The Episcopal Diocese 

of Northern California

Beloved Community

Resource Newsletter

Published by

The Commission for

Intercultural Ministries

January 2026

Episcopal Church Becoming Beloved Community

Newsletter Highlights:

• Office of the Bishop: Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. King
• Sermon by the Rev. Jim Richardson
• Sermon by Ginger Rutland, Journalist
• A Message from Bishop Megan Regarding Recent Events in Minnesota
• Sacred Ground is Looking for Beta Testers for the New Curriculum
• Northern California Time of Remembrance (NCTOR) - Preserving History
• Asian Americans and the Model Minority Myth by the Very Rev. Bob Scott
• America's Best Idea - The Separation of Church and State
• The Color of Life
• Advocacy
• R1-2025: Dignity, Not Hate, Not Mass Deportation, Not Silence PASSED
• A Message from Bishop Megan on the Treatment of Immigrants
• Addressing Immigration Challenges
• Faith in Democracy
• Episcopal clergy travel to Minneapolis to march in 'ICE Out of Minnesota' day of action
• St. Alban's Celebrates Major Carbon Zero Project Milestone

"The Work of Christmas"

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among brothers,

To make music in the heart.

Howard Thurman

Song by the Trey Clegg Singers

January 19, 2026

Every year on the third Monday in January, we honor the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., a prolific leader and organizer who initiated a cascade of positive change in the United States. This year, Dr. King’s message resonates more loudly than ever as we face a mounting resurgence of oppression and injustice throughout the nation. 

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California remains firmly committed to the cause of racial justice, peaceful organizing, and tireless advocacy on behalf of all marginalized people. For more information about the work that the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California and other organizations throughout the diocese are doing in these areas, you can visit our Migrant Support Network or Commission for Intercultural Ministries webpage. 

Sermon by

the Rev. Jim Richardson

YouTube I Trinity Cathedral Sacramento I Posted January 11, 2026

Fr. Jim provides an interesting and honest account of his calling and journey to the priesthood, including how his thinking was shaped by a book by Dr. King.

Sermon by

Ginger Rutland, Journalist

YouTube I Trinity Cathedral Sacramento I Posted January 18, 2026

Ginger Rutland, former Sacramento Bee journalist, provides her interpretation of Matthew 22:21 as it relates to Jesus and Dr. King.

Reflections on Martin Luther King Day

Substack I Mariann Budde I Posted January 20, 2026

It is both sobering and deeply moving to honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King this year, when the seemingly unrestrained power of the federal government is in the hands of those whose vision is antithetical to nearly everything King stood for.

Canon Spellers Preaches at Grace Cathedral

YouTube I Grace Cathedral San Francisco I Posted January 18, 2026

Canon Stephanie Spellers provides a compelling sermon noting that Dr. King preached from the same pulpit in March 1965.

January 8, 2026

Dear Friends, 

Many of us were shocked and dismayed by the killing of a woman by an ICE Agent in Minneapolis. I commend the thoughtful, and scriptural reflection written by Bishop Craig Loya, Bishop of Minnesota.  

We too, like the Magi, are called to take another road home, for God is creating a path before us. (Matthew 12:2) I believe we will see, even in the midst of our grief, that God is already at work bringing healing and connection out of chaos. Please pray for all touched by the events and that a spirit of peace may replace all anger and fear on that site. 

Thank you, Diocese of Northern California, for the love, compassion, and practical care you show our neighbors, new and old.  

In Christ, 

Bishop Megan

EDS launches the ‘Innovating Beloved Communities’ Cohort led by the Rev. Stephanie Spellers ’04

Episcopal News Service I Episcopal Divinity School I Posted January 22, 2026

Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is launching the Innovating Beloved Communities Cohort, a transformative year-long program designed to equip and catalyze a circle of Episcopal faithful innovators. Applications for this cohort are officially open today: January 22, 2026.

Led by the Rev. Canon Dr. Stephanie Spellers ’04, a preeminent voice in 21st-century ministry and mission, the cohort will convene up to 12 Episcopal lay and clergy leaders. These participants will spend a year discerning, incubating, and launching “God’s new thing” – ministries and organizations designed to advance a just, compassionate, and multicultural Beloved Community.

