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By Janet Kawamoto

[The Episcopal News] Bishop John Harvey Taylor gathered with representatives of the Diocese of Los Angeles and its Deanery 7 to break and bless ground for a new affordable housing project at St. Michael's Episcopal Ministry Center, Riverside.

"It made us Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles representatives feel more like stewards than landowners. Indigenous peoples once lived here, then colonial peoples," Taylor wrote on Facebook after the event. "As a parish church, [St. Michael's] was a beloved spiritual home. As a ministry center run by the Rev. Canon Mary Crist and her partners, the housing insecure and unhoused always had a place to go.

"Soon the beautiful church, built out of faith in him who had nowhere to lay his head, will have new neighbors occupying 50 one- and two-bedroom apartments set aside for households earning between 30%-80% of the local area media income, half of the units set aside as permanent supportive housing for unhoused folks battling mental illness."

Read more here.

For the past 12 years the Parish of St Matthew's, Pacific Palisades, has partnered with Prism, the Diocese of Los Angeles restorative justice ministry, to sponsor a Family Day Picnic for the families of the incarcerated served by Prism's chaplains. This year, since the picnic was not a safe option due to COVID-19, says the Rev. Greta Ronnigen, Prism co-director, the people of St. Matthew's have turned their generous hearts to a new way to support these underserved families.

St. Matthew's parishioners collected 100 backpacks stuffed with school supplies (including hand sanitizer and encouraging notes) and 100 sports balls and distributed them to children affected by incarceration on Aug. 7 at St. John's Cathedral in Los Angeles.

The Rev. Canon Dan Ade, co-dean of St. John's, and Ronnigen blessed the backpacks and other supplies before volunteers distributed them to families driving through or arriving via public transportation. St. John's provided tables, shade and refreshments for the volunteers, who included several young people from St. Matthew's.

The Episcopal News Update is in the final weeks of its summer schedule. The newsletter will be issued for August 29 (publication August 25), and weekly thereafter.

Items for the Update may be emailed to [email protected]. Deadline for each issue is Tuesday at noon.

By Pat McCaughan

[The Episcopal News] Janelle Fast Horse Hummingbird has joined the women of a Native American talking circle for at least a dozen years, gathering mostly on the St. Paul’s Commons rooftop to share stories, to offer support, to pray, to bless one another with an eagle feather and smoldering sage around a sacred fire, and to sing the “Strong Woman Song.”

The “First Women Gather Around the Fire – Los Angeles” talking circle is a vital link to ancient tradition for Hummingbird, 61, who was a toddler when her parents relocated to Los Angeles from the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

“I am an urban Indian. I lost touch, but the circle brings me more of the traditional ways,” said Hummingbird, who is Lakota, and lives in Downey. “A lot of healing happens in the circle.”

Pre-pandemic, as many as 20 women gathered in Echo Park at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month for the talking circle. Another group of 20 gathered on the third Saturday of each month. Since COVID-19, they have met weekly through Zoom calls, according to the Rev. Canon Mary Crist, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation, who considers herself the group’s chaplain.

“Talking circles are a historical way of including the voices of all the people on any given subject, so that no one is left out,” said Crist, who coordinates Native American ministry in the Los Angeles diocese.

Read more here.

Presenter: Ms. Terry Knowles of the Program Group on Stewardship

Register here

Presenter: Margaret Nolde, president of Girls Friendly Society - Los Angeles

Register here

All workshops in this series have been livestreamed and recorded. Learn the latest best practices for church vitality, finance, digital media, and more here.

Seminary of the Southwest announces the Rev. Nancy Frausto as the new Director of Latinx Studies. Frausto will begin in her role at the start of the 2021-2022 academic year this fall.

“I am humbled and honored to have been called to this position. I love parish ministry and have spent most of my life working in Episcopal Churches engaged in Latinx ministries,” said Frausto. “I am excited to share everything I have learned with those seeking to learn and work with Latinx communities. The Episcopal Church needs priests who will uplift the stories and leadership of the Latinx community and who will advocate for structural changes that will make Latinx Ministries in churches with a growing Latinx population a priority, not a side project or a charity case. I applaud the seminary’s commitment to Latinx ministry in the Episcopal church, and I look forward to the opportunity of creating a space where future priests engage the academic work of Latinx theologies and the hands-on ‘how-to’ of the complex multigenerational, multilingual multicultural beauty of Latinx/Latiné ministry.”

