It’s hard to believe, but it’s now been a year since the launch of the San Francisco Contemplarium. We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved in that time, but we’re even prouder of what we’ve learned while breaking new ground for a neighborhood institution to honor the human journey.
This learning has helped us be clearer than ever on how to achieve our mission. That’s why we’re so excited to take our next big step: launching the Neighborhood Flamekeepers.
But first – let’s look back at what brought us here.
Our mission remains clear and urgent
I think most of us know this in our bones: Our society is living through a crisis of connection. Even before the Covid pandemic, social fragmentation has deepened year over year. In a 2023 report on the loneliness epidemic, the Surgeon General found plummeting rates of social engagement. And each week of headlines underscores how our systems of democracy – dependent upon a functioning social fabric – are breaking down.
Incredible people are working to address this crisis from many different angles – as a crisis of politics, as a crisis of public health, as a crisis of technology, as a crisis of community. Here at the San Francisco Contemplarium, we also see it from another angle: as a crisis of our moral and spiritual life together.
In particular, we are focused on the question of how we can honor our human journey as a community. By “human journey”, we mean the full experience of human life: our moments of joy, sorrow, transition, and everything in between. And by “honoring” our human journey, we mean giving such moments the care and respect they deserve – through a listening ear, a kind blessing, a supportive shoulder.
We believe we owe this practice of honoring our human journey to ourselves and to each other – not just because it’s good for our mental health (which it is!) and for our social fabric (which it is!), but because it is worth doing for its own sake. In a city that embraces the idea that we are all endowed with inherent and equal dignity, honoring our human journey is part and parcel of treating ourselves and each other as full human beings.
Yet how we honor our human journey has broken down. For reasons I think many of us have experienced firsthand, the traditional religious and community institutions that might have once helped us honor our human journeys no longer fit the needs of our intellectually and culturally diverse communities. Especially in our predominantly secular city, it’s not clear where to go when we want to share a genuine moment of care and respect in the face of life’s joys and sorrows – without submitting to confining doctrines or membership.
That’s where the San Francisco Contemplarium’s mission comes in: To create space in our neighborhoods to honor our human journey together. How might we build an open, pluralistic institution that helps us live out our shared humanity as a people? And do it in a way that is relevant to who and where we are? We set out a year ago to find out some answers those questions.
A year of experimentation
Over the past year, we’ve approached our mission by asking: What are ways we can gather to honor the human journey in a way that attracts and resonates with people? What gives people the space, comfort, and familiarity to offer care and respect to their experiences? What ways of interacting feel genuine and connective? Our experiments included 45+ events and programs that engaged hundreds of neighbors in different ways:
Monthly Reflection Jams – At these flagship events, we gathered 25-30 neighbors every month for guided journaling and sharing in small groups, where we reflected on the past month together, and then shared in a pebble-dropping ritual to honor our intentions for the coming month. Participants described these as "a lovely way to spend a Sunday evening" to help "slow down and sit with the triumphs, disappointments, and transitions" of the month.
Seasonal Ingatherings – We came together to turn the season together through honoring the themes of human life inspired by the natural world, as reflected in our Ritual Year Calendar. Our Fall Ingathering helped participants honor losses and transitions through ritual and community support; our Autumn Equinox event explored death as part of life an end-of-life chaplain; and our Winter Solstice event explored identity through gingerbread cookie decorating.
Reflection Stands – At these park pop-up installations, neighbors could up cards naming a joy or a sorrow on their hearts, and other neighbors passing by could honor those experiences by dropping a pebble into a vessel of water. Hundreds of San Franciscans have engaged in a moment of reflection around these pop-ups, with participants describing them as "just what I needed today."
Journey Groups and Listening Circles – In partnership with the community space The SF Commons in Hayes Valley, we offered Journey Groups, small groups of 6–8 participants who met regularly over six months to explore themes of the human journey together. We also offered drop-in Listening Circles, where we held space to honor whatever was on people’s hearts by passing a talking piece.
