THIS SUNDAY: October 3, 2021
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
The book of Job, an allegory about a blameless person who nevertheless suffers in life, helps us to deal with when we experience setbacks in our own lives.
Psalm 26
The Psalmist appeals to God for justice, since they live a life of integrity and love for God.
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Jesus, who obeyed God and gave his life for the sake of us all, is worthy of our worship and is thus superior over anything natural or supernatural.
Mark 10:2-10
Jesus is protecting two groups most vulnerable in his society -- wives and children -- from the arbitrary actions of some men.
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ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICE
WITH COMMUNION
8:00AM
Joe Adorno (EM)*
Jeff Albao (U)
Dee Grigsby (AG)
Muriel Jackson (DM)
9:30AM
David Crocker (EM)
Mario Antonio (U)
Terry Ann Moses (LR)
Jan Hashizume (AG)
Vikki Secretario, Nelson Secretario (HP)
Rachel Secretario (SS)
Joan Roughgarden, Jan Hashizume (DM)
Live Stream
9:00AM on our home page, YouTube, or Facebook accounts
@allsaintskauai
* EM - Eucharistic Minister; U - Usher; LR - Lay Reader; AG - Altar Guild; HP - Healing Prayers; DM - Digital Ministry; SS - Sunday School
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Aloha Hour
Canceled
Until Further Notice
Blessing of the Animals
Sunday, October 3rd
After 8:00 and 9:30AM Services
Labyrinth
Ke Akua Youth Group Meeting
Wednesday, October 6th
5:00 - 6:00PM
Zoom Meeting
Contact Cami for login info.
Project Vision Hi`ehi`e Mobile Showers
Thursday, October 7th
11:00AM - 4:00PM
Church Lawn
NOTE: Day and Time Change
Daughters of the King
Wednesday, October 13th
6:00 - 7:00PM
Zoom Meeting
Contact Mabel Antonio for login info.
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Aloha Hour
Every Sunday, 10:45AM - 12:00PM
Under lanai tent
Monday/Friday Crew
Every Monday/Friday, 8:00AM
Church Office
Project Vision Hi`ehi`e Mobile Showers
1st and 3rd Thursday, 11:00AM - 4:00PM
Church Campus
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Laundry Love
1st Wednesday, 5:00PM
Kapa`a Laundromat
Daughters of the King
2nd & 4th Wednesday, 6:00 - 7:00PM
Zoom
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Adult Formation Series:
Episcopal Church Leadership Demystified
Take Me to Your Leader!
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Livestream via Zoom
Tuesdays October 5th and 12th, 5:30PM - 7:00PM
Recently, an informal but lively discussion of the Episcopal Church and its Leadership occurred.
You know the conversation.
Did you hear what they are going to do?”
“Don’t worry about them. I think they are doing fine.”
“Yah well, they don’t get it.”
“Do you ever talk to them?”
“Who are they?”
In an effort to determine just who “they” are and demystify Episcopal Church Leadership, it helps to break it down into manageable pieces and tackle them one at a time. For these two sessions we will seek to understand Episcopal Church Leadership and how it impacts us as members of the All Saints’ `Ohana.
Our Parish is a member of a larger Episcopal community. That means there are many opportunities for you to participate in the life of our Church. Get involved and learn more about how you can make a difference locally.
Please join us on October 5th and 12th at 5:30PM - 7:00PM to learn more.
-Kahu Kawika+ and Bill Caldwell
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For the sick and suffering in body, mind, and spirit, especially Those affected by the Pandemic,Those affected by racial violence, Noah, Patsy, Susan, Maddy, Lori, Peggy, and those we name silently or aloud, let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy.
For those saints who have gone before us in the Grander Life, especially Those affected by the COVID-19 virus, and those we name silently or aloud, in the hope of the resurrection, and for all the departed, let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy. Amen.
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Reflections from Kahu Kawika
You Want a “Peace” of Me?
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Mark 9:38-50
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
James 5:13-20
26 September 2021
Proper 21B
While I like most kinds of movies, I have never been a fan of horror films. I am a very visual person, and am impacted by visual impressions, so watching gratuitous gore and violence is simply not good for my psyche and soul.
So you can imagine my ill-at-ease with our Gospel reading this morning from Mark 9 - wow! What a text from Mark’s gospel, eh?! Filled with some of the harshest language that Jesus ever uses – real gory stuff: images of self-mutilation, chopping off one’s own hands and feet, gouging out one’s own eye, and putting a large anchor around your neck to be tossed into the ocean – this is a really tough rant! How can we make any sense out of this? What would people say who want to follow everything in the Bible to the letter?
