The consumerism and general excess of the holidays are just about over. Have you yet had enough food, drink, and merrymaking?

The tone has been set for the beginning of the new year.

Join Faithful Fools intern Denis Paul and our own Ben Bear and Millie Phillips as they explore some of the times in their lives when they have had to ask themselves "what do I really need? What is enough?"

Mike touched and improved all parts of our community: its physical plant, its people, and its soul.

Our condolences and love to Mike's wife Barbara, his family, his co-workers on our staff, and his many friends.

A celebration of Mike's life is tentatively scheduled for January 14th. We will share more information on the memorial plans next week.

The Religious Education program will provide child care Sunday for those up to age five (or older if they are good helpers!) from 10 to 12:15. Regular Sunday School programs will not be held this week but will resume January 7th.

Mary Castiglia, Maria Solis, and Janet Hewins - all Society members - all soprano's - sing with the San Francisco Community Music Center Orchestra and Orchestra Chorus in our Sanctuary New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

The program includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture, and famous arias.

Soloists include Anja Strauss, Soprano; Theresa Cardinale, Alto; John Davey Hatcher, Tenor; and Richard Fey, Bass.

A champagne reception follows in the Starr King Room after the New Year’s Eve performance. Tickets for this outside community event are $25. For more information, call 647-6015 or visit www.sfcmc.org.

The death was the result of a stroke; the elder Stewart was in very good health and experienced no warning signs prior to his death. He was eighty-one years old.

The holder of multiple academic degrees, Owen Stewart served as a minister in the American Baptist Churches in the USA for fifty-four years and was also appointed President of the Wisconsin Baptist State Convention.

At retirement, he worked steadily as an interim minister for sixteen additional years and was serving a congregation in Ohio when he died. Greg credits his father for his own entry into the ministry.

The Stewart/White family will attend the funeral in Ohio, at which Greg will officiate.

The Forum Committee will screen The Ground Truth, a documentary showing US soldiers returning from the Iraq War, Sunday at 12:30 in the Chapel. The veterans tell how deep the effects of killing are - whether in self-defense or not.

The film is rated "R" for disturbing visual content. "But isn't that what war is all about?" asks Anna.

The breakfast forum is on recess and will resume on January 7th with Reese Erlich, award-winning foreign correspondent for Christian Science Monitor, who will speak on the prospects for war and peace in 2007.

The Christmas Day retrospective reprinted the photograph which originally appeared on the front page October 1st. The shot shows the family in the pews for Rev. Greg Stewart's first sermon in the pulpit as the Society's Senior Minister.

The Social Justice Council and Senior Minister Gregory Stewart have endorsed a plan for members of our Congregation to participate in the monthly Vigil and Die-In at the Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco, to speak out against the war in Iraq and to bring the troops home.

Members and friends who wish demonstrate against the ongoing war in Iraq are encouraged to meet at the church next Thursday (January 4) at noon. Participants will march to the Federal Building to witness and support those who chose civil disobedience. Protest organizers note that peaceful observers do not risk arrest.

For more information call Dolores Perez Priem at 387–2287 or Judith Ross at 706–2077. They also invite you to help spread the word to others who might like to join in.

December 31 is the last day of the special Congregational campaign for Up On Top.

$8,500 had been contributed as of last week. That is a wonderful amount, but lower than the $13,000 raised last year.

If you are ready to write your last check of the year, please consider a donation to sustain the work of this after-school program serving the children of the Tenderloin and Western Addition.

Checks, cash, or credit card information can be mailed to the church or placed in this Sunday's offering basket.

Her complete credo is available for reading at the link below.

The Society for Community Work (SCW) held their annual holiday party earlier this month, and photographer Sonnie Willis captured the highlights.

Scholarship recipients, guests, and SCW members mingled and enjoyed the food and festivities.