The Episcopal Diocese 

of Northern California

Beloved Community

Resource Newsletter

Published by

The Commission for

Intercultural Ministries

October 2023 

Episcopal Church Becoming Beloved Community

Newsletter Highlights:

• A Message from Bishop M. Traquair
• Vigil for Peace in Petaluma
• Sacred Ground Forming at Trinity Cathedral (begins November 8)
• I Will, With God's Help: Journey Toward Racial Healing and Justice Upcoming Workshop at St. John's, Roseville (October 28)
• The Tenderness of Acknowledging the Land
• LGBTQ+ and Trans Days of Remembrance at Trinity Cathedral
• Refugee Resettlement Team Update
• COE Update October 2023: Energy Efficiency Assessments Round 3

Dear Friends in Christ,

It has been nearly a week since the shocking and brutal attacks on Israel by Hamas. I know we have all been in prayer for the victims since we first heard the news. Countless lives have been lost on both sides of this conflict, and it shows no sign of abating. In the midst of this, a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions is upon the residents of Gaza, with Israel’s demands that over a million residents move south or face the impending ground invasion by Israeli forces. This is compounded by the total blockade of access to water, fuel, and food.

There have been appalling acts by both parties. Regardless of the justification, there are no winners in this conflict. That so many innocent people have died and been wounded on both sides makes the situation even more tragic. But our God does not take sides, God grieves for all lives lost.  

I am sorrowful, but also confident that God is actively at work in the midst of our worst of times, including this one. The healing power of God in Christ fully surrounds our hurts and overwhelming fears. Jesus Christ, who stilled the stormy waters, is the same God who even now is working to bring this war to an end. I know and trust this is true, even while we pray and work for peace, and I hope you will join me.

What can we do? We must do what we are called to do: pray for God’s intervention and protection, for a spirit of peace and forbearance to descend upon the Middle East. Start with the collects from the Book of Common Prayer found below. And we are called to act and to help however we can.

The Episcopal Church and Worldwide Anglican leaders continue to share prayers and statements calling for an end to the violence impacting Israelis and Palestinians. I urge you to join me in supporting American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. We have a long and fruitful relationship with their work. Markedly, their hospitals and schools have always served everyone no matter what their religious practice. Learn more and donate here: afedj.org

God of peace, we pray for the people of Palestine and Israel in these perilous and dangerous times.

For all who are fearful for the safety of their loved ones and themselves, we pray that the assurance of unfailing love, even in the midst of danger, settles upon them. Shelter them from despair and protect them from harm.

For all who are wounded, we pray they find healing. 

For all who have died, we pray they find rest.

For all who grieve, we pray they find comfort.

For leaders on all sides, we pray for a renewed will to lay down arms, for the strength to put the grievances and wrongs suffered by their people to rest, and for the conviction to embrace a path of reconciliation and peace that preserves the rights and dignity of all of your children.

God of mercy, help us to remember there is no border that can separate us from your great love and protection, no stone that can sound the well of your deep mercy.

God of justice, we pray with hopeful hearts that your beloved children of the Holy Land will be spared a future of sustained violence and unrest and that a recognition of the humanity of all people will prevail. 

We ask all this in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Amidst the worsening violence in Israel and Gaza, hundreds of community members of many faiths gathered in Petaluma’s Walnut Park on Friday evening, October 13th, to witness for peace in the Middle East. Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Palestinian, and government leaders spoke and offered prayers for peace. Many urged the audience to advocate for peace with our elected officials and to live a life of love and kindness toward all humans.

B’nai Israel Jewish Center leader, Rabbi Shalom Bochner, hosted the event and closed the evening with a song of peace for everyone.

Rabbi Shalom Bochner

The Rev. Daniel Green

St. John's Episcopal Church, Petaluma

Community members

Mohammed Arif Karim

Petaluma Islamic Center

Photo credit: Bob Wohlsen

We all can pray and advocate for peace. Here are three links to easily write your elected officials in Washington and urge them to speak out loudly for peace in Israel and Palestine.

Episcopal Office of Government Relations

Friends Committee on National Legislation

CAIR - Council on American-Islamic Relations

We have watched with horror the violence in Israel and Palestine over the past 6 days. We condemn Hamas’s brutal and unjustified attack against Israeli civilians, and now we note with grave concern the catastrophic and worsening situation in Gaza. 

