SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – On Saturday night, skaters raced at high speed down Church Street in San Francisco – next to Dolores Park.

They call it the “hill bomb” and it happens every year, but the San Francisco Police have tried to prevent it.

They set up barricades on several blocks of Dolores Street, but the skaters simply went down another street.

“I guess the police aren't as interested in this one as they were in Dolores,” said Amire Lofton, who attended. “Four skaters, they all said Church Street and they all just came here.”

RELATED: 'You could get arrested': SFPD warns skaters planning to attend Dolores Park Hill bomb blast

The police were on the mountain but did not intervene. They even blocked the road for the skaters.

Last year, San Francisco police attempted to prevent the Hill Bomb and a confrontation broke out between them and the skaters. Over 100 people were arrested for throwing objects at police and damaging a MUNI train.

Police Chief Bill Scott said this week he would not tolerate violence.

Many skaters feel the city should have worked with them to keep the event going while ensuring safety.

“The city was not warned about this event without adequate warning,” said Aaron Breetwor, a skateboard activist from San Francisco. “I was in contact with them a year ago trying to get them to make the event safer, even though there was no official organizer, and they had nothing planned other than this.”

RELATED TOPICS: What will happen at this year's Dolores Park Hill bombing? SFPD advises not to go

Breetwor claims skateboards are listed as a non-motorized, user-powered vehicle in the city's traffic code. He plans to continue talking with the city.

However, residents of the park were happy to see the police.

“It's about public safety. It's not about the kids not having fun,” said Chuck Louden, who lives near the park. “I'm glad to see them here today. We can work together to find a place that works for everyone, but this is about safety.”

We have reached out to the San Francisco Police Department to ask why they did not intervene in the bombing on the hill and are now waiting for a response.

Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.

The post San Francisco’s Dolores Park Hill Bomb strikes over to Church Avenue after police barricade authentic location to skaters appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

In San Francisco, the younger performers will warm hearts with a selection ranging from Rogers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” Mark Weston’s “Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” and the Spanish Traditional “Arre Borriquito.”

Older singers will celebrate wintertime with songs including the Turkish Traditional “Üsküdar,” “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, and Cynthia Gray’s “Afternoon on a Hill.”

The National Children’s Chorus guides kids to thrive. Each year, under the leadership of Artistic Director Luke McEndarfer and Associate Artistic Director Dr. Pamela Blackstone, over 1,100 young people who carry a love of singing in their hearts find their voice and achieve their best through unparalleled vocal training in eight chapter cities nationwide.

Through the NCC, students connect with each other, growing as artists and as citizens. The young vocalists, ages 5 to 18, engage in a superlative regimen that includes an extensive musicianship curriculum.

The students are celebrating that their album Illumine hit #3 on the Billboard Classical charts. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and AIR Studios in London last summer, in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released on Lexicon Classics. The album highlights holiday music from different countries, cultures, and traditions around the world resulting in an exquisite musical collection — a diverse, world-encompassing array of holiday expressions by underrepresented voices in choral music.

The festive December concert appearance marks the start to the group’s 120th anniversary season where the group will launch a new chapter city, exponentially expand its scholarship program, and set off on an eighth international tour.

Tickets start at $35.

Christopher Hewitt, pianist
Michaela Overall, pianist
Ray Capiral-Speers, pianist

PRELUDE LEVEL
Ann Elizabeth Jones, conductor
“My Favorite Things,” Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein II, arr. Roger Emerson
“The Night Wind,” Mark Patterson
“Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” Mark Weston

MINUET LEVEL
Enya Murray, conductor
“Arre Borriquito” (Spanish Traditional), arr. D. Farrell Smith & Shelley J. Smith
“Somewhere in My Memory,” John Williams & Leslie Bricusse, arr. Audrey Snyders
“Cold Snap,” Mark Hayes

SONATA LEVEL
Peter Meredith, conductor
“Afternoon on a Hill,” Cynthia Gray
“Üsküdar,” (Turkish Traditional), arr. Mark Burrows
“Velvet Shoes,” Randall Thompson
“On With the Snow!,” Douglas E. Wagner

PREMIER ENSEMBLE
Dr. Pamela Blackstone & Julia Morris, conductors
“Salmo 150,” Ernani Aguiar, arr. Donald Patriquin & Alberto Grau
“Winter.” Anthony Giamanco & Walter de la Mare, arr. Andy Beck
“Flight,” Craig Carnelia, arr. Ryan Murphy
“The Christmas Song,” Mel Tormé & Robert Wells, arr. Mark Hayes

Talented young singers from the National Children’s Chorus kick off the holidays with a joyful and moving concert, “a truly ethereal sound” (Gramophone). The San Francisco concert will feature students ages 5-18 offering an extraordinary performance of a brand-new winter collection of songs that inspire gratitude, mindfulness, and self-knowledge.