Frausto, born in Zacatecas, Mexico, immigrated to the U.S. as a child. She is the first and only DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) beneficiary priest in the Episcopal Church and a founding member of the Diocese of Los Angeles Sanctuary Task Force.

Read more here.

St. Bede's Church, located in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, will honor its rector, the Rev. Canon James Newman, upon his retirement on Sunday, Sept. 5 at its 10 a.m. outdoor service (weather permitting). A celebratory coffee hour for Newman and his husband Mike Mullins will be held after the service. All are invited to attend. St. Bede's is at 3590 Grand View Blvd, Los Angeles 90066.

Newman, a native of Long Beach and a graduate of the University of Minnesota and Virginia Theological Seminary, has been rector of St. Bede's since 1990. He previously served as interim chaplain at Canterbury Irvine and interim rector at Christ Church, Redondo Beach, and in various ministries in the Diocese of Minnesota. Bishop J. Jon Bruno named him a canon of the diocese in 2003.

Education for Ministry (EfM), a four-year program of theological education for lay Episcopalians (and others) will be offered in some 20 church-based groups in the Diocese of Los Angeles, beginning in mid-September and concluding in late May.

"During these uncertain times with COVID-19 disrupting our lives and the struggle to end racial inequality, you may have been looking for new ways to explore your faith or for a way to challenge old ways of thinking so that you can put your faith into action in challenging new and dramatic ways," says Gary Leonard, diocesan EfM coordinator. "I think we can all agree that the world around us is in need of faithful people who are dedicated to being agents of justice, grace, mercy, and love."

EfM, founded and administered by the University of the South (Episcopal) in Sewanee, Tennessee, explores Hebrew scripture, Christian scriptures and church history, developing each student's personal theology and ways to apply that knowledge to their ministries. The curriculum uses a wide variety of sources to challenge students as they explore their faith. More about EfM is here.

Leonard adds, "If you are a past graduate of EfM, this is an entirely new program compared to what you have experienced in the past. Graduates of EfM are invited to enroll in any year they wish to take."

For information about existing EfM groups in the Diocese of Los Angeles, or to inquire about starting a new group, contact Leonard at [email protected].

Do you know a child who loves to sing?

The Cathedral Choral Academy at St. John's Cathedral in Los Angeles provides quality music education to girls and boys ages 7 - 14, regardless of prior musical experience. All children receive a full scholarship. This program meets at St. John's every Thursday, 5 - 7 p.m. (dinner included). The 2021-22 program, which will begin Sept. 9, will include multiple performance opportunities throughout the year. For information, email Stephen Salts, director, at [email protected]. St. John's Cathedral is located at 514 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles 90007.

La Academia de Coro Catedral provee educacion de calidad musical a ninas y niños de edades 7 – 14, sin importar experiencia muscial previa. Todos los niños reciben beca completa. Este programa se junta todos los Jueves entre 5 - 7 p.m. (cena incluida) comenzando Septiembre 9, 2021 y incluye oportunidades multiples de funciones a lo largo del año. Para mas informacion comuníquese por correo electronico [email protected]. La Catedral de San Juan está ubicada en 514 W. Adams Blvd., Los Ángeles 90007.

Girls Friendly Society - Los Angeles is offering children an opportunity to become change makers in their community with a new curriculum titled “Let’s Learn to Step Up and Speak Out.” The program offers flexible lesson plans that teach children to use both feet of love – charity and justice – to address issues such as animal welfare, literacy, chronic disease, the unhoused and food insecurity.

Margaret Nolde, president of GFS-LA will present a webinar outlining the curriculum, titled “Children as Changemakers: Step Up and Speak Out," on Saturday, Sept. 18, 9 – 10 a.m. The webinar, offered as part of the Servants of the Spirit: Gifts for Ministry series, is free of charge and open to all. To register, click here.

The free curriculum is available for download here. For additional information, email [email protected].

Episcopal Peace Fellowship will continue its series of free, one-hour online presentations on Peacemaking on Sunday, Sept. 5, 1 p.m., with "Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) Program: Healing Trauma As a Way to Peace," presented by Katie Mansfield (pictured) of Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

The program will be useful to those who work in pastoral care, advocacy, healthcare, education, government, care-giving, or in any kind of leadership or community building capacity.

Mansfield has worked in peacebuilding for more than 15 years, with international experience in Kenya, India and the Philippines, as well as with U.S.-based corporate, nonprofit, higher education and youth programs promoting peace education, trauma awareness and resilience training, environmental education and conflict transformation initiatives. She recently completed doctoral work focused on arts-based, embodied learning for resilience building.

