Hosh Geldiniz (welcome in Turkish) to Pacifica Institute’s S.F. branch. An old-fashioned ribbon-cutting, lots of great Mediterranean food including the best baklava in the Bay Area (or so it was claimed), and a demonstration of the Turkish art of Ebru (paint marbling) drew more than 75 people to ICP on Saturday, May 30.
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During the celebration, greetings were offered from Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and the Mayor of San Francisco. Pacifica will have their office at the Presidio Chapel, along with ICP and the San Francisco Interfaith Council. ICP looks forward to working closely with Pacifica; plans are in the works for at least one Ramadan iftar dinner. Pacifica is a branch of the worldwide Hizmet, a religious and social movement inspired by the teachings of Fethullah Gülen deeply committed to interfaith dialogue. Other Bay Area branches are located in San Mateo, Albany, and Sunnyvale. The Sunnyvale Branch was a founding member of SiVIC, the Silicon Valley Interreligious Council.

The Interfaith Memorial Day Service at the Presidio Chapel featured readings, prayers and hymns from several traditions, including Brahma Kumari, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Wiccan. Mr. Thomas Galvin, a Vietnam War veteran and President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Association of the US Army spoke about his wartime near-death experience. Piper Lynne Miller played the bagpipes and Robert Gurney was at the organ.
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Participants included Linda Crawford, Executive Director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio; Alex Lazar, aide to House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi focused on Veterans’ causes; Rita Semel, is the co-­founder of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio and the S. F. Interfaith Council and ICP Board member; Janardhan Chodagam, Producer of the annual Peace in the Park event held in Golden Gate Park; Don Frew, an Elder in the Covenant of the Goddess and ICP Board member; Thomas Galvin, President, San Francisco Chapter, Assoc. of the US Army; Iftekhar Hai, founder and president of United Muslims of America Interfaith Alliance; Gerry Caprio, Catholic priest, member of the White Robed Monks, and ICP Board member. Lynne Miller plays for many veterans’ events around the Bay Area and owns House of Bagpipes in S.F. and Robert Gurney is the Music Director of Trinity/St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and the S. F. Lyric Chorus.