Surely we can’t be expected to take these instructions literally, or there wouldn’t be a congregation anywhere that didn’t look like an ER wing of the hospital. This reminds me of Mohatma Ghandi’s comment about the dictum in the Hebrew Bible, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” – “If everybody followed that command literally, the whole world would be blind and toothless!” What on earth could have brought on such a series of harsh and unforgiving statements from Jesus?
I suspect what triggers this outburst from Jesus is the harsh and unforgiving attitude from the disciples themselves. The disciples are having a rough time with Jesus lately. And in turn Jesus seems to be on a short fuse with them. First, Jesus rips into Peter for his suggestion that Jesus should avoid facing betrayal and death in Jerusalem (“Get behind me, Satan!”). Then he chews out the other disciples when they start arguing among themselves as to which one of them was the greatest, and this right after he had just told them that he was about to face death. And now in today’s Gospel, John whines, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” Not “he was not following you,” but not following “us.”
This is the last straw! Jesus drives home his point by using graphic language worthy of an R-rated movie to rebuke his close friend John and the other disciples’ concern only for themselves. Jesus graphically described removing “pieces” of ourselves that get in the way of receiving God’s love, so that we can have the “peace” of heaven in our lives. P-I-E-C-E vs. P-E-A-C-E.
John’s desire to exclude someone “not like us,” unfortunately, resonates throughout the annals of the history of God’s church. (1) The debate over whether to allow Gentiles to become part of the children of God; (2) Christian denominations, whether Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox, that claim to be the true expression of God’s church and exclude all the others as “less than.” (3) People of color excluded from churches or asked to sit or stand away from the main part of the church; (4) a more nuanced way of rejection is by demanding that new people act and appear the same as people who have been in a congregation for a long time, or to hide their God-given nature in order better to blend in with everyone else.
John is in good company. In our first reading from the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, that great account of Moses and the Israelites escaping slavery in Egypt only then to have to traipse around in the desert for 40 years until they could settle in the Promised Land, we find that Moses’ assistant and heir apparent in the leadership, Joshua, is angry that two other guys in the camp, Eldad and Medad, begin prophesying without Joshua’s authorization. Joshua demands that Moses stop them from doing that. However Moses, like Jesus, instead includes their new-found gift for the benefit of the whole people of God. Those who were outside are now inside.
John’s words of long ago, “We tried to stop him” resonate even today by the calls of “we don’t want them here” that still resound across the church as, sadly people of faith, like John, declare their faith in terms of rejection and exclusion instead of welcome and acceptance. Even some considered part of the “insiders” are not immune from such rejection and may soon find themselves on the outside, as the cries also ring out, “the minister, or the choir director, or that elder, or the president of the Women’s Guild, … has to go!” We tear each other to “pieces” rather than offer our own ”peace” to each other.
Driving someone out of the faith because they are different, or not part of the power group, is definitely not what Jesus has in mind, and he is quick to tell the disciples to stop it. “Do not stop him”, Jesus tells his disciples. I’m sure John expects Jesus would rise up in righteous indignation, and shut down this outsider who wouldn’t obey the disciples. John expects a pat on the back, or a chorus of “atta-boy’s.” But when John and the disciples expect Jesus to join in that chorus, they are sorely mistaken.
At least we can see grace in Jesus’ harsh reaction to their words of rejection and exclusion: “Don’t stop him … Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will be no means lose their reward.”
Here is a typical proclamation of grace, and with his classic, “you say …, but I say” challenge to the world, Jesus turns the popular banner cry of rejection backwards, opening the doors to the kingdom way wider than the righteous on earth would allow. “Whoever is not against us is for us,” Jesus declares. The world says, “we’ll only take those who clearly vote with us.” Jesus says, “We’ll take them all.”
This is not just a trivial difference in language, either. Redefining the world’s tendency to reject others (whoever is not for us is against us) into the kingdom’s call to kindness and acceptance (whoever is not against us is for us) is no easy task. People fall so easily into rejecting other people, and nowhere is this truer than in the church. I don’t know why this is so; I suspect it is based on fear and their own insecurities to believe in their own salvation, like “if I’m barely acceptable, how can you be acceptable?” kind of thing.
