The Forum at Grace Cathedral

Awe is mysterious. How do we begin to quantify the goose bumps we feel when we see the Grand Canyon, or the utter amazement when we watch a child walk for the first time? How do you put into words the collective effervescence of standing in a crowd and singing in unison, or the wonder you feel while gazing at centuries-old works of art? Up until fifteen years ago, there was no science of awe, the...

Hosted in partnership with the Northern California Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Foundation, this annual service and Forum conversation gathers local and national interfaith leaders around a theme in Dr. King's life and work. This year's theme is "Freedom, Justice, and Beloved Community." The theme is taken from Coretta King's remarks at the Atlanta grave site of her late husband in 1993,...

One of the United States' most provocative public intellectuals, Dr. Cornel West is a philosopher, social critic, political activist, and a champion for racial justice through the traditions of the black Church, progressive politics, and jazz. He has written and edited over thirty books, including the   classics    Race Matters  and  Democracy Matters . He is a radio host; has appeared in two  Mat...

Join our Dean, Malcolm Clemens Young, and Miguel Bustos, Senior Director for the Center for Social Justice at Glide, and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a conversation with workers' and civil rights hero and feminist icon Dolores Huerta. Ms. Huerta will also preach at the  11 am Choral Eucharist service .  Dolores Huerta founded the Agricultural Workers Association and launched the National...

As the Senate's Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made clear, an understanding of the judicial system is more important than ever. In Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It , Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell provides a rare and thought-provoking insider account of our legal system, sharing vivid stories of the cases that cam...

On October 8, Grace Cathedral's 2022 Artist in Residence Lee Mingwei presented his work, Our Labyrinth For Grace . It is an epic twelve-hour performance by three dancers, the Men of the cathedral's Choir of Men and Boys, and organist Susan Jane Matthews .    In Our Labyrinth , dancers use a broom to sweep a mound of rice along a labyrinthian path, to the subtle sound of ankle bells. At each locati...

Sunday, October 2, 2022 Grace Cathedral's mission is to reimagine church with courage, joy, and wonder. Art is an integral part of that vision and mission. In our Year of Connection, art can connect us to others and also to ourselves in ways we can't imagine until we see it. Every year since 2012 we have offered a residency to artists to create work illuminating the cathedral's annual theme, and r...

Sunday, October 2, 2022   Grace Cathedral's mission is to reimagine church with courage, joy, and wonder. Art is an integral part of that vision and mission. In our Year of Connection, art can connect us to others and also to ourselves in ways we can't imagine until we see it. Every year since 2012 we have offered a residency to artists to create work illuminating the cathedral's annual theme, and...

Sunday, October 2, 2022   Grace Cathedral's mission is to reimagine church with courage, joy, and wonder. Art is an integral part of that vision and mission. In our Year of Connection, art can connect us to others and also to ourselves in ways we can't imagine until we see it. Every year since 2012 we have offered a residency to artists to create work illuminating the cathedral's annual theme, and...

September 25, 2022    After World War II, President Truman signed the 1949 Housing Act, which authorized the demolition and reconstruction of urban neighborhoods that were considered slums. This policy — quote unquote "redevelopment" — specifically targeted neighborhoods that were low income and not-white. In the 1960s, the Fillmore became a focus of San Francisco's urban renewal, one of the large...

Following December 7, 1941, the United States government interned 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry evicted from scattered settlements throughout the West Coast states, yet why was a much larger number concentrated in the Hawaiian Islands war zone not similarly incarcerated? Tom Coffman is a political journalist and leading historian of modern Hawai'i, author of six books, and director of six do...

This Forum kicks off an evening of Grace Cathedral's advocacy to  End Slavery for Good . Join Presiding Bishop Curry on screen from New York and Bishop Marc live from Grace Cathedral. They discuss the  Free at Last Coalition , and how the national movement to change the 13th amendment has gathered a diverse group from across the political spectrum under its banner. Following the Forum, stay for a ...

