|
Second Sunday in Lent
March 1, 2026
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Genesis 12:1-4a
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17
Psalm 121
Preacher: The Rev. Jennifer Wagner Pavia
| | |
Thursdays in Lent, Feb 19 - Mar 26, 3:30 PM: Contemplative Prayer in Good Shepherd Chapel
Saturday, March 21, 9:00 -1:30 PM: "Seeing God" Half-Day Lenten Retreat led by Deb Kaufman Giordano in Luther Hall
Saturday, March 21, 2:00 PM: "David Harper Improv Writing Workshop" SoB venue in Luther Hall
| |
Bible and Breakfast
Tuesdays | 9:30 AM
Luther Hall & Zoom
Midweek Eucharist:
Wednesdays | 7:00 PM
Chapel in the Sanctuary
Adult Forum: Lenten Study
Wednesdays | 8:00 PM
Luther Hall & Zoom
| | | CLOTHING DRIVE: Spring Clean Your Closet! | | |
St. Bede’s Episcopal Church is organizing a clothing drive– of new and gently used items– during the month of February. We are planning to do this with Ahavat Torah as a partner.
We welcome items for people of all ages and ask that the gently-used items be laundered. There will be marked bins for the clothing near the entrance of the church. Gently used shoes will also be gratefully accepted.
When the drive is over, members of the St. Bede’s mission committee will spend an afternoon assessing, sorting and organizing the clothing, and we would welcome any assistance that might be offered!
We plan to separate items for children to donate to families that cannot leave their homes due to ICE raids. Items for adults will be directed to The People Concern, a major LA County social services agency-- with several facilities-- that focuses on homelessness, poverty and domestic violence, and the Midnight Mission in downtown Los Angeles.
Thank you!
| |
Adult Forum Lenten Study:
POVERTY, WEALTH & FOLLOWING JESUS
| |
An Honest Lenten Study on Money, God, and Faith
In When Did We See You?, Magill invites us into an honest conversation about faith, money, and community, posing hard questions about poverty, wealth, and what it means to follow Jesus in an economically divided world. With candor, grace, and deep pastoral insight, Magill wrestles with her own material privilege and encourages us to do the same.
Contact Rev. Jennifer to reserve a copy. Also available online, on Kindle, and at your favorite bookstore.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN ON ZOOM
| | LENTEN CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER | | |
This Lenten season, come experience the ancient monastic practice of Contemplative Prayer led by Deb Kaufman Giordano. Join us for this time set apart to rest, reflect and listen for God in the stillness.
Thursdays, 3:30 - 4:30 PM
Good Shepherd Chapel
| | |
As we enter the holy season of Lent, we are invited into forty days of prayer, reflection, repentance, and renewal—and there are wonderful digital resources to support that journey. Daily digital devotionals provide Scripture readings, brief reflections, and prayers making it easy to build a consistent spiritual rhythm at home or on the go. Whether you choose a quiet daily devotional, join Lent Madness, listen to Lenten music, or simply set aside intentional time for prayer, may this season be one of renewal, hope, and deeper connection with God. Click on a picture below to get started.
| | An offering from the Diocese of Vermont in collaboration with the Diocese of Massachusetts. | | Forward Day by Day is a collection of daily inspirational meditations reflecting on a specific Bible passage, chosen from the daily lectionary readings. | |
Episcopal Relief and Development's Lenten Meditations: "Holy Habits"
Written by Sister Monica Clare, an Episcopal nun, author and unlikely TikTok star, these meditations offer an invitation to rediscover—or deepen—holy habits of prayer, worship and engagement with Scripture.
| | Music for Lent selected by Lifelong Learning staff from the Virginia Theological Seminary and available on Spotify. | | For a more interactive and lighthearted approach, Forward Movement’s Lent Madness offers a fun, bracket-style online experience in which participants read about saints, vote for their favorites, and follow the competition as it moves toward the coveted “Golden Halo,” all while learning about faithful witnesses from across Christian history. | | "SEEING GOD" Contemplative Half-Day Retreat | | |
"Come and see"
(John 1:39)
This half-day retreat led by Deb Kaufman Giordano invites us to explore seeing God, through visual prayer (Visio Divina), walking meditation, and creative practices.
To support one of our hands-on prayer practices, please donate magazines, calendars or images (religious or secular) in the box labeled Lenten Retreat in Luther Hall.
