Nyhetsbrev från Svenska kyrkan San Francisco, oktober 2026

Välkommen på svensk gudstjänst i Los Altos lördagen den 17:e oktober kl 15.00. Vi samlas i Los Altos Lutheran Church, 460 S El Monte Ave. 

Vi firar tjugonde söndagen efter trefaldighet och temat för gudstjänsten är "Att leva tillsammans. Präst är Sabina Koij och kören Zaida Singers medverkar i gudstjänsten. 

Efteråt samlas vi till kyrkkaffe och gemenskap. Sabina kommer under kyrkkaffet att berätta om 500-års jubileet för den svenska översättningen av Nya Testementet, och Olaus Petri som stod bakom översättningen och som var kyrkoherde i Storkyrkan i Stockholm. 

Varmt välkomna!

Barn med föräldrar, far/morfäräldrar, aupairer och så vidare är välkomna på barnsång i kyrkan på Hyde Street varannan fredag. Vi sjunger svenska och norska barnvisor tillsammans. 
 
Vi börjar med sångstund med rörelser med och för barnen. Sedan tänder vi ljus tillsammans innan vi går upp till övervåningen för fika, samtal, lek och gemenskap.
 
Vill du komma - hör av dig till kristin.hamren@svenskakyrkan.se.

Varmt välkomna!

Kom till kyrkan och träffa andra skandinaviska ungdomar. Norska sjömanskyrkan bjuder på hemlagad tacobuffe och vi tävlar i quiz. 
 
För studenter, au pairer och andra unga vuxna. Perfekt om du vill knyta nya kontakter och uppleva genuin stämning och hemkänsla.
 
Anmäl om du kommer så vi kan förebereda rätt mängd mat. 

Varmt välkomna!
 

Detta år är det 800 år sedan den heliga Fransiskus av Assisi gick bort vilket är något som uppmärksammas runt hela världen. Han var en katolsk mystiker, poet och munk som grundade fransiskanordern och vördas som helgon i den katolska tron. Staden San Franciscus är namngiven efter honom, genom missionstationen som spanjorerna grundade 1776. 

Vi påbörjar vandringen vid Mission Dolores och gör stopp vid olika kyrkor och parker med anknytning till Franciskus, för att få veta mer om hans gärning samt be eller meditera. Sista stoppet blir vid Sjömanskyrkan där vi håller en kortare andakt.

Ta med egen picknikmat, bekväma skor och vatten! Vandringen kommer vara ca 8 km lång, mestadels i stadsmiljö och med en del backar och beräknas ta 4 timmar. 

Anmäl om du kan vara med till Kristin. 

Under kung Haralds begravning läste kronprinsessan Victoria en bön skriven av Franciskus.  

Vi välkommnar alla till andakt i Rossmoor. Sabina är präst och Therese Brewitz musiker. Vi sjunger tillsammans svenska psalmer. Efteråt lättare lunch till självkostnadspris.

Anmäl om du kommer till Tessie Forsberg, forsbergs63@gmail.com, så att hon kan lämna ditt namn vid väggrinden och du kan få den exakta adressen. 

Varmt välkomna!

Vi visar Ingmar Bergmans klassiska film "Höstsonaten" med Ingrid Bergman och Liv Ullman i huvudrollerna, torsdag den 22:a oktober 18.30. Ingrid Bergman spelar en känd pianist och Liv Ullman och Lena Nyman hennes kuvade döttrar och filmen behandlar deras relation. 

Efter filmen samlas vi till ett kortare samtal om vad vi tyckte och kände kring filmen. Svenskt tal med engelska undertexter.

Det serveras varmkorv och dryck till självkostnadspris. Anmäl gärna om du kommer. 

Under ledning av Karin Gaensler övar kyrkans, SWEAs och Young Scandinavian Clubs luciakör under söndag eftermiddagar i november. Barn från 6 år och uppåt kan vara med, liksom ungdomar och vuxna. 

Uppträdanden på SWEAs julmarknad 5:e december och i kyrkan den 13:e december. Anmäl om du kan vara med till sfluciachoir@gmail.com.

Luciakläder finns att låna. 

 

·         She tries to never miss a service, and she often sits in the same place. A blond young woman. Her name is Lisa Maxwell, and she has Swedish and Norwegian roots on hermother’s side of the family with Scottish and Irish roots on her father’s side of the family.
 
·         When she opened the door to the church for a Christmas service nearly 16 years ago, she was surprised by happiness as soon as she stepped into the little vestibule at the church entrance: “This is my home, this is where I belong!”
 
·         She has surprised us many times by asking very well-informed questions, when we have visitors giving lectures or presentations.
 
When I approached her for an interview last spring she immediately accepted so I sent her some questions which she answered promptly.

Where were you born and where did you grow up? Tell us briefly about your family.
 
