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Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 9
July 5, 2026
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145:8-15
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Preacher: The Rev. Jennifer Wagner Pavia
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Saturday, July 11, 6:00 PM: "Paint, Sip & Nosh Night" SoB venue in Luther Hall
Saturday, August 15, 6:00 PM: "Beer & Brats" SoB venue at the Mohler residence
To be rescheduled: "Seafood of Coastal California" SoB venue at Hornof residence
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Bible and Breakfast
Tuesdays | 9:30 AM
Luther Hall & Zoom
Midweek Eucharist: A Study of Biblical Wisdom literature
Wednesdays | 7:00 PM
Chapel in the Sanctuary
Adult Forum: TBD
Wednesdays | 8:00 PM
Luther Hall & Zoom
| | | THE BACKPACK PROJECT IS BACK! | |
St. Bede’s has partnered for several years with First AME Church on a back-to-school backpack project for children in foster care, and the start of summer means it’s happening again!
Our plan is to fill 45 backpacks (15 for elementary school-age children, 15 for middle school and 15 for high school), and we’re collecting money to purchase the supplies that will go inside.
The campaign will be June 25-Aug. 14. As always, giving early is greatly appreciated!
If you’re writing a check, please make it payable to St. Bede’s with “Backpack Project” in the memo portion (at the lower left corner of the check.) You can bring the checks (or cash) to church, mail the checks to church, or send your checks to Alice Short (3156 Coolidge Ave. Los Angeles 90066). Want to donate via Vanco? There will be a dedicated backpack donation tile.
As always, we will schedule an “assembly dinner” (probably in early August) to prepare the backpacks and enjoy the fellowship this project offers.
Questions? Please reach out to members of the mission committee. Thank you!
| | SoB PICNIC & OUTDOOR EUCHARIST | | |
Since Rev. Jennifer is unable to attend the Sisters of Bede meetings on Mondays, last year the Sisters invited her to a special outdoor picnic held on a Wednesday evening, just prior to the Eucharist. Building on the success of that gathering, the Sisters organized another Wednesday evening summer picnic on July 1 of this year, inviting everyone who usually attends the mid-week Eucharist.
The evening featured a delicious spread, including Alice Short’s enchiladas, Dee Ford’s salmon, Mary Deutche’s midwestern potato salad, Daphne Moote’s Korean peach salad, Tana Raike’s spinach quiche, and more. For dessert, Kathy Russell delighted everyone with her decadent individual chocolate mint ice cream pies. The community expressed heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed to the meal.
After dinner, attendees formed a half circle outdoors to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, enjoying the pleasant, balmy weather. The service was made even more meaningful by the many voices who participated during the open sharing time. At the close of the evening, Rev. Jennifer expressed her enjoyment and confirmed that the summer picnic is now an annual tradition at St. Bede’s.
| | SISTERS of BEDE UPDATE: NEW DATE/SPACES AVAILABLE | | |
From the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture:
On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country, awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free.
Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.
But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later.
Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth," by the newly freed people in Texas.
The post-emancipation period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) marked an era of great hope, uncertainty, and struggle for the nation as a whole. Formerly enslaved people immediately sought to reunify families, establish schools, run for political office, push radical legislation and even sue slaveholders for compensation.
Given the 200+ years of enslavement, such changes were nothing short of amazing. Not even a generation out of slavery, African Americans were inspired and empowered to transform their lives and their country.
The historical legacy of Juneteenth shows the value of never giving up hope in uncertain times. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a community space where this spirit of hope lives on. A place where historical events like Juneteenth are shared and new stories with equal urgency are told.
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On June 20, the community of St. Bede's gathered at the Sisters of Bede Juneteenth venue to joyfully commemorate the emancipation of all the enslaved American people, including those in Texas. With Daphne Moote at the helm, Luther hall was beautifully decorated and filled with lively music, creating an uplifting and energetic atmosphere. Parishioners enjoyed Sangria, crafted by Daphne, along with other refreshing drinks as they mingled and connected with one another.
