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We acknowledge that the land on which this diocese is built is the traditional territory of the Paiute, Kawaiisu, Tubatulabal, Yokuts, Chumash, Miwok, Chukchansi, Western Mono, and Me-Wuk people.
Let’s take a moment to honor these ancestral grounds that we are collectively gathered upon and support the resilience and strength that all Indigenous people have shown worldwide.
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Reconocemos que la tierra sobre la que está construida esta Diócesis es el territorio tradicional de los pueblos Piaute, Kawaiisu, Tubatulabal, Yokuts, Chumash, Miwok, Chukchansi, Western Mono y Me-Wuk.
Tomemos un momento para honrar estos terrenos ancestrales en los que estamos reunidos colectivamente y apoyar la resiliencia y la fuerza que todos los pueblos indígenas han demostrado en todo el mundo.
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The Ordination last Saturday of the Right Reverend Greg Kimura as the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin was glorious and a vivid example of the theme for this year’s Friday Reflection articles - “holy beginnings and continuations”. The grand celebration marked a significant transition in the life of our Diocese and was testament to the renewed vitality of EDSJ, thanks to the visionary leadership of Bishop Greg’s predecessor, Bishop David Rice. The Taiko Drummers, Aztec dancers, and our bi-lingual liturgy underscored our Diocese’s commitment to embrace the lively cultural diversity of this place we call EDSJ.
When my wife and I first moved back to California in 2014, the viability of our Diocese was dicey at best. Could the it survive such disruption and division? The answer, a vigorous YES! So much growth has been accomplished in these last 12 years. Under Bishop David and Canon Anna’s leadership, the creativity and commitment of folks across the Diocese to innovate and step outside their church walls, outside their comfort zones, has been inspiring. Paraphrasing Ezekiel, with God’s help and a lot of hard work, the bones of EDSJ have been reknit, reborn. Thanks be to God!
The ordination was a culmination and celebration of that recovery process, and a sacramental sign of our continuity with our Church’s ancient past and with the larger Episcopal Church, as Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, along with other Bishops from the region, consecrated Bishop Greg in this new chapter of his ministry, and ours!
What remain unchanged are the commitments framed in our Baptismal vows that we renew every year in this Easter season, including:
to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ;
to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself;
to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.
We see that continuity at work in the various Commissions of EDSJ on immigration, racism, creation care, LBGTQ+ rights, and disability concerns. Respecting the dignity of every human being is at the core of our ministry and, as Rev. Canon Anthony Guillen reminded us in his sermon during the ordination, a risky undertaking. Proclaiming and advocating for that dignity can stir things up, as we’ve seen in recent days. Bishop Greg, with his long history of immigrant advocacy through the LA Diocese’s Sacred Resistance effort and other initiatives, is well prepared to further that prophetic work in our midst.
The most moving moment in the ordination service for me was the passing of the crozier, the Bishop’s staff, from Bishop David to Bishop Greg. A symbolic passing of the torch of leadership, the changing of the guard. And, the beginning of the next chapter in the life of EDSJ, changing yet deeply rooted, I look forward to seeing how the Holy Spirit will continue to lead us into this next chapter: Called to be …
Deacon Tom Hampson is a retired deacon of EDSJ
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Library Refresh
Ahead of his retirement and upcoming move, Bishop David has generously gifted his personal library collection to ECCO. In order to make space for these volumes in the Rivera Library, ECCO will be offering the current library collection to individuals and churches within EDSJ. If you are interested in adding books on spirituality, Episcopal Church history, and related topics to your personal or church library, you are invited to schedule a time between March 20 and June 15 to browse the library stacks. Visits may be scheduled during ECCO’s regular business hours when the chapel is not in use. Any books that have not found a new home by June 15 will be donated to the local library or responsibly recycled.
For more information or to schedule a time to view the collection, please contact the ECCO office at 559-683-8162.