Please urge your members of Congress to push for the creation of a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to allow urgently needed food, water, medical supplies, and fuel to vulnerable people.

The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem wrote on October 13, “The order to evacuate the north of Gaza and to ask 1.1 million people—including all the members of our Christian communities there—to relocate to the south within 24 hours will only deepen an already disastrous humanitarian catastrophe. Gaza’s entire population is being deprived of electricity, water, fuel supplies, food, and medicine.”

We echo their call to “allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza so that the thousands of innocent civilians may receive medical treatment and basic supplies. Moreover, we call upon all parties to deescalate this war in order to save innocent lives while still serving the cause of justice.”

Sacred Ground is a program put together by the national Episcopal Church that tells the truth about our church's history with racism and gives us space to think about where we want to go. People who participate talk about how powerful this course is in opening our eyes and helping us wrestle with hard truths. Come take a journey to live out our baptismal calling to repent, return to God, and serve Christ in all persons. This course also fulfills the Diocesan licensed ministries racial healing requirement.  

The course is 11 weeks. It will meet in-person or on Zoom on Wednesdays at 2 pm. The group will be facilitated by Rev. Jim Richardson, Rev. Canon Tina Campbell, and Susan Hotchkiss. 

Contact the Rev. Alex Leach with questions or to register.

This webinar was a dialogue with three leaders with deep experience facilitating Sacred Ground and wider Racial Justice work within spaces where people come together across partisan and other differences:

• The Rev Nora Boerner, Interim Missioner for Beloved Community, Diocese of Iowa 
• The Rev Canon Meg Wagner, Canon to the Ordinary and co-founder Beloved Community Initiative, Diocese of Iowa 
• The Rev David Ware, Rector, Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore, MD 

Each of our presenters shared about their context, experience, and where they are in the work of Building Beloved Community now, having facilitated many Sacred Ground circles. 

We also then spent time in conversation around how we can build relationships across difference, some of which was in small groups where we shared our experiences with peers and brought larger questions back to the group.

Our hope in viewing this webinar is that you learn from others’ experiences, have a chance to share your concerns, and consider new ways to open the opportunity of Sacred Ground to the entirety of your communities across partisan, racial, socioeconomic, and other lines.

Resources:

• Transcript of Webinar (lightly edited for readability)
• Resources Shared in the Webinar Chat
• Episcopal Office of Government Relations Civil Discourse Page
• Iowa HF802 Bill (Book Banning)
• Iowa State University's "Rural Shrink Smart" Study
• documenting that many small towns in Iowa that are losing population but maintaining or increasing their quality of life share several common factors, including: strong, diverse, and inclusive relationships; more tolerance; less income disparity; depersonalized politics; and good communication about hard things. 
• Race in Iowa Map (Diocese of Iowa's Becoming Beloved Community Inititative)
• Faithful Conversations About the 1619 Project

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

Upcoming Workshop

This workshop was specially developed for the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California by the Commission for Intercultural Ministries. Renew your Baptismal Covenant as we learn about forms of historic and contemporary racism and how to engage in ministry with sensitivity and respect for all.

This workshop meets the requirement for licensing for Lay Eucharistic Ministers and Visitors only. Other lay licensed ministries need to take Sacred Ground to meet Diocesan licensing requirements.

This is the final workshop for this year.

Saturday, October 28 | 9:30am - 4:30pm

St. John's Episcopal Church | 2351 Pleasant Grove Boulevard, Roseville

Cost: $25 (includes lunch) | Deadline to register: October 21

Register: https://form.jotform.com/232397759732167

Contact Jo Ann Williams: bjwilli@surewest.net, for questions.

It’s All About Love: Festival Thursdays

2^nd Thursdays at 12 p.m. Pacific time

Keep the spirit going with the Festival Thursdays webinar series. Every SECOND THURSDAY AT 12 P.M. PT, popular festival speakers will expand on their presentation topics that until now you could only see if you were in-person. This is the perfect opportunity for those who were unable to attend the workshops or those who want to stoke their passion for Evangelism, Creation Care and Racial Reconciliation.

Join a free, 60-minute monthly Zoom for the best presentations you missed at It’s All About Love. These offerings are for the whole church to keep the revival flames going. You can attend once, monthly, or as you are able. Register for these webinars at iam.ec/iaalwebinars.

