Calvary Presbyterian Church San Francisco

Summer Sermon Series: Peace and Perseverance in Poetry. This four-week summer series highlights three biblical books—Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. These texts are not narratives; they are poetry, and like all poetry, they communicate in language aimed as much at the heart as at the head. As we ponder these ancient texts, may we find the peace and the perseverance to live a life of f...

In its final chapters, Revelation gives us a vision of a world healed, restored, and bursting with light. The New Jerusalem is not as an escape plan but a divine promise for this world—where there are no temples of exclusion, no gates shut to the outsider, and no more night for the weary. God’s justice includes rivers of healing, trees for all peoples, and a city where glory comes in all colors. T...

In Revelation chapter 6, the seals on the scrolls start to be opened, unleashing the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse on the earth, and an earthquake happens, and the stars fall from the sky. The world is coming undone. This week, in chapter 7, we’ll consider what it takes to put the world back together after it comes undone. The sermon was delivered on Sunday, July 20, 2025 by Rev. Marci Glass. The s...

In Sunday's passage, Jesus is getting caught up on his correspondence, writing letters to the churches in Asia Minor, giving them both praise and correction. What do we think Jesus would say to Christians in the United States today, if he wrote us a letter? The sermon was delivered by Rev. Marci A. Glass on Sunday, July 13, 2025. The scripture reading was from Revelation 2:1-7; 3:1-22.

Please enjoy the second episode of our new oral history project, Calvary Storytellers, featuring longtime member Alger (Al) Ciabattoni. The son of Italian immigrants, Al has lived in San Francisco for over 60 years. Listen as Al narrates his early years in New Jersey, the family’s cross country move to California, his stint in the army, to his work advocating for disadvantaged populations in his r...

As we continue reading the Book of Revelation as a book of resistance, we encounter a story of a woman who gives birth in space, while a dragon waits to eat the baby. Hopefully, none of our own birth stories are that dramatic.  But there are days, and sometimes years, when life comes at you in ways other than you predict, or would choose, or can control. We think we’re doing what we’re supposed to...

"Why dost thou doom scrolleth even now?" (Victor 3:16) On this Queer Pride Sunday, we worship the One who shows us how to live with integrity and profound joy. That which is against God shall not stand! As the world unravels, celebration reveals our power to resist.  This sermon was delivered by Rev. Victor H. Floyd on June 29, 2025. The scripture reading was from Revelation 5:1-13.

The book of Revelation includes scary beasts with horns and special marks with numbers revealing who they are. But rather than foretelling future events, what if they were unveiling current rulers and empires who preyed on their people? Let us slay the beasts of oppression and injustice as we resist the empire and embrace the reign of God! This sermon was delivered by Rev. Joann H. Lee on Sunday,...

This week we began a sermon series on the Book of Revelation. It is often used by Christians to predict future events, but it wasn't written for that purpose. The Book of Revelation was written to call people to resist the Roman Empire. It carries on the tradition of 'apocalypse' which is Greek for 'revelation'. In apocalyptic literature, God reveals, or makes clear, how to res...

The story of Pentecost is a story of adoption. God takes strangers and makes them family. And while adoption is good news for those of us who experience it, that good news doesn't make it easy. God brings strangers together and makes them family, but God doesn't make us all the same. We are adopted into God's family with all of our differences and our disagreements. How can we celebrat...

What hospitality looks like through the lens of the three players: one who needs healing, one who heals, and one who hosts. Hospitality is not just about hosting well, but creating a place of belonging The sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 1, 2025 by Rev. Marci A. Glass. The scripture reading was from Acts 18: 1-11.

What hospitality looks like through the lens of the three players: one who needs healing, one who heals, and one who hosts. Hospitality is not just about hosting well, but creating a place of belonging. The sermon was delivered by guest preacher Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow on May 25, 2025. The scripture reading was from Luke 14:1–24.