Skillbuilding Workshops – For our Flamekeeper Series, we invited local practitioners to share their insights and skills on being present for someone else during difficult parts of the human journey: when a friend is experiencing mental illness, when a friend is navigating conflict, when a neighbor is on the streets, and when a friend is grieving. We brought together an incredible community and truly experienced the sacred in our midst.
Two important takeaways
As you can see, it’s been a busy year 😮💨 In addition to insights specific to each program, two overall learnings emerged about our work as a whole:
First, we learned that there's yearning to connect with neighbors as full human beings. In our city, we know how relate to neighbors politically as citizens (voting and arguing about bike lanes at public comment), transactionally as consumers (buying and selling stuff), or simply as objects (trying to avoid bumping each other on the sidewalk). But when we talk about opportunities for our neighborhoods to have space where we can honor each others’ full humanity … people’s faces light up. We long to see and be seen by the humans we share space with.
Second, we learned that our mission must be people-powered. When we talk about “creating space” to honor the human journey, that “space” is created not by physical walls or structures – but by people. For our mission to succeed, we need to find and empower the human beings who will hold spaces of care and respect for the people around them. Who are these people? We believe that they’re already doing their important work all around us – we call them “Flamekeepers.” We’ve been wondering: What would happen if we gathered these Flamekeepers and nourished the work that they do?
What’s next: Neighborhood Flamekeepers 🔥
Applying our two learnings from the past year, we’re proud to announce our next initiative: the Neighborhood Flamekeepers 🔥🏡, a community of neighbors who serve their neighborhoods through the SF Contemplarium, while cultivating skills of human connection and supporting each other.
This community will power the SF Contemplarium’s neighborhood offerings, including events (like our Reflection Jams and Seasonal Ingatherings), physical installations (like our Reflection Stand Park Pop-ups) and individual or group support. At the same time, Neighborhood Flamekeepers will cultivate the Flamekeeping skills of presence, ritual, and accompaniment through ongoing workshops, and support each other through community and shared leadership.
We are now forming our Fall 2025 Founding Cohort of 8-15 neighbors willing to focus on the Hayes-Duboce area. This multigenerational group from diverse backgrounds will pioneer our work together, starting with an immersive weekend November 1–2 and hosting a Neighborhood Fall Ingathering on November 16. Applications with rolling admissions are open now and close October 5, 2025!
Intrigued?
🙋 Apply or nominate someone now! If you yearn to better support others through life’s challenges, volunteer to serve others through human connection, are called to grow our skills of human connection – you might be a Flamekeeper. Hop on over to the Neighborhood Flamekeepers info page to see if you’re ready to roll with us, or know someone who is!
💬 Attend a Neighborhood Flamekeepers Info Session. If you’re curious about becoming a Neighborhood Flamekeeper, come meet us and ask your questions!
Wednesday, 9/24, 7pm online on Zoom – Register here
Thursday, 9/25, 6:30pm at The Commons (550 Laguna) – Register here
Sunday 9/28, 5pm at The Commons (550 Laguna) – Register here
🌟 Join our Community Design Session for SF Good Neighbor Week on October 1! This is for everybody who wants to show support for Neighborhood Flamekeepers, i.e. you! Join our advisors, rolling cohort acceptees, and the wider community to envision success and bless the work of the Neighborhood Flamekeepers ✨ We’d love to see you there!
Wednesday, 10/1 at 6:30pm at The Commons – Register here
Stay tuned for more!
These are difficult moments for our country – which is why it’s more important than ever for us to start here and now where we can make a difference in reweaving the moral and spiritual infrastructure of our society. Stay tuned for our next newsletter, where we’ll share more about the story of the Neighborhood Flamekeepers and what they do …
—Seanan, Founding Director of the SF Contemplarium
The San Francisco Contemplarium is a neighborhood institution creating space to honor our human journey, where you can engage with contemplative events & programs, installations, and community. Visit sfcontemplarium.org to learn more. See previous newsletters at sfcontemplarium.substack.com.