Future webinar dates:

2023: Nov 9, Dec 14

2024: Jan 11, Feb 8, Mar 14, Apr 11, May 9

Editor's Note: This was the first Festival Thursday webinar presented on September 14, 2023. These monthly webinars will rotate through the "festival tents" of racial reconciliation, creation care, and evangelism.

Olufemi Gonsalves examined Pauli Murray's most powerful proclamation, "When my brothers try to draw a circle to exclude me, I will draw an even larger circle to include them." This webinar discussed Murray's contributions to the discipline referred to as Womanist Public Theology. It considered Murray's influence on the present and future understandings of Womanism sermons, poetry, and political efforts.

Beyond learning about some of the most dramatic and personal moments when Bishop Budde knew she was being called to courageous action, she digs deep in conversation with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on what it means to cultivate and nurture bravery in the daily, small moments of life, and how we can spot the difference between ego and bravery. Bishop Budde also asks us to consider how our failures teach us bravery when we are willing to learn from them.

Bishop Budde offers personal examples of decisive moments from her own life and examples of decisive moments by public figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Howard Thurman, the Rev. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and seminarian Jonathan Daniels, among several others.

Vimeo I The Philadelphia 11 (official trailer) I Posted February 2023

Lois Peeples sat at the registration table in a back corner of the Church of the Advocate here on Sept. 30 remembering the scene in the church nearly 50 years ago when the ordination of 11 women deacons as priests touched off a firestorm in the church.

“It was a big ruckus” on July 29, 1974, she recalled with a smile, noting that many across the church and society at large objected to women becoming priests and bishops.

And, it was “marvelous,” Peeples said, to spend her 89th birthday in her church home of 60 years watching the premiere of the documentary “The Philadelphia Eleven.”

The film tells the story of what it calls “an act of civil disobedience.” The ordinations took place two years and a few weeks before the General Convention agreed that it was permissible for women to become priests and bishops. The 11 were harassed and received death threats.

In-person screenings are scheduled into next year. Click here for the schedule.

In my Vlog this week I reflect on the tender feelings I have around buying a home, and at the same time acknowledging that others occupied this land before I did. The native occupants of this land did not have a system of ownership like the European settlers did. Their relationship to the land was one of “partnership” not “ownership.”

So buying a home is an important part of my, and many others, life journey. At the same time, it brings into sharp focus the tender feelings I have about living where others previously lived. There are a few ways to deal with these tender feelings. One is to ignore them, and pretend that they have no impact on us. Another is to become overwhelmed by them and beat ourselves up, but ultimately do nothing. The third way is to sit with tender feelings and contemplate what they are calling us to. 

Our Land Acknowledgement, which we will look at in detail at a forum on Sunday at 10:15 am, invites us to sit with the tender, painful feelings of what happened to the Indigenous people of this land. There are also suggestions in our Land Acknowledgement of actions to take. Some of you have come to me and wondered if we are undertaking those actions, because hearing about it so regularly is uncomfortable. I need to let you know that I am ok with sitting in discomfort, if that discomfort agitates me towards action. Let us gather together this weekend and contemplate hopeful actions that might be taken in response to the experience of listening to our Land Acknowledgement and sitting with our tender, uncomfortable feelings about it.

A depiction of Christoper Columbus arriving in the Americas, by Gergio Deluci, circa 1893. Image courtesy Library of Congress/Creative Commons

Of the 12 federal holidays, Columbus Day is one of only three celebrating a person. Among that trinity, which includes the celebrations of the births of George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr., it remains peculiar. Unlike the first president of the nation and the 20th-century century civil rights leader, Christopher Columbus has only a tenuous connection to what became the United States. Although many of us were erroneously taught that “Columbus discovered America,” he never set foot on soil within our national borders and famously didn’t comprehend that he had encountered lands unknown to Europeans until his third voyage in 1498.

But by tethering their story to Columbus, early leaders of the United States magically endowed the fledgling nation with a 300-year pedigree, a genesis story whose “in the beginning” implied its birth was the outworking of Providence. They invented a past that gave their present holdings, and their rapacious ambitions, the veneer of divine inevitability.

The sweeping power of this narrative strategy, however, lay not just in the epic voyages of Columbus, but in a religious doctrine he relied upon and indeed helped crystallize: the Christian Doctrine of Discovery. As Spain and Portugal ramped up their exploration and colonization efforts in the latter half of the 15th century, the self-described Christian kings and queens sought a moral mandate that would simultaneously address their obligations to newly discovered peoples and mitigate bloodshed between themselves.