Sacred Ground staff from the national office is preparing for a "soft" launch of the new curriculum in early Spring and has invited experienced Sacred Ground facilitators from our diocese to form a circle to test the content and technicalities and provide feedback to them. They want to be prepared for the large number of circles expected to start in the Fall with the new curriculum. The curriculum continues to be an 11-session course, and they are aiming to have the materials ready for beta testers by February 18th. Sacred Ground facilitators who volunteer to be beta testers will receive anti-racism training credit in our diocese.

If you are interested or have questions, please contact Jo Ann Williams, bjwilli@surewest.net, not later than Tuesday, February 10th. Jo Ann will contact volunteers about organizing a Sacred Ground beta test circle in our diocese.

Keeping Track of Sacred Ground

Are you forming a Sacred Ground Circle? Let the Commission for Intercultural Ministries know by registering it here: https://forms.gle/hriHCPKmLwjUHEyEA

Are you interested in joining a Sacred Ground Circle? Sign up here: https://forms.gle/G26EPxDzEFSpnsZW7

Asian Americans and the Model Minority Myth

Excerpts From a Washington Post article compiled by the Very Rev. Bob Scott

This month we briefly explore the experience of the Asian American community since the mid-19^th century. Asian Americans’ history in the United States is a long and complex story marked by both resilience and systemic discrimination.

Randall Balmer

Episcopal Priest

NY Times best-selling author

& John Phillips, Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College

Date: Every Monday in February - 2, 9, 16, 23

Time: 6:30 pm - 7:15 pm

Place: Online

Randall Balmer, an Episcopal priest and part-time resident of Gualala, is the John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College. He is also a New York Times bestselling author and a CNN Contributor. He is the author of eighteen books, including Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter; Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, which was made into an award-winning, three-part series for PBS. His commentaries on religion in America appear in newspapers across the country, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Concord Monitor, the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

His latest book, America’s Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State, examines the history behind the First Amendment and argues that church-state separation has ensured both political stability and a vibrant religious culture in the United States. Those who would compromise the First Amendment—Christian nationalists, the Supreme Court—risk undermining one of the foundational principles in American society.

Join the Commission for Intercultural Ministries and Cara Meredith, speaker, writer, public theologian, and author of The Color of Life. Passionate about issues of justice, race, and privilege, Cara holds a master of theology from Fuller Seminary and is a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. She has been featured in national media outlets such as The Oregonian, The New York Times, The Living Church, The Christian Century, and Baptist News Global, among others.



Dates of Book Discussion (held on Zoom): Feb 17, Feb 24, Mar 3, Mar 10, and Mar 17.

Time: 7 – 8:30 pm



Zoom Discussion with the Author: Feb 28, 11 am – 12:30 pm

For questions, please contact Jo Ann Williams, bjwilli@surewest.net.

ADVOCACY

For questions or information, contact Bob Wohlsen,

Advocacy Team Chair, bob.wohlsen@gmail.com,

Episcopal Public Policy Network

Public Policy and Witness Weekly Prayers

Episcopal Church Immigration Call: 'Effective Interventions'

10-11 am PT January 27

The Episcopal Church Weekly I Posted January 23, 2026

This weekly call hosted by Episcopal Migration Ministries will include a special 30-minute segment with Episcopal clergy discussing their ministries to those being held in detention. Join the Rev. Kevin McGrane from Missouri; the Rev. Aaron Gerlach from Ohio; and the Rev. Leeann Culbreath from Georgia. Spanish interpretation is available. Register here.

Diocesan Resolution R1-2025

Dignity, Not Hate, Not Mass Deportation, Not Silence

Episcopal Diocese of Northern California ENews I Posted January 6, 2025

R1-2025: Dignity, Not Hate, Not Mass Deportation, Not Silence: PASSED

**Also note that at the end of 2025, Bishop Megan wrote a letter to Presiding Bishop and the Executive Committee. Read the letter.

YouTube I Franciscan Action Network I Posted January 6, 2026

On January 6, the Franciscan Action Network, an advocacy partner, offered a webinar on ‘Faith in Democracy: Facing the Challenges of 2026.' The purpose of the webinar was to learn from three distinguished guests how we can use our faith to engage in public discourse to support democracy during a time when our nation is so divided on so many levels.

