About Glide Memorial Church

San Francisco philanthropist Lizzie Glide purchases a parcel at Ellis and Taylor Streets and founds Glide Foundation, whose charitable mission includes establishing a church as “a house of worship for all people”.

In 1963, a young African American minister named Cecil Williams joins other progressive ministers at GLIDE determined to bring life into a dying congregation. Welcoming in the diverse community of hippies, prostitutes, chronic drug users, transgender youth, and other poor and the marginalized people of the Tenderloin, GLIDE offers refuge and support, becoming a home for political and cultural change as well as spiritual growth.

As the Vietnam War continues to escalate, GLIDE becomes known as the counterculture rallying point in San Francisco. Everyone from Bill Graham to Angela Davis comes to GLIDE Celebrations to speak out and join in community. KMEL and K101 radio begin broadcasting GLIDE’s Sunday message throughout the Bay Area, as the Bay Area increasingly looks to GLIDE for moral guidance, social solidarity and spiritual sustenance.

Guided by Janice’s leadership and Cecil’s steady vision of supporting the disenfranchised, GLIDE programs increase in size and scope. The flagship Daily Free Meals Program kicks into overdrive, and begins feeding the hungry and homeless three times a day. The Generations program holds its first graduation ceremony in 1987. From protesting the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory’s development of nuclear weapons to leading the Northern California Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Observance Committee, GLIDE walks the walk for peace, equality and justice while organizing to address the crack cocaine epidemic and the AIDS crisis, twin scourges on the health of the community.

Not content to let those afflicted by crack find their way to GLIDE, Cecil takes the Facts on Crack movement into the housing projects. Meanwhile, GLIDE’s fame continues to grow as the likes of President Bill Clinton, Sharon Stone and Oprah Winfrey come to Celebrations and commend GLIDE as a model of compassionate community in action.

GLIDE enters the 21st century with a surplus of vision, enthusiasm and hope. In 2000, Reverend Douglass Fitch is appointed pastor of GLIDE Church. Janice, as Executive Director and President, restructures GLIDE to meet the ever-evolving needs of the community. In the late 2000s, Willa Seldon comes on as CEO (2007–2010) and two new pastors, Rev. Donald Guest and Rev. Karen Oliveto, join GLIDE Church. Cecil continues as Minister of Liberation and Janice as Founding President.

The Bay Area is roiled by a historic economic boom that has highlighted an ever-widening gap between those with means and those left behind. Historic racial-ethnic enclaves are disappearing, and the Tenderloin—long a “safe space” for people down on their luck—is part of the fierce citywide competition over space and resources. Through these challenges, GLIDE remains an oasis for those most in need. Under President and CEO Karen Hanrahan, GLIDE is refining its service approach to reach more people and deepen its impact while creating pathways towards better lives. GLIDE’s expanding Center for Social Justice, meanwhile, is at work in the community mobilizing the power of love for personal growth and social betterment.

Dr. Gina Fromer takes over as GLIDE’s President & CEO and works on implementing a bold, ambitious plan for expanding GLIDE. Under her leadership, GLIDE develops integrated mobile services to take GLIDE’s services throughout the city, fundraises money for building repair and expansion, develops behavioral health services, and more. Insisting, “A healthy GLIDE is a healthy San Francisco,” Dr. Gina Fromer works in partnership with San Francisco city leaders to implement GLIDE’s love agenda — even as national legislation threatens social safety nets.