The Episcopal Diocese 

of Northern California

Beloved Community

Resource Newsletter

Published by

The Commission for

Intercultural Ministries

August 2025

Episcopal Church Becoming Beloved Community

Newsletter Highlights:

• Advocacy
• New Sacred Ground Circle Starting September 15 - All are Welcome
• I Will, With God's Help: Journey Toward Racial Healing and Justice 2025 Hybrid Workshop Registration Now Open
• Grace Church, Fairfield, Hosts July Racial Reconciliation Workshop
• Christ Church, Eureka, Hosts August Racial Reconciliation Workshop
• Diocesan Tule Lake Pilgrimage
• Transgender History Month
• Oasis
• Gold Award Winner: The Abolitionist's Journal: Memories of an American Antislavery Family
• Plan Now to Pray, Learn, Act, and Advocate During the Season of Creation
• Season of Creation at Christ Church, Eureka, 2025
• Fierce Urgency Now: The Sun is Setting on Federal Solar Incentives
• Big Valley Rancheria Tule Boat Festival
• Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians Big Time Celebration

It is shaping up to be a complicated Independence Day for the Episcopal Church. We were once the church of the Founding Fathers and presidents—34 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were members of what became our church after the Revolution, and 11 presidents, including George Washington, have professed our faith. Today, however, we are known less for the powerful people in our pews than for our resistance to the rising tide of authoritarianism and Christian nationalism emanating from Washington, D.C.

When religious institutions like ours enjoy easy coexistence with earthly power, our traditions and inherited systems can become useless for interpreting what is happening around us. But our recent reckoning with the federal government has allowed us to see clearly the ease with which the Protestant tradition of patriotism can lead Christians to regard our faith more as a tool of dominion than a promise of liberation. 

We have had an eventful few months. In February, we joined a coalition of interfaith partners to sue the federal government on the grounds that the threat of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in houses of worship is a violation of our religious freedom. In May, we ended our four-decade participation in the federal refugee resettlement program over the current administration’s demand that we resettle white Afrikaners designated as refugees. We are now assessing how to respond to the travel ban, which prevents us from gathering and worshipping freely with the people of our churches in Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba, and may limit entry for our members in several other of the 22 countries and territories where the Episcopal Church is found. These challenges to our ability to practice our faith have strained the comfortable intermingling of church and state that our institution has enjoyed for nearly 250 years.

ADVOCACY

For questions or information, contact Bob Wohlsen,

Advocacy Team Chair, bob.wohlsen@gmail.com

Dear Advocates,

Attached are the notes from EPPN's 8/21/2025 briefing. Please take the actions noted and share these notes far and wide. They are a good educational resource for you, your colleagues, your family, your church and your community. The church can be a great source of information that people really need in this challenging time.

Peace be with you,

Bob

These grants are funded by the General Convention budget and are designed to support projects that seek to create sustainable, systemic change in truth-telling; sharing the dream of Beloved Community; practicing healing and reconciliation; and repairing the breach in institutions and society.

Since 2019, approximately 120 projects have received Becoming Beloved Community grants totaling more than $1 million.

Applicants should review criteria and additional information online. Priority will be given to initiatives that address policy advocacy, systems transformation, and environmental change strategies. Projects may include efforts to reform institutional policies, shift cultural norms, reallocate resources, or influence public systems and structures in ways that align with the vision of Becoming Beloved Community.

The deadline to apply for grants will be Aug. 31.

The United Thank Offering Board is delighted to announce the opening of applications for its 2026 annual grants, seeking projects that focus on justice through bridging divides. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. ET Jan. 9 for Anglican Communion partners and 5 p.m. ET Jan. 30 for Episcopal Church applicants.

Applications received by the posted deadlines will go through a review process to ensure all criteria are met before a final submission in February. In addition, draft applications can be emailed to the Rev. Heather Melton for feedback and support starting Aug. 1.

