Areas Of Ministry
Connection: Night ministry and Care Line phone counseling, every night of the year.
Community: Programs bringing people into a spiritual community that reflects their understanding of reality.
Cultivation: Training and inspiring a new generation of spiritual leaders.
CONNECTION
Night Ministry & Care Line Phone Counseling
NIGHT MINISTRY
Night Ministers walk the streets while Care Line counselors operate the telephones.
The heart of our work occurs at night. We offer spiritual and emotional care and referral services on the streets, in the middle of the night, every night of the year.
We provide companionship to those who are lonely and isolated. We attend to mental and physical needs. We provide harm reduction for those at risk to themselves and others. We encounter many of the most vulnerable, who fall between the cracks of the city’s social services.
Care Line
We are unique among telephone lines.
Most telephone lines are centered around a particular topic or have other restrictions. We are one of the very few counseling lines who will talk with anyone about anything.
And we are the only phone counselors who can arrange for a face-to-face conversation, and in the middle of the night. Care Line Counselors can dispatch a Night Minister to meet someone in an SRO, bar, hotel coffee shop, the streets . . . wherever they may be.
Our Care Line is also open to caregivers. So often, our neighbors who are front line providers of care to others need someone with whom to talk, who is not their partner or their family. Call our nightly Care Line! We will listen deeply, and without judgment, and offer a word of encouragement where possible.
We meet people wherever they are.
Help us walk in more neighborhoods, every night. Your donations fund more nightly services. ❤️ Donate Now
COMMUNITY
Spiritual Gatherings & ProgramsInterfaith & Multifaith
We offer a variety of programs so people can find a community that most closely speaks to their understanding of reality and the Ultimate. Some programs are interfaith – widely inclusive of several religious traditions. Other programs are multifaith — deeply reflecting one particular tradition. We strive to be as inclusive as possible.
OPEN CATHEDRAL
Mission: Thursdays 5:30 pm @16th & Mission BART
Civic Center: Sundays 2:00 pm @UN Plaza, Leavenworth and McAllister
Open Cathedral is a non-denominational Christian outdoor worship service, held twice weekly in two different locations. Everyone is welcome. After worship, there is fellowship and a meal.
We invite people to participate at any level of comfort. People come as they are, in whatever state they find themselves.
Attendance at worship is not required to receive a meal or private conversation. Groups volunteer to host the meals.
Contact us if your group would like to host a meal.
About 50 people gather and 100 meals are offered each Thursday; and 75 people gather and 150 lunches are offered each Sunday.
Scroll through the photos to learn more.
MEDITATION GROUP
Mondays 6:00 pm @Faithful Fools (234 Hyde)
Meditation Group is a weekly Buddhist-inspired gathering. After check-ins and tea, we do a guided, trauma-informed meditation. We end with check-outs. Teachings center on the two wings of Dharma — wisdom and compassion.
All are welcome. No meditation experience is necessary. We are co-creating this program with the community. We may experiment with outdoor meditation periods and sitting in the zendo at Faithful Fools. Join us as we live into the Bodhisattva Vow to awaken for the benefit of all beings.
TUESDAY GATHERING
Tuesdays 6:00 pm @Faithful Fools (234 Hyde)
Tuesday Night Gathering is a time of connection, meal, and reflection. We begin with a period of check-ins and food, followed by a deeper dive into a spiritual reading or discussion. Topics range from traditional Bible study to general conversations about faith, hope, love, and life.
Groups volunteer to host the meals. Contact us if your group would like to host a meal. About 12 – 22 people join us each week. Most participants are regular attendees of Open Cathedral. This program is building and sustaining strong relationships among people.
SACRED SPACE
First and third Saturdays – Sacred Cup
Sacred Space – San Francisco is a ministry of outreach and presence with the LGBTQ+ communities. We encourage each other in our queer spiritual journeys. And we create “sacred space” within the ordinary spaces of our lives, including the streets of the Castro District. At Sacred Cup, we meet in a local coffee shop. We co-sponsor this program with St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church. Dates and locations rotate. For information, check out the Sacred Space – San Francisco website or contact us directly.
