good morning, i am and pastor at st. mark's lutheran church here in san francisco. it is a few days before christmas and i am here with my good friend and colleague, pastor maggie henderson. we are getting ready for our christmas services and we want to invite people to those services. wherever there may be a church that you will feel comfortable going to. we know our services best and we will describe what will happen at old first presbyterian on christmas eve in hopes that people will visit

on christmas eve. tell us about your christmas service, pastor henderson.>> we have been planning for months and by the time we get there, we are excited. there is music, mystery, candlelight and people. it is planned out and there is joy is chaos if we are lucky. >> moderator: what time is it?>> it is at 8:00. people can go out and enjoy dinner and then go to the service. if they walk in and they have never been to a christmas service before, somebody who is seeking or has not been to church for a while, how do you make them feel welcome on this christmas eve?>> you will get a bulletin which will tell you what is going to happen. it is quiet and there are candles and it will feel

mysterious. if you are crazy at christmas, it calms you down and gets you centered.>> moderator: well your 8:00 service matches with ours. we have three services on christmas eve. 5:00 is the big children's pageant. we have lots of children and we reenact a christmas story. sometimes we have animals and all kinds of things at the 5:00 service. the 7:00 service is a quieter service for people who are may be worshiping by themselves. those for whom christmas is a little more somber. it is carol's and candle lighting and then we pulled the stopped out for the 10:30 service. there is beautiful music that starts at 10:00 and people come to the preservice music.

at 10:30 there is candlelight, communion and brass with organ music. we celebrate the birth of christ at the service at 10:30. >> i have snuck into a couple of your services. i have been to a children's service and then at one time i went to a later service. you do pretty good for not being presbyterian, i have to say. >> moderator: well lutherans are known for our music. they will hear joyful christmas music. there will be cruncher -- there will be plenty of baroque and then contemporary carol's as well. there is another church for you in your neighborhood where you could come to on that christmas eve. there may be a church you have always wanted to go to. but, most churches welcome visitors, especially on christmas. it is such an exciting day for

us and we celebrate this. we want to say to people, come in and see what we are about. join our celebration. you just come and it is usually just welcome. there is hospitality and you just kind of enter into the joy.>> that is what christmas is about. >> moderator: by the time we get to the 24th, people are exhausted. 5:00 or 7:00 or 10:00 at st. mark's. 8:00 at old first. of course, we have a service on christmas day. people can come to st. mark's on christmas day. we will be back with more christmas celebrating with you in just a moment. thank you.

good morning and merry christmas. i am the pastor from saint max -- st. mark's church and i welcome maggie henderson. we're talking about our christmas services. we are encouraging people to worship weather at old first or st. mark's or where ever. we are letting people what they may find for the christmas eve service at st. mark's. what will they hear?>> they will hear from luke. many people don't hear what christmas is about. they hear about starbucks cups or sales. the christmas story is about a

family who cannot get a place to stay. we know in san francisco that they cannot find housing. they go to a barn and a baby is born. god made flesh. a tiny cry -- crying and pooping real baby.>> he comes as baby jesus in a manger as the prince of peace. that's what we celebrate on christmas eve. angels and shepherds. i love with the angel says. the first word -- the first words are, be not afraid. in this day and age, people live with fear. there is a message of not to be afraid that god is with you today.>> god is with us in the dark places and we are never alone. i think on days like christmas,

a lot of people feel alone or they can feel depressed because people are not there or there are broken relationships. come to a church service and be a part of something larger than yourself. find the hope. >> moderator: the other thing the angel says is, for enter you -- for unto you is born this day. we want people to hear this personal word that christ is born for you. our encouragement today is to get people to come for worship. we know that people shop and that there are family events. we also know that there is grief and that illness and death still happen. christmas is a joyful and happy time, to be sure. but, god is with us in the midst of our fear and grief. it is that personal message.

is your sermon ready yet? do you have the first draft done?>> yes. it has to be short. a lot of my message is scripture and we sing christmas carols. there is mystery. i have to remind folks along with a bit of welcome. we take an offering and we don't keep any of it. it goes to needs in the city. that sets up the generosity of who we are on that day and more often than that. >> moderator: that is great on christmas eve. my sermon is not done yet, but it will be on the 24th. we always try to speak a word to everybody. it is luke 2 on christmas eve and on christmas day we hear from the gospel of john. in the beginning was the word and the word was with god.