Find application materials and support videos online in English and Spanish. Applicants are invited to register for one-on-one support during open office hours this fall with United Thank Offering staff.

Join Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe in

Sacred Ground Program Year Launch

Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs I Posted August 12, 2025

Interested in learning about Sacred Ground

and the work of racial reconciliation?

Join special event online September 2, 1 - 2:30 pm ET

[10 - 11:30 am PT]

Episcopalians and all interfaith partners are invited to join a fall program year launch event for Sacred Ground, the church’s 11-part film- and readings-based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Sacred Ground circles have grown exponentially in dioceses across the country since the program began in 2019.

Join on Zoom for a virtual conversation with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe about the spiritual dimension of Sacred Ground. Hear what makes the program compelling and why the series continues to challenge participants to do the deep work of racial healing, reconciliation, and justice—in their own lives, within their ministries, and in society.

New Sacred Ground Circle Starting September 15

All are Welcome

This Fall, join fellow people of faith in exploring the issues of race, racism, and historical oppression and trauma in our church and society. A new Sacred Ground Circle is opening up, based out of Trinity Cathedral, but available to the whole Diocese via Zoom. This group will meet weekly on Mondays starting September 15, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, going to

Nov 24. Everyone will join over Zoom.  

Sacred Ground is a film- and readings-based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Small groups are invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity. Sacred Ground is part of Becoming Beloved Community, The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society.

The deadline to register is September 1st.

If you have questions or would like to sign up, please contact Deacon Tina Campbell (tinarcampbell@comcast.net) or Susan Hotchkiss (Susan_hotchkiss1@hotmail.com).

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

I Will, With God’s Help:

Journey Toward Racial Healing and Justice

2025 Hybrid Workshop Registration Now Open

This workshop is rooted in our baptismal identity and the promises we make in baptism. It focuses on how we can more fully live into our promise to be loving toward our neighbors, to address racism in our communities, and build the Beloved Community. During the workshop we follow the path of the Becoming Beloved Community labyrinth.

This workshop meets the requirement for licensing for Lay Eucharistic Ministers and Lay Eucharistic Visitors in the Diocese. Other lay licensed ministries need to take Sacred Ground to meet Diocesan licensing requirements. As governing leaders of their churches, vestry and mission committee members are strongly encouraged to attend one of these workshops.

All are welcome to attend this training which will help you grow as reconcilers, healers, and justice bearers, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving God and your neighbor.

Each of these hybrid workshops will be offered in-person and via Zoom. For questions about the schedule, please contact Miriam Casey, edncbbc@gmail.com, or Jo Ann Williams, bjwilli@surewest.net.

Saturday, September 6 I St. John’s Church, Roseville I 9:30 am – 4:30 pm

Register here: https://form.jotform.com/250366838104154

Registration deadline: August 29, 2025

Saturday, October 11 I All Saints Church, Redding I 9:30 am – 4:30 pm

Register here:  https://form.jotform.com/250366868501158

Registration deadline: September 26, 2025

Group photo of hybrid workshop participants and facilitators at Grace, Fairfield. Photo by Gabe Avila.

The Commission for Intercultural Ministries presented a hybrid workshop on racial reconciliation and healing to on-line and in person participants from six different parishes on July 19, 2025, at Grace Episcopal Church, Fairfield, in the Wingfield Deanery. CIM workshop facilitators, Diane Williamson, Rev. Canon Tina Campbell and Kimo Kimokeo, in addition to Gabe Avila who provided technical support, presented historical and current information and examples of racism regarding the Indigenous, African American, Latino and Asian American/Pacific Islander communities. Participants actively discussed the challenging materials in their table groups and in on-line break-out rooms. They explored racism in the Episcopal Church and in the country as a whole and talked about ways they might address these issues, with the goal of becoming the Beloved Community, in the context of their Baptismal Covenant.

The facilitator team appreciated the warm hospitality provided by the Rector, the Rev. Karen Freeman, and church members for providing a delicious lunch and for the thoughtful engagement by the participants.