For more information or to register, click here. Direct questions to Randy Heyn-Lamb at [email protected].

Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, will pay tribute to its founder, the late Rev. Canon George Regas, at its 20th anniversary celebration on Saturday, Sept. 11, 4 - 6 p.m., in person at All Saints Episcopal Church, 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena 91101, and live-streamed online (details are pending).

U.S. Representative Judy Chu (California, 27th District) and several organizations, including All Saints Church, will be honored with the George F. Regas Courageous Peacemaker Award, "recognizing people and organizations whose work exemplifies his principles of peace and justice."

Special guests will include the Rev. James Lawson, Methodist minister and longtime justice advocate, and Rachael Worby, orchestral conductor and artistic director/creator of MUSE/IQUE, a nonprofit performing arts organization seeking to create live music experiences that are accessible for all.

Regas, retired rector of All Saints Church, founded ICUJP after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He brought together Christians, Jews, Muslims, Quakers, humanists and people of many other faiths and beliefs to gather, organize, pray, and act together, "united by the fundamental principle that religious communities must stop blessing war and violence." Regas died Jan. 3, 2021 at 90.

In addition to All Saints, organizations being honored for "steadfast peace and justice efforts and for serving and advocating for people impacted by the Covid pandemic" include:

Tickets, starting at $25 per person, may be purchased here. Patrons are encouraged to make additional donations to fund scholarships for those who can't afford the ticket price.

Donors may save up to 15 minutes by completing pre-donation reading and answering health history questions here, rather than filling out forms on the day of donation.

Reservations through the Red Cross are required. All donors and staff will be screened before entering the facilities.

1127 N. San Antonio Avenue, Ontario 91762

Information: 909.983.1859

Reservations here or call 1.800.RED.CROSS (1.800.733.2767)

Sponsor code: CCPOntario

Additional dates at this location: Thursday, Sept. 16; Thursday, Oct. 7; Thursday, Nov. 11; Saturday, Dec. 11.

All Saints Episcopal Church

132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena 91101.

Reservations here or call 1.800.RED.CROSS (1.800.733.2767)

Sponsor code: ASEC

Information: [email protected]

Upcoming date at this location is Aug. 17.

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church

12692 Fifth Street, Yucaipa 92399

Reservations here or call 1.800.RED.CROSS (1.800.733.2767)

Sponsor code: ST ALBANS

Upcoming dates at this location are Mondays; Sept. 27, Oct. 18, Nov. 22 and Dec. 27.

Will your church host blood drives in coming months? Send the information to [email protected] for inclusion in the calendar. Please include the date, times, location and sponsor code.

By Michael B. Curry

[USA Today - August 10, 2021] “Did you get your sugar cube?”

My father asked me this question one day in the early 1960s when I came home from elementary school. At first, I was not sure what he was talking about, but then I remembered: Earlier that day, all the children at my school had been handed a little sugar cube with some liquid on it.

We popped it in our mouths and went on with our assignments, not really giving a second thought to the fact we were being vaccinated against polio, which was once a frightening and dreaded disease.

My father smiled and thanked God that I had received the vaccine that day, though I didn’t know why it mattered that much at the time.

Read more here.

The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry is presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. A video version of this message is here.

By David Paulsen

[Episcopal News Service - August 11, 2021] Episcopal dioceses and congregations are responding to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the United States, especially in Southern states with low vaccination rates, by implementing new face mask requirements at worship services and promoting vaccination campaigns.

In Louisiana, one of the states hit hardest by the coronavirus’ fast-spreading delta variant, the New Orleans-based Diocese of Louisiana started requiring worshippers to wear masks this week, party in response to the indoor mask mandate reinstated by the governor. The state is now averaging more than 5,500 new COVID-19 cases a day, which is more than at any other time during the pandemic, according to data tracked by the New York Times.

“I have heard and read where some individuals have raised their objections to wearing masks indoors. This is disheartening,” Louisiana Bishop Morris Thompson said in an Aug. 4 message to the diocese. “The primary reason for wearing masks is to protect others. Choosing not to wear masks speaks to the absence of love for our neighbor.”

Read more here.

More reporting from Episcopal News Service is here.

St. James in-the-City Church, Los Angeles

Livestreamed and on demand here

St. Stephen's Church, Santa Clarita

Online: Register here or call Sivana Lavine at 818.446.1573

When someone shows signs of dementia, it’s time to talk. Conversations with family about changing behaviors can be challenging and uncomfortable. This program offers tips on how to have honest and caring conversations to address some of the most common issues. Topics to be covered in the program include: going to the doctor; deciding when to stop driving; making legal and financial plans.

