After four years I finally worked up enough energy to attend church while visiting my family in San Francisco. Energy to actually get up and out of the house on a Sunday morning while "vacationing" and energy to face the interrogation. (Who are you meeting? Why do you have to go? Do you really believe?)

I made my way to the First UU Society of San Francisco with plenty of time to look around before the start of service. This is the same congregation that currently has the "God Is Optional; You Are Not" growth campaign, but I saw no evidence of such a banner. I wondered if they took it down, and if so why. The first thing I noticed, as I have for so many UU congregations, is that the church is located on expensive real estate, across the street from Grace Cathedral and near a small host of other prestigious looking churches. It's not just a church building either - the congregation seems to own the entire small block, with a school yard, some kind of "Thomas Starr King Center" and a small garden containing Rev. King's statue and sarcophagus.

The church building itself is gorgeous. The over all feel of the sanctuary is open (no view-blocking pillars) and yet cozy, thanks to the wood panels on the ceiling.  At the front of the sanctuary, hanging on the wall behind the pulpit on the left and the lectern on the right, is a metallic art piece/candle holder that is vaguely religious but also not. It's perfect for a UU church imo. But the highlight of the sanctuary is by far the three huge rose stained glass windows occupying the side and back walls.  Under the window on the left are the words from the prophet Micah, "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God."   Under the window on the right side are words from the gospel of Thomas: "The Kingdom of God is within you."  I am pleasantly surprised by these inscriptions as the "God is optional" campaign had given me the impression that the congregation is strongly atheist.  I reflect that if one were to put bible verses in a UU church, these would be the perfect verses to have.

As I walk into church I try to be just a visiting worshiper and not a critic.  But it's hard for me to not evaluate, so invested am I in how we appear to potential new UUs. How many people of color are in the congregation?  A handful - it could be worse.  The congregation is also a nice mixture of ages.  The service itself had more talking and less worship than I personally would have liked, but that may just be personal taste.  I loved their guest choir - the Fifth Dimension, and their guest lecturer - a Tibetan nun who spoke of impermanence. It tied in well with Rev. Rabidoux's sermon on surprise, and how the unexpected can sometimes be taken as a gift. I loved his whimsical take on things - from his hat prop to his story telling of a West African trickster god.

A few things were less impressive: First, only three people greeted me, one of whom was an usher. Second, after responding to the minister's 'amen' with an amen of my own, a woman sitting in front of me turned around and sized me up. I stared pointedly back at her. Ok, so maybe that wasn't the most loving thing to do. I probably should have smiled sweetly. But I did get the impression that my expression of worship was not welcome in her church.  Overall, despite the announcement from the pulpit welcoming visitors, I got the impression that the congregation was indifferent to my presence.

Then again, I did not go to coffee hour afterwards, where most of the socializing would take place, opting instead to take the tour of the church. The guy who led the tour - Arthur?? (I'm so bad with names) - was quite friendly and knowledgeable. He had glowing words for the normal choir, which did not sing today. So I'll definitely have to come back for a second look/listen.