In the past, I’ve described Fools Mission as a “radical” social experiment; yet I’ve recently come to think differently about that language. The original sense of the word radical comes from French and Latin: “of or pertaining to the root, having roots.” One possible image is a return to foundational ideas or principles in the … Read more
On April 7, 2018 I had the experience of a lifetime. My clown alter-ego, Alfonzo the Conjuring Fool, was blessed with the opportunity to sing A Simple Song from Leonard Bernstein’s Mass in memory of Kay Jorgensen, Co-Founder of the Faithful Fools Street Ministry in San Francisco. Kay had transitioned from this life on January … Read more
The prophet Isaiah said, “The wolf shall live with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” The following essay was written by Victoria Battistini, the 10-year-old daughter of Ivonne Battistini—both members of the … Read more
Theatre of the Oppressed workshop with Jiwon Chung Sunday, October 1, 2017, 1:00–5:00 PM in Redwood City, CA Register here A diverse crowd of citizens and non-citizens fills the sanctuary at the UU Fellowship of Redwood City, California for a workshop on Theatre of the Oppressed. Fifty people are learning about this innovative approach to … Read more
Brandon Scott once wryly observed that most of what passes for Christianity is actually Neo-Platonism. And like Christianity, Platonic ideals of Truth, Beauty, Good and Evil are sure taking a beating these days. Ideals don’t readily translate into the real world, and when we do encounter a singular moment of beauty or truth, we savor … Read more
Fools Mission has always been a ministry of witness, accompaniment, and advocacy. And under the “new normal” of national politics that is anything but normal (and as local as ever), our mission is taking on new meaning for us. Church history is a helpful guide to understanding what we are doing. The earliest communities of … Read more
I was so pleased to be invited to deliver a sermon at the worship service of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Sunnyvale, California on August 7, 2016. In light of the results of the 2016 election, I felt motivated to post it here, as well. I hope that you find some comfort and hope, along … Read more
For years, Fools Mission has dragged its feet on incorporating as a nonprofit charity. Would our Spanish-speaking friends accept this? Would they help write our mission statement? Would rules against “self-dealing” prevent recipients of financial assistance from sitting on the board, thereby reinforcing power relationships that make us uncomfortable? Would corporate governance ruin the egalitarian … Read more
Fools Mission is in the exploration stage of developing a new program. For now, we’re calling it a Healthy Relationships Seminar. The proposed seminar would be a hybrid between a covenanted support group and a lecture format, and would create space for participants to explore interactively all aspects of human relationship, including couples, families, and … Read more
Last week, Fools Mission accompanied a mother of two young children on a shopping expedition to replace stolen clothes. She and the kids are living in their car by day and sleeping in the San Francisco shelter system by night, having lost their apartment to eviction because of the deportation of the family breadwinner. Both kids … Read more
Berenice (not her real name) is a young woman from Honduras with two young children. The father of her U.S.-citizen children is currently in a deportation process, living in a detention center and awaiting bail. This is how the stress on the family escalates. The dad is the family breadwinner, and Berenice has to vacate … Read more
Fools Mission recently collected stories about the State of the Union from friends and fools alike, and now you can read them here! On Sunday, January 25, 2015, over 20 of us gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City to participate in the first People’s State of the Union. A national initiative sponsored … Read more
As the holiday season draws to a close here at Fools Mission , we reflect on the old and dream of the new. Our consciousness-raising multicultural ministry has brought together young and old, rich and poor, citizens and immigrants, privileged and underprivileged. We build community among people who would otherwise be unlikely to get to … Read more
Our November breakfast meeting (we call it The Fools of the Round Table) reminded me why I love Fools Mission . The social hall at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City (UUFRC) was humming as 25 adults and kids gathered in the social hall. The cast of characters were a typically diverse mix—an SRI … Read more
Fools Mission recently participated in a bus tour of San Mateo County organized by Rev. Deborah Lee at CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice). The concept behind the tour was a perfect match for our own mission: to raise consciousness by bringing people together across class, race, language, culture, and immigration status. Over … Read more
At Fools Mission , the value of accompaniment begins with embracing a life of service. We celebrate when moms are reunited with their daughters, or undocumented immigrants shed tears of gratitude for supportive companionship. Nothing can quite compare with connecting a homeless person with shelter, a grade-school kid with reading skills, or an immigrant parent … Read more
On Thursday evening, June 5, ten adults from the neighborhoods of Redwood City gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City for a Tenants’ Rights workshop sponsored by Fools Mission . The workshop was led by Shirley Gibson, Directing Attorney for the HomeSavers Project at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. (Shirley … Read more
For fools and most friends of fools, the jester hats and clown noses require no explanation. They speak to the identity of the fool down through the ages: the trickster, the disrupter, the speaker of truth to power, the healing power of irony and laughter. Humor is as much a part of the story as … Read more
Four Fools Mission regulars joined the San Mateo County Coalition for Immigrant Rights on Friday morning, February 21, 2014 at the office of Supervisors Warren Slocum and Dave Pine. We advocated for an end to “ICE holds.” Great gobs of gratitude go out to fools David Vallerga, Silvia Ramirez, and Gene Thiers for showing up … Read more
Before you find yourself in 3R mode (reflexive reaction of revulsion) at the title of this article, I’m sharing a link here to one of the finest think pieces on poverty that I’ve read in awhile. The author is Tressie McMillan Cottom, an African American scholar who describes herself this way on her website at … Read more
On Sunday, November 24, I attended a five-hour training session on nonviolent civil disobedience sponsored by the San Jose Action Team for the Keystone XL Pledge of Resistance. The sponsors of the campaign are a coalition of CREDO Mobile, The Other 98%, and the Rainforest Action Network. The goal is to prevent the approval of … Read more