I was born in Kansas and grew up there and in nearby states. In my early adulthood I moved to California and have been here since. Both Kansas and California are my home states. My father was a mechanical engineer, and my mother had studied geology but worked at home caring for me and my two sisters, one who is living in Kansas and the other in Oregon. My father died at age 73 in 1998 and the whole family was gathered by his side to say our farewells. He had both Scottish and Irish ancestry going back to Colonial days. One of my ancestors on my father’s side fought in the battle of Yorktown in the American Revolution under General George Washington. My mother lived on for another 20 years and died in 2018 after a very long life. She had both Swedish and Norwegian heritage, and her family had deep roots in the Lutheran Church of both countries.
 
What about your family name and your father’s heritage?
 
My last name, Maxwell, is Scottish. It originated in the late 12th century and was a combination of a man’s name and a place name. Historic accounts referred to either Maccus or Magnus, who was either Saxon or Norse, and weil or wael, which was a fishing place. The fishing place in this name was specifically a salmon fishing place on the River Tweed in Scotland. The spelling has changed many times over the centuries and is now Maxwell. Recent DNA research reflects that the original Maxwell was a Norman, so there is a Viking element to the Maxwell ancestry!
 
How did you discover the Swedish and Norwegian church in SF?
 
While researching for family history information, I learned about the Swedish Church and the Norwegian Church. I’ve been attending both for more than 15 years. Both the Swedish and the Norwegian Church feel like home. What I like best about the Church is how lovely the service always is and the wonderful people and interesting conversations afterward during the coffee hour and lunch. The holidays are especially beautiful and meaningful.
 
Tell us more about your family’s Swedish roots and what you know about their frugal lives and struggles in the mid-1800s.
 
My Swedish connection comes through my great-grandmother, Alma Josefin. Orphaned at age five, she was taken in by an aunt and cousin who brought her with them from Sweden to America in the late 1860s, when she was nine. The Civil War had recently ended. After traveling in steerage across the Atlantic, they arrived with little money. Although still a child, she worked in other people’s homes doing housework and caring for young children in exchange for room and board—so much for the “good old days.” Seeking better opportunities and living conditions, they decided to homestead in Kansas.
 
Around the same time, my Great Grandfather, Martin, had arrived in America from Norway and also decided to homestead in Kansas to seek better opportunities and living conditions. My Great Grandparents met as neighbors, fell in love, and were married.
 
Together they experienced many hardships. Early on they lived in a dugout. This was a form of housing that was common in the early days on the prairie. Due to limited availability of wood and lumber, people had to make do with other materials for their homes. A dugout was literally a hole dug out from the ground, sometimes along the side of a hill. Over the hole were placed logs, then branches, and finally a layer of prairie sod was placed on top. A door was added, either of leather or wood, depending on what was available, and possibly a window. Inside the dugout the ceiling was dirt, the walls were dirt, and the floor was dirt. Sometimes when it rained, water would leak into the dugout and, in the nighttime, salamanders and other creatures would crawl through the living space. It was extremely rudimentary, but it provided protection from the Kansas winters, which could reach 10 or more degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and even colder with wind chill factored in. In the next few years, they built a house made of stone.
 
They faced difficulties when swarms of grasshoppers flew to the prairies from the Rocky Mountains and ate every living green thing in their path. It was of Biblical proportions. The grasshoppers would return periodically for decades until finally that particular breed of grasshoppers became extinct.
 
In addition to grasshoppers, my Great Grandparents lived through blizzards, droughts, floods, hailstorms, and prairie fires. One year a tornado struck their new stone house in the middle of the night and tore off the roof. They had three young daughters at that time and had to wrap them in blankets and walk across the prairie in the night during the storm to get to the safety of a neighbors’ house. While the roof was being rebuilt, they temporarily lived in a granary on their homestead.
 
Despite the many challenges in their lives, my Great Grandparents created a loving home for their many children, including my Grandmother, Alfhild. Everyone in the family was expected to help out with the farm work and household chores and they did so happily. This was before the days of electricity and running water, or motorized vehicles and farm equipment, so the work was labor intensive.
 
How did the immigrants find comfort and support in their faith in doing the right things for people in need?
 
Throughout their lives, my Great Grandparents never forgot the difficult times they experienced, and they were always quick to help others in need. They were known for their kindness. If anyone appeared at their door, whether neighbors or strangers, they were invited into the home to share a meal at the table with the whole family. After the meal, the visitor would be given food to take with them and whatever small amount of money that could be spared.
 
I think of my Great Grandparents often and, when I do, I am given strength.
 
What are your favorite hobbies and interests in your free time?
 
My strongest interests and hobbies are art, music, languages, history, science, and exploring nature, all of which are in great abundance in the beautiful Bay Area.
 
My parents were both always well-informed about history, current events, science, music, and art. My sisters and I learned from their example.