Above, the community gathers for a Baptism and to welcome a new member of the Body of Christ..

MORE LOVE AND OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS



What do you mean by those "More Love" buttons?
"More Love" has become the unofficial motto of St. John’s. It comes from a Shaker hymn we often sing:

More love! More love! The heavens are blessing,
The angels are calling, Oh children, more love.
More love! More love! Alone by its power
the world we shall nourish for love feeds all life.
If we love not each other in daily communion,
how can we love those whom we have not seen?
If we love one another then hope dwells within us,
and we are made strong to live life in joy.
 
“More Love” seems to sum up what we all experience at St. John’s – and what the teachings of Christ are all about: the love of God, the love of a compassionate community, the love for our suffering world. We invite you to join us in sharing in this love.





Where does the St. John’s community come from?
Founded in 1857, St. John’s is one of the oldest residents of our North Mission neighborhood. Many of our members live and work in the Mission, or in the surrounding neighborhoods of the Castro, Noe Valley, Hayes Valley, South of Market, Potrero Hill, and Bernal Heights. We also have a number of members who come from as far away as El Cerrito, Mill Valley, San Mateo, and Mountain View because they love our worship and community.
Photo: Long-time members Rebecca Gordon and Jan Adams, who live in the Mission, and Ed and Liz Specht, who live in Mill Valley, enjoying hospitality in St. John's garden.





Who attends St. John's?
St. John’s members come from different religious backgrounds. About one-third are “cradle” Episcopalians who grew up in this faith. About one-third are former Roman Catholics who have found a home in the Episcopal Church because it is some ways familiar, but also very different from the Church of Rome. And about one-third fit into the “miscellaneous” category – raised in other Protestant faiths or in none at all. We have at least one member who is Jewish by birth, and some of us are also practicing Buddhists. This is one of the reasons we say the “Episcopal Church Welcomes You” – we embrace everyone no matter their religious history.
Photo: Welcoming new members.





What is the Episcopal Church?
The Episcopal Church owes its foundation to Jesus Christ and strives to live by Christ’s message of love, in which there are no outcasts and all are welcome. Walking a middle way between Roman Catholicism and Protestant traditions (hence, we are often described as the via media, or middle way, and “Anglo Catholic”), we are a sacramental and worship-oriented church that promotes thoughtful debate about what God is calling us to do and be, as followers of Christ.

The Episcopal Church is related to the Church of England, which broke its connection with the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. Our church organized itself as independent from the Church of England around the time of the American Revolutionary War. The leaders of our church chose the name “Episcopal” because “Anglican” sounded too English, and they were fighting for independence from the English. They chose “Episcopal,” which comes from the Greek word for “bishop” or “overseer,” because our church leaders are called bishops.




The Episcopal Church is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the churches around the world that trace their roots to the Church of England, and maintain a “communion” with it. The member churches of the Anglican Communion are joined together by choice in love, and have no direct authority over one another. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, is acknowledged as the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, but does not have direct authority over any Anglican Church outside of England. The Episcopal Church U.S.A. is headed by a “presiding bishop,” currently the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman to hold that position and to a head a national church within the Anglican Communion.
Photo: Bishop Katharine processing into San Francisco's Grace Cathedral Sept. 30, 2007, during her first pastoral visit to the Diocese of California. 

 
What do you believe?
The Episcopal Church is not a church of inflexible doctrine or dogma. We are often called the “People of the Book” because we all share the Book of Common Prayer. Our most fundamental book, however, is the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. The main beliefs of the Episcopal Church are contained in the ancient Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, familiar to those from the Catholic tradition. These creeds begin, “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in One Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. . . .” Episcopalians also put great importance on the traditions of the church and reason as a means of discerning God's call.