In San Francisco, the younger performers will warm hearts with a selection ranging from Rogers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” Mark Weston’s “Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” and the Spanish Traditional “Arre Borriquito.”

Older singers will celebrate wintertime with songs including the Turkish Traditional “Üsküdar,” “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, and Cynthia Gray’s “Afternoon on a Hill.”

The National Children’s Chorus guides kids to thrive. Each year, under the leadership of Artistic Director Luke McEndarfer and Associate Artistic Director Dr. Pamela Blackstone, over 1,100 young people who carry a love of singing in their hearts find their voice and achieve their best through unparalleled vocal training in eight chapter cities nationwide.

Through the NCC, students connect with each other, growing as artists and as citizens. The young vocalists, ages 5 to 18, engage in a superlative regimen that includes an extensive musicianship curriculum.

The students are celebrating that their album Illumine hit #3 on the Billboard Classical charts. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and AIR Studios in London last summer, in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released on Lexicon Classics. The album highlights holiday music from different countries, cultures, and traditions around the world resulting in an exquisite musical collection — a diverse, world-encompassing array of holiday expressions by underrepresented voices in choral music.

The festive December concert appearance marks the start to the group’s 120th anniversary season where the group will launch a new chapter city, exponentially expand its scholarship program, and set off on an eighth international tour.

Tickets start at $35.

Christopher Hewitt, pianist
Michaela Overall, pianist
Ray Capiral-Speers, pianist

PRELUDE LEVEL
Ann Elizabeth Jones, conductor
“My Favorite Things,” Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein II, arr. Roger Emerson
“The Night Wind,” Mark Patterson
“Hanukkah, Season of Joy!,” Mark Weston

MINUET LEVEL
Enya Murray, conductor
“Arre Borriquito” (Spanish Traditional), arr. D. Farrell Smith & Shelley J. Smith
“Somewhere in My Memory,” John Williams & Leslie Bricusse, arr. Audrey Snyders
“Cold Snap,” Mark Hayes

SONATA LEVEL
Peter Meredith, conductor
“Afternoon on a Hill,” Cynthia Gray
“Üsküdar,” (Turkish Traditional), arr. Mark Burrows
“Velvet Shoes,” Randall Thompson
“On With the Snow!,” Douglas E. Wagner

PREMIER ENSEMBLE
Dr. Pamela Blackstone & Julia Morris, conductors
“Salmo 150,” Ernani Aguiar, arr. Donald Patriquin & Alberto Grau
“Winter.” Anthony Giamanco & Walter de la Mare, arr. Andy Beck
“Flight,” Craig Carnelia, arr. Ryan Murphy
“The Christmas Song,” Mel Tormé & Robert Wells, arr. Mark Hayes

The post Nationwide Youngsters’s Refrain Winter Showcase in San Francisco at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church – San Francisco in San Francisco – December 5, 2023 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco is selling its adjacent former parsonage, a stately, renovated, 129-year-old home.

Not available on the market for more than a century, the 4,000-square-foot former parsonage in the Pacific Heights neighborhood is listed for $4.25 million, according to the Compass real estate firm.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom residence, 2121 Lyon St., was built in tandem with construction of the Swedenborgian Church, some 129 years ago.

“What makes 2121 Lyon St. extraordinary, in addition to its central, seminal place in the history of San Francisco … is despite its 129 years of age … the home feels very modern,” listing agent Kerry Rose of Compass said in an email. “The light, ample room sizes, high ceilings, layout and exquisite details make this home an amazing hybrid of classic and modern styles and shows how thoughtful design coupled with quality construction really stand the test of time. Beyond simply being a very livable home, it generates a sense of peace and joy and somehow allows one to feel both secure and yet open to the outside world simultaneously.”

In 1900, the residence was bought by artist William Keith, a member of the church.

