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Saint James Cathedral
SOCIAL Outreach
& Advocacy
July 2020
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Visit our outreach website
here
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Prayer for Freedom from Hate and Violence on Independence Day
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Lord Jesus, we pray this day that our homes, our nation, and all countries around the world may become havens of peace for all people.
Lord Jesus, we pray this day for the grace to see every one of our neighbors as a child of God, regardless of race, language, culture, or creed.
Lord Jesus, we pray this day for the wisdom to receive the stories and experiences of those different from ourselves - with openness and love.
Lord Jesus, we pray this day for the strength to teach our children how to resolve differences non-violently and respectfully, and the courage to model it in our own behavior, to raise future generations free of division and hate.
Lord Jesus, we pray this day for our faith community, that we may celebrate and welcome the diverse faces of Christ into our worship, our ministries, and our leaders.
Lord Jesus, we pray this day for healing, for justice, and comfort for all those who have never known a safe community, a safe home, or a safe house of worship.
Lord Jesus, we pray this day for the protection of all police, first responders, and military who risk their lives daily to ensure our safety and the defense of this country.
Lord Jesus, we pray this day for our public officials, that they may enact legislation that truly provides equal opportunities for all.
Lord Jesus, we thank you this day for giving us each other, and we ask that you provide us the strength we need to carrying on loving each other, our country, and this world. Through you, our Christ, our Ultimate Freedom, we pray.
Amen.
Adapted, US Conference of Catholic Bishops
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UPCOMING Starting Aug. 3
Faith & Racial Equity: Exploring Power & Privilege
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Mondays beginning aug. 3, 6:30pm-9:00pm
an 8-week program sponsored by justfaith ministries
"We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist."
- James Baldwin
The St. James Cathedral Life, Peace, and Justice Commission invites you to participate in Faith & Racial Equity: Exploring Power & Privilege. This is an 8-week module that awakens groups to the economic systems, public policies, cultural norms, and hidden biases that empower some and oppress others. The series will introduce participants to a framework for understanding and recognizing racial disparities in power and privilege, and will then dive into specific issues, including affirmative action, the school-to-prison pipeline, the criminal justice system, and powerful biases in media representation.
Eight 2.5-hour sessions will include prayer, dialogue, active listening, and relationship-building. There will also be a retreat to build community and Scriptural grounding. Reading materials cost approximately $40. Scholarships available.
For information, registration, and financial assistance, email Patrick Barredo, director of social outreach & advocacy, or call 206-619-2879.
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UPCOMING: Aug. 4 Book Discussion
Seattle in Black and White
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The July reading recommendation,
Seattle in Black and White
by Joan Singler, will be the focus of a virtual book discussion on Tuesday, August 4 at 7:00pm. Sister Judy Ryan of the St. James Life, Peace, and Justice Commission will host this in-depth examination of Seattle's own racialized history. This is a story that must be continually told.
"Seattle needs this book. Part memoir, part history, it tells the remarkable story of the activists who pierced the veil of complacency in the early 1960s and forced the city to begin dismantling its systems of segregation."
- James N. Gregory, author of The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America
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HELP NEEDED! St. James Care for Creation Team Seeks Assistance with Cathedral Covenant
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Caring for our Common Home is a communal effort - all of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation (Laudato Si' 14)! The St. James Cathedral Covenant is a 5-part pledge to honor and continue caring for our environment, and the Care for Creation team is looking for those willing to help make these parish commitments a reality.
Activities include (but are not limited to) planning/facilitating prayers, retreats, and webinars; environmental and integral ecology education; hosting or participating in trash cleanups; outreach/social media; and more. For more information, email Luke Henkel, social outreach & advocacy assistant. We welcome you at our meetings on the first Wednesday of every month as well, 6:30pm via Zoom!