And curiously, just as it is a close disciple who whines about someone outside their group proclaiming the good news of Christ, it seems that those who most loudly and proudly declare themselves to be the closest to Jesus, are the very ones who complain about and reject others who also proclaim the good news of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus. The world needs the “peace” of Jesus and thus a “peace” of us.
The reading today from the book of James in the New Testament echoes this point, that our welcoming of others from the outside serves to nurture our own inclusion in God’s kingdom. In the last few sentences, James affirms that those who include someone from the outside will, in fact, act to save their own soul. Thus, the soul saved is one’s own soul who welcomes an outsider!
But there’s another surprise in this text. Just as a parent rebukes a child with a harsh “what could you possibly have been thinking?!” and yet finishes up with a loving hug, so too Jesus concludes these incredibly harsh words of warning with an embrace in his closing words, “Be at peace with one another”. For that’s the bottom line here. Jesus’ closing words, which at first seem so unusual, so innocuous, provide the foundation for his urgent and passionate commands to his disciples, and to us: “Be at peace, at shalom, with one another,” Jesus concludes. We just observed International Peace Day on September 21st in conjunction with other houses of worship from different religions. This clarion call to practice the aloha of peace with one another is something that transcends all faiths, cultures, and nations. This is part of what I call the “spiritual DNA” that God has placed within all God’s children worldwide. The world desperately wants a “peace” of us.
This is nothing new with Jesus. This is one more way in which he calls us to kindness, to compassion, to acceptance and service. “Love God with all that you are”, yes, but we must not forget the second part of the same command, “love one another as you are loved.”
“I have come not to condemn the world”, Jesus declares, and if he didn’t come to condemn, how on earth could we assume that it’s now our task?! Who are we to put ourselves as judges, even over Jesus? In paraphrasing the words of Archbishop William Temple from the 1930’s, “We as God’s church exist not for ourselves, but for the benefit of those outside.” This is not a clarion call to love only those who are insiders, to love only those who are deemed part of the true and faithful. This is a call from Jesus to welcome and bring in others from outside.
It’s about our privilege and responsibility to prevent a fragile newcomer to the faith from stumbling, from falling, from being turned away. That is why Jesus warns his disciples not to become a stumbling block to “little ones” – yes, Jesus probably includes kids here, but also those adults who are nevertheless “little” or immature in the faith and love of God. That’s also why Jesus’ harsh words follow so closely upon the call to kindness – harsh words tempered and concluded with a call to peace.
That’s the bottom line, Jesus’ closing comment on the subject: “be at peace with one another.” In other words, we cannot be at peace with each other until we look outside of ourselves to the welfare of others.
On a larger scale, nations who struggle with obesity cannot hope for peace as long as seed is still needed elsewhere to jump-start recovery from starvation in other countries. Peace begins with sandwiches that help someone make it through the night to what might be the day their demons disappear. Peace in the kingdom begins with breakfast that keeps the hunger pangs at bay until the cheque comes in. Peace in the soul comes from a kind word that might be the one word that’s required to break a cycle of depression and despair. Peace in the kingdom comes from an invitation to enter the kingdom and find rest for a weary soul, instead of one more impossible hurdle to overcome. Don’t be a stumbling block to others.
Whoever is not against us is for us. Whoever reaches out with one tiny act of compassion in God’s name will by no means lose the reward. If that’s not a call to kindness, to compassion and to acceptance of others, then God help us to hear one. The world wants and needs a “peace” of us. Amen.
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Sunday School Resumes!
This Sunday, October 3rd, 9:30 - 10:00AM, Memorial Hall
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Rachel Secretario will be guiding our keiki through Sunday School activities during the beginning of our 9:30AM service this Sunday. Bring your little ones to shine in the light of God's love. |
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The Blessing of the Animals
Sunday, October 4th After Each Service
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Each year, the Sunday closest to St. Francis' Day is when we and other churches do their Blessing of the Animals. This year we will be celebrating on October 3rd. Adhering to our pandemic safety guidelines, we will have our usual services at both 8AM and 9:30AM, then after each service Kahu Kawika will go out to the middle of the Labyrinth and receive any animals there to give them a blessing. Alternatively, you may also bring a photo of your pet to the middle of the Labyrinth and Kahu is more than happy to bless your pet in that way.
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ALL SAINTS' VIRTUAL SWAP MEET
A Service of the All Saints' `Ohana
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From time-to-time certain items like furniture, appliances, or other items of value become surplus and we need to repurpose them but we don't have the time, knowledge, or energy to do that work. Fortunately, the All Saints' Virtual Swap Meet is here to help. If you have items you would like to see in a new home or if you need items to repurpose, turn to your Epistle and we will publicize your need. As items are requested from, or contributed to, the Virtual Swap Meet, we will keep you informed.