The Eloesser family bought the property in 1921 and lived there until 1986, when the Swedenborgian Church purchased it through a life estate deed. The church took full possession of the property in 2010, according to Compass.

In 2012, the owners began an extensive renovation based upon findings and recommendations in the Architectural Resources Group’s historic structures report.

The work included creation of a new kitchen, restoring the exterior, adding new bathrooms and upgrading the electrical, plumbing and heating systems. Additional updates were done in 2023.

The residence includes a serene garden, patio, potting shed and secured gated access.

The property was a favorite destination for wedding parties in the city for decades, according to Compass.

The church’s design and creation in 1895 was influenced by an elite group of early California pioneers, according to a Compass representative. That group included William Keith, the painter, naturalist John Muir, architect A. Page Brown, draftsman Bernard Maybeck and the Reverend Joseph Worcester, who would be its first minister.

The buildings are done in the First Bay Tradition style, an architectural style popular from the period of the 1880s to early 1920s.

Amanda Jones of Compass is the co-listing agent.

default Mario Serafin

See the top 7 panoramic views from Sacramento-area homes. What’s your favorite?

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The historic First Church of Christ Scientist building at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, Aug. 29, 2023. Arturo Alvarez and Andres Ramirez of BrandSafway work on the building.

SAN JOSE — James Salata, head of Garden City Construction, decided that enough was enough when it came to an abandoned historic church in downtown San Jose covered with a tattered tarp.

“This is really gnawing at me,” Salata said Tuesday as he watched his construction crew finish up a wide-ranging job this week to transform the blighted church property into a little less of an eyesore in downtown San Jose.

The historic structure on Salata’s mind is the First Church of Christ, Scientist at 43 East St. James Street. A growing number of observers, activists and neighbors have begun to complain about the church’s disrepair under its years-long ownership by a China-based real estate firm and the nebulous oversight by city staffers and code enforcement officers.

BrandSafway workers operate next to the ionic columns of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, Aug. 29, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

The church’s exterior has been exposed for years to fierce winter storms and blazing summer sunshine. Winds have steadily shredded the makeshift tarp.

This week, alarmed by the looming prospect of the fall and winter months, Salata took matters into his own hands and dispatched construction workers from subcontractor BrandSafway to undertake considerable work at the church.

First Church of Christ, Scientist is on a site owned by Z&L Properties, a China-based real estate company whose principal executive is Zhang Li, a key figure in a bribery scandal involving a top former San Francisco official.

Salata was able to gain access to the site because he had prior permission from Z&L to undertake some work on the inside of the church. BrandSafway owned the scaffolds and was reclaiming its equipment because Z&L didn’t come through with payments for that work. In the process, the tarp was removed.

Salata realizes the cost of some or much of this week’s work will come out of his pocket.

• The Ionic columns of the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building in San Jose, Calif., are once again visible, Tuesday, August 29, 2023, as Arturo Alvarez and Andres Ramirez of BrandSafway Scaffolding remove the protective covering that has obscured the historic 1905-era building for nearly five years. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

• (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

  The historic First Church of Christ Scientist building at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, Aug. 29, 2023. Arturo Alvarez and Andres Ramirez of BrandSafway work on the building.

• The Ionic columns of the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building in San Jose, Calif., are once again visible, Tuesday, August 29, 2023, as Arturo Alvarez and Andres Ramirez of BrandSafway Scaffolding remove the protective covering that has obscured the historic 1905-era building for nearly five years. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

• (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

  BrandSafway workers operate next to the ionic columns of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, Aug. 29, 2023.

• Crews from Garden City Construction sweep up the plastic littering Saint James Street from the degraded protective covering at the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, August 29, 2023. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

• Shredded plastic from the degraded covering protecting the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist building litters E. Saint James Street in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, August 29, 2023. BrandSafway Scaffolding workers were removing the shredded wrap that has obscured the historic 1905-era building for nearly five years. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

• San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, left, speaks, as Councilmember Omar Torre looks on, in front of the partially covered First Church of Christ, Scientist building during a press conference, where he announced plans to up the maximum amount of fines for negligent property owners, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

• The partially covered First Church of Christ, Scientist building is seen before a press conference, where San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced plans to up the maximum amount of fines for negligent property owners, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

• The partially covered First Church of Christ, Scientist building is seen during a press conference, where San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced plans to up the maximum amount of fines for negligent property owners, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

• The partially covered First Church of Christ, Scientist building is seen during a press conference, where San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced plans to up the maximum amount of fines for negligent property owners, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

• First Church of Christ Scientist at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, February 2023. (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

• (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose.