Group photo of participants and facilitators at the hybrid workshop at Christ Church, Eureka. Photo by Gabe Avila.

Christ Church, Eureka, in the Semper Virens Deanery hosted the diocesan racial reconciliation one-day hybrid workshop on Saturday, August 9. In addition to Christ Church, other churches represented at the workshop were St. Alban's, Arcata, and St. Francis, Fortuna.

The workshop facilitators from the Commission for Intercultural Ministries were Jo Ann Williams, Miriam Casey, Michael Adams, and Kimo Kimokeo; Gabe Avila provided the Zoom technical support. The facilitators presented historical and current information about the Indigenous, African American, Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander communities as well as the impact of white privilege on American society. The workshop was framed within the context of the Baptismal Covenant with emphasis on discipleship and living into the vitality of our Christian calling, to enlarge our capacity to love our neighbors and to care for them.

Many thanks to the Rev. Daniel London, Rector; Melody Phillips, Senior Warden; and Thomas Swanger, Church Administrator, for their valuable administrative support, providing lunch for the in-person participants, and for their church space to hold the workshop. The facilitators taught the workshop materials via Zoom.

In 1942, the US government removed over 125,000 people of Japanese descent from the western US and incarcerated them without due process in concentration camps located in remote areas. One of the camps, the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, lies in the northeastern corner of our diocese and has unique significance among Japanese Americans as the maximum-security site used to punish those from across the western US who were deemed disloyal. However, relatively few people are aware of its historical significance.

Our diocese has created a multifaceted program to address this, including a workshop in June 2025, The Tule Lake Concentration Camp: Reflections and Lessons. The next component of this program will be a pilgrimage to the Tule Lake War Relocation/Segregation Center. Pilgrims will meet at All Saints Episcopal Church in Redding, and board an air-conditioned 56-person charter bus for the round trip drive to the Tule Lake National Monument.

Cost: $50, for round-trip charter bus transportation from Redding, lunch, and snacks. Some scholarships are available to assist with hotel accommodations.

Deadline to register is September 1, 2025.

Please contact Canon Julie Wakelee at julie@norcalepiscopal.org or Kati Braak at kati@norcalepiscopal.org.

Miriam Casey and Honey Mahogney at the rally.

The transgender community has a long history of presence and contribution in California.

In 2021 Mayor London Breed signed a proclamation making August Transgender History Month in San Francisco.

And in 2023, the California State Assembly voted in favor of House Resolution 57 establishing August as Transgender History Month starting in 2024. The resolution reads, “California has long been the epicenter of the trans liberation movement. Supporting the transgender community by designating August as Transgender History Month will create a culture led by research, education, and scholarly recognition of the contributions of transgender Californians to our great state’s history, and will educate future generations of Californians on the importance of this history.”

Honey Mahogany played an important role advocating for these actions by San Francisco and the State of California.

I met Honey Mahogany, Director of the San Francisco Transgender Initiative, at a pro-democracy rally in Sonoma. She spoke about the need for human rights for everyone, including members of the LGBTQ+ community. She reminded us that we need to show more compassion for each other. And she encouraged allies to speak up in support of this community where there is so much misinformation.

Meeting and speaking with Honey was a reminder of a core value of our Christian faith, as followers of Jesus. The Baptismal vow reads, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” We are called to grow in our capacity to love our neighbors. 

For more information about Transgender History Month, here are several resources–

●    Transgender History Month

●    Assemblymember Matt Haney, District 17, News release: August 5, 2024

Congratulations to the Rev. James D. Richardson of our diocese! On his August 6 Facebook post, Rev. Jim wrote, "This is a delightful, though belated, surprise: I won Forward Review's Indies Book Gold Award for History in 2022 for my book, The Abolitionist's Journal: Memories of an American Antislavery Family. (Indies is shorthand for independent book publishers.)"