Trinity Cathedral will have an LGBTQ+ Day of Remembrance at the Cathedral on October 29th at 3 pm. They will also have the Trans Day of Remembrance at the Cathedral on November 18th at 6:30 pm. The Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus will sing at both events.

YouTube I Sunday Sermon by The Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson Sermon at Washington National Cathedral I 8.13.2023

The Refugee Resettlement ministries local resettlement teams are continuing to assist refugee and migrant families and individuals in their communities. Read about the good work being done by these local resettlement teams:

• Trinity Cathedral and Community Team
• Redding Refugee Sponsor Circle (R2SC)
• Yolo County Good Neighbor Team
• St. Alban's, Arcata, Team
• Afghan Allies, Petaluma

Resettling refugees and migrants is hard loving work and very rewarding. If you feel called to open your arms and heart to welcome refugees and migrants to your community, please contact Bob Wohlsen, Refugee Resettlement Team Chair, at bob.wohlsen@gmail.com.

A sky made eerily yellow by wildfire smoke greets workers as they pick stone fruit in California's Central Valley. On this particular day in 2021, pollution from catastrophic fires in the north of the state mixed with smog from the south and sat like a blanket over the endless rows of food.

Faith and farmworkers have long been pillars of life in California’s Central Valley—intertwined in a fight for justice.

You can see it throughout the story of César Chávez, the civil rights leader and devout Catholic who sought better wages and working conditions for Mexican migrants in the 1960s. Chávez infused the movement with religious teachings of nonviolence and ministry to the poor, and even rallied the Catholic Church to support La Causa.

Today, faith still plays a key role—although photographer Brian L. Frank shows in this photo essay that it looks a little bit different.

Catholic priests are still preaching in the fields but instead of Spanish they’re learning Indigenous languages to serve their congregations who have migrated from farther south in Latin America. And ministry is no longer dominated by Catholics either, as evangelical churches expand their reach.

Faith has become even more important in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which laid bare the inequities migrant workers face. As most Americans took refuge in their homes, migrants continued to farm the nation’s food. Fearing deportation, they turned to the church—not government—for help with child care and healthcare.

Here’s a glimpse of life in the Central Valley.

Five more churches assessed throughout Northern California to support the Diocese’s goal to reduce our carbon footprint and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Twenty-six assessed this year.

Colby May, Energy for Purpose Founder and energy efficiency expert, performed a detailed energy efficiency assessment at Christ the King, Quincy; St Timothy’s, Gridley; Church of Our Saviour, Placerville; The Center at St Matthew’s; and St Paul’s, Benicia last week. As Colby walked through the church buildings with Green Team members and staff, he noted energy using equipment, light bulbs, wall and window systems, thermostats and shared energy saving ideas. Each church will receive a detailed report of their churches' current status and ideas to increase their energy efficiency. In the past 3 months 26 churches throughout the diocese have been assessed.

St. Paul's Green Team members: Carole

Johnson, Kim Rodekohr, and Christine

Stevens. Colby May - Energy for Purpose

Funding for these assessments came from the Diocese, a TEC Creation Care grant, grants from the Episcopal Foundation of Northern California, and donations from individual churches. The EDNC board has approved $25,000 for COE in the diocese's 2024 budget. These funds will allow 10 additional churches to be assessed in the new year. Scheduling will begin soon for this round.

On Saturday, October 21 at 10 am, The Commission on the Environment will present a webinar about developing an Action Plan to accomplish the recommendations in the Energy Efficiency Assessment and become more energy efficient over the next six years.  Green Team members from churches that have been assessed have been invited to this presentation. All are welcome to attend this educational webinar. If you'd like to attend the webinar or are interested in being included in future rounds of assessments contact Bob Wohlsen - bob.wohlsen@gmail.com.

This November, in Dubai, the United Nations will convene COP28, the annual international climate conference. Along with partners and state affiliates, Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) will be in attendance, advocating for the United States to play a pivotal leadership role in these global climate negotiations as we remain steadfast in our pursuit to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

As the largest historic emitter of carbon pollution in the world, this is a significant moment for the United States to showcase its dedication to environmental responsibility, which is why we are taking this opportunity to raise our collective voices to impact our nation's position on the climate crisis.

In the summer of 1974, Suzanne Lee was a first-year teacher living in Boston’s Chinatown and Howard Wong was an 11-year-old middle schooler. They remembered when the notice for desegregation first came, and how it eventually led to a Chinese student boycott of Boston schools.

