Glide Memorial Church is a United Methodist Church in San Francisco, California that opened in 1929. Although conservative until the 1960s, since then it has served as a counter-culture rallying point and has been one of the most prominently liberal churches in the United States. Its contributions to the community have been recognized by such respected figures as Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Clinton; as well as Warren Buffett, who famously contributed the value of an auctioned lunch on eBay.[1] Since the 1960's, Glide Church has provided various services for the poor and disenfranchised. Glide serves three meals daily, amounting to over 750,000 free meals a year. The church also provides AIDS testing, mental and primary health care, women's programs, crisis intervention, an after-school program, creative arts and mentoring for youth,literacy classes, computer training, job skills training, drug and alcohol recovery programs, free legal services for the homeless, housing with case management, and much more. Visitors from all over the world attend Sunday celebrations, of which music is a prominent part. The Glide Ensemble and Change Band have become an integral part of the the Sunday celebration. In May 2007 the ensemble was featured on the national late night show Late night with Conan O'Brian. Every Sunday's celebration is available on CD and DVD from church's website and at the church itself. Revenue from this source helps the church fund its many charitable programs. Recently, the movie The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith and his son Jaden, depicted the real life rags-to-riches story of Chris Gardner and his son. Once homeless, they turned to Glide's services for support to help them get back on their feet. Cecil Williams and his wife, Janice Mirikitani, the leaders of the church's services for over 40 years, can be seen briefly in the movie.
