#7367 Raising the Roof at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, CA

If you only have three hours to see San Francisco, here's my advice: skip Fisherman's Wharf (lame), bypass Chinatown (crowded), and postpone the Golden Gate Bridge (freezing cold). Instead, find your way through the trash-strewn streets of the Tenderloin, San Francisco's desperate skid row, to the bastion of Glide Memorial Church where all are welcomed to the unruly Sunday Celebration. The house built by civil rights legend Cecil Williams has had help from celebrated guests like Bono and Warren Buffet and has been a solid advocate for the city's gay community, so these are not your grandpappy's sermons. But while Cecil leaves the brimstone for the haters, he brings plenty of fire in the form of music. The Change Band and Ensemble Chorus are packed with some of the hottest jazz, soul, and gospel musicians in the Bay Area. The roof will be raised, the spirit summoned, and regardless of your beliefs, you will leave reinvigorated, seeing the troubled people on the Tenderloin streets as though for the first time.