Audio produced by StoryCorps Studios in partnership with GBH Boston.

Audio recorded on May 15, 2023 at GBH in Boston.

Greg Garrett takes readers on a guided tour of James Baldwin’s life and work with The Gospel According to James Baldwin

Orbis Books presents Greg Garrett’s The Gospel According to James Baldwin (Trade Paper: Paper: ISBN:9781626985391 I September 15, 2023 I 192 pp. I $24). Acclaimed writer, professor, and theologian Greg Garrett interrogates James Baldwin’s writing, speaking, letters, and life for universal lessons on race, faith, justice, art, and identity.

Episcopal writer Greg Garrett published his latest literary work of theological criticism, The Gospel according to James Baldwin, on September 15, 2023. The book is released by Orbis Books, the legendary publisher of Gustavo Gutiérrez, James H. Cone, and Kelly Brown Douglas, and it debuted on Amazon (U.S.) as the top-selling new book release in liberation theology. Anthony Reddie, Professor of Black Theology at the University of Oxford, judges that “In this remarkable book, Greg Garrett has brought James Baldwin from the supporting cast to an upfront starring role as an immense religious thinker in his own right committed to social justice and humanitarian living. This book is a literal ‘must read’.”

Homebrewed Christianity w/Dr. Tripp Fuller. Dr. Clark explains Black theology as part of the larger liberation tradition for thinking theologically as Christians.

Building on the success of its pilot program during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations is launching a second cohort of Election Activators to help increase voter engagement for 2024. Applications are open online.

Organizers are looking for more U.S.-based Episcopalians like Kim Hayes, a volunteer from the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina whose church participated in the program last year.

“I felt like I was really doing something, and even though my efforts were relatively small-scale, I think they made a difference,” Hayes said. “A woman visiting our church from Tennessee looked at the materials we had on display in the foyer and sought me out to say thank you. That alone makes me willing to sign up again.”

Election Activators work over a two-year period to promote and facilitate local, non-partisan voter engagement efforts. These volunteers meet regularly to develop and implement strategies, share stories, and build a network across the country to help increase voter turnout and encourage others to take on a greater role in the elections.

Weekly Network Calls: Join the Office of Government Relations for a 30-minute, weekly conversation about the policies and legislation we are advocating for. This is a chance to take part in a conversation on advocacy asks, the political environment, and the legislative outlook. Thursdays, 10-10:30 am PT. Registration required.

We also offer a Network at Night monthly EPPN call at 4 pm PT (7 pm ET) the first Thursday of every month. If you are unable to attend our weekly EPPN calls at 10 am PT, we hope this additional time slot will make our updates more accessible. Registration required.

• Advocacy Internships. Join The Episcopal Church advocacy office as a policy intern and assist with our efforts to shape and influence U.S. policy and legislation while representing the positions of the church. You will gain proficiency in policy research and writing, comfort with faith-based advocacy through work with staff members on public policy, and acquire administrative skills necessary to succeed in any office environment. Read more.

• PEPFAR: A Conversation with OGR and Tom Hart. October 27th, 10 am PDT. Join the Office of Government Relations for an online conversation with Tom Hart, President of the ONE Campaign and former Director of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations. In conversation with OGR staff, Tom will discuss the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the role of the faith community in the success of this program, and the urgent need for reauthorization. He will share his insights on the program and share his perspective on what steps must be taken to ensure that progress is not erased. Register here.

• Stop the Torture: Ending Solitary Confinement. October 30th, 11:30 am PDT. Join The Episcopal Church and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture for an online presentation and discussion on ending prolonged solitary confinement. You will hear from survivors of torture in U.S. prisons and jails and what they are doing to stop this practice, and you will learn how faith allies can engage in advocacy for the abolition of this practice. This multimedia presentation will leave you inspired to take action, with practical tools for advocacy in your community. Register here.

Tell Congress to Support Environmental Stewardship. Encourage Congress to consider the intersection of environmental policy areas such as human migration, agriculture, racial justice, Indigenous rights, international conflicts, and more. We cannot separate ourselves from the environment and we must do everything in our power to protect and work within it. We are as much a part of God’s creation as the earth itself and we must continue to prioritize that in all aspects of our lives.

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

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California

The Commission for Intercultural Ministries

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