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ECCO Eastertide Retreat
May 1 - 3, 2026
This year’s parish retreat will take place from May 1 to May 3 at ECCO. Led by Fr. Luis, we will study the 14th-century English spiritual classic, The Cloud of Unknowing. Originally written in Middle English, it has inspired many people throughout the centuries in their pursuit of God. Designed as a practical guide to contemplative life, the author explains that ordinary thoughts and earthly ideas must be hidden beneath a “cloud of forgetting,” while our love must ascend toward a God concealed within the "cloud of unknowing."
Led by Fr. Luis, the retreat features a series of talks exploring the book’s themes of humility, prayer, and, most importantly, love. There will also be plenty of time for silence, fellowship, and prayer, both individual and communal.
There are several editions of The Cloud of Unknowing, but for the facility of conversation, we will be using this edition (click here). It is a new and very readable translation that “brings the Middle English classic into a striking modern idiom that conveys the intimacy and immediacy of the author's voice as the original readers might have experienced it.”
The retreat starts with registration at 4 pm and dinner at 6 pm on Friday, May 1, and continues through breakfast and the closing Eucharist on Sunday, May 3. The weekend price for a private room is $260; for a shared room, $210 per person; and for a quad (a shared room for four people), $180. The fee includes all meals. Early registration is important, so we need most commitments as soon as possible, along with a 50% deposit of the total cost. The registration deadline is April 19.
If you have any questions, please contact Michael Cava or Fr. Luis.
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April 26
Bishop Greg: St James Cathedral
Cn Anna: OFF
April 28
Standing Committee
6:30pm, ZOOM
Looking ahead to May...
May 3
Bp Greg @ St James Cathedral
Cn Anna @ St Michael's Ridgecrest
May 4
Anti-Racism Commission
6:30pm ZOOM
May 5
Commission on Ministry
6:30pm ZOOM
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For the Protection of Lebanese People
God of peace, whose Son said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,” we pray for the protection of Lebanese people who are being killed, injured, and displaced by Israeli strikes. Be with those displaced and those who grieve the loss of loved ones and communities, and give your angels charge over those who face ongoing violence, displacement, and the destruction of homes and livelihoods. Bring a swift end to this violence, O God, and restrain all actions that endanger civilians. Grant hope to those who see only rubble where their homes and neighborhoods once stood. Make each of us peacemakers and move us to bear witness and raise awareness of the plight of Lebanese people. Grant this through your Son, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
For Those Who Are Detained or Missing
God of freedom, whose kingdom inaugurates the release of captives and new life for the downtrodden, we pray for everyone around the world who has been detained or gone missing. Comfort their families, granting them renewed fortitude and peace. Protect the detained and missing from bodily and mental harm, especially those held without clear cause or due process. Give captors and governing authorities the wisdom to set the innocent free. Strengthen all advocates and loved ones as they speak out on behalf of those in captivity. Come, Lord Jesus, and refashion our world into a place where captives are freed, the missing are found, and we all live together, bound by justice and love. We ask these things boldly, knowing your promises are trustworthy. Amen.
For Education in the Age of AI
God of wisdom, who grants us reason and discernment as we make crucial decisions, we pray for students and educators in the age of AI. We pray especially for all who are entrusted with the holy work of caring for the intellectual development of our young people amid rapid technological change. Grant our lawmakers
and school administrators wisdom to put appropriate guardrails on AI in the classroom as we assess the risks and potential impacts this technology will have on learning environments. O God, your Son taught us to consider the lilies of the field, and you show us the beauty of this world in the ordinary. Grant that students with easy access to AI may still learn from the world around them, growing in wisdom through attention, patience, and lived experience. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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There are four orders in the church – the laity, bishops, priests, and deacons. The roles of the clergy are pretty much ordained (yes, I meant the double entendre), which you can see from the detailed ministries set forth in the various ordination liturgies, although the deacons have broader scope in the ministries in which they get to engage. But what about the laity? Who are they and what do they do? Who they are is the easy question to answer. They are all members of the church who are not ordained – in other words, the overwhelming majority of the people in the church. Moving on, lets take a look at the Catechism in the back of the Book of Common Prayer – specifically page 855 – where we find the following:
Q. What is the ministry of the laity?
A. The ministry of lay persons is to
- represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and,
- according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world;
- and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.
