ACROSS THE COUNTRY
In Counterculture San Francisco, a Church Has Become the Place to Be
Yoga, laser art and Bobby McFerrin are attracting residents who are longing for a community — but not necessarily religion.
WHY WE’RE HERE
We’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. In San Francisco, a city that loves the new, many residents are flocking to an old cathedral.
Reporting from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco
San Francisco residents have always celebrated the new, the innovative, the cutting-edge. The weirder, the better. But these days, they are flocking to a surprising venue for the cool factor: a church that is older than the city itself.
High atop Nob Hill, above the clanging cable cars and luxury hotels, stands the majestic Grace Cathedral. The Episcopal congregation dates back to 1849, the year before the city was incorporated, when pews were filled with miners tossing gold dust into the offering plates at a precursor to the current building.
The Gothic cathedral, built in 1927 for the same congregation, has for decades been home to traditional religious rites and events: Sunday services, baptisms, weddings, funerals and Christmas choral performances. But in the past few years, it has boomed for reasons that have nothing to do with the Bible. Just the other week, a public art display featuring colorful lasers beamed from the roof of the nearby Fairmont Hotel into the big, round window at the front of the cathedral. The event drew more than 1,000 onlookers, including Sergey Brin, the billionaire co-founder of Google, and Kudra Kalema, a Ugandan prince and tech founder.
Kanye West, the rapper, has visited the cathedral during quiet hours to play the organ. Bobby McFerrin, the singer made famous by his 1988 hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” regularly leads cathedral goers in improvised song circles.