issues directly related to Jesus’ radical welcome. In 2020, we, along with many congregations across the U.S., became a Matthew 25 church that outwardly proclaims our commitment to...
Summer is a busy time for families as they shift from the school-year schedules to summer camps, programs, and vacations. How does church fit into families’ summer schedules? Many years ago, Calvary held summer worship services in the chapel and did not offer childcare.
The REI Planning Team has set our goals for 2023. We will continue to pursue some of our goals from 2022, but we also added a new goal related to...
Join the Calvary Racial Equity Initiative (REI) Team after worship this Sunday, June 18, to celebrate our newest Federal holiday and the oldest known holiday that observes the end of slavery in the U.S. Enjoy Coffee Hour with treats from a local Black-owned business and information about Black heroes.
Read about current gun violence statistics and how to help put an end to senseless violence.
Learn about Foster Care Awareness Month
“Cynecism is ungrieved grief.” I thought about this quote a lot after reading Traci Smith’s free Treasure Box Tuesday email. She, a children’s minister and author, quotes pastor and author, Rob Bell, who probably officiated many memorials and heard countless stories of grief from congregation members.
We are thrilled to have experienced eight Monday night Kundalini Yoga classes at Calvary this spring. Rocky Blumhagen and Laura Paradis taught yoga postures, breathing techniques, all while playing lovely music, a gong or the crystal singing bowls.
It used to take me hours to make a mix tape. Children and youth can now easily curate their songs into playlists and instantly share with family and friends. They receive recommendations for other similar playlists and learn about new artists and songs of the same genre.
If I visited Calvary for the first time and had not been to a Presbyterian church before, I would want someone to help me understand what I was doing throughout the order of worship. This blog provides an example of how some churches annotate their bulletins so children, youth, and adults can learn more about why we choose to read, sing, pray, and listen at certain times during the worship service.
Calvary Presbyterian Church continues to support transgender youth and adults. March 2023 is Transgender Awareness Month. We show our continuing support through messages such as, “Trans Lives Matter,” “Believe Trans Kids,” “Support Trans Kids,” and “Protect Trans Kids.”
Download Calvary’s 2022 Annual Report in PDF format.
Lent is a time for you and your child to prayerfully reflect and reconnect with God. Taking a walk to observe changes in nature can reveal the Lenten story. The seed grows in the darkness into a flower blooming in the light. Jesus walks in the wilderness, experiences a harrowing last week on earth, and then is risen at Easter.
It is my hope that the senior adults who submitted poems, paintings, and fiber art will be witnessed by children, youth, young adults, and adults, but also share their wisdom and encouragement with those folks. I look forward to our second church-wide intergenerational art show.
Lent is a time to prayerfully reflect and reconnect with God. You are invited to join us on a Lenten journey to deepen our faith and deepen our community as...
People living in San Francisco, China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Mongolia, and all over the world celebrate Lunar New Year. The holiday begins on Sunday, January 22 and continues for a week. 2023 is the year of the Rabbit. San Francisco activities kicked off with the Flower Fair on January 14 and will last through the annual Grand Parade on February 4.
Calvary Presbyterian Church welcomes families of all faiths. At Calvary, many families have one parent who practices Christianity and another parent who practices another faith or is agnostic or atheist. We can create opportunities to welcome each other and hear each other's faith perspectives.
This morning I drank coffee, ate breakfast, and lit candles: twelve connected in a circle, the 4th candle on the menorah, and the four Advent candles on the angel chimes. It is Winter Solstice, also known as the Longest Night. Tonight we will celebrate a long night transition which generations of our ancestors have experienced.
The next time you are at childcare or Sunday Studio, please pick up a free copy of Rebecca Kirkpatrick’s book 100 Things Every Child Should Know Before Confirmation. This book focuses on the practice of planting the seed of faith, feeding the soil of each child’s soul, and watching children and youth grow.
Download the 2022 Advent Devotional Booklet.
How does supporting a targeted person relate to church and being in relationship with others in a Christ-like way? Wherever humans are, divisions can be created. Like Jesus, we need to know how to show up, de-escalate, be present, ask for help, ignore attackers, respect targeted people, and then have the courage to follow up with the situation until it is addressed and supported.