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photo credit: Instagram _mysaintmyhero
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Dismantling Racism: Resources from St James Town Hall
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Two-part series examines systemic, racial injustices and what we are called to do about them
On June 18 and June 30, virtual racial justice dialogues hosted by St. James Cathedral's Patrick Barredo, offered parishioners from around Puget Sound the chance to deeply examine how and where racism shows up in their own lives, and what to do about it. The dialogues and prayers offered space for both personal reflection leading to action, as well as communal commitment to address systemic injustices on parish and Church-wide levels. Resources and ways for you to commit to anti-racism work follow below.
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H
ow the church can combat racism and white privilege: behind the story with fr. bryan massingale
Father Bryan Massingale, author of "Racial Justice and the Catholic Church" and Professor of Theology at Fordham University, joins America's National Correspondent Michael O'Loughlin for a conversation on racism, white privilege and what the church can do to address these issues moving forward.
Watch this in-depth look at combating racism. (25 minutes)
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Justice in Action: Take Steps for A More Just and Humane World
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Urgent: say yes to prohibitions against health care discrimination
The quest to reinstate affirmative action in Washington State continues this year with I-1776
, which includes a new Public Health component in light of the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, and seniors. I-1776 will expand prohibitions on discrimination by the state, limit the current prohibition on preferential treatment, require that government agencies work to ensure no-cost vaccinations, and expand public availability of disease-related data. 300,000 signatures needed by July 2.
Sign today.
Learn more at
yeson1776.com/
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Stand with asylum seekers: speak up against asylum access restrictions
By July 15,
submit a public comment
to the Administration explaining your alarm at the impact of these proposed rules on asylum seekers, some of the world's most vulnerable people.
Check out the the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) sample comment
and submit your own.
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St. James Spotlight:
Kathy Dugaw
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Exemplar of service offers love, welcome, food to St. James community - with endless smiles and optimism
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Kathy Dugaw on right with cathedral garden produce at the St. Mary Food Bank. |
Kathy Dugaw has done it all.
From her start at St. James Cathedral in the early 1970s as a young adult,
Dugaw has been living out the cathedral's mission of welcoming the stranger with untiring vigor -
and in multiple capacities - for nearly 50 years. It seems there is nothing this Capitol Hill native hasn't done to make Christ known to her neighbors in Seattle.
Currently, Dugaw spends as much of her time outside as she can. A regular core volunteer for the cathedral garden, she can be seen several times a week at the corner of Terry and Madison weeding, watering, planting, or chatting with passersby. When she is not assisting with the latest garden project for St. James, she's in the P-Patch in Magnuson Park, where she has had a plot for years. There, she coordinates the small slices of land available for her neighbors and community members in the ongoing mission to provide food for the hungry.
"Fortunately," she said, "I am not an introvert, so I will chat with anyone who stops by
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This sense of hospitality has never wavered. A long-time host during the Sunday coffee and hospitality hour, as well as an usher for Cathedral concerts and events, Dugaw is a constant friendly face at St. James for anyone who walks through the doors. While in-person services are still restricted in the restructured world of Covid-19, her work of serving and inviting people in to the faith carries on.
Dugaw regularly cooks and offers food for Catholic Community Services for folks in need, and is sponsoring a young woman who will be baptized into the faith on August 1. She couldn't be more excited.
What keeps her going in these tough times? Prayer, a computer, and the garden.
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I'm so happy to have...internet access. I don't feel totally cut off," she says of the ability to participate in the live-streamed masses. "I also spend many hours in the garden. I can come to the cathedral garden [after a time away], and look back at our small start, and where we are today, and feel so good about what we've done in such a short time."
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Archdiocese of Seattle Bishops Welcome DACA Supreme Court Ruling
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"As a Church committed to the value of life, we fully support [the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program]. We further call upon government officials and all people of good will to support the passage of legislation that would protect DACA recipients from future attempts to remove them..."
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Closing Reflection:
A Love Letter to our Refugees
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Watch A Love Letter to our Refugees
World Refugee Day 2020
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