Saturday March 21
9am - 1:30pm
$20 suggested donation
RSVP Here
| | SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPER | | |
Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day, is celebrated in February or March on the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. In some countries it is traditionally observed by consuming pancakes. As this is the last day before the penitential season of Lent, it is the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.
| | |
To celebrate Shrove Tuesday, St. Bede’s parishioners and guests gathered to enjoy a feast of pancakes (both vegan and traditional) prepared by chefs Jennifer and Jerry. The serving table was filled with butter, syrup, mixed berries, vegan and turkey sausages, and potato patties. Everyone indulged in the delicious meal, knowing Lent would start the following day. Dinner tables were decorated with crayons and papers containing the word "Alleluia" (the "A” word) which means Praise the Lord. Diners were encouraged to color the word and write something they wished to let go of by the end of Lent on the back of the paper. These papers were collected into a box, symbolically referred to as a "coffin."
| | | | |
Let us Bury the Alleluia
After the meal, parishioners gathered in the Good Shepherd Chapel to "Bury the Alleluia" as a symbolic Christian tradition observed before Lent (often on Transfiguration Sunday or Shrove Tuesday) to mark the beginning of a somber, penitential season. The box of "A” word papers was carried upstairs by Ash Murray who, following the prayers, “buried” the box under the chapel altar. Traditionally congregations literally or figuratively hide, lock away, or "bury" banners/letters spelling "Alleluia" and eliminate the word from worship, only to resurrect it during the Easter Vigil when the congregation celebrates Christ’s resurrection, rejoicing and praising God. So, during Lent, don’t say the “A” word!
| | Left: Ash Murry holds the box of "A" words during the prayers before she "buries" it under the chapel altar. Right: Parishioners gather in the chapel for the prayers and burial. All photos: Dani Rodriguez, Deb Kaufman Giordano and Susan Holder | | DAVID HARPER IMPROV WRITING WORKSHOP | | | | |
Openings are available in the David Harper Improv Writing Workshop Sisters of Bede venue. Join Rosemarie for this special workshop celebrating the inspiring teacher who shared his passion for storytelling with so many. We'll honor David's legacy by exploring a few of his favorite improv exercises and writing prompts to spark creativity and get our ideas flowing.
Saturday March 21, 2:00 PM
Luther Hall
$10 minimum donation
SIGN UP HERE
| | SUPPORT SACRED RESISTANCE | | |
St. Bede's has partnered a task force of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, called Sacred Resistance, that assists immigrant families who are sheltering in place. The Mission committee has been assisting in the delivery of household goods, groceries and clothing.
There are two ways you can help:
1. Local Family Support We are currently supporting local families who need the following items:
ART SUPPLIES: Sketch pads, markers, construction paper, children's scissors, pipe cleaners, crayons, gel crayons, air dry modeling clay, stamps, stickers
SCHOOL SUPPLIES: Notebooks, loose paper, notepads, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, rulers, pencil sharpeners, erasers, highlighters, pencil/pen bags, glue sticks, Sharpies
HOUSEHOLD GOODS: Body wash, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, dish soap, laundry soap, hand soap (soft soap), liquid baby bath soap, diapers (sizes 4, 5, 6), bleach, canned vegetables, canned fruit, rice, oatmeal, pasta
CLOTHING: Men's sizes L/XL, women's sizes M/L, children ages 4-10. Coats, sweatshirts, shirts, pants, and socks (new or gently used) are all welcome.
How to give:
2. Broader Community Distribution
Sacred Resistance is also collecting dry goods and household items for distribution to families throughout Los Angeles County. View their wishlist here: https://www.myregistry.com/organization/sacred-resistance-los-angeles-ca/5220494
You may also drop off items directly at Sacred Resistance headquarters in Hollywood:
- Monday–Tuesday: 9:30 AM–5:00 PM
- Wednesday: 11:00 AM–5:00 PM
- Thursday–Friday: 9:30 AM–5:00 PM
Address: 6125 Carlos Ave, Los Angeles CA 90028
Monetary donations can be made here: Venmo: @ststephenshollywood Paypal: https://bit.ly/sacred-resistance
Your generosity helps families in our community during a vulnerable time. Thank you for your support.
| | |
Dear friends,
Many of you have shown concern about new immigration policies and how they will impact this vulnerable population among us here in Los Angeles. Below is information about how you can get involved through CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice), an organization that St. Bede's works with and supports. Join us in preparation for this essential work.
Blessings,
Rev. Jennifer+
At the core of nearly every faith tradition lies the concept of a just, harmonious, and loving society where all souls are valued and everyone can thrive.