September 2022

Join Bishop Guy Erwin of the ELCA and Canon Jim Newman of the Episcopal Church for a 13-day journey across central Europe to Oberammergau, Germany. The day-long Oberammergau Passion Play is produced every decade and is a four-century “thank you” to God for saving the people of this picturesque Bavarian Alpine village. Experience this spiritual event and look at the culture and religion of Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, Auschwitz and Czestochowa), Hungary (Budapest), Czech Republic (Bratislava), Austria (Vienna & the Salzkammergut) and Germany (Oberammergau & Munich). Cost is $4,899 from Los Angeles including $450 taxes/airline surcharges.) Information: Jim Newman, 3590 Grand View Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066; 310.391.5522 or 888.802.6722; [email protected]. A full itinerary is here.

COSTA MESA: Sunday School Teacher, St. John The Divine Church, to plan lessons and teach one room of 2 - 6 students or more. Sunday mornings - 9:45 - 11 a.m. Prep time – flexible, 3 hours per week at $15 per hour. To apply, send a cover letter and resume to [email protected]. Include the job title in the subject line, or mail document to Saint John the Divine Episcopal Church. 183 E. Bay Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92627.

GLENDORA: Organist. Grace Episcopal Church is seeking a professionally trained church organist to be a part of our strong and vital music ministry. The organist will be expected to play for one Sunday service and one choir rehearsal per week, feast days, and for festive concerts. We offer a traditional Rite II service at 10 a.m. on Sundays. The preferred style of music is classical sacred music, ranging from Palestrina to Rutter. The pipe organ is by Manuel Rosales, built in 1977, with a new console in 1980, and substantial reconditioning work in 2016. The organ has two manuals and 26 ranks. The organist will work directly under our choirmaster/director of music in a collaborative manner. Salary: Starting at $12,000 per year, negotiable with demonstrated ability and experience. Weddings and funerals will provide additional compensation. Position available: Fall 2021. Application deadline: September 1, 2021. Send resume to the Rev. Susan Scranton via email at [email protected] or by postal mail at 555 E. Mountain View Avenue, Glendora 91741.

LA CRESCENTA: Coordinador(a) de Oficina Parroquial. San Lucas de las Montañas. San Lucas está buscando un(a) Coordinador(a) de Oficina como parte del equipo de esta Misión para apoyar a Dios en lograr su visión para el mundo. Somos un congregación diversa que aspira a estar cada día más unida en Cristo, y con un alto grado de participación de voluntarios comprometidos. Si estás interesado(a) en utilizar tus talentos para una gran causa, aprender, y hacer una diferencia, te invitamos a aplicar. Puedes conseguir aquí la descripción de trabajo e información de cómo aplicar.

LA CRESCENTA: Church Office Coordinator, St. Luke’s of the Mountains. St. Luke’s is looking for a Church Office Coordinator as part of the team of this mission to support God in achieving God’s vision for the world. We are a diverse congregation that aspires to be more united in Christ every day, and with a high degree of participation of committed volunteers. If you are interested in using your talents for a great cause, learning, and making a difference, we invite you to apply. You can get the job description and information on how to apply here.

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA: Early Childhood Division – Assistant Teacher (3 positions, St. John's School. One regular, two Infant/Toddler program). Full time with benefits (medical/dental, pension, employer matching 403b contribution). $17.00 per hour Starts August 23. Primary responsibilities: support the classroom teacher in providing a loving classroom environment that supports children’s emotional, physical, and cognitive development; communicate effectively and maintain a positive rapport with students, parents, and colleagues; help implement the curriculum created by the classroom teacher and collaborate accordingly. Early childhood education coursework required (minimum of 12 units). Full job descriptions and application instructions here (select "Faculty").

SANTA BARBARA: Minister of Choral and Congregational Music. Trinity Episcopal Church seeks not only a talented congregational music leader and a confident and inspiring choral director, but also a committed liturgical partner to work with our rector, curate, and minister of keyboard music to fully integrate all aspects of music with the other parts of the liturgy, to bring to life the Word and love of God. Full job description here.

VENTURA: Parish Administrator, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The primary responsibility of this position is to manage parish operations including building and facilities management, human resources administration, vendor management and external relationships/communications. The Parish Administrator also acts as a liaison between the parish office and ministry leaders, tenants and parishioners. Full job description here.

Additional job listings are here. Listings are free: send information to [email protected]. Applications for jobs must be sent to the contact included in the listing.