it is the incarnation message of god. we experience god everywhere. not just in beauty and joy, but god is with us in the dark places of the world and in our pain and grief. we cannot do christmas without thinking about easter ahead. certainly, this is a joyful time. there is joyful music at st. mark's and lots of singing. there is candle lighting. our people love to sing silent night when the church is dark and we are holding our candles. >> we circle the outside of the sanctuary, do you do that?>> we don't do that because we have so many people. there was always room for one more. that is at st. mark's. we will be back in just a

moment.

merry christmas, this is pastor elizabeth ekdale from st. mark's lived through them and i am here with pastor maggi henderson from old first presbyterian. we have arrived at december 24 and we have invited people to come and worship. there are churches where we serve and any church where you can celebrate the good news of christ being born. we want to remind people that the christmas season is more than a day. it is 12 days. the 12 days of christmas. the 24th, christmas eve and then the 25th is christmas day. then we have 12 days and we want to encourage people to come on the sundays following christmas when we still sing christmas carols.>> the 27th,

we do old christmas carols and people get to choose. they will choose silent night and then we will sing some of that. we try to get everyone's favorite. january 27 is the second sunday of christmas -- second is the second summer -- january 2 is the second sunday of christmas. we hear from matthew where the magi followed the star and they come to the manger and worship the christ child. epiphany is a multicultural emphasis. tell us about that.>> in some ways, you tell us that these three wise men calm and get what the christ child is about before anyone else does. so, they come and there are lovely traditions around that.

for us, we will remember immigration and we will ask that people bring things for children like diapers. we will get those two agencies who need them. at st. mark's, on january 6, that is the festival. we are encouraging people to bring white socks that day for the homeless. the magi come bearing gifts for the christ child. we will bring those socks and they go to lutheran social services in the tenderloin where we give them away. then on january 6 is the epiphany at st. mark's and you move viewers to january 10? >> mostly because i want to take the sunday after all. we also borrow the magi costumes because they are fabulous. if we do, we can borrow them.

>> you may use them again. >> thank you.>> i want to ask when christmas happens for you? i know it is a rush for clergy and professional church workers? when is that moment they knew -- that you get to experience christmas?>> it means in my neighborhood that i say more openly, merry christmas. i know who the muslims are and the christians and the jews. i get to say for my tradition. it is also after the service on christmas eve that we have communion. i will take the bread and the wind and i will walk around my neighborhood and as people if they want communion. it is dark and sometimes it is just me. that is when my christmas begins.>> for me, it is driving home around 12:30 or 1:00 on christmas day after the christmas eve service. i am driving home and praying for peace in our home -- in our

world and especially people in the city here. there is kindness on christmas eve. i also like to go to the hospital on christmas and wishing people merry christmas. >> those are are christmas celebrations. thank you so much for coming, pastor maggi henderson. we will be back in a moment for the final segment. one more time! ♪ music

kids will spend 22 minutes watching us, the super duper party troopers, sing about ants in their pants. brushing for two minutes now, can save your child from severe tooth pain later. two minutes twice a day. they have the time.

good morning and merry christmas. we have a new guest, larry sligh who has been director of the food bank. we want to hear about the important work you do and how we can help.>> i appreciate this opportunity to talk about the work we do. we represent the food bank in santa clara and san francisco. so, a lot of what i am saying will be pertinent in their communities as well.>> moderator: you have been there 39 years and you have an interesting story. tell us about that. >> when i was in college, they did not have a food bank major and i was actually hired as a

truck driver to drive the bookmobile. i thought it was a good job for me. i did not get it and i was called for the food bank position. there were two individuals. i was the truck driver and the other was the executive director. we had a trailer parked in a parking lot and we served 19 food pantries. most of them were congregational churches. those agencies were there providing a free three-day food supply to people who had gone to apply for the food stamp program another government assistant programs. they did not have bureaucratic glitches, so they were eligible for the food and they got there three days worth of food. that was our job.>> moderator: what has it transferred into?>> in the last year, we distributed