This week's entry is displayed below.
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For anyone in need of an electric recliner, a gently used chair is available free of charge to anyone who is interested. Contact [email protected] for contact details. |
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EPISCOPAL CHURCH GOVERNANCE
"Take Me To Your Leader!"
"Who's That?"
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The following was first published in The Epistle, 4, June 7, 2019
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Recently, I was engaged in a lively discussion of the Episcopal Church and its Leadership. You know the conversation.
“Did you hear what they are going to do?”
“Don’t worry about them . I think they are doing fine.”
“Yah well, they don’t get it.”
“Do you ever talk to them ?”
“Who are they ?”
This last question really got me thinking. Who are “ They ”?
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This week we will focus on General Convention, that part of Church Governance that is not very familiar to most of us but has a major impact on our lives as Episcopalians.
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General Convention
The General Convention is the governing body of The Episcopal Church. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. Just as the Legislature of the United States is comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the General Convention is comprised of two Houses: the House of Bishops, comprised of nearly 300 active and retired bishops, and the House of Deputies which has more than 900 members. They meet and act separately, and both Houses must concur to adopt legislation.
The Convention meets every three years and has the authority to amend the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church; adopt the budget for the church for the next three years; authorize liturgical texts and amend the Book of Common Prayer; adopt communions and covenants with other churches; set qualifications for orders of ministry and office-holders; elect officers of the General Convention, the Executive Council, and members of boards; and delegate responsibilities to the interim bodies of The Episcopal Church.
House of Bishops
All bishops of The Episcopal Church, active or retired, make up the House of Bishops. The House of Bishops meets twice a year between conventions in a non-legislative capacity. The Presiding Bishop is the president of the House of Bishops.
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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry
House of Deputies
Each diocese of The Episcopal Church appoints up to four clergy and four lay leaders as deputies to attend the General Convention. The House of Deputies has over 900 members (including alternates), and at each General Convention, the House of Deputies elects a president to serve a three-year term.
In addition to presiding over the House of Deputies when it is in session, the President of the House of Deputies serves as vice-chair of the Executive Council and the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, appoints clergy and lay members to standing committees and commissions and other church-wide bodies, and serves as an ambassador and advocate for work that carries out the resolutions of General Convention.
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President of the House of Deputies Gay Clark Jennings
So, what does all this mean for you?
You have a direct line to Episcopal Church Leadership.
You are encouraged to run for a seat in the House of Delegates. You could be selected to represent our Diocese at General Convention. That will give you a seat right at the table.
Do you know a bishop? I bet you know Bishop Bob. Bend the Bishop's ear about what you want Church Leadership to know. He will listen, pray, and carry all good ideas forward to the House of Bishops.
Please take advantage of the opportunity to be a part of the governance of our church. Volunteer to be a delegate to the Diocesan Convention and consider running for a seat in the House of Delegates.
I hope this information is helpful the next time someone says, “Take me to your leader”.
Bill Caldwell
The Epistle
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A Message from the Bishop |
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As your Bishop, I deeply appreciate all those medically eligible who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and all those who continue to wear their masks in public and practice social distancing when gathering. Thank you! As Episcopalians, I am convinced this is the very minimum we as God’s people can do to fulfill the Great Commandment (Mark 12:29-31) during this difficult time of a worldwide Pandemic: “Jesus replied, ‘The most important one is Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.’” You, God’s people, are truly loving your neighbor through these righteous deeds.
O gracious and holy Father, give us wisdom to perceive you, diligence to seek you, patience to wait for you, eyes to behold you, a heart to meditate upon you, and a life to proclaim you, through the power of the spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-Bishop Bob Fitzpatrick
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Dial 808 To Make Local Calls |
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Just a reminder that beginning on October 24, 2021, all local calls, including those on the same island, will require you to dial area code 808 + telephone number. The change comes as the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) adopts 988 as a new three-digit number to be used nationwide to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline starting July 6, 2022. In order for it to work, all service providers must implement mandatory 10-digit local dialing. Be sure to update all your contacts with their area codes.
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Maria joined her nearby Episcopal Church many years ago, deeply moved by the liturgy and the way her church looked at faith and Holy Scripture. She became very active, began teaching Adult Sunday school, eventually heading up the adult Christian formation program. Then ‘Life’ stepped in. After going through several personal and family crises, Maria found herself attending church less and less. With her faith at its lowest point ever, Maria felt she had no place to go for help. What surprised her the most was that no one from church seemed to notice she stopped coming.