It is unconscionable that people fleeing violence in other countries would be deported back to those places, regardless of threats to their safety and security.
Because the Trump Administration is threatening immigrant communities across the country (regardless of documentation status), CLUE is working across Southern California to protect immigrant workers and their families in a variety of important ways.
You can join us in this work or support it with your donations knowing that you are doing your part to protect vulnerable people.
SUPPORT CLUES IMMIGRATION WORK
RAPID RESPONSE NETWORKS
If you see ICE Activity anywhere you go, you can report it to the Rapid Response hotlines in your area.
- Los Angeles: 888-624-4752
- Orange County: 714-881-1558
- San Bernardino/Riverside: 909-361-4588
- Kern County: 661-432-2230
- Central Valley: 559-206-0151
CLUE is working with RRN partners to offer ongoing trainings for faith leaders and community members who want to show up for workers and families being targeted by ICE.
If you want to be trained to be a rapid responder and you live in Orange County, Los Angeles or the Inland Empire, contact Sithy Bin at sbin@cluejustice.org.
CLUE WELCOME NETWORK
CLUE is cultivating its vast network of houses of worship to create a network of congregations that provide respite, and even longer-term shelter, to migrants released into Southern California.
Over 30 congregations are already participating in the CLUE Welcome Network that houses asylum seekers and refugees. We receive referrals from CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights) for asylum seekers in need of shelter, from legal service providers that are seeking sponsors for people being released from detention, or direct walk-ins. Some congregations in the network provide temporary shelter or short-term housing, and others support those efforts with gifts of supplies, transportation, etc.
Thank you for standing in intimate solidarity as we seek to build a society where everyone is safe and lives with dignity.
If your congregation is interested in joining the network, offering housing or supplies or services, please contact Sithy Bin at sbin@cluejustice.org.
In faith and solidarity,
Rev. Jennifer Gutierrez
| | A PRAYER for IMMIGRANTS from BISHOP TAYLOR | | PRAYER FOR PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND | | ST. BEDE'S ONLINE GIVING PORTAL | | |
Visit the St. Bede's website and at the top of every page, look for the "Donate" button. When you click on the "Donate" button, you will be transported to St. Bede's Vanco eGiving and Payment Process Site.
Vanco is an industry leader in online payments. More than 40,000 churches, faith-based groups, nonprofits, schools, and educational organizations trust Vanco to securely complete transactions every day. Vanco complies with PCI Level 1 standards, the highest security standard in the payment processing industry.
You are invited to set up one-time or recurring gifts using credit, debit, or bank transfer on Vanco's secure payment processing platform. Giving online through the Vanco site saves time and the hassle of remembering to bring your offering. In addition, you decrease the expense incurred by St. Bede’s from handling and processing checks and cash.
| |
FROM THE EPISCOPAL NEWS
A newsletter serving the Diocese of Los Angeles
| |
Bishop-elect names Jon Feuss canon to the ordinary
By EN Staff
Bishop-elect Antonio J. Gallardo L. will call the Rev. Jon Feuss — currently associate rector at St. James’ in-the-City, Los Angeles — to serve as canon to the ordinary and chief of staff in the Diocese of Los Angeles beginning July 11.
“Through my experience working alongside bishops in our church, I have come to understand just how vital it is to have the right partner serving as canon to the ordinary,” Gallardo L. said in announcing Feuss’ call. “This role requires deep trust, shared vision, and steadfast faith. Jon is someone I trust completely. We are united in the conviction that we are called to serve God and God’s people with humility and courage.
“Our shared calling is rooted in living and loving like Jesus Christ. Together we are committed to strengthening the Jesus Movement by listening deeply, inviting authentically, and equipping God’s people to embrace their God-given mission. We both bring strong business backgrounds, and we each came to the Episcopal Church from different faith traditions. We honor the rich tradition of our church while remaining open to the Spirit’s ongoing work of renewal and transformation.
“While Jon and I share core values, I am continually enriched by his distinct perspective. His voice, shaped by the experiences of a younger generation, brings insight, energy, and wisdom that will bless our common ministry.”
Feuss will officially begin his new role in July, upon Bishop Gallardo L.’s consecration, and will be actively engaged in transition conversations throughout May and June.
Feuss, 40, currently serves on the planning committee for the Episcopal Parish Network conference, Diocesan Council, and the diocesan Program Group on Compensation and Benefits. He is also a facilitator in the newly launched Requiem and Renaissance program for congregations.