The panelists were Jim Wallis, the founding Director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice; Gloria Purvis, senior fellow at Georgetown University's Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life; and Sharon Brous, senior and founding rabbi of IKAR, a Jewish community based in Los Angeles.

The panel explored the connection between faith and democracy, the challenges to US democracy at this moment in history, and ways people of faith and faith communities can work together to strengthen democracy moving forward.

This conversation is one that we might find ways to have in our faith community.

Miriam Casey

Co-chair, Commission for Intercultural Ministries

Minnesota Bishop Craig Loya, Washington Bishop Mariann Budde, Iowa Bishop Betsey Monnot and other Episcopalians are among hundreds of people of faith who are gathering Jan. 23 in opposition to what they are calling an “occupation” of the city by federal immigration authorities.

Washington Bishop Mariann Budde speaks Jan. 22 during a news conference by clergy about immigration actions in Minneapolis, MN. Photo: Jack Jenkins/Religion News Service

Episcopal Church Statement on U.S. Intervention in Venezuela

Office of Government Relations

Posted January 3, 2026

The people of The Episcopal Church offer prayers for our beloved siblings in Christ in the Episcopal Diocese of Venezuela, and for people across the region following this morning’s U.S. military operation that removed President Nicolás Maduro. 

Episcopalians in Venezuela carry out vital ministries in increasingly challenging conditions, and we fear for their well-being and their church community if these military interventions, and any form of U.S. occupation, lead to more instability and violence.

World Council of Churches Statement on Venezuela

Posted January 5, 2026

The attacks conducted by the United States of America in Venezuela and the capture and detention of President Maduro and his wife are stunningly flagrant violations of international law. These actions set a dangerous precedent and example for others who seek to shrug off all constraints against the use of armed aggression and brute force to achieve political objectives.

Task Force Invites Survey Input on Household Diversity

Deadline: March 1

The Episcopal Church Weekly I Posted January 23, 2026

All Episcopalians are invited to complete a 15- to 20-minute survey offered by the Task Force to Study Household and Relationship Diversity and designed to help the church better understand and support all its members. Created by General Convention in 2022, the task force seeks “to create opportunities for discussion, reflection, and deepening of understanding about existing diversity of family relationships and households among congregations, dioceses, and throughout The Episcopal Church.” Learn more and take the survey here.

The National Episcopal Church Women (ECW) calls it members to take action in response to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), a tragedy impacting Indigenous communities across the United States and beyond. As women of faith, prayer, compassion, and advocacy, the ECW recognizes the urgent need to raise awareness, support healing, and collaborate with Indigenous leaders to seek justice and ensure the safety of Native women and their families.

 

Join us for a panel discussion lead by Indigenous women of the Episcopal Church, who will examine this ongoing crisis—one rooted in historical injustices, systemic violence, and complex jurisdictional challenges.

The virtual meeting, Zoom, link will be forthcoming.

St. Alban’s, Arcata celebrated their Carbon Zero Project with an Open House from 4:00 – 6:00 pm Sunday, December 7. In addition to St. Alban’s members, attendees included parishioners from Christ Church, Eureka and representatives from California Heating, the HVAC contractor. A short presentation of the project was followed by a drawing for a variety of green raffle prizes, a chili cook-off and dinner.

St. Alban’s has completed installation of four heat pumps to replace the gas furnaces, removed all of the natural gas lines and the gas meter and service. The Church initiated their Carbon Zero Plan in 2019 by installing solar panels. Gas appliances were replaced by energy efficient electric appliances including a heat pump electric water heater, an electric commercial stove, an Energy Star refrigerator, and installation of LED lights throughout the facility. The Carbon Zero Project has been led by St. Alban’s Creation Care Team.

Dallas' Landmark Commission on Monday unanimously opted to allow the historic Oak Lawn United Methodist Church to keep its rainbow-colored steps for now.

• Speak Out Against Reckless Immigration Enforcement
• Ensure Access to Affordable Health Care
• Call on Congress to Investigate Military Action in Venezuela

For more information, contact Bob Wohlsen, Advocacy Team Chair, bob.wohlsen@gmail.com.

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California

The Commission for Intercultural Ministries

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