So, she decided to wait until someone from church called to check on her. Twice the annual pledge campaign letter arrived in her mailbox like clockwork, with pledge card duly enclosed. But the letter was always addressed, “Dear Member of All Saints Church.” Into the trash went the anonymous letter and pledge card, and Maria’s relationship with All Saints Church. What is most sad about this story, however, is that the loss of Maria from All Saints Church was entirely preventable. An active TeleCare ministry at her church would make it extremely unlikely that this story would ever happen.
In short, TeleCare ministry is a lay-led ministry that expresses your church’s care
and concern to every member—and “permanent visitor”—on your parish membership
list. You call with one question: “We’re just calling to see how you are and if there’s anything you want us to pray for?” That’s it. Best of all, it’s free! All it takes is a little organization, commitment, and people who are willing to call others, to pray with them over the phone and remind them of your congregation’s love for them. Such a small act upholds the care for others demonstrated in today’s lesson from James, and the Gospel lesson, looking out for those new to the faith. Unfortunately for All Saints, Maria attends a different church now.
Developed in the 1990’s by the Rev. David Davidson-Methot and Deacon Fran Sweet in California, TeleCare ministry is a true from of stewardship: It is the care and tending of relationships. Bestselling author Brené Brown writes, “Connection, along with love and belonging (two expressions of connection) is why we are here, and it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” Jesus models for us the ideal of self-giving relationships, relationships based on mutual love, compassion, and respect, which is essential to being human. Elegantly simple and lacking presumption, TeleCare ministry fosters that sense of connection in that it is an expression of the church’s love and belonging for its members.
Do you feel called to start a TeleCare ministry in your church, to prevent a story like Maria’s from happening? If so, please send me an email for a free PDF that outlines a basic form of TeleCare ministry, with ideas for training callers and practice scenarios. Discover how this “phone call of love” might be just the thing your people need from their church following a year of COVID-19 induced separation and isolation.
The Rev. Canon Timothy M. Dombek is Canon for Stewardship and Planned Giving for the Diocese of Arizona, Rector of Advent Episcopal Church in Sun City West, AZ, and a member of the board of TENS. He can be reached at [email protected]
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Pentecost 19
The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
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On October 4, The Episcopal Church celebrates the feast day of Francis of Assisi, an Italian friar, beloved saint, and one of the most venerated individuals in Christian history. He founded the Franciscan Order for men and the Order of Saint Clare for women, and he is also widely known for his love of nature and animals. Perhaps the most famous prayer attributed to St. Francis is:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
But did you know St. Francis is also credited with these inspiring and challenging quotes?
- Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
- If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
- While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.
- All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.
- A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.
Collect for the Feast of St. Francis
Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Published by the Office of Formation of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
© 2021 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.
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Movement Grows to Honor Bishop Barbara Harris with a Feast Day on Her Date of Death
David Paulsen
September 29, 2021
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The Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris at her historic consecration service on Feb. 11, 1989. Photo: David Zadig/Diocese of Massachusetts
[Episcopal News Service] Dioceses and Episcopal leaders are joining a growing movement to add Bishop Barbara Harris to The Episcopal Church’s calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. They are lining up diocesan resolutions that will ask the 80th General Convention to advance her elevation to the status of a church saint at its meeting in July 2022, just two years after her death.
Harris was consecrated in 1989 as bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Massachusetts, becoming the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion. She retired in 2002 but remained an active and prominent figure in The Episcopal Church and a role model for younger generations of Episcopal leaders until her death March 13, 2020, at age 89. Harris also is remembered for her support of social justice causes and her part in the first wave of women to be ordained as Episcopal priests.
“Bishop Barbara Harris’s life and ministry called out to us to strive for justice and truth as manifested in Scripture in our church and world,” Bishop Gayle Harris, the Diocese of Massachusetts’ current suffragan, said in an email statement to Episcopal News Service. “Her voice was an uncompromised clarion call for full inclusion and equality in our corporate life as the Body of Christ from the beginning of her ministry as a lay leader and throughout her episcopacy.”
In February 2021, she and Massachusetts Bishop Alan Gates issued an invitation to congregations and dioceses across the church to celebrate the life of the late bishop on the first anniversary of her death. Gates and Harris then asked for brief descriptions of those commemorations because “such accounts may become part of the testimony for subsequent consideration of churchwide observation.”