Hmm, that seems a bit vague. That vagueness, however, showcases the importance and versatility of the laity in the church. The first two of the three items, the most vague of the three, are not easily defined as we find ourselves in different circumstances, with different backgrounds and gifts, and opportunities to represent Christ and his Church, bear witness to him wherever anyone may be; and to, according to those gifts, carry on Christs work of reconciliation in the world. Let your imaginations run free on those.
The third, “to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church,” is a little less vague, but is far from restrictive. Many of those are pretty well defined. For example, there are licensed lay ministries – Eucharistic Minister, Eucharistic Visitor, Worship Leader, and Lay Preacher. (For those of us who have been around a while, the first three used to be called Lay Eucharistic Minister (LEM), Pastoral Lay Eucharistic Minister (PLEM), and Lay Reader – not to be confused with Lector.) These require special training, and those so trained are licensed by the Bishop to engage in these ministries.
But wait, there’s more! There are lectors, acolytes, ushers, and greeters, who are all directly involved in making the service happen. Do you like to sing? There are choirs in many congregations and, if not, perhaps opportunities for solo music. Do you play the organ, piano, or another instrument? Your talents are needed. (And the instruments can be varied – I’ve played banjo in church.) And let’s not forget the altar guild – those men and women who work behind the scenes to set up the church for our services.
And there is still more. Are you an organized person? Church offices usually need volunteers. Interested in leadership? Look to vestries and bishop’s committees. Handy with tools? Show me a church which doesn’t need maintenance and repairs, and I will show you a fantasy. And we would be in dire straits indeed were it not for those who bring us coffee hour.
There are even more opportunities for ministry within the walls of the church and in the world than I have the room, or the imagination, to fully cover. But what may be clear by now is that without the ministries of dedicated, talented members of the laity there would be no church.
The Commission on Ministry is hosting a Lay Ministry Retreat on May 29th and 30th. If you want to seek licensing for those ministries which require if, or want learn more about lay ministry opportunities, and the importance of you in the church, please plan to attend. Watch the Friday Reflection for registration information when it becomes available.
| | The Rev. Carolyn Woodall, Deacon & Member of Commission on Ministry | | |
As so many of you may know, I was born and raised in Colombia. Yes, I’m Colombian, not Mexican. Colombia is a culturally, ethnically, and linguistically very diverse country. Here is some data for all those who like numbers:
The country has a population of approximately 52 million people, with about 4.4% Indigenous and 9–10% Afro-Colombian. It also includes Raizal and Palenquero communities, descendants of freed enslaved Africans who speak Creole. Spanish is the official language, alongside over 65 Indigenous languages. The country spans the Andes, Amazon, Caribbean, and Pacific regions. It is home to around 1,900 bird species and produces 70–90% of the world's emeralds, along with significant reserves of oil, coal, and gold. As you can tell, accepting diversity has always come easily to me.
All I’d heard and seen about Arabic people came from history and Mathematics class at high school. In history, I was told about the ancient and contemporary fights between the Eastern and Western civilizations. In mathematics, I was told about how Arab people created mathematics, geometry, and algebra, and now I had to learn how to work with all those numbers mixed with letters, and that just didn’t make sense to me.
As many people in South America, I learned algebra with "Algebra de Baldor," Algebra by Baldor. And the cover was the most interesting part of my article: Al-Khwarizmi, the Persian mathematician, dressed in a red turban and traditional Arabic clothing, set against a backdrop of a Middle Eastern city with domes and towers. The image also includes books labeled "Al-Jabr" and "Al-Muqabala."
I grew up watching my mom’s favorite action movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, and Sylvester Stallone, which often depicted Arab characters as terrorists causing chaos in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other Eastern countries. Then, around the age of 13, I saw the coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, which further shaped my perception. All of this didn’t help the cause. I didn’t like Arabic people because of the wars, the movies, and what was affecting me directly at that moment, Algebra.