  6-1-2023, San Jose CA

  (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

• (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose.

  6-1-2023, San Jose CA

  (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

• (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  A roofline and the structure of First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, are exposed to the elements, February 2023.

  2-27-23

  (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

• (HMdb.org, Historical Marker Database, Syd Whittle)

  First Church of Christ Scientist, a historic building located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, constructed in 1905. The building as it appeared in 2010.

  (HMdb.org, Historical Marker Database, Syd Whittle)

• (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  First Church of Christ Scientist, located at 43 East St. James Street in downtown San Jose, is partly covered by tarps, January 2023.

  (George Avalos/Bay Area News Group)

  01-24-2023

“I just decided to take the risk,” Salata said. “I couldn’t take it any longer, seeing that eyesore out there every day.”

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan hopes the building can be saved.

“It’s great to see some progress just a week after we announced stricter accountability measures for blighted properties,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said.

But Bob Staedler, principal executive with land-use consultancy Silicon Valley Synergy, and a long-time critic of the city staff’s inaction on the property, praised Salata’s efforts.

“Jim Salata is a true steward of San Jose,” Staedler said. “He really stepped up. All credit to him. The city of San Jose should have started this work years ago. Jim Salata is doing the city a favor.”

Z&L Properties had agreed to renovate and restore the church and make it a key component of a project of two housing towers next to St. James Park. Z&L never built the housing high-rises and did not renovate the church.

The church site is one of several failed or faltering projects that Z&L had proposed or launched in downtown San Jose.

Federal prosecutors reached a settlement in a criminal case against Zhang. The deal allowed Zhang to return home to China after paying a fine.

For months, city officials have pondered — but have yet to approve — a stopgap $200,000 plan to remove the tarp and protect the church from the elements. The city is paying for it out of its own coffers because it has yet to coax an agreement from Zhang to finance the work.

Salata said he also attempted to convince Z&L to pay him to do badly needed work on the property that would fully protect the church.

“I tried to negotiate with Z&L, but ‘we have no money’ was their answer,” Salata said. “I made them a sweetheart deal to get this fixed up. They said they had no money for the work.”

Now, the contractors have patched up the distinctive dome on the roof, removed the tarp, cleaned up small bits of plastic that could become a pollution risk during the rainy season, and done some shoring up work as well as improved the drainage on the site.

“Hallelujah! this is what we were hoping for,” said Ben Leech, executive director of the Preservation Action Council of San Jose. “The church is still standing and in remarkably good condition because it’s been left to rot for several years. Everyone can see this is an important piece of architecture we are trying to save.”

On Tuesday, several workers were busy removing scaffolds that had clung to the side of the church for years.

More work needs to be done, however, Salata warned.

“The handoff for this now goes to Z&L and the city staff,” Salata said.

Among the immediate tasks that are needed to fully protect the church: the completion of some weatherproofing on a long upright section that is closest to the intersection of East St. James Street and North Second Street, Salata said.

“Z&L needs to follow through on their responsibility for protecting this historical landmark in the heart of our city,” Mahan said.

While more work needs to be done, for now, the old church is no longer obscured by a steadily crumbling tarp.

“People can see how beautiful this building is,” Salata said.

The post Historic San Jose church comes into view after eyesore tarp is eliminated appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

But it was moving to San Francisco that really set him on the path to becoming a roller-skating devotee. Miles arrived in the late ’70s, when skating had exploded all over the city, especially in Golden Gate Park. According to the park’s own estimates, in the summer of 1979, anywhere between 15,000 and 20,000 skaters would show up to cruise along JFK Drive on Sundays. Miles quickly became part of the scene.

The boom in skating also caused contention with city residents, who pushed for a total ban on skating in San Francisco. Miles joined the Golden Gate Park Skate Patrol, a skating ambassador group formed to keep skaters in the park safe and in designated areas. They skated all the way from San Francisco to Sacramento to make their case to the state of California that cities should be allowed to regulate, but not outright ban, roller-skating. They won.

By the late ’80s, Miles was making a living exclusively with skate lessons and events. In 2000, he attended Burning Man for the first time — it would become a regular occurrence for him. He’s part of the camp that builds the Black Rock Roller Disco, which they run 24 hours a day the whole week of Burning Man. There is clearly Burning Man influence in Miles’ skating outfits, too, and in the space that would become the Church of 8 Wheels.