In November, Massachusetts will vote on a resolution at its diocesan convention endorsing the push to create a churchwide feast day on March 13 honoring Harris, echoing a resolution approved in July by the Union of Black Episcopalians. Other dioceses are considering similar resolutions, including California, Los Angeles, Missouri and New York.
Proponents plan to cite examples of local commemorations in making their case for adding Harris to the liturgical calendar as one of its optional observances, alongside the church’s principal feasts and holy days that are listed in the Book of Common Prayer. The church’s Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, or SCLM, has emphasized such a record of “local, organic observance” be part of the “Principles of Revision” for Lesser Feasts and Fasts, which the commission submitted to the 80th General Convention for consideration. (The guidelines can be found here, starting on page 11.)
“There should be a history of people having celebrations of someone they want on the calendar. It shouldn’t be top down,” Byron Rushing, vice president of the House of Deputies, told ENS in an interview. He thinks that qualification has been met by the widespread enthusiasm for commemorations of Harris since her death.
The pandemic forced church leaders temporarily to shelve plans for large-scale, in-person memorial services honoring Harris. While such memorials are still pending, numerous virtual services were heldto mark the one year anniversary of her death.
Rushing and other advocates of a Harris feast day also are in favor of expediting her inclusion in the church calendar. The Episcopal Church’s Canons don’t specify rules for conferring sainthood, though individuals traditionally aren’t considered until 50 years after death.
“The passage of time permits the testing and flowering of their Christian witness,” SCLM says in its guidelines.
Because the liturgical calendar is part of the Book of Common Prayer, additions must be approved by two successive General Conventions. If approved, a trial-use liturgy for a Harris feast day would return to General Convention for final approval in 2024.
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Retired Bishop Suffragan Barbara Harris leads members of the Diocese of Massachusetts in singing hymns during its 2014 electing convention. Photo: Diocese of Massachusetts
A feast day honoring Harris already has a leading contender for its liturgical propers. Missouri Bishop Deon Johnson wrote a prayer to be used as a collect honoring Harris, and he selected accompanying biblical readings, in consultation with one of Harris’ close friends, the Rev. Sandye Wilson. Those propers now are being used in Johnson’s St. Louis-based diocese and were recommended by the Massachusetts bishops for use there and in other dioceses.
Johnson told ENS that Harris served as his mentor while he was attending General Theological Seminary in New York, and “she’s always been a role model figure for me throughout her ministry.”
She congratulated him when he was elected bishop in November 2019, but she died before he was consecrated in June 2020. For that ceremony, Johnson chose to honor her with the propers he had written.
The collect calls on God to ”defend us in our own day to make no peace with oppression; that boldly following the example of your servant Barbara Clementine Harris, chosen bishop in your church, we may strive not for ease or fame but gladly toil and walk with you all along our pilgrim journey.”
Missouri is drafting its own resolution calling for a churchwide feast day on March 13, which Johnson said is deserved because of “her example in being Christ’s hands and heart for social justice and welcome in The Episcopal Church.”
Even before being elected bishop, Harris “was an outstanding minister for social justice in The Episcopal Church,” Rushing said, citing her work in the civil rights movement, her advocacy for women’s equality and her ministry to prison inmates.
“She had a deep history of social justice work,” Rushing said. “That of course is one of the reasons why Massachusetts elected her.”
– David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at [email protected].
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Episcopal Church 2021 Blue Book Now Available
September 27, 2021
Office of Public Affairs
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“I encourage all Episcopalians to read through the research, findings, actions, and summaries contained in the 2021 Blue Book reports,” said the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe, executive officer of the General Convention. “They provide great insight into the myriad work taking place in all facets of The Episcopal Church as we navigate the pressing issues around us and envision our future.”
The 2021 Blue Book totals 1,160 pages and was divided into three volumes to keep printing costs as economical as possible.
The 80thGeneral Convention is scheduled to take place in person July 7-14, 2022, in Baltimore, Maryland. For the first time, legislative hearings will be held online and prior to gathering in person, providing opportunity for broad participation from across the church. The hearings are set to begin in February 2022; specific dates and information on how to register to attend or participate will be announced when available and posted on the General Convention website.
The Blue Book is a compilation of reports from the groups overseeing the governance or carrying out mandated work of The Episcopal Church between General Conventions and from other organizations that report to the General Convention. The General Convention is the name of both the bicameral governing body of The Episcopal Church and its gathering, which usually conducts business every three years.
