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By Pat McCaughan

[The Episcopal News – March 23, 2022] Ann Noble never dreamed her love for acting would lead her to Los Angeles County jails.

Born and raised in Chicago, she moved to Los Angeles in 2003 to expand an already acclaimed career as actor, playwright, director, and theater company founder. Performing in a production of “Murder in the Cathedral” brought her to All Saints Church in Pasadena.

“I don’t know what it was, but I felt at home,” said Noble, who serves as program coordinator for Prism, the diocesan restorative justice ministry. “I was never very religious. I had no desire to do what I am doing now; it wasn’t even on my radar. I can’t describe it. It is such a beautiful place, and I loved the call to social justice – and I don’t know where that started.”

She joined, attended new member classes and, while on retreat at the Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel before her confirmation, “I met Sister Greta [Ronningen] and Brother Dennis [Gibbs],” who were then serving as co-directors of Prism and the Community of Divine Love monastery.

Attending mass at the Community of Divine Love inspired Noble to become an oblate, or associate, of the monastery, and to join their ministry of presence to the incarcerated. Once inside the Men’s Central Jail and adjacent Twin Towers, and the Century Regional Detention Facility, which houses women in Lynwood, “again I had that feeling of being home,” she said.

“It is such a stark environment. You go in, and you’re locked in there. You think, from the outside, that it’s going to be scary or dangerous. But it just feels connected to the Holy Spirit. I just feel I am among my brothers and sisters, my siblings.”

Read more here.

The Rev. Gregory Kimura, rector of St. Andrew's Church, Ojai, has been called as vice-dean of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, in the Diocese of California, beginning at the first of June. 

Before beginning his tenure at St. Andrew's, Kimura was president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Previously he was president and CEO of the Alaska Humanities Forum, and taught at Alaska Pacific University and at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Kimura is a fourth-generation Alaskan with a Ph.D. in the philosophy of religion from Cambridge University (England). He previously studied at Harvard, Marquette and Alaska Pacific universities, and is an international expert on philosophical pragmatism. While in the Diocese of Los Angeles he has been active in social justice advocacy, including Sacred Resistance, and founded St. Andrew's Laundry Love program. He also was active in Upper Ojai Search and Rescue. He is married to Joy Atrops-Kimura; the couple has two children; Julian (19) and Lilly (13).

The Rev. Julie Boleyn has been called to serve as director of Kaleidoscope Institute beginning March 1, according to an announcement from its board of directors. Boleyn will be responsible for supervision and coordination of the administration, programs, and strategic plan of the organization. Other key duties include fundraising, marketing, and community outreach.

Boleyn, an ELCA (Lutheran) pastor, has been an associate and Upper-Midwest regional director with the Kaleidoscope Institute. She served at Unity Lutheran Church in Berwyn, Illinois from 2011 to 2021. During her ministry she accompanied the development of Unidad, a Spanish language ministry with a special focus on serving the LGBTQ community.

Julie is the former board chair, and now treasurer for Awake, a non-profit catalyst for leadership, relationship, and justice. Among its accomplishments has been raising several thousand dollars to give away in mini-grants in response to the COVID crisis. Boleyn lives just outside of Chicago, Illinois with her wife and teenage child.

The Kaleidoscope Institute, originally founded by the Rev. Canon Eric Law under the auspices of the Diocese of Los Angeles, works to develop diverse, sustainable communities through anti-racism and leadership training. Law, who recently retired as KI's executive director, now serves as KI Innovator.

Information here. Tickets here

Join the Rev. Canon Susan Russell (Diocese of Los Angeles canon for Engagement Across Difference and clergy staff, All Saints Church, Pasadena) and Rabbi Heather Miller (Keeping It Sacred) to discuss women clergy in their respective religious traditions, Jewish and Episcopalian, at 5 p.m. on Mondays, April 11, 18 and 25. The three sessions, held in honor of the 50th ordination anniversary of Rabbi Sally J. Priesand (June 3) will cover where women clergy have been, where they are and where they are going. This program will be held via Zoom and is free, though donations to Keeping It Sacred or All Saints Church are welcome. Register here.

Please note the following links to public health information in the counties across the diocese, and to California state safety measures here.

[Episcopal Relief & Development – February 28, 2022] Episcopal Relief & Development is mobilizing with Anglican agencies and other partners in order to provide humanitarian assistance to people fleeing the violence in Ukraine. 

Working through the Action by Churches Together Alliance (ACT Alliance), Episcopal Relief & Development will provide cash, blankets, hygiene supplies and other needed assistance.

Donations to Episcopal Relief & Development’s International Disaster Response Fund will provide humanitarian assistance for the crisis in Ukraine.

For more information, contact Linda Allport, Diocese of Los Angeles ministry partner for Episcopal Relief & Development, at [email protected].

Features blog posts, commentary from Bishop John Harvey Taylor: @edlabishop. The blog may also be read here. 

A new series on Twitter (@ladiocese) and Instagram (#episcopaldioceseoflosangeles) – invites audience responses to questions related to Episcopal Church parish life.

Providing insights into issues of policing in local and national contexts, the Bishop’s Commission on Gospel Justice and Community Care invites all in the diocese to follow its Facebook page and engage in daily posts on topics including countering racism and providing mental health-care options for intervention rather than arrest.

Additional diocesan social media feeds to follow and share include the diocesan Facebook page and YouTube channel and The Episcopal News's Facebook page and Twitter (@EpiscoNews_LA).

In addition to its summer sessions for children and teens, Camp Stevens will hold its annual series of Family Camps this year: Memorial Day, May 28 – 30; Harvest, Oct. 7 – 9; and Thanksgiving, Nov. 25 – 27.

"Family Camps are a great way to connect with your family and experience all Camp Stevens has to offer," says the announcement. "All you have to do is bring your family and we provide the rest. Cost covers your private room, food, and activities."

Weekend activities may include archery, climbing wall, garden tour or project, staff-led hikes, ice dye or tie-dye projects, swimming, campfire with s'mores, family-friendly trivia, culinary projects, visits with the camp's pigs and goats, family fun games, beer and wine tasting, or arts and crafts. More information about family camps, including cost, is here. For reservations, click here.

Summer camp registration is now open for children ages 8 to 15 for these sessions:

The camp recently posted on Instagram that spaces are filling up quickly.

Teens 16 and up are invited to apply for Counselor Training (June 12 - 21). The camp also offers Wilderness Trips for teens up to age 17, featuring such activities as rock climbing and sea kayaking.

For information about all summer camps, visit the website here. Cost is on a tiered system, with each family choosing which rate to pay, according to its means. Fees for Adventure Sessions range from $625 to $795. Some camperships are available.

Covid-19 mitigation measures will be observed at all camp sessions until the staff, guided by camp nurses, the American Camping Association and public health officials, deem them no longer necessary: see the website for details.

By David Paulsen

[Episcopal News Service – March 23, 2022] The Episcopal Church would form a new Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice and allocate an estimated $2 million a year for the coalition to coordinate and expand churchwide racial healing efforts, under a newly released proposal to be considered in July by the 80th General Convention.

The proposal was unveiled on March 23 in a report produced by the Presiding Officers’ Working Group on Truth-Telling, Reckoning and Healing. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, created the working group last year to sharpen the church’s focus on confronting its past complicity with racist systems and the lingering legacy of white supremacy embedded in institutions like the church. The coalition also is seen as a remedy to the church’s uneven track record of prioritizing racial reconciliation, at the churchwide level and across its more than 100 dioceses.

In its report, the working group offered 92 recommendations, most of which would be “moved forward and amplified” by the new coalition. Those include ways to cultivate truth-telling, reckoning, and healing at each level of the church. Suggestions range from “research and share the full history of historically Black churches within your diocese” to “commission artists, poets, liturgists, and musicians of color to create new hymnody, prayers, and liturgies,” a news release announcing the working group’s report.

Read more here.

By Egan Millard

[Episcopal News Service — Navasota, Texas – March 22, 2022] The House of Bishops voted unanimously to issue statements condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and political actions targeting transgender people at its March 15-21 meeting.

The House met in person for the first time since September 2019, with 133 bishops and bishops-elect present, at Camp Allen, a retreat center near Navasota, Texas, owned by the Diocese of Texas.

The Ukraine statement – written by the Rt. Rev. Mark Edington, bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, with input from other bishops – denounced the “utter depravity” of the Russian military’s assault on the former Soviet republic in moral and political terms.

“We are gathered at a moment of profound jeopardy to the principles of international law and peace,” the statement read. “As we meet and pray together as a House of Bishops, Ukraine — an independent, sovereign nation that has posed no threat to others beyond its borders — has been invaded by military forces of Russia, without provocation and without justification.”

In a referendum on Dec. 1, 1991, the statement noted, 90% of voters approved the declaration of independence from the Soviet Union that the Ukrainian parliament had issued in August of that year.

Read more here.

By ENS staff

[Episcopal News Service – March 10, 2022] The Rev. Louis Weil, a liturgical scholar and seminary professor who was a significant contributor to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, died March 9 in Oakland, California. He was 86.

Weil was born in Houston, Texas, in 1935 and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Born to a Jewish father and a non-religious mother, Weil became an Episcopalian while attending Southern Methodist University in Dallas and considered himself “a Jew and a Christian.”

Weil earned a master’s degree in musicology from Harvard University and attended seminary at General Theological Seminary, after which he spent 10 years serving small churches in the Diocese of Puerto Rico. He also taught at the since-closed Episcopal Seminary of the Caribbean in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

Read more here. Photo by Jim Friedrich

More reporting from Episcopal News Service is here.

St. Andrew's Church

1432 Engracia Avenue, Torrance 90501

Each Friday during Lent we will celebrate the Stations of the Cross when we say a meditation and prayer at each of the 14 stations around our sanctuary, remembering Jesus' journey from Pilate to his crucifixion and burial. St. Andrew's will alternate weekly with Christ Church, 6122 Pacific Coast Hwy., Redondo Beach, for this service.

St. Matthew's Episcopal Church

1031 Bienveneda Avenue, Pacific Palisades

Tickets: MusicGuildOnline.org or 310.573.7422

Lauded by reviewers as an unmistakably creative force in the classical music industry, Malan’s critical acclaim culminated in the nomination of three Grammy® Awards, including “Best Instrumental Solo Album” for her debut disc Transfigured Bach. This program will feature music of Mozart, Liszt, Florence Price and Scarlatti. Masks are required for all audience members. All audience members must show proof of having been fully vaccinated. Proof of vaccine booster is not required at this time.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church

525 E. Seventh Street, Long Beach (corner of Seventh & Atlantic)

Information: [email protected]

Sung by the St. Luke's Choir and friends, under the direction of David Tinoco. Officiants: The Rev. Sharon Sheffield and the Rev. Jane Gould. A reception will follow the service.

St Mary's Parish, Palms

3647 Watseka Avenue, Los Angeles

Schola Marialis under the direction of Sean Smith will sing the Responses by Philip Radcliffe (1905-1986), plainsong psalms and hymns, the hauntingly beautiful First Fauxbourdon Service by Philip Moore (b. 1943), and the soaring "Ego sum panis vivus" by Palestrina (c. 1525-1594). The church is well ventilated, and no reservations are required.

St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church

13091 Galway Street, Garden Grove 92844

There is no charge for the concert. For information, visit www.yaola.org or www.saintanselmgg.org. A poster is here.

Christ Episcopal Church

1127 N. San Antonio Avenue, Ontario

Information: Mary Wise, [email protected]

St. John's Cathedral

514 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles 90007

In person and online: register here

An in-person interview and book signing with Anne Benvenuti, Ph.D., celebrates her new book, Kindred Spirits: One Animal Family. Benvenuti describes what she calls a global shift of consciousness in how humans relate to other animals. Following the program at the in-person event, Benvenuti will sign copies of Kindred Spirits: One Animal Family. To purchase the book in advance, click here. The Guibord Center, an interfaith organization founded by the late Rev. Gwynne Guibord, an Episcopal priest, works to increase understanding among Los Angeles' diverse faith communities. All of their programs are free; donations are gratefully accepted. Learn more here.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church

1648 W. Ninth Street, San Pedro

Tickets here

Sponsored by St. Peter's Church, San Pedro Brew Co., and the San Pedro Faith Consortium. Donations will to go the Ukraine Crisis Response Fund of Episcopal Relief & Development.

St. James' in-the-City Episcopal Church

3903 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90010

Information here

Tickets here

The Capitol Ensemble will perform a program of music by Johann Sebastian Bach. Ticket required to attend.

All Saints Episcopal Church

3847 Terracina Drive, Riverside 92506

Evening Prayer for peace in Ukraine and the whole world, with prayer, song and candlelight.

St. James' in-the-City Episcopal Church

3903 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90010

Information here

Tickets here

Choir of Saint James offers the uniquely Anglican service of Evensong in the style of the great English Cathedrals on the second Sunday of the month at 4:30 p.m. Freewill offering. Ticket required to attend.

St. James' in-the-City Episcopal Church

3903 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90010

Information here

Tickets here

Tom Mueller is an associate professor of church music, university organist, and music department chair at Concordia University in Irvine, California, where he directs academic programs in keyboard, composition, jazz, and church music. An award-winning church musician, he is associate organist at St. James’ Church, where he accompanies the acclaimed Choir of St. James’ under the direction of James Buonemani. He is an active recitalist, clinician, and adjudicator. Read more about this artist here. Ticket required to attend.

All Saints’ Church

504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210

Information: 310.275.01, ext.112 or www.allsaintsbh.org

Choral Eucharist with All Saints’ Choir performing Missa Brevis by G. P. Palestrina; "Peace is my last gift" by Craig Phillips; Ubi caritas, Tantum ergo by Maurice Duruflé,

All Saints’ Church

504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210

Information: 310.275.01, ext.112 or www.allsaintsbh.org

All Saints’ Choir will sing Passion According to St. John by Craig Phillips and Reproaches by Tomás Luis de Victoria.

All Saints’ Church

504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210

Information: 310.275.01, ext.112 or www.allsaintsbh.org

All Saints’ Choir and All Saints’ Brass Quintet perform "Sing ye to the Lord" by Edward Bairstow and "Magdalen, cease from sobs and sighs" by Peter Hurford.

St. James' in-the-City Episcopal Church

3903 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90010

Information here

Tickets here

Pianist Petronel Malan will perform music to be announced. Ticket required to attend.

Additional events are listed on the diocesan calendar here.

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 are required. All donors and staff will be screened before entering the facilities.

St. John's Episcopal Church, Cardinal Gym

30382 Via Con Dios, Rancho Santa Margarita 92688

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

Sponsor code: St. John (note no "s")

Additional dates at this location are Sundays, June 26 and Oct. 23.

St. John's Episcopal Church

Vicenti Hall

4745 Wheeler Avenue, La Verne 91750

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

Sponsor code: STJOHNS

Additional dates at this location are: Sunday, May 29; and Sunday, July 24.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Parish Hall)

330 E 16th Street, Upland 91784

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

Sponsor code: stmarks

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.

Listings may be sent to [email protected]. There is no charge.

COVINA: Organist/Choirmaster, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Part time (6-12 hours per week). Holy Trinity Church in Covina seeks an organist/director of Music responsible for providing music in the Episcopal/Anglican tradition (music ancient, classical, contemporary, and multicultural). Send resume to the parish administrator via email at [email protected]. For a full job description, click here.

FILLMORE/VENTURA: Community Engagement and Development Coordinator, The Abundant Table, a non-profit, organic certified farm and BIPOC- and women-led worker collective in Ventura County, California that seeks to transform our food system towards justice, liberation, and increased health for all people, while caring for the land and all who tend the land. Community Engagement and Development Coordinator will be responsible to oversee and coordinate the TAT community engagement and development processes, including management; fundraising; community engagement, coordination and development. 30 hours/week; salary and benefits $32,864.Full job description here.

LOS ANGELES (ECHO PARK): Credit Union CEO/Manager, Episcopal Community Federal Credit Union. To provide strategic, vision, leadership, and management in all functional areas. Plan, direct and control credit union activities in accordance with credit union plans, policies, directives and activities as established by the Board of Directors. Responsible for ensuring financial stability and member satisfaction commensurate with the best interest of members, staff and credit union. A full job description is here. For more information and to apply, click here.

LOS ANGELES: Coordinator for Capacity Building, Outreach and Volunteers, Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service. IRIS is a program of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the Southern California based affiliate office of Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM). IRIS offers refugee resettlement assistance, intensive case management and immigration legal services to the low-income refugee and immigrant community of the greater Los Angeles region. The Coordinator for Capacity Building, Outreach and Volunteers will work across IRIS’ departments to build comprehensive community capacity and engagement to support IRIS’ efforts to support refugee and immigrant integration throughout the greater Los Angeles region. This position is responsible for: recruiting, training and supervising volunteers and co-sponsors; tracking and maintaining data; working with IRIS staff, donors and partners to coordinate donations of household goods; coordinating IRIS community engagement efforts including education and outreach to program partners, faith groups, educational institutions, and other community partners; and develop and distribute materials to engage local stakeholders around resettlement service activities that positively impact refugee and immigrant communities in the region. Full job description here.

LOS ANGELES: Preferred Communities Afghan Intensive Refugee Case Manager, IRIS (Interfaith Refugee & Immigration Service). Responsible for coordinating medical and/or mental health services and provide case management to individuals with refugee and asylum status who have significant physical and/or mental health conditions. The PC Afghan Intensive Case Manager will be part of a specialized team within IRIS that focuses on intensive case manager for the agency’s most vulnerable clients. The position will work to promote self-sufficiency and goal attainment for clients, through connections to ongoing programming and mainstream supports, in compliance with IRIS programs and contract guidelines. This position reports to the Refugee Program Supervisor and IRIS executive director. Full job description and application instructions here.

LOS ANGELES: Executive Director, Commission on Schools. The Diocese of Los Angeles and the Commission on Schools are seeking a lay or ordained person with school, preschool, and/or parish leadership experience to be a part of the diocesan staff beginning Summer 2022. Being an Episcopalian is not required but is preferable, and a non-Episcopalian must be willing to fully understand, articulate, and support the ministries of Episcopal schools and preschools. The position is 1000 hours per year, benefits eligible, with the work schedule to be determined by the needs of the position with respect to the school year and diocesan considerations. Please send a cover letter, resume, and a reference list to Canon Anilin Collado via email at [email protected] or by postal mail at 840 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90026 no later than March 31. A job description is here.

LOS ANGELES: Seminary Dean and President, Bloy House. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is recruiting an individual to serve as dean and president of Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School of Los Angeles. Over its 50-year history, Bloy House has trained generations of lay leaders, priests, and deacons, moving flexibly with the needs of the diocese and the changing realities of academic seminaries. Our vision is that Bloy House will now put greater emphasis on lay formation and will provide an integrating hub for the many excellent existing, but disparate, formation programs in the diocese, as well as visioning new initiatives and expanded constituencies. A full job description is here.

LOS ANGELES: Preschool Director, St. James' Episcopal School. The preschool director oversees the Grammercy Place Preschool and is the supervisor for the St. Andrew’s Place preschool site director. The preschool director is responsible for curriculum, evaluation, professional development and parent and family engagement and communications for both preschool campuses. Website is here. Full job description here.

PACIFIC PALISADES: General Maintenance Worker, St. Matthew's Church and School. St. Matthew's is a vibrant community that includes both a Church and a School situated in beautiful Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. The Director of Facilities and Operations seeks a full time maintenance staff member with maintenance experience. This is a "hands-on" position and the ideal candidate will have repair maintenance and event setup experience, great people skills and a history of providing the highest level of customer service. A full job description is here. Please email resume to [email protected].

PASADENA: Associate for Giving & Stewardship, All Saints Church. The purpose of this position is to provide excellent stewardship of All Saints’ donors and to ensure accurate and timely processing of all income. This position reports to the Director of Giving & Stewardship. Full time (hybrid in-person and online). Full job description here.

PASADENA: Administrative Assistant for Pastoral Care, Health & Healing and Giving Office