Register for the EVENT: Shining a Light on the Realities of COVID-19 Post-Recovery Worship and Community Life

SFIC ONLINE BRIEFING FOR COMMUNITY & FAITH PARTNERS

"Shining a Light on the Realities of COVID-19 Post-Recovery Worship and Community Life"

Covid-19 traumatically impacted every aspect of human life and interaction around the globe. Response to the pandemic dramatically altered every aspect of social engagement which, for the better part of three years, necessitated a transition to isolation and virtual existence.

Like the "new normal" for all sectors of society, the nature of worship and community life were not exempt from this metamorphosis and forever changed.

As we cautiously find ourselves in this post-recovery state, religious and lay leaders are taking stock of these changes in order to chart a course for the future.

This week's Online Briefing for Community and Faith Partners, hosted by the San Francisco Interfaith Council (SFIC), welcomes three religious leaders who will share the pandemic experiences of their respective houses of worship, how they pivoted to new and creative ways of ministering, what phenomena in human behavior toward worship and community life they are witnessing as we emerge from isolation, and how they are planning for the future.

Interfaith Statement

Michael G. Pappas, Executive Director

San Francisco Interfaith Council

Reflective Moment

Rev. Marvin K. White, Minister of Celebration

Glide Memorial Church

Featured Presenters

The Rev. Beate (“Bea”) Chun (she/her/hers)

Lead Pastor

St. Francis Lutheran Church, San Francisco

Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern (she/her/hers)

Senior Minister

First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi (she/her/hers)

Canon Precentor | Director of Interfaith Engagement

GraceCathedral.Org

Q & A

Concluding Remarks

Michael G. Pappas, Executive Director

San Francisco Interfaith Council

The Rev. Beate (“Bea”) Chun

Lead Pastor

St. Francis Lutheran Church, San

The Rev. Beate (“Bea”) Chun is the lead pastor of St. Francis Lutheran Church, San Francisco where she has served for the past ten years. She is a native of Germany and was ordained into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 1991.

Prior to coming to St. Francis, she has served congregations in Texas, Wyoming, and California. She has a passion for preaching, counseling, spiritual direction, fundraising, justice work and chocolate.

Her interests in ecumenical and interfaith work led her to

explore the history of Eastern Orthodoxy and engage in Talmud studies.

Pr. Chun moved to the Bay Area in 2001 and lives with her wife Alex in Oakland, CA. In her downtime she enjoys hiking, gardening, watercolor painting, and cooking for family

and friends.

The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi

Canon Precentor | Director of Interfaith Engagement

Grace Cathedral

The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi, an Episcopal priest, liturgist and interfaith advocate, serves as the Canon Precentor and Director of Interfaith Engagement at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. In this role, Anna is responsible for keeping sacred time, from simple spoken daily offices on Zoom, to grand basilica festivals and diocesan celebrations, as well as weddings and funerals.

She also convenes partners to craft ritual responses to the events — both tragic and joyful — whose impacts transcend confessional boundaries. She is the staff chair of Grace Cathedral's Social Justice Working Group, and its current campaign, Beyond Thoughts and Prayers: Responding Faithfully to Gun Violence. Anna holds an MA in Theology from the Claremont School of Theology, and serves on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Interfaith Council.

REV. VANESSA SOUTHERN

Senior Minister

First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco

Vanessa Southern has been the Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco since the summer of 2017.

She has served congregations in Boston, Washington, DC, and Summit, New Jersey and is the author of two books, This Piece of Eden and Miles of Dream and the editor of Little Did I Know, an anthology of writing about the care and tending of young people as part of our search for meaning, and her writings have appeared in Women's Day and The Dallas Morning News. She is married to Rohit Menezes and has one daughter halfway through college.

She is the current Chair of the Board of the Interfaith Council of San Francisco and is delighted to be part of the vibrant and visionary collaboration and dialogue among faith communities that come together under this umbrella.

San Francisco Interfaith Council

The mission of the San Francisco Interfaith Council is: “Celebrating our diverse faiths and spiritual traditions, bringing people together to build understanding and serving our community.” The San Francisco Interfaith Council (SFIC) counts as its constituents the 800 congregations in the City and County of San Francisco, their respective judicatories, sectarian educational and healthcare institutions, and the faith-based social service agencies that provide the social safety net for our most vulnerable residents. Learn more click here.

This Workshop Series is Supported by a Grant from the

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