David Miles skates back to his DJ booth at the Church of 8 Wheels in San Francisco on Sept. 20, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

From church to roller disco

The building that now houses the roller rink, at 554 Fillmore Street, is part of what was formerly the Sacred Heart Catholic Church complex, consisting of the church, the rectory, the convent and a school. The church was designed by architect Thomas John Welsh, who designed many other Catholic churches and schools in the Bay Area. Built in 1897, it survived the 1906 earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church, on the corner of Fell and Fillmore streets in San Francisco, 1939. (Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library)

In 2004, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced the church would be closed, due to the high cost of seismic repairs. The property was sold to a private buyer. The building has since been designated a historic landmark in the National Register of Historic Places.

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James DeLange was an established Lutheran minister from Minnesota when he accepted the call to rescue St. Francis Lutheran, a charming but crumbling old church with a small, struggling congregation in San Francisco’s Castro District.

It was 1981. The AIDS crisis was starting to kill the parishioners at “Our Lady of Safeway,” as it was known, due to its proximity to the grocery store on Market Street. To fully immerse himself in the pandemic, the new pastor moved to the neighborhood and started attending AIDS walks and vigils. He had a wife and two kids, but he also became family to those who had been abandoned because of their sexual orientation.

In the late 1980s, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had declined to ordain any minister who was openly gay and not celibate, so DeLange offered to ordain them at St. Francis. This radical inclusiveness got St. Francis suspended from the church in 1990. But it also gave the congregation strength and resolve, celebrated in its annual “Feast of the Expulsion.”

A riveting speaker with a deep, rousing voice that carried across a cathedral, DeLange was serving as guest minister at St. Marks Lutheran Church on O’Farrell Street in 2017 when he started losing his train of thought and was noticeably scattered while delivering a sermon .

Diagnosed with dementia, DeLange spent his final years at his home in Eureka Valley with a view of his old congregation, and even the Safeway sign on Market Street. On Aug. 20, two Lutheran ministers who mentored DeLange came to his home to deliver the Lutheran prayer for the dying, much as DeLange had done at the bedsides of men dying of AIDS.

An hour after the prayer session, DeLange died in bed, wearing his red-and-blue St. Francis Lutheran T-shirt and facing the view out the window. His death was confirmed by his daughter, Lynn Krausse. hey what 88

“Jim DeLange was a remarkable and uncommon individual,” said former state Senator Mark Leno, who knew DeLange through community service both in the Castro and citywide.

“He felt and believed deeply, and he had a stiff backbone when the Lutheran church challenged him and his local colleagues on his inclusivity of the LGBTQ community. He had my admiration for that,” Leno said.

DeLange’s impact transcended the Lutheran church. After the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989, he was invited by then-Mayor Art Agnos to join a committee that was forming what would become the San Francisco Interfaith Council in response to both the displacement of people from the earthquake and the growing homelessness population in the City.

“Jim was one of the first to open up his church sanctuary for people to stay during the worst of the winter,” said Agnos, “and he immediately assumed a leadership position in recruiting religious organizations of all faiths to join him in responding to the crisis for the homeless.”

Delange ended up serving on the interfaith council’s board of directors for 23 years, including a long stint as board chair, from 2004 to 2012. The winter shelter he helped launch still exists, and the council mobilizes the city’s 800 communities of faith in times of disaster, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Wherever I go in San Francisco people come up to me and tell me how important my dad was to their lives,” said Krausse. “How he’d been kind in the right moment and offered perfect advice and support. If what they needed was money he would hand them 100 bucks. He was out there doing God’s work.”

James William DeLange was born July 6, 1934 in St. Paul, Minn. where he grew up. His father, William DeLange, managed an industrial laundry service that specialized in cleaning the work overalls worn by workers at the 3M plant, which made scotch tape and other forms of adhesives. As a kid, James worked in the plant loading the washing machines and making deliveries of clean uniforms with his dad.

Salvation came through a neighbor who was the pastor at Gethsamene Lutheran Church. DeLange had been baptized Presbyterian but his mom started taking him to the Lutheran services to support their neighbor, the pastor. This led DeLange to become active in youth ministry at North St. Paul High School, where he was also involved in drama.