“‘How are you showing up today?’ That’s a language we use a lot,” Thomas-Bush said. “As a person of faith, how are we going to show up loving our neighbor, loving ourselves?”
We as parents or adults working with children and teens know that our actions stick in the minds of our children more than our words. If we create time to be with our children and teens, they notice. How does this act of being present figure into the Pew Research Center’s 2020 survey data about teens and their approach to religion and spirituality?
We hear “God is doing a new thing!” in Isaiah 43:19 and wonder how our world can be as new as it was in the days before Jesus. We talk about “a new heaven and a new earth” in Revelation 21 and wonder what that looks like for us.
I hope to carry these sustaining life practices of connecting with friends and family, doing yoga and music, and being present into my daily work world. They increase my hope and faith in God’s abundance, grace, and connection.
Join the Calvary community in reading a book together this summer!
I invite you to find a physical practice that helps you feel some sense of liberation or freedom. Jesus calls us to be free from things that hold us back from connecting directly with God who is always there. Dancing helps us celebrate, release, prepare us for rest and let go, so that we can connect more fully with the divine. We can engage our freedom to advocate for safety and autonomy of others.
As we prepare to celebrate Juneteenth, it's important to take the time to learn more about this important holiday.
Presbyterian Church (USA) urged to ‘be a repairer of the breach’ created by systemic racism.
After reading a post from our children’s former preschool director, I arrived at work, cut out a yellow circle, and wrote “I Wouldn’t Be Here (at work) Without Childcare” on it. We have survived as a family in San Francisco because of my education job at Calvary in tandem with all of the childcare and camps we have accessed while raising our two children.
Congratulations SF Achievers Class of 2022!
Children innately know earth care by their play. They climb trees, sift sand, mix mud pies, and run in the grass with butterflies. They want to savor what the earth gives them. What can we do each day to observe and appreciate nature?
Calvary partners with other Presbyterian churches on faith-based racial equity initiatives.
Thank you for Supporting Calvary’s Ministry and Mission JOIN US FOR FELLOWSHIP & REFRESHMENTS AT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING GATHERINGS Sunday, May 1, 3 – 5 pm St. Francis Wood...
Walking with children through the dramatic stories of Holy Week can be exhausting, but also connective. The book, "Make Room: A Child’s Guide to Lent and Easter" written by Laura Alary and illustrated by Ann Boyajian, walks adults and young children through the first Sunday of Lent all the way through the tough events of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and ends in the glory of the Easter story.
Goals for 2022 have been set by the Racial Equity Initiative team
“I need a weekend to recover from my weekend!”
Most grandparents want a grandchild to open their gift right away, so that they can see the child’s expression, reaction, and connection to the gift. Some of us, as adult children, have a parent’s or grandparent’s voice in our head that encourages restraint, “Don’t use it. Save it for a rainy day. Keep it nice and it will last longer.”
Download the 2021 Calvary Presbyterian Church Annual Report in PDF format
When faced with a moment of defeat, depression or sadness, giving ourselves empathy is often the last thing we do.
Join us this year for a Lenten Small Group Bible Study experience. Whether you're new to Bible study and small groups or whether it's your favorite part of church, all are welcome! Bible Study times and locations listed here (both online and in-person options will be available) to sign up.
The Rev. Victor H. Floyd: You’ve heard them preach; you’ve seen them lead worship; but do you really know your pastors? This is part 1 of a 3 series Adult Education & Spiritual Formation event on Getting to Know Your Pastors.
Legacy giving is more than money. It’s a spiritual discipline prioritizing faithfulness over material things. Legacy gifts of any size combine to create a vision of abundance, ensuring the continued...
During my early childhood education classes, I learned about ages and stages of children, developmentally appropriate practices, and family-centered early care and education. The recommended 2017 book, How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7 by Joanna Faber and Julie King, offers many practical ways for adults to reword our observations and requests of children, so that they will actually hear us and then respond by taking independent or cooperative action.