The Overflow

Three years ago I was approached to plant a campus ministry in San Francisco through a church that needed help. Since accepting that challenge, I’ve taken several trips to the city to scout out the area and to get a feel for the culture before we move there to start work this December.

Here are some of the pictures taken on those trips: 

The San Francisco peninsula is one of the most densely populated areas in the United States. No need to worry about mowing your grass. Most residents don’t have any.

 

 

A typical SF view from the street. Notice how closely the houses are packed together.

 

 

Overlooking the Golden Gate bridge with friends.

 

 

Alcatraz. Yes, it’s a long swim.

 

 

San Francisco’s Chinatown.

 

 

Chinatown.

 

 

Open air shopping in the mission district. You can find some very cheap clothes and other items at places like this.

 

 

Streetview in the Mission.

 

 

Neighborhood psychic in the mission.

 

 

Hey look – grass!

 

 

You can’t really see it (because her purple hair is in the way), but the girl on the left is wearing a shirt that says “God hates me.”

 

 

You’d be surprised how many white vans you see like this. Many van owners go ahead and paint their vans alls kind of weird colors simply because they know someone else will do it eventually. I find this to be quite funny. Oh, and don’t look too hard at this picture. You might spot a dirty word.

 

 

More street art.

 

 

And more.

 

 

This church has services in English and German. Churches offering multilingual services are common in San Francisco. Walking a few blocks in the city, you might hear seven or eight different languages being spoken around you on a typical day.

 

 

An Episcopalean Church that offers candlelight chant and mediation in one of their worship services. The Episcopalean Church in San Francisco remains in the throes of controversey over the gay issue – especially since some of their gay church members and church leaders are now getting legally married.

 

 

Goddess worship – popular in San Francisco.

 

 

Remember kids – god loves all her children!

 

 

Boyfriends taking a stroll in the Castro District. The Castro is at the center of the Gay Pride movement. If you’d like to learn a bit of history, check this site that gives a good overview of the history of the Gay Pride movement.

 

 

The famous Castro Theater.

 

 

Street view in the Castro. Notice the pride flags lining either side of the street. It was on our stroll down this street that we walked within a couple of feet of two six foot five inch bikers with long beards and shaved heads making out loudly enough for us to hear the smack. Sorry, no pictures of that (but we thought about it). I’ve had gay friends in the past, but never any that could beat me up. Either of those guys probably could have.

 

 

Gigantic pride flag in the Castro.

 

 

Here’s a picture of an ad we saw on the street in the Castro. The ad in the picture says, “Are you HIV negative, positive, or iffy? Most of us have been unsure at some point.” It’s an ad for an HIV testing agency. Most people know that there are a lot of gay men in San Francisco. Most people don’t know that one out of every four gay men in San Francisco test positive for HIV.

 

 

This picture was taken in the Castro less than a month after gay marriages began taking place in California.

 

 

Here’s a picture of a Jewish Synagogue. Notice the pride flag hanging out the window.

 

 

San Francisco is the only place on earth where a Jew would hang a banner on the side of their Synagogue supporting gay marriage. The banner says “Celebrating Marriage Equality.”

 

 

Brotherhood way is an interesting street. Here’s one of the buildings located there – Calvary Armenian Congregational Church.

 

 

The Greek Orthodox Church building on Brotherhood Way.

 

 

The Masonic Temple on Brotherhood Way.

 

 

The Jewish Synagogue on Brotherhood Way. This is one of the more conservative synagogues in the city, yet even they have a female rabbi. That’s something most Jewish leaders would consider quite liberal.

 

 

Here’s the reason I showed you the pictures of some of the other buildings on Brotherhood Way. The building located at 777 Brotherhood Way is home to the Lake Merced Church of Christ – the group I’ll be working with. In addition to the buildings you’ve just seen pictures of, there are a few others located on Brotherhood Way that I don’t have pictures of (other religious community centers and a Catholic Cathedral are also located on the street). Brotherhood Way was annexed by the city in the 40s to represent unity and peace between various religions. The buildings are beside one another as a symbolic form of togetherness.

 

 

Here’s the sign crafted by Paul Crites – one of the Harding Graduates who moved to San Francisco to help with the mission work there.

 

 

This is the fellowship hall. That’s me talking Bill and Charlotte Belich – my sponsors on the missions committee from the Austin Avenue Church of Christ in Brownwood, TX.

 

 

Here’s a picture of the inside of the main auditorium. There’s seating here for 600 to 700 people, though the church currently averages around 30 to 40 on a typical Sunday. Some have called me crazy for attempting a ministry plant through a church like Lake Merced. Are they right in doing so? I suppose we’ll see, won’t we? :p

 

 

Here’s a picture of one of the towers at the Parkmerced Villas. The Villas represent the largest aparment community in California, and are located directly across the streetfrom the Lake Merced church building.

 

 

The townhomes are actually less expensive than living in the towers and pets are allowed. Airiel and I plan to live in one of the townhomes.

 

 

 Here’s another reason we chose to live at Parkmerced – San Francisco State University is right across the street. Want to meet students? Walk out my future front door. Pictured is the Cesar Chavez Student Center.

 

 

Notice the bleachers built on to the roof of the student center. SFSU has always been an activist school. Walking the campus, you’re likely to see chalk on the sidewalk advertising some sort of upcoming protest rally.

 

 

The bleachers on the roof of the student center were included in the original design to create a place for students to hold political rallies.

 

 

Here’s one of the first things you’ll see when you walk into the student center.

 

 

Many student organizations are given offices on the second floor of the student center. When you walk up the stairs, here’s the first one you’ll see – the office for SFSU’s Queer Alliance.

 

 

 Next door to QA is the office for SFSU’s General Union of Palestinian Students – the same organization that had quite a run in with another organization known as the College Republicans one time.