After graduating in 1951 he attended the University of Minnesota, but the Korean was on. Convinced he’d be drafted into the Army, he joined the Navy Reserve instead. This allowed him to transfer to Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Ill. Luckily, he drew soft duty in the Navy Reserve, assigned to setting up the bowling pins in the officers club in St. Paul.

He was off duty and off base when he met Beverly Hansen, a farm girl who’d come to town to bowl. She met DeLange at the alley. They were married in 1957 and Delange was ordained in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a particularly conservative denomination.

A year later, Delange was assigned to start a Lutheran congregation in the growing Orange County city of Huntington Beach. The flock started in the two-car garage of a house he paid $12,000 for, with a monthly payment of $85. Faith Lutheran Church, as it was named, quickly outgrew the garage and into a campus to fit a congregation that included more than 1,000 families.

In the mid-1970s a schism between facts of the Lutheran Church divided it into a doctrinaire group that wanted to adhere to biblical infallibility, and a more progressive group. DeLange was named Executive Secretary of the progressive faction which split off to form the the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.

This cost him his job at Faith Lutheran, which remained in the Missouri Synod.

DeLange and his second wife moved to the Bay Area in 1976. Delange continued in an administrative position for the new Association until he got the position at St. Francis, which had allied itself with the more progressive faction.

When the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America came out against non-celibate Gay ministers, DeLange was a perfect representative for the opposition, having emerged as a progressive Lutheran despite his bringing up in the church’s conservative orthodoxy.

“He was seeing the cruelty to the gay community every day in San Francisco,” said his daughter. “To have the church then ostracize the gay clergy became very personal to him so he pushed back against the injustice.”

By 1985, he was leading the St. Francis contingent in the Pride Parade and soon helped organize the Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries. St. Francis eventually withdrew from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Synod.

“Jim was a straight ally who invested a huge amount of his political capital in the movement for the full inclusion and participation of LGBTQIA+ clergy,” said Jeff Johnson, pastor at University Lutheran Chapel of Berkeley, near the Cal campus.

DeLange was also good with fiscal capital. When the earthquake hit in 1989, the south-facing brick facade of St. Francis Lutheran came down in a pile. That provided the impetus for a capital campaign to rebuild the landmark structure which was constructed in 1905-06. DeLange served as project manager and fund raiser and he did not stop there. He started a church endowment fund that has grown over the last 40 years to benefit organizations worldwide, according to the current pastor at St. Francis, Bea Chun.

“What Jim did for the congregation was give us a blueprint to follow,” said Chun. “We have the inspiration of his courage and his willingness to be an innovator.”

DeLange’s second marriage also ended in divorce. In 1991, he married Diane Nelson, a member of a Lutheran congregation in Mill Valley. She did her part for St. Francis by launching a senior lunch program with Nelson herself doing the cooking for 50 or 60 hungry souls every Wednesday. She died of cancer in 2011.

After retiring from St. Francis in 1999, DeLange continued to be minister and busied himself with Democratic Party politics. His Christmas Day “Green Drink” party was a standard, with people coming by to sip his secret concoction involving Creme de Menthe.

“Jim was the kind whose door was always open,” said Leno “He had such a wide range of acquaintances, from his pastoral work to his community work to his leadership on queer issues.”

DeLange is survived by his sister Rochelle Schrodt of St. Paul; daughter Lynn Krausse of Bakersfield; son Brad DeLange of San Francisco; stepson Matthew Nelson of Alameda; stepdaughter Adrienne Brown of Kentfield; and four grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on Saturday September 24th at 10:30 AM. Memorial donations may be made to St. Francis Lutheran Church 152 Church Street, San Francisco, CA 94114.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Janice Mirikitani – co-founder, activist, poet and wife of the Glide Memorial Church, Rev. Cecil Williams – died Thursday morning, according to a church announcement. She was 80 years old.

The post on the Glide website said Mirikitani died with family and friends by her side.

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Janice Mirikitani (Glide.org)

“Our hearts are full of sadness and the tremendous love that it embodied. Janice accompanied everything she did with wild courage and willpower, ”the statement said. “She told her truth and inspired others to accept and celebrate themselves, each other and all of our differences.”

Mirikitani was born on February 4, 1941 in Stockton, California, to a Japanese immigrant couple in the San Joaquin Valley. During World War II, she and her family were interned at the Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas.