A scrumptious dinner was served, featuring fried and roasted chicken, spicy shrimp, fried catfish, and beans and rice—all prepared by Stephanie Landry. Collard greens, homegrown by Carl and Jennine Townsend and cooked by Ina Klem, complemented the meal, along with cornbread made by Lana Spraker. Salads of watermelon with feta and strawberry with spinach, prepared by Susan Holder, added a fresh touch. For dessert, guests enjoyed homemade peach and pecan cobbler from Heavenly Delights Cobblers, served with vanilla bean ice cream.
After dinner, a meaningful homily and a drum circle led by Akani Fletcher brought the community together in reflection and celebration. From setting up to cleaning up, it was evident that many dedicated individuals worked together to create a wonderful evening. Heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who contributed to honoring Juneteenth and making this observance so special.
| | TOUR DE FRANCE Dinner Party | | One cannot help but marvel at the beautiful, spacious setting our hosts Rob Kadota and Melora Sundt have created in their backyard. The lush plants, playful décor, funky bar, and cozy outdoor living room complete with couches, a fireplace and large screen TV, create an ideal atmosphere for a festive gathering. Guests at the Sisters of Bede Tour de France venue were warmly welcomed by the hosts and mingled while enjoying refreshing cocktails made with French apéritifs. Appetizers such as a French charcuterie board, mushroom puffs, and cheese puffs were available for everyone to enjoy. | | The sit-down dinner began with a delicious French onion soup and toasted baguettes. After a brief intermission, which included an engaging presentation and video about the annual Tour de France, the meal continued with classic French dishes: Coq au Vin, Provencal-style ratatouille, steak with frites, salad Niçoise, and a salad topped with candied pecans. The food was abundant and luscious, and the lively conversation was filled with laughter. Dessert was a delightful finale, featuring meringues with fresh berries and whipped cream, macarons, and chocolate clusters. | | |
In addition to the French-themed meal, Melora and Rob shared fascinating insights about the Tour de France. They explained that the race began in 1903 and is held annually, except during the World Wars. The event consists of 21 stages over three weeks, and in recent years, it has started in neighboring countries—this year, for example, it begins in Barcelona, Spain, on July 4th. There are 23 teams, each with eight riders, including a primary competitor and supporting teammates. Melora highlighted the significance of jersey colors—yellow for the overall leader and green for the best sprinter—and introduced key cycling terms such as Peloton (the main group), Breakaway (riders who separate from the main group), and Domestique (support riders). She also shared a fun fact about the 'Lanterne Rouge,' the unofficial title for the last-place finisher who completes the race without being disqualified. Videos shown by the hosts illustrated the strategy, difficulty, danger and excitement of the Tour, leaving many guests with a piqued interest in following this year’s race.
Thank you so much, Rob and Melora!
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The Sisters of Bede book cart is an excellent resource not only for our congregation but for the groups that use our facilities. In exchange for books, the reader leaves a free-will offering. The money collected is added to the funds donated by the Sisters to the NYA.
Each month, Melora Sundt and I add a bunch of “new” books to the cart and weed out books that have been on the cart for several months. Melora takes the “weeded” books to support a similar program at the YMCA.
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We depend on donations of your unneeded books to stock our carts. Several years ago we had lots of inventory to fill the carts each month, but we are running low at this point. We especially need: mysteries (our most popular), general fiction (including romance), and general nonfiction.
If your Spring cleaning efforts include making some room on your bookshelves, nightstand, or beside your favorite chair by reducing the number of books, please consider bringing them to church. You can leave them next to the book carts in the parish hall and I’ll make sure they are put away.
Thank you for your continued support of the Sisters of Bede book cart.
Kathy Russell
| | SUPPORT SACRED RESISTANCE | | |
St. Bede's has partnered with Sacred Resistance--a task force of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles--which assists immigrant families that 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.