Normally, The Blue Book and General Convention years match. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 80th General Convention was rescheduled from 2021 to 2022.
For more information about General Convention, which will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, please visit www.generalconvention.org. For questions about The Blue Book, please contact Brendon Hunter at [email protected] or 212-716-6096.
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Anglicans Urge G7 Vaccine Share
The Anglican Communion’s Health and Community Network and the global Anglican Alliance for aid, development and advocacy have called on the G7 group of countries to share their Covid-19 vaccination stocks.
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ANGLICAN ALLIANCE | TAONGA NEWS | 20 SEP 2021
An Anglican Communion-wide coalition of churches, medical professionals and development agencies have issued a challenge to the G7 group of wealthy nations to urgently find ways to channel their vaccination surplus to countries that cannot afford to vaccinate their people.
The Anglican Communion’s Health and Community Network has joined with Anglican Alliance – whose members live and work in development in some of the world’s poorest nations – to ask the governments of G7 countries to convene an emergency G7 meeting to tackle the problem of wealthy nations hoarding and discarding Covid-19 vaccine supplies.
“We are one human family. We can and must work together to end this pandemic, leaving no one behind.” said Anglican Health and Community Network Co-convenors: Bishop of Hertford Rt Rev Michael Beasley; Dr Janice Tsang, Specialist in Medical Oncology, Hong Kong; and Bishop of Namibia, Rt Revd Luke Pato – joined by Anglican Alliance Executive Director, Rev Canon Rachel Carnegie today.
Globally, over 5.5 billion vaccine doses have now been administered, but 80% have been administered in high-and upper-middle income countries. Meanwhile, Africa’s vaccination coverage is at 2%.
Even as rich countries issue booster jabs and offer to vaccinate to all citizens over twelve, they are still on track to amass an excess of 1 billion vaccines by the end of the year.
This excess of supply in rich countries will only increase in 2022 as global vaccine manufacturing increases. The Anglican Alliance and Health and Community Network have called on G7 governments to make sure they do not hoard the surpluses amassed and then waste them – when they could have mobilised ways to share.
The two Anglican coalitions report that the lack of vaccines for the majority of countries puts the lives and health of millions around the world at risk, and with the threat of new variants emerging globally that risk does not exclude rich countries.
“Covid-19 vaccines have ‘use by’ dates. If not put into people’s arms, significant parts of the excess being generated will need to be destroyed.”
“It is a matter of extreme concern that if not shared, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of vaccines that have been purchased by rich nations will go to waste.” said the joint statement from the two Anglican bodies released on 18 September 2021.
The Anglican Communion’s health focused networks also recognised the G7 governments' support for the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and the commitments they made at the G7 summit in June 2021 to make additional doses available.
But today, less than 15% of those 1 billion doses the G7 governments promised to donate have reached vaccination centres in poorer countries.
“We call on all G7 governments and others to fulfil their promises and commit fully to global vaccine equity.” say the Anglican health advocates.
“National vaccine surpluses must be equitably and effectively shared, with waste avoided and lives saved.”
The Anglican Alliance comprises 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion and in Africa a key Anglican Alliance partner is CAPA – the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa. In addition the Alliance includes seven Anglican development agencies: Anglican Board of Mission and Anglican Overseas Aid (Australia) Anglican Missions (Aotearoa, NZ & Polynesia), Episcopal Relief & Development (USA), the ‘Five Talents’ Anglican finance and training group that works in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia and Myanmar; the Mothers’ Union (Communion-wide) and The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (Canada). The Anglican Communion Health and Community Network was launched in April 2021 and raises the voices of Anglican medical and scientific specialists to help promote public health best practice throughout the Anglican Communion.
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Jesus Power
Episcopal Café
September 27, 2021
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“O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure.” (Proper 21 collect) The collect for Sunday, September 26
by Liz Goodyear-Jones
I was raised in a classic story of the south by two women, my grandmother being one of them. Her name was Sallie Stone and she rocked my world. I said my first words to her; napped in her fan cooled bedroom daily and learned how to be a better person from her rock solid Methodist flavored faith. She was funny, handsome in looks and filled with common sense. She knitted, tatted, made popcorn balls for us kids at Halloween and when my mother went off to Parsons college, my grandmother made her beautiful suits (drawn from sketches of Bergdorf Goodman’s fashion windows that my mother would send home). In the spring she would take me to the woods to dig wild violet plants and most evenings the local doctor and newspaper editor would sit in her front yard after supper and talk. They would often ask her advice saying, Mrs. Stone what do you think? Her answers were pithy and to the point. Are you getting the picture of “power” here as Jesus would have us see it? Maybe you had one of those grans too!
