Eco-Justice Winter Service Retreatby Jamie Garrett and Karin “Luci” Petlack |
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| An abandoned energy plant serves as the backdrop as students from San Francisco State, Stanford and UCs Berkeley and Davis receive instruction on wetland restoration at Heron Head Park in San Francisco's Hunter's Point. |
On Saturday, February 2, 2008 some of the Wesley students and Rev. Tarah Trueblood drove to Hunter’s Point in San Francisco to participate in our tri–annual Eco–Justice Service Retreat. We met with other students from UC Davis, San Francisco State, UC Santa Cruz, and Stanford. This year we weeded and planted indigenous plants in at Heron’s Head Park. Heron’s Head is the only locale of wetlands in San Francisco. Surrounded by an old power plant, docks, and a navy shipyard, the contrast between the park and the city was great and astounding. Arriving at the park early Saturday morning, the group was buzzing with excitement, despite the threatening rain clouds, as we reconnected with old friends and met new ones. As we began to work and the rain began to fall, we felt connected to the earth we served and the people we worked beside. Trying not to get too soaked, we worked hard and fast.
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| Heron Head Park instructors compare “before” and “after” maps of the area showing the impact of industrial development on native wetlands. |
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| Laura Taing pulling non–native plants. |
Karen “Luci” Petlack (Wesley Student Center at UC Berkeley) pulling non–native plants. |
Deciding we didn’t want to eat lunch in the rain, we all headed back to San Francisco State’s Campus Ministry. As Stanford was hosting this weekend, we all piled back into our cars and drove to the 1st Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto. With the few hours of free time, some sang, read, talked, and walked around downtown Palo Alto. Because we had not all met before we had an “icebreakers” session in which we played games trying to learn each other’s name and get more comfortable with each other. All of us agree that this group was more cohesive than any previous group. Ready to eat again we went out for dinner where we broke into smaller groups and connected with students from other campuses on a more intimate level. Afterward we returned to the 1st Presbyterian Church for the worship service. Led in fellowship by our very own Pastor Tarah we focused on the earth, the inequality in the United States, and the intersection of these two. We sang songs, shared reflections and prayers, and ended our day with the lasting memories of our experiences. Despite the differences between our campuses and our denominations, in the short time we spent together our group formed a tightly knit community. We cannot wait to see our friends from other campus ministries at the next service retreat where we look forward to strengthening our fellowship and continuing to serve the communities around us.
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| Group photo following lunch at The Edge campus ministry at San Francisco State. |
Jamie Garrett is a senior at U.C. Berkeley where she is majoring in English Literature. Karin “Luci” Petlack is a senior at U.C. Berkeley where she is double majoring in History and African American Studies. They both serve on Wesley Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Wesley Foundation’s participation in this event was sponsored by the Conference Board of Church & Society’s Peace with Justice Fund.