20,000,000 pounds of food to 200 nonprofit organizations and direct service organizations as well. >> moderator: who comes to the food pantry? who do you serve? >> we serve a cross-section of the community. i merrily it is seniors and kids and disabled folks. it is the kind of people who are just having a struggle getting by our expensive society. we see a lot of people and we do a survey with our national organization for feeding america. we found that half of the people coming to us have a working individual in the family. the job market has grown and things are better, but we find people making $12 per hour and you cannot get by on $25,000 per year in our community.>> moderator: we are a few days before christmas and people want to help. it is the time and season of

giving. how can somebody partner with you in the food banks at this time of year? >> people engaging with us is what makes things possible. one way is to give us food donations by dropping them into the barrels at the grocery stores. you can drop them into the barrel at your church or two places where we can get access to food donations. the other thing you can do is financial support. half the food that we get is fresh food and vegetables. we have to pay fees for tracking and things like that. we need money to make that work. and finally there is volunteer time. we need to sort the food to use -- to be used by the agencies. groups like girl scout troops can come in to help.>> moderator: your work is 365 days per year, is it not? >> yes, people are hungry every

day. we actually see the need go up during the summertime because kids are out of school. families who are struggling to make ends meet have to provide additional meal. we work every day of the year. >> moderator: that's why the additional money would be helpful during those summer months.>> we reach out for agricultural products that we purchased two to provide to the agencies. we have to stabilize the service through the year. it is like the retail world with peaks during the holiday season. if we could make that work during the year to provide the service to those in need. >> moderator: what would people do if they want to help hands on? >> we have distribution centers in our community. we drive to a lot of the talents in the county and we do giveaways. we are in the parking lot of

the church giving food to low income individuals. we have a program called the community produce program where we set up mobile farmers markets in the communities. we stage the food to sort of administer the program and the people. for some of those, we get 400- 500 people show up at a time. it is a huge distribution and we need volunteer help. >> moderator: at christmas time, do you have particular donations that you were looking for four people to bring?>> we have foods that we very much need. this is a time when people want to make a difference. we try to engage people and we asked for things like peanut butter and tunafish and beef stew in cans. things that are expensive to purchase. if we can get those donated, we can make a significant difference in the people -- the lives of the people we serve. >> moderator: it is the produce -- the protein.>> people can

buy the produce on their own. it is the protein. i have talked to people who eat popcorn as a meal so they can provide food to their children. that is not a sacrifice they should have to make. >> moderator: how do you get the food? >> we have guidelines and we do have government funding so they require a certain protocol. we work on 150% of poverty level. that's what they accept. there is also self certification that allows that take place. we don't ask for tax records other than people signing a form saying that they meet the income guidelines. quite frankly, what works best is the fact that people are coming because they need it. if you are standing out in a 100 degrees day in antioch, you are doing it because you need

it.>> moderator: you are seeing families and seniors too?>> very much so. people who thought they had a retirement plan, we are finding out that is not the case. i was at her distribution yesterday where there was a mother with a toddler. i thought the child was three and others said younger. she had a baby in a stroller and she was balancing the food on the stroller. there are people really struggling to live in their neighborhood and how to says housing and food is such an integral part of the health picture for us to make a difference.>> moderator: this is the season of giving and it is christmas time. people want to help and give. how can people make a donation? >> people can look@bayareahunger.org. you can find the food bank in your local community. but if people go to the area

hunger.org to spine the -- bay area hunger.org to find the food bank in their community. people can make a difference in the lives of their neighbors and their community.>> moderator: that is our time together. you have served the food bank for 39 years. you will serve to 40 and beyond we hope.>> i appreciate that. >> moderator: and there are so many stories of people under your care. it is life-changing for all of us. again, the website address.>> the website is bay area hunger.org. that is where you can find a way to give.>> moderator: we want to wish everyone a merry christmas. there are ways to help and make christmas meaningful to you. blessings to you. on behalf of my cohost, i am pastor elizabeth ekdale.

this is your mosaic show. it has been a privilege to be here. merry christmas to each of you. thank you.

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the goods today. we begin with woman that turner life around. a u-s-f mba graduate.....climbi ng the corporate tower ... then did an about good morning everyone. welcome to bay sunday. i am your host , frank mallicoat . a woman lost everything and had a life evaluation. she was homeless for years ago and now she is the best-selling author of seven books. her latest is called perl, a guide to living an authentic and purposeful life. a number one best-selling international author. welcome.>> i'm glad to