A queer preacher takes on a notorious “clobber passage” and its history of pain and death. The sin of Sodom has nothing to do with same-sex marriage or trans children—and everything to do with willfully ignoring God's command to welcome strangers and practice hospitality. Let them know we are Christians by our love. The sermon was delivered by Rev. Victor A. Floyd on May 18, 20205. The scriptu...

When I have offered hospitality, often I thought I was doing something kind for someone else. And I sometimes have tried to figure out how to get out of it, because it is work to welcome people in to your life. But it has almost always ended up being a much bigger gift to me than it might have been to the person I thought I was helping. God uses the people we meet and encounter in our lives to cal...

The Book of Acts continues the story began in the Gospel of Luke. The Good News of the Gospel is being taken to the ends of the Earth, because the Spirit is on the loose! From being a movement of people who knew Jesus, and people who had heard him teach and speak, it grows. Exponentially. From Jerusalem, to the rest of the Middle East, and then to Europe, Asia, and even San Francisco. This is the...

A sermon delivered by Rev. Joann H. Lee on Confirmation Sunday, April 27. 2025. The scripture reading was from Luke 24: 13-15.

A sermon delivered by Rev. Marci A. Glass on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025. The scripture reading was from Luke 24:13-35. At the start of Lent, the children 'buried' an alleluia in worship. We put the word away during a season. On Easter, we bring it back. On the first Easter morning, the women went to the tomb, assuming their alleluias were going to stay buried forever. Their rabbi was de...

As Jesus enters Jerusalem, he is greeted by raucous crowds. It is a celebration of him. It is also a counter protest to Rome. The crowds have gathered and are crying out "hosanna", which means "save us".  Save us from injustice. Save us from cruelty. Save us from crushing poverty.  Jesus does not silence the crowds. And he responds to their cries by weeping over Jerusalem and b...

It is easy these days to say who we are against. Maybe it has always been easy to do so. What is harder is to create space for people to change their minds, change their views, change their behavior. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he stops in Jericho and accepts an invitation to eat at the home of someone who society wanted to cancel. How can the story of Zacchaeus help us give space for each othe...

The Good Shepherd calls home all of the sheep, even "those" sheep. No matter how far you've wandered, no matter who has tried to separate you from God's fold, Jesus is waiting. It's time for a homecoming. The sermon was delivered on March 30, 2025 by Rev. Victor Floyd. The scripture reading was from Luke 15:1-32.

Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem and his disciples ask him a question as they walk. They want him to answer the questions we always want God to answer for us too—why do bad things happen to good people? Join us as we consider Jesus' answer to the question. The sermon was delivered by Rev. Marci A. Glass on March 23, 2025. The scripture reading was from Luke 13:1-9, 31-35.

Happy 100th Birthday, Louise! Welcome to Calvary Storytellers, our new oral history project featuring our members and friends telling their life stories in their own words. This first edition is narrated by Calvary’s newest centenarian – Louise Takeuchi. Louise was just a teenager when she and her family were sent from their home in California to Japanese internment camps in Arkansas. In typical L...

The story of Mary and Martha is often painted as a story where one does right and one does wrong. We know, however, that life is often more complicated than that. We know that faith is embodied through being present and taking action—and everything in between. Join us on this second Sunday in Lent as we consider, how can we live along the spectrum of faith and works.

Stay woke! Or we might miss the glory of God (at least according to Luke's gospel). The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the story of Jesus's transfiguration on the mountaintop. But only Luke records that the disciples witnessed this amazing transformation because they had stayed awake. In a time when we are tired and overwhelmed with exhausting news, how can we stay awake to...

In Sunday's story, a woman washes Jesus' feet with her tears, drying them with her hair. It's an intimate scene. An emotional scene. A costly scene. And it makes the rest of the guests uncomfortable.  We don't know her story, but we see her response to Jesus. How do we respond to grace, forgiveness, and second chances? Do we welcome second chances for others or just for ourselves?...