homepage
  click here for gadget for god  
about the ship sign up for our newsletter
community the mystery worshipper gadgets for god caption competition foolishness features ship stuff
mystery worshipper home reports from the uk and ireland reports from the usa reports from australia and new zealand reports from canada reports from elsewhere famous and infamous reports comments and corrections
 
the mystery worshipper
Comment on this report, or find other reports.
Our Mystery Worshippers are volunteers who warm church pews for us around the world. If you'd like to become a Mystery Worshipper, start here.
Find out how to reproduce this report in your church magazine or website.
 
1951: Most Holy Redeemer, San Francisco, California, USA
Most Holy Redeemer, San Francisco, California, USA
Mystery Worshipper: Sinigang Masala.
The church: Most Holy Redeemer, San Francisco, California, USA.
Denomination: Roman Catholic, Archdiocese of San Francisco.
The building: A simple, rectangular, cream-colored building, dating from 1900, with tasteful Victorian detailing. The steeple houses a bell that rings at five minutes before mass. The inside of the church is also cream-colored, with stained glass windows framed by decorative arched moldings. The church's main door is to the side of the sanctuary, which is arranged in the round. A modern and modest marble baptismal font is in front of the main door. The choir loft is a mezzanine level at the back of the church, above the room where parents take their crying babies to decompress. The altar sits on a round, raised platform in the center of the sanctuary. The lectern and the priest's chair are at the front, with the tabernacle in the center on the wall behind the lectern. The cantor sits on the far side of the center aisle, opposite the main door. The light interior and the sunlight streaming in through the windows give a sense of openness.
The church: This is a very welcoming church located in the heart of the famed gay district of San Francisco, the Castro. According to the church's website: "MHR is an inclusive Catholic community – embracing all people of good faith – Catholics as well as those people interested in learning about the Catholic experience – regardless of their background, gender, gender identity, race, social status or sexual orientation." A contingent from MHR regularly participates in San Francisco's annual Gay Pride Parade. MHR hosts a support group for people living with HIV and AIDS. For many years, MHR also hosted a bingo night with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a non-profit organization (known for its members dressing as drag-queen nuns) that raises grant money for other non-profit organizations that promote wellness, identity, tolerance, and diversity within needy communities. Of course, a homosexual-friendly Catholic church is never without controversy; there are tons of conservative Catholic websites out there that slam and condemn this inclusivity as heresy.
The neighborhood: The church is located on a busy street corner in the Castro district of San Francisco. The Castro would certainly be interesting or unusual to visitors who have never been to a neighborhood full of gay bars and same-sex couples walking hand-in-hand down the street.
The cast: The Revd Donal Godfrey, S.J., executive director of university ministry at the University of San Francisco, who is a fixture at MHR and one of the most prominent homosexual activist Catholic priests in the world today. Father Godfrey was assisted by the parish music director, Charles Fermeglia, who led the choir.
The date & time: March 7, 2010, 10.00am.

What was the name of the service?
Mass.

How full was the building?
The place was chock full, a generous estimate of 200 people. The only empty seats were those between the lectern and the tabernacle, which only count for about ten per cent of the seats, and would be an awkward vantage point for mass.

Did anyone welcome you personally?
Yes! As I walked in, a nice elderly man at the welcome table at the door wished me a good morning, asked me for my name, wrote it on a name tag, and gave it to me. Then someone else gave me the bulletin and song sheets for the day.

Was your pew comfortable?
Mostly, yes. Any discomfort came from the fact that the pew was so crowded with people. There were no pads on the benches, but the kneelers were nicely padded.

How would you describe the pre-service atmosphere?
It was chatty and social. The church was abuzz with full-voiced conversations that ranged from "Is this seat taken?" to "How was your week?" Prior to the opening hymn, the choir director gave us a quick lesson in Slavonic chant in preparation for the response to the prayers of the faithful, much later in the mass.

What were the exact opening words of the service?
"Let's stand. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Prior to these opening words, the congregation were seated during the opening hymn.

What books did the congregation use during the service?
None. All the service music was on the song sheets handed out at the door.

What musical instruments were played?
Piano and organ.