OPEN SHABBAT
Tentative Date: July 17, 2020
Open Shabbat is an emerging program. We hope to have an inaugural service on July 17th, location TBD. This outdoor Jewish service would have a similar form and feel to our successful Open Cathedrals, wherein everyone is invited, welcomed, and included. Rabbi Jeremy Sher and Chaplain/Rabbinical Student Adam Briones are leading the planning. Adam is also one of our Assistant Night Ministers who regularly walks the streets at night. Click here to contribute funds or offer your support for Open Shabbat. You can also text “SHABBAT” to number 44-321.
MOVEMENTS
Schedule to be determined
Movements is an emerging program based in yogic spirituality, Tai Chi, and other forms of somatic and breath meditation. We will invite people, as they are able and comfortable, to gently flow through a guided series of body gestures and activities. Our focus is on centering and attending to the breath in relation to movement and space. This program may be good for people who find it hard to sit still to meditate. We are securing an outdoor space in which to launch this program in the near future.
MEMORIAL SERVICE
Winter Solstice – Civic Center UN Plaza
December 19, 2019
Around the winter solstice, people all across the country remember unhoused people who have died that year. We partner with the Coalition on Homelessness, SF Interfaith Council, Faithful Fools, Skywatchers, and other groups who offer the annual Procession and Vigil in San Francisco. In 2018, we estimate that at least 241 people died on the streets and in single room occupancy hotels. The actual number was likely much higher. We honor the anonymous along with the named. Learn more about the 2019 memorial. Read more about the 2018 service.
OTHER PROGRAMS
We collaborate with a number of other organizations on common goals.
- SF CARES – We sit on the board of SF CARES (San Francisco Compassion, Advocacy, Resilience, and Education Services) along with three other non-profits: St. Paulus Lutheran Church, Grace Lutheran Church, and Welcome: A Communal Response to Poverty) SF CARES provides feeding programs, educational programs, and other outreach efforts such as free vision screenings, harm reduction education, and domestic violence quantification.
- San Francisco Suicide Prevention – We have an agreement to provide a framework to refer callers between our crisis lines, to cooperatively train volunteers, and to mutually support confidentiality and safety policies.
- Domestic Violence Prevention – We have an understanding with both WOMAN Inc. and La Casa de las Madres to provide safe transportation to a safe house for victims of domestic violence.
- Winter Shelter – In the wintertime, the San Francisco Interfaith Winter Shelter program provides overnight housing for homeless men. In collaboration with the San Francisco Interfaith Council, we send a Night Minister to serve as an additional staffer at one of the locations, enabling an additional 40 men to be housed.
- Faithful Fools Street Ministry and Institute for Street Level Learning
HELP SUSTAIN OUR SPIRITUAL COMMUNITIES
CULTIVATION
Training LeadersCLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION (CPE)
CPE is clinical training for spiritual leaders. Most CPE programs occur in a hospital or health care clinical context. Our clinical context is the streets of San Francisco. We are unique among community-based CPE programs. Our center and site is a nonprofit organization.
Cultivating new leaders is a critical part of our ministry.
We are fully accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) to offer all levels of CPE training. Learn more.
Our programs emphasize cultivating a ministry of presence and deep listening. We focus on how to be present with suffering in ourselves, with others, and in groups for the purpose of transformative healing.
Our CPE center is open to all people who are rooted in a spiritual tradition or practice. Spiritually-driven helping professionals – such as social workers, therapists, and nurses – are welcome to apply.
Our CPE programs are funded by generous donors who have a heart for education. 💜 Help Emerging Leaders.
CPE PROGRAMS
We are now running our Intensive Summer CPE Unit. Click here to meet our students!
We are accepting applications for two programs in 2021:
- Buddhist-inspired CPE Spring 2021 A part-time “extended” CPE unit from January 19th – May 21st. Students will get exposure to Buddhist approaches to spiritual care.
- Intensive CPE Summer 2021 A full-time, 40 hours/week, CPE unit from June 1st – August 13th.
To apply: email your completed CPE Application and submit a $35 fee. We also file applications for future CPE programs.
Finally, we contract with other CPE Centers to allow their students to use our telephone Care Line as a clinical context. Contact us for more information.
Satellite
We are proud to announce a new satellite program birthed from our CPE center. Our own Rev. Silvia Tiznado launched this daughter program to meet the needs of marginalized people in Phoenix, AZ.
Visit the website: Templo Cristiano Central (Discipulos de Cristo)