What’s subtle and not so easy to see, is her devotion to mercy and righteousness. No one, NO one, could come to our door, but that she and I addressed them as “Mr. or Mrs. last name”. It didn’t matter the status of their clothes or the color of their skin, they were to be treated with respect and honor. What you also cannot see is that this was Mississippi in the 1950’s and my grandmother had a second-grade education.
When Billy Graham came to our town in August of 1952, we went. It was a defining moment for me of hearing the story of Jesus. Like Dante Alighieri, my heart was so moved by the love that moves the sun and the other stars, that I ran down to the front when they had an altar call! I was six.
Walking home that night holding her beautiful hand, I said, “Grandmother, I want the whole world to know this!” 70 years later I am still on that journey, chiefly because that woman showed me mercy and compassion, the almighty power of God.
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IN BRIEF . . .
These news briefs were featured in previous issues of "The Epistle"
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From The Epistle, September 24, 2021
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Project Vision Hi'ehi'e Showers Inaugural Event
First Event was a Great Success
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Project Vision brought their mobile shower trailer to All Saints on Thursday, September 16th to offer hot showers to houseless guests. Their trailer is beautiful and brand new, and includes two enclosed private stalls with a toilet and hot shower (one is ADA compliant). Between the guest showers, the Project Vision crew sanitizes each area. They can handle up to 20 showers per visit.
Project Vision will bring their trailer to All Saints the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month, with showers open from 12PM to 3PM, parking in front of Memorial Hall during future visits.
All Saints members can contribute sack lunches so that guests who use the shower facilities can take a meal with them. At our Sept 16th event, Wayne Doliente and Ron and Carolyn Morinishi set up a table and tent to keep everything cool. Here is the schedule of people providing lunches so far:
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Sept 16th: Carolyn Morinishi
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Oct 7th: Mabel Antonio
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Oct 21st: Wayne Doliente
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If any other person or organization would like to sign up to contribute sack lunches, please contact Carolyn for more information. Thank you!
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Give Your Closets a "Fall Cleaning"
Family Life Center Clothing Collection
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In conjunction with the Project Vision Mobile Showers, an organization called Family Life Center collects donated clothing and offers the houseless guests some clean clothing to wear after their shower.
There will be a plastic bin at the door of All Saints church services on Sundays for the months of October and November. If you have any clothing you would like to donate, please leave them in the plastic bin. For more information, please contact Carolyn Morinishi. Family Life Center appreciates your donations!
-Carolyn Morinishi
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Who Do You Call?
Contact information for All Saints' Ministries and Outreach
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USHER MINISTRY
If you would like to serve as an All Saints' usher, please contact Cami at [email protected].
HALE HO`OMALU ACCEPTING DONATIONS
There is an on-going need for travel sized toiletries and canned goods so these items will be accepted every week. As always, monetary donations are gratefully accepted. Leave them in the red wagon outside the sanctuary
KUPUNA SHOPPING ASSISTANCE MINISTRY
Any of our All Saints' kupuna who need assistance with grocery shopping can contact Carolyn Morinishi at [email protected] to set up a delivery.
ALL SAINTS' VIRTUAL SWAP MEET
If any ministry has an unmet need, reach out to put it in the All Saints' Virtual Swap Meet and it will be published in the Epistle. Contact Bill Caldwell at [email protected].
PASTORAL CARE CONTACT INFORMATION
Whenever you have a need for support, please call (650) 691-8104 and leave a voice mail. The system will immediately forward the information to the Pastoral Care Committee who will respond to each request. If you prefer, you may send an electronic pastoral care request via email to [email protected].
PRAYER CHAIN MINISTRY
Individuals who want to participate in the Prayer Chain Ministry must re-enroll to continue receiving the email communications. To re-enroll, please visit the newly established Pastoral Care web page or contact the Church Office at (808) 822-4267.
SUBMITTING A PRAYER REQUEST
Prayer requests will now be submitted online or by contacting the Church Office at (808) 822-4267.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Names can be added to the Prayers of the People petitions by using the Prayer Chain Request form or by contacting the Church Office at (808) 822-4267. Names will remain in the Prayers of the People for a maximum of four Sundays before a name must be resubmitted.
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