Who doesn’t love a good animal blessing to honor St. Francis? This tradition has been widely embraced by the Episcopal Church, resulting in many delightful moments of joy and tenderness, as people bring beloved pets to church in acknowledgment that they are a gift from God for which we give thanks.

What is not yet as widespread is observing the entire Season of Creation, an ecumenical celebration long supported by the World Council of Churches and recently endorsed by our General Convention. The Season of Creation spans from September 1, the Day of Prayer for Creation, to October 4 (yes, the feast day of good St. Francis himself!).

This year, the Episcopal Church released a Perennial Edition of the Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes, which means that it has resources you can use in any liturgical year, not just the current one. I strongly encourage everyone who plays a part in planning and leading worship to download the guide here (http://newcreationliturgies.org/seasonofcreation) and find ways to weave these resources into your Sunday services as well as the Daily Office.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a worship leader, there is a wealth of inspiration and information in the guide. Much here could enrich your personal prayer time; study groups and green teams wanting to learn more about the theology of creation care will also find much to enrich and enlighten.

What does it look like to celebrate the Season of Creation outside of worship? This year’s theme, Peace with Creation (http://seasonofcreation.org), is timely and may help light your creative spark. Consider ideas like planting a tree or helping with a local environmental cleanup effort. You might want to sign up for the Creation Justice Ministries newsletter, come to one of our own Commission on the Environment’s monthly gatherings, or even join our Mighty Network. Another option would be a book study; at St. Martin’s we just finished a four-part study of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, and I cannot recommend that book more highly!

Whatever else you do, please take time during the Season of Creation to pray for the good world God created and to ask the Holy Spirit how you can be a part of bringing peace to our human and more-than-human neighbors. As the resource guide reminds us, we do what we can to care for creation “because of our Gospel call to grow in faith as we affirm that God in Christ loves, redeems and sustains the whole of Creation, not only human beings and because of the urgency of climate and ecological crisis and the need for a bold, prophetic response.”

If you have examples of how you are celebrating the Season of Creation, or have questions about how to use these new resources, please contact me or my COE co-chair Miriam Casey (pamela@churchofstmartin.org or ednccoe@gmail.com). We look forward to hearing from you and having many great stories to share later this fall!

Are you considering installing a solar system at your home or church?

This headline was the title of an outstanding webinar presented by our Creation Care partner, California Interfaith Power & Light, on August 7. Presenters from the solar industry provided guidance and resources to enable individuals and churches to move forward with their projects.  Due to the passage of HR 1, the tax and spending bill, and a subsequent executive order, the income tax credits, now available to individuals and churches, will be phased out.

The presenters encouraged homeowners and church leaders to begin designing, exploring options for financing and installation of solar systems, and beginning construction as soon as possible. There are key dates to know that will affect your ability to obtain the maximum tax credits for your project. Here are the dates:

For your church

If you begin construction by 12/31/25:

●    You have four years, until 12/31/29, to place your project in service

●    FEOC “Material Assistance” rules do not apply. These rules have to do with the amount of foreign made materials in your equipment.

If you begin construction between 1/1/26 and 7/4/26:

●    You have four years until 12/31/30, to place your project in service.

●    FEOC “Material Assistance rules do apply. These rules may reduce the amount of your credit.

If you begin construction after 7/4/26:

●    You have until 12/31/27 to place your project in service.

●    FEOC “ Material Assistance rules do apply.

Prayer for the First Peoples of the Land

Redbud Resource Group, a Native-owned consulting firm based in Santa Rosa, publishes a monthly newsletter that features upcoming events, including Native community gatherings.  Here is a link to the August issue which includes information about events in a number of locations in northern California. All are welcomed to these events.

Here is a link to the Redbud Resource Group webpage where you can sign up for the newsletter.

• Congress Must Protect the Vulnerable
• Tell Congress to Protect Disaster Aid!
• Support Global Nuclear Disarmament
• Support the Dignity Act of 2025 (H.R. 4393)
• Support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2025

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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