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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.
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FROM THE EPISCOPAL NEWS
A newsletter serving the Diocese of Los Angeles
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All are invited to July 11 consecration watch parties scheduled across diocese
By EN Staff
Festive watch parties scheduled across the six-county Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles on Saturday, July 11, will offer livestream video coverage of the ordination and consecration of the Rev. Dr. Antonio José Gallardo Lucena as its 8th bishop in 1o a.m. rites at All Saints Church in Pasadena.
Because seating at All Saints is limited and in-person attendance at the consecration service will be ticketed, the consecration committee has arranged the watch parties in each of the diocese’s 10 geographic deaneries so Episcopalians across diocese can participate together. A directory of congregations in each deanery is here.
Watch parties will screen the livestream, which will be available on the diocesan Facebook page and the YouTube channel of All Saints, Pasadena.
Confirmed watch party hosts and addresses are:
Deanery 1: Trinity Church, 600 Saratoga St., Fillmore; St. Peter’s, 402 S. Lincoln St., Santa Maria
Deanery 2: St. Luke’s of the Mountains, 2563 Foothill Blvd., La Crescenta
Deanery 3: St. Alban’s, 580 Hilgard, Westwood (Los Angeles)
Deanery 4: To be determined
Deanery 5: St. James, 1325 Monterey Road, South Pasadena
Deanery 6: Holy Trinity, 100 N. 3rd Ave., Covina
Deanery 7: All Saints, 3847 Terracina Drive, Riverside
Deanery 8: St. Peter’s, 1648 W. 9th St., San Pedro; St. Thomas, 5306 E. Arbor Road, Long Beach
Deanery 9: St. Andrew’s, 1231 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton
Deanery 10: St. George’s, 23802 Avenida De La Carlota, Laguna Hills
For updates, additional details, and the full consecration weekend schedule, visit the consecration website here.
| | The U.S. Mint’s Rev. Pauli Murray quarter was released in 2024. It was the 11th quarter in the American Women’s Quarter Program; it celebrates Murray’s life as an activist, writer, lawyer and Episcopal priest. Photo: United States Mint | |
For America 250, Episcopal leaders reject nostalgia, lift up church’s prophets
By Adam Tschorn
If you ask New York Bishop Matthew Heyd for his two cents on how The Episcopal Church should mark the United States’ 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, you might well get 25 cents’ worth — as in one of the Pauli Murray commemorative quarters he keeps in a bag near his desk.
“Pauli Murray is this extraordinary expression of all the things we’re talking about in terms of moving toward her ideals, both as a church and as a country,” Heyd explained. “Her life embodied this dialogue that we’re having [now] between our faith and our civic ideals.”
This year, as the nation celebrates America 250, Heyd and other Episcopal leaders say the anniversary is a time to examine the nation’s and the church’s origin stories; a time for truth-telling and accountability, and for the church and the nation to live into their founding principles of liberty, justice, equality and respect for the dignity of every human being.
“There’s no time better than this time for the church to claim who it is as church and to be that voice that holds the nation accountable to its lofty vision of appreciating the equality and dignity of every human being,” the Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, Washington National Cathedral’s canon theologian, said.
The 2024 commemorative quarter, issued as part of the American Women Quarters program, depicts the Rev. Pauli Murray, civil rights activist, co-founder of the National Organization for Women and the first Black woman ordained an Episcopal priest, on the reverse side. The obverse side depicts George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, who was also an Episcopalian. The quarter is a potent pocket-sized symbol that not only references the nation’s and church’s shared histories but also hints at what the church is being called to do moving forward – and who will do it – at this particular moment in time.
Like Heyd, Brown Douglas and Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe mentioned Murray and her legacy, as well as those who engaged in similar work, when asked which part of the church’s past gives them hope for the future.
| | The obverse side of the Rev. Pauli Murray quarter depicts George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, who was also an Episcopalian. Photo: United States Mint | | | | |