READ MORE HERE
| | A completed sleeping mat made from plastic grocery bags by a volunteer at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the church’s “Woven Together” ministry. Each mat contains a written blessing. Photo: Courtesy of Jeanne Robertson | |
New Orleans ministry makes plastic-bag sleeping mats for unhoused people sleeping on the streets
By Shireen Korkzan
Since 2022, volunteers at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, have been turning plastic grocery bags into sleeping mats to help unhoused people avoid extreme heat and cold.
“Anything to keep them from directly lying on concrete helps protect them,” Jeanne Robertson, a parishioner at St. Paul’s who founded and leads the church’s “Woven Together” ministry, told Episcopal News Service.
The slight cushion from the mats, which are waterproof, durable, lightweight and easy to wash, provides an insulated barrier between the user and the ground. This is especially needed when New Orleans experiences extreme heat and humidity, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees or falling below freezing.
Homelessness in New Orleans has been increasing at the same time government resources and services continue shrinking due to funding cuts. In 2025, homelessness increased by 7% from the previous year, and 1,563 people are known to be unhoused.
Robertson founded “Woven Together” after reading about a similar Episcopal ministry.
“When I read more about how easy it is to make a mat, I thought my church could totally do this,” Robertson said. “Outside of church, people can make ‘plarn’ [plastic yarn] and mats at home while watching TV. You don’t need a loom to make them.”
St. Paul’s accepts plastic bag donations throughout the year for “Woven Together.” Volunteers meet on the first and third Sunday of every month after worship to work with the bags. Some people will fold, cut and tie plastic grocery bags together to make “plarn,” a portmanteau of “plastic” and “yarn,” while others will use the “plarn” to weave, knit or crochet the mats.
READ MORE HERE
| |
Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe’s Ash Wednesday letter to the church
Dear people of God in The Episcopal Church:
When God told Moses to lead the ancient Israelites out of slavery in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh stood in his way. Pharaoh wanted power and control over God’s people, and Exodus tells us that the more serious the situation got, the more hardened his heart became. Despite locusts and frogs and all manner of chaos in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh remained trapped by his view of the world, which had himself and his power at the center. He could not see that God’s imagination was far bigger and more expansive than his. He could not imagine liberation for God’s people – or for himself.
Today, in the opening collect of our Ash Wednesday service, we ask God to “create and make in us new and contrite hearts.” I think of Pharaoh’s hard heart, and sometimes my own, when I say that prayer, and never more so than this year.
These days, it can seem as if we are living in a wasteland of Pharaoh’s imagination. We see the principalities and powers promulgating violence, dehumanization, and injustice on our streets, and it seems nearly impossible not to react along the lines of the divisions and polarization that our political leaders have championed. It is easy to have a hardened heart. It is tempting to get angry and be governed by outrage, or to grow cold and indifferent.
If we turn from Pharoah’s imagination toward God’s imagination, however, we find a different path. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. With that great commandment, he is teaching us that we are all one, all part of God’s chosen people, and when we hate and revile each other, we are actually destroying ourselves. Theologian Howard Thurman, whose thinking helped shape the Civil Rights movement, put it like this in “Jesus and the Disinherited”: “The logic of the development of hatred is death to the spirit and disintegration of ethical and moral values.”
READ MORE HERE
| |
Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe: Support emergency migration ministry
January 27, 2026
Office of Public Affairs
Feast of John Chrysostom
Jan. 27, 2026
Dear people of God in The Episcopal Church:
As the situation in the United States grows more fraught, The Episcopal Church is working to find new ways to care for God’s people in our immigrant communities. Many of you have asked how you can help.
Please join me in making a generous donation that will allow us to provide emergency funding for ministry with migrants. Your gift will allow us to rush financial support to dioceses that are loving and caring for immigrants in these difficult times.
GIVE TODAY
Last week, we sent funds to our siblings in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota to support Casa Maria, a place for vulnerable neighbors to receive food and clothing and network with others. Your gift will help support ministries like this across The Episcopal Church.
As we approach the season of Lent, I will invite us all into a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as we turn toward Christ’s ministry of justice, reconciliation, and love during divisive times. Please watch for these invitations in the coming days.
About 1,500 years ago, John Chrysostom, whose feast we celebrate today, had his own share of trouble with the forces of this world. In a famous homily, he said, “If Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider’s web.”
The anger of princes is raging around us, but Christ is with us, and God is calling us into the waves. Please give as you are able and pray for the witness of the church in these times, and for a hedge of protection around the people we serve who live in fear.
Yours in Christ,
The Most Rev. Sean Rowe
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church
| | | | |