David Kyuman Kim is a professor of religious studies and American studies, the author of Melancholic Freedom: Agency and the Spirit of Politics  and has been called by Cornel West "the leading philosopher of religion and culture of his generation." He is founder of Radical Love Productions, a media platform dedicated to building a common culture dedicated to social justice and to living our best m...

Abby McEnany is a writer, comedian, actor and Chicago improv mainstay. She is the co-creator, writer, executive producer and star of the Showtime television series  Work in Progress,  a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama about a self-identified "fat, queer dyke" entering into a transformative relationship during a time of crisis.  Much of the story of  Work in Progress , which  ran for two seasons...

In his book What Schools Teach Us About Religious Life , The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, Executive Director of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, finds schools to be important guideposts in the process of understanding religious life in this country, and the degree to which they are able to balance both tradition and contemporary reality can teach us a great deal about not only how to be...

Bruce Cockburn, the award-winning songwriter and pioneering guitarist, whose life and music has been shaped by politics, protest, romance and spiritual discovery, is revered by fans and fellow musicians alike as one of the most important songwriters of his generation. Best known for "If I Had a Rocket Launcher," "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" and "Wondering Where the Lions Are," he has released 35 a...

Silicon Valley is known for its lavish perks, intense work culture and spiritual gurus. Over the past forty years, highly skilled workers have been devoting more time and energy to their jobs than ever before. They are also leaving churches, synagogues and temples in droves—but they have not abandoned religion. Are tech companies bringing religion into the workplace in ways that are replacing trad...

Daniel Darling, the spokesperson for National Religious Broadcasters, an organization for members of Christian media, wrote a column for USA Today about his decision to get vaccinated against COVID-19. He wrote: "There are not many things in the world today that are worthy of our trust, but I sincerely believe the Covid-19 vaccine is one of them…as a Christian and an American, I was proud to get i...

Can the wisdom of Celtic spirituality help heal the earth, overcome our conflicts, and reconnect us to the sacredness of the earth and one another?   John Philip Newell (born 1953) is a Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of the earth and every human being. In his most recent book,  Sacred Earth Sacred Soul , he writes: "The crises tha...

In February 2022, Opera Parallèle presents the one-act opera, Sophia's Forest, at Grace Cathedral. It is the story of a young girl who has recently immigrated to the United States, having survived a traumatic journey through the chaos of a civil war in her homeland. With music by Lembit Beecher, Sophia's Forest is an exploration of both the lasting effects on families of the immigrant experience,...

Can the threat of climate change bring together the political left and right in the United States? In the partisan politics that have become so divisive in our country, climate change is usually seen as a progressive issue, disregarded by conservatives. For those who believe that climate change is a very real threat -- to the world's environment, security, economy, agriculture and people – they kn...

Kristi Yamaguchi has had a long and successful career in professional figure skating – she is an Olympic Gold Medalist and two-time World Champion figure skater, among many other honors. She hails from Fremont, a fourth-generation descendant of Japanese emigrants, whose family was sent to the internment camps during World War II – in fact her mother was born there. In 1996, she founded the nonprof...

The day after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a heartbroken letter to their mutual friend Raphael Gould. He said: "I did not sleep last night. . . . They killed Martin Luther King. They killed us. I am afraid the root of violence is so deep in the heart and mind and manner of this society. They killed him. They killed my hope. I do not know what to say. . . ....

Can words change us? Poetry can help us understand and appreciate the world around us. Poetry's strength lies in its ability to shed a sideways light on the world, so the truth sneaks up on you. Poetry can teach us how to live—it bares open the vulnerabilities of human beings so we can all relate to each other a little better.    Brought up in the South Carolina lowcountry, Atsuro Riley is the aut...

Sports don't exist in a vacuum, and sometimes it is whether you win or lose and not how you play the game. Injustice and inequity are reflected and reinforced in sports as they are in all areas of our society. And sport has long served as an arena for the struggle for racial justice. Athletes such as Tommie Smith and John Carlos, to Colin Kaepernick have served as powerful agents for change. But e...