St. John's 100th Anniversary in the Richmond District

By Judith Kahn

St John's Presbyterian Church is now celebrating its 100th anniversary in the Richmond District.

The church, which has been in San Francisco for about 150 years, moved to its present location at 25 Lake St. on Easter Sunday, April 15, 1906 - three days before the great quake of 1906.

During the quake, the church was heavily damaged. Congregation members held services in each other's homes until repairs were completed a year later.

John Anderson, a pastor at St. John's, said the event changed the church into a place of refuge and hope for hungry, displaced and desperate neighbors.

St. John's is celebrating its first 100 years in the Richmond by implementing and expanding existing programs as well as creating others, which will help them better serve the community in the future. One of the congregation's efforts is to keep working for justice and peace by donating 20 percent of its budget to local and overseas programs.

Locally, among the groups the church donates money to is the Hamilton Family Shelter and Network Ministries, which provides programs for prostitutes in the Tenderloin. They also support international programs, such as efforts to preserve local folk music in Thailand and economic and justice programs in Bolivia. The church also donates space to non-profit groups, such as the Friends of the Urban Forest.

The church's congregation is proud of the ongoing restoration of the 120-year-old stained glass window depicting St John the Evangelist, which is located in the chapel. It depicts St. John holding the Crosier, a symbol of authority, as well as the Bible. John Lennox is performing the restoration.

On Saturdays, families who live in the Richmond District and are in need of assistance pick up a free bag of groceries. The program has been ongoing for 10 years. On Friday evenings, children help fill the grocery bags. The next morning, they assist in distributing them.

Tatiana Zanenko, who heads the children's orchestra at the church, is proud of her performers. The orchestra is unique because no matter what the skill level of the child, they can all play in the orchestra if they wish to. When choosing which pieces to play, orchestra leader Tatiana chooses compositions that have a part for all members.

The orchestra performs at the Sunset Festival and at various retirement homes in the City. They also are participants at the Youth Festival at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum. The music ranges from classical to jazz to folk.

Professional musicians offer private instruction to the performers on a sliding scale. Anderson describes St. John's Sunday School curriculum as both child-inspiring and teacher friendly. For example, children write prayers and lead the liturgy in worship. Salt bread,which is based upon a Hebrew recipe, is used for communion worship and is baked by the children. During worship, pastors take time to talk to the children to inspire them to think about how they can participate in stopping the injustices of the world through their actions and behaviors. For example, during one service the children were asked to think about improving their environment by using recycling bins and reducing the use of pesticides.

Another part of St. John's Sunday School curriculum is teaching youth listening and anger management skills. In a time of increasing terrorism and conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, Anderson is excited about a program still in its infancy. With their neighbor across the street, the Temple Emanu-el, they are forming groups to discuss and formulate some plans to try to solve the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He was quick to caution me that they have just begun, so specifics about the program are still being worked out. Anderson pointed out that Temple Emanu-el and St. John's have exchanged pulpits for many years.

Another program hosted at St. John's is the Dorcas Quilters. They have been making heirloom-quality quilts since 1935. The group hand-quilts unfinished quilts or repairs quilts for a small fee, which is donated to the church.

Another program offered by St. John's is Jump Up, a music movement class for children aged newborn to toddler.

Through all of the programs that St. John's supports, Anderson hopes the church will continue its legacy of being a resource for the community. St. John's is located at 25 Lake St.

For more information about the church's programs, call (415) 751-1626 or go to its Web site at www.stjohnssf.org.