How do you worship?
We gather each Sunday to welcome God among us by hearing and responding to the story of God’s action in the world, by offering up a prayer of thanksgiving to God, and by sharing a sacred meal of bread and wine. Our weekly Sunday service is sometimes referred to as a mass, and many things about it would be familiar to someone raised in the Roman Catholic tradition. The first half of our service focuses on readings from the Bible and includes a sermon. The second half, often called the Holy Eucharist (or Communion), remembers Jesus’ last supper with his Apostles through the breaking of bread. (Our partner congregation, El Buen Samaritano, celebrate a similar service at 12:30 pm on Sundays in Spanish.) As we celebrate God’s presence in our lives, we become aware of our shared community of faith and our responsibilities to each other. We believe that one way that God works among us is in freeing us from isolation and loneliness, so that we can love and care for one another. For more information, see Worship. 
Photo: Easter Sunday.





May I receive communion?
In the Episcopal Church, anyone who has been baptized is welcome to receive communion, in the forms of both bread and wine. Those who prefer not to receive communion are welcome to come forward to receive a blessing instead.
Photo: The Rev. Jeff Donnelly, a former St. John's member ordained at Grace Cathedral just the day before, distributes Communion for the first time as a priest.





Do you have music?
Yes, we have very beautiful music! We were blessed by the gifts of our music director, Dr. Thomas Conroy, a composer and professor at the San Francisco Conservatory. Our Sunday morning worship is led by our all-volunteer choir, singing a wide range of music from traditional Anglican and Episcopal hymns to medieval chants to American folk music and spirituals.
Photo: St. John's M.P. Möller/DeCamp Organ.





Is St. John’s welcoming to LGBTQ people?
’s is an inclusive parish that welcomes all, and our core values include a special vocation to respect and advocate for the dignity of LGBTQ people. A number of our members serve the LGBTQ community in a range of roles, from The Family Link to SF General to NCLR to And Castro for All, and we march annually in the San Francisco Pride Parade and host a booth at the Castro Street Fair each October. It is also important to note that our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, has been a national leader within the Episcopal Church on behalf of LGBTQ people and publicly denounced California Proposition 8.
Photo: One of our parish angels prepares to distribute "More Love" stickers at the San Francisco Pride Parade.





Are children welcome?
Yes! We have many kinds of families at St. John’s, and children are warmly embraced. Godly Play or Sunday School for children aged 3 to 10 years old is held every Sunday during the school year at 10 am. Children may also join their parents during the service, if they wish, and are welcome at the Communion table. In addition, we often hold birthday parties for our St. John's kids during Coffee Hour, annual events like an Easter Egg Hunt in our garden, and we try to take the kids on quarterly outings throughout the year like hikes or a visit to a neighborhood Posada celebration during Advent. For more, see Children and Families.





What about hospitality and fellowship?
Our Sunday morning service is followed by a Coffee Hour in which we offer hospitality to each other and to visitors among us. When weather permits, we gather in the garden (as at left). Following Coffee Hour, we also often have forums on topics of interest to the parish. All are welcome to attend. We also have many special "occasions," such as summer BBQs and parties marking milestone birthdays and anniversaries. And we pull out all the stops for Christmas and Easter feasts! For more, see Education and Fellowship.

How do I become a member of St. John’s?
If you are interested in becoming a member of our parish, please call our parish office. You are welcome to worship at St. John’s without becoming a member, but we hope you will consider “officially” joining at some point, if you enjoy our worship and community. We hold Newcomer’s Groups on a quarterly basis that allow visitors of all spiritual backgrounds to explore their faith and membership in the Episcopal Church and St. John’s. Any baptized person can become a member of St. John's; if you are not baptized, speak to one of our clergy members to discuss your wish to become baptized. We celebrate baptisms several times a year (including the Great Vigil of Easter) and would be happy to baptize you here at St. John’s. If you are a baptized and/or a confirmed Episcopalian, you need only have your records transferred from your former church to St. John’s. If you are not confirmed (confirmation is the sacramental rite in which the candidates "express a mature commitment to Christ, and receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop” [Book of Common Prayer]), please discuss your desire for confirmation with one of our clergy members. If you were confirmed in another catholic denomination (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox), that confirmation is recognized by the Episcopal Church and you will be “received” by our bishop at a confirmation/reception service, typically held at Grace Cathedral here in San Francisco.

Photo credits from top: K. Leibenath; M. Cousins; J. Adams; L. Iversen, SF Chronicle; M. Cousins; J. Adams; M. Cousins; K. Veit; M. Cousins