She studied English and creative writing, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA and worked intermittently as a teacher in Contra Costa County before finding her calling at Glide Memorial Church in Tenderloin in the late 1960s.

Mirikitani went from being an administrative assistant in the church to being a program director, and through her work with the church she began a lifetime of activism and advocacy for marginalized people and communities.

“Janice helped shape so much of the early vision and roots of GLIDE’s impact,” the Church’s statement read. “Your work touched many areas, both in church and on the street in Tenderloin and in San Francisco.”

Mirikitani married the co-founder of Glide, Rev. Cecil Williams, in 1982, and became president of the Glide Foundation that same year. She also continued her work as a writer, poet, and editor, wrote a number of books, and became San Francisco’s second prize-winner in 2000.

Several San Francisco officials issued public statements after news of Mirikitani’s death became known.

“Jan Mirikitani was one of the real lights of our city. She was a visionary, a revolutionary artist and the embodiment of the compassionate spirit of San Francisco, ”read a statement from SF Mayor London Breed. “As a poet, also as Poet Laureate of this City from 2000 to 2002, she used the power of her words to advance the fight for equality and to call for a more just and peaceful world. Through her work at Glide Memorial Church, she and her husband, Reverend Cecil Williams, served our most vulnerable residents for decades and offered everyone a place of refuge and love. “

San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener posted a memorial service on Twitter with the words: “I am heartbroken that our beloved Janice Mirikitani has passed away. Jan was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met, he combined strength and love like no other. “

It breaks my heart that our beloved Janice Mirikitani has passed away. Jan was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met and combined strength and love like no other.

My condolences to the love of their lives Cecil Williams, the entire @GLIDEsf community and all of San Francisco.

– Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) July 29, 2021

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San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin posted a short clip of Mirikitani reading a poem during a recent online summit on hate crimes and the safety of the AAPI community.

It’s heartbroken to hear about the death of Janice Mirikitani, SF Poet Prize Winner, Glide Co-Founder and a visionary, influential person.

She read a poem at our last summit on hate crime and the safety of the AAPI community and moved us all with the power of her words.

Rest in power. pic.twitter.com/YJNRE4tXzv

– Chesa Boudin 博彻思 (@chesabudin) July 29, 2021

SF overseer Matt Haney also posted on Twitter.

We lost a legend today, the First Lady of the Tenderloin, a poet, someone who loved people, all people and had endless compassion, grace and vision. Rest in power, Dr. Janice Mirikitani.

I grieve for the glide community and the countless people whose lives they have touched.

– Matt Haney (@MattHaneySF) July 29, 2021

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A monument to Mirikitani is arranged. No cause of death was disclosed.

The post Glide Church Co-Founder, Poet and San Francisco Activist Janice Mirikitani Dies at Age 80 – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Greek Orthodox Metropolis of the Ministry of Music of the Church of San Francisco

Virtual Vitamin Open House

The Ministry of the Church Music Federation of the Greek Orthodox metropolis of San Francisco invites you to visit Virtual Vitamin Open House Saturday, April 10, 2021, 1:00 p.m. PST

Three wonderful and talented guests will bring joy and learning to Lent:

Presvytera Pat Tsagalakis, Holy Apostles, Coast, WA

Hymns from Home – Commitment and Growth in Our Faith

Be inspired by Presvytera Pat’s encouragement and helpful resources to help us grow and learn as we look forward to returning to our lofts and soleas.

Rev. Father James Retelas, Protopresbyter, Annunciation, Sacramento, CA.

The anaphora of Saint Basil the Great

Father James will share with us the profound meaning of this part of the divine liturgy which is at the heart of the great and sacred Lent.

John Michael Boyer, Metropolis Protopsaltis

Musical Lent of Lent: Two moments from Vespers of function on Sundays during Lent

John will help us discover treasures in the rich tapestries of Lent.

Guests of honor!

Young church musicians who want to share their experiences as the youngest recipients of the Frank and Xenia Anton Desby church music scholarships.

This event is FREE but you need to register in advance: https://forms.gle/2VrbViZkQ6xhU65W7

You can log in at 12:40 p.m.
For more information, please contact [email protected].

The post Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco Church Music Ministry: Digital Vitamin Open Home – Metropolis of San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

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The post Homeless-Support Volunteer Says San Jose Church Stabbing Will not Deter Him – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.