Most Holy Redeemer, San Francisco, California, USA

Did anything distract you?
I didn't notice this until after mass, but once I saw it, I couldn't look away. One of the stained glass windows depicts the Holy Family. Joseph is shown to be hard at work at his carpenter's bench while the boy Jesus, about age five, plays nearby and Mary stands regarding her family with a mother's approval. What caught my attention was the carpenter's tool that Jesus was playing with. It looked exactly like a child-sized cross! I found this a bit disturbing.

Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what?
The style was a sort of relaxed traditional Catholic. The music, for example, ranged from Latin and Slavonic chants to neo-Catholic standards by Marty Haugen and David Haas. The relaxed vibe was apparent during the dramatized reading of the gospel (John 4:5-42, the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well). A male lector read the narrator part, a female lector read the part of the Samaritan woman, and Father Godfrey read the part of Jesus. When they got to the verse when Jesus calls out the Samaritan woman on her having had several husbands before and now living with a man who is not her husband, the congregation laughed. The next line, "Truly, you must be a prophet," also got laughs.

Exactly how long was the sermon?
5 minutes.

On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher?
9 – Father Godfrey kept it short and sweet.

In a nutshell, what was the sermon about?
He focused on the nature of the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Initially, they're cautious, checking each other out, and slowly chipping away at the social norms of their interaction. This could be compared to flirtation. Once they reveal the truth about themselves, the woman is so happy that she wants to tell the whole town about meeting the Messiah. This is like falling in love – you want to shout it from the mountaintops! The Samaritan woman's conversion, her change of heart, is to fall in love with God. Now, during Lent, we should open our hearts to God, thinking of Lent as a courtship period. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, we should fall in love and stay in love with God, which is what the first part of the great commandment (to love God with all one's heart, soul, and mind) is all about anyway.

Which part of the service was like being in heaven?
The music. The male cantor sang the responsorial psalm very expressively without going overboard. The congregation actually sang wholeheartedly, too. Charles Fermeglia does a great job with this volunteer church choir. And believe me, I have been known to throw down a missalette when the choir doesn't measure up. The choir was well-balanced and sang with a beautiful tone and clear diction. Although there were some tuning issues in the Kyrie, they were warmed up and in tune when the Latin and Slavonic chants rolled around for the communion anthem and the post-communion meditation.

And which part was like being in... er... the other place?
There was no announcement about crowd flow during communion, which was really embarrassing to a visiting newbie like myself. Two people at the opposite end of my pew went in one direction, but the next two people didn't move. Thus, I was blocked from where it seemed I was supposed to go. So I exited my end and walked around, eliciting dirty looks from the people in the pew behind me. Only after returning to my seat did I notice that others similarly positioned were going up to a different location where a eucharistic minister was standing. I don't think that dirty looks are exactly the sentiment one should approach the chalice with, but one sympathetic lady behind me did volunteer, "Sorry, it's not obvious for new people."

What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost?
I hung around baffled at the image of little Jesus playing with what could have been a toy cross, and I looked at the rest of the stained glass windows as the congregation cleared out. Finally, a nice elderly man came up to me and invited me to post-mass coffee in the church hall downstairs.

How would you describe the after-service coffee?
It was diluted, black, run-of-the-mill American coffee, served hot in paper cups. Another table had various dairy and sugar options. Baked goods on another table disappeared quickly.

How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
9 – I would love it. I got a really good vibe from the congregation. The priest gave one of the best homilies I’ve ever heard in a Catholic church. The choir sang beautifully.

Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian?
Yes, very much so. It even made me glad to be specifically a Catholic.

What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?
Father Godfrey’s homily.
 
please give to the floating fund
camino pilgrimage
The Mystery Pilgrim
One of our most seasoned reporters makes the Camino pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Read here.
mystery worshipper sunday
London churches
Read reports from 70 London churches, visited by a small army of Mystery Worshippers on one single Sunday. Read here.
 
 
follow ship of fools on twitter
buy your ship of fools postcards
sip of fools mugs from your favourite nautical website
 
      More Mystery Worshipper reports          
      ship of fools