However, I had never interacted with Arabic people in person until I turned 16. That was when I visited the Department of La Guajira on a trip to the beach. La Guajira, due to its location, has attracted a significant number of Arabic immigrants, and many of them own businesses along the Colombian Caribbean Coast in various departments and cities. I eat Arabic food, I talked to Arabic people, they were nice people, and they shared their histories, they left their country and loved ones because of the conflict and war. They were wearing their traditional clothes, but they didn’t look like the unfriendly man in my Algebra book.
My life moved forward, and then when I was a seminarian in the Roman Catholic Church, I learned that not all Arabic people are Muslims, but we have Christians who are Arabic. I learned that there was a Coptic rite for the mass, and that there were Christian Patriarchs in Egypt and another in Jerusalem. I also learned that there were Arabic Christians in Palestine and the Holy Land, from different denominations, including not just Orthodox and Coptic Christians, but also Roman Catholics and the Anglican Communion. I also learned that we Christians, Jews, and Muslims share the same roots; we are Abrahamic religions.
In 2006, with my fellow seminarians, we had the opportunity to celebrate a traditional Jewish Passover. Rabbi Alfred Goldsmith, from the synagogue right in front of the seminary, presided over the Passover and explained a lot of things, including that Arabic and Jewish are not the same, but that there are some Jewish people, Sephardic Jewish, who are also Arabic because of the language and culture based on their geographical location. The seminary experiences, in general, were very important in opening my narrow perspective on the Arabic people.
And then I arrived at the Episcopal Church, and if my knowledge of things was good, I now had the chance to meet the people I had heard about. Due to ministry-related meetings and trips, I ate more Mediterranean food, met Arabic people in multifaith spaces, and in 2024 met Karla Sikaffy DuPlantier, a layperson who shared a little bit of her history as a Palestinian, Cuban/Puerto Rican, and American person. She shared about her family, friends, people she knows, places she has visited, and how the political conflict and the war are scary and put people and places she loves in danger. She is now the interim Latino Missioner for The Episcopal Church.
And then let’s talk about our Diocese. When I arrived in San Joaquin, I met Johnathan Partridge, one of the co-chairs of our Migration Commission, SJRAISE. Jonathan spent a good amount of time living in the Middle East, and he was connected to the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East. He knows and speaks passionately about the Christian Arab people that he knows and the situation of Arab Christians in the Middle East that we very often ignore or don’t know about.
Dear friends of EDSJ, today is Good Friday, and since April 1st, we have been celebrating Arab American Heritage Month. I want to encourage you to do two important things:
First, take the opportunity to meet Arabic individuals and learn about the rich complexity of Arabic history, culture, and religions. It’s crucial for us to understand others in order to form informed opinions and make thoughtful statements. We should not react based on misinformation or passionate religious and political rhetoric that demonizes others to rally support for plans that affect them.
Second, please donate generously this Good Friday. As Episcopalians and members of the Anglican Communion, we are encouraged to contribute the money we collect today to the Episcopal Diocese in Jerusalem and the Middle East. Their ministry is facing increased challenges due to the ongoing conflict in the region, and your support can make a significant difference.
Padre Nelson is the Latino Missioner and serves on the Anti-Racism Commission
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Beyond the Border: Seeing the Face of God in the Stranger
A table is an invitation—a horizontal plane designed for the meeting of eyes and the breaking of bread. A border is a refusal—a vertical phantom designed to stop the foot and silence the voice. When the table is placed atop the border, it becomes the most contested real estate in the world: a space where the desire to belong collides head-on with the instinct to defend." "There is a fundamental dishonesty in the way we map our world. We build tables—vast, horizontal planes—to host the myth of communion, believing that if we sit long enough, the bread we break will bridge the gaps between us. Yet, slicing through the center of every gathering is the invisible geometry of the border. While the table is an invitation to pull up a chair, the border is the silent architecture of 'no.' It is the vertical phantom that reminds us that even when we share a surface, we do not always share a destiny." Our signs outside of our churches say “All are welcomed “but do we really mean it?
The Bible is full of instructions on how we are to treat the stranger among us. Exodus 22:21 states "You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (NKJV). This law forbids exploiting foreigners, urging empathy based on Israel's own history of slavery and alien status. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus states, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me". This teaching, part of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, identifies service to the marginalized—the hungry, thirsty, sick, stranger, and imprisoned—as direct service to him. Just as the disciples did not recognize Jesus until they invited e"stranger" to dinner, the Church realizes its full identity only in the presence of the "Other."
In addition, we have each vowed or had vowed for us at our baptism "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?" This is not just a suggestion but rather a holy vow. You may say that it is not binding because it was made by someone else for you, but we renew our baptismal promises every year during lent. So, no such luck!
We are told that when we see a stranger we see the face of God. Ask yourself is what is happening the way you would want to treat Christ? If Jesus were to come and make his home in our country would we feel good about the way he is treated? Several of our friends and co workers are opting to leave this country because they no longer feel save. What is this showing the world about our religious faith. I am all for MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, as long as that greatness shows my love for God and neighbor, as long as I will not be ashamed to stand before Jesus on judgement day. How about you?
Deacon Amy Larsen serves at St James Sonora and is a member of SJRAISE
| KNOW YOUR RIGHTS RED CARDS! | |
Sanctuary People Resource List
This resource list will be updated as more resources are created and needs changes.
https://bit.ly/SanctuaryPeopleResources
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This week we celebrate “Good Shepherd Sunday,” one of my favorites not only for the imagery, but also the great hymns – many Irish -from which to choose. I especially like “The King Of Love My Shepherd Is.”
Celebrating shepherds would seem a bit strange. In Biblical times it was a job often given to the youngest – like great king David. They frequently spent nights our with the sheep, enduring weather, wolves and would-be rustlers. Hence they were typically tough, self-reliant, not above a little petty crime, looked down on by polite society. What an image for Our Lord to choose.
But shepherds had redeeming qualities. They kept the sheep from scattering, protected them from wolves and thieves, found the lost, freed those entangled, and led them to good pastures. Good shepherds would lay down their lives for the sheep.
And sheep needed that. However lovely their coast might be, generally speaking they are remarkably stupid, herd mentality creatures following even when the path taken wasn’t the best. Despite their movie and fairy tale est, they are generally stinky and rams can be quite aggressive. Hence I would suggest the image has less to do with the shepherd and more to do with the sheep being much like humanity in many respects.
As a species, our history evolved from hunter/gatherers to farmers to our current extractive lifestyle, taking from land and sea whatever is profitable and useable with little thought given to the future and environmental costs. As a Cherokee writer observed recently, when the last tree is cut, the last bird and bee die and cops fail, man will learn one cannot eat money.
This week also marked Earth Day and hope for the future. While the US lags a bit, some European nations are galloping ahead. For example, Scotland’s Shetland Islands obtain all their energy from wind and tidal generators (don’t think about sun in northern Scotland…), none from fossil fuels. Iceland and Greenland use wind, tide and geothermal sources for most of their power. Germany recently replaced their last diesel locomotives with electric and hydrogen fuel cell units. We could follow their lead if we so chose.
Why should we? Enlightened self interest comes to mind. Eventually fossil fuels will run out as will uranium ore. Best we convert to renewable energy before it becomes a crisis, as the process will take some time. But more importantly, it is the right and theologically sound thing to do. We need to be good shepherds of this earth, indeed this universe God has given us. We need to leave blessings for future generations, not burdens. In short, we need to treat earth and her creatures as lovingly as God treats us.
Rev. Bob Woods serves at St Sherrian's Episcopal Church in Kernville and is a member of the Creation Care Commission
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4147 East Dakota Avenue
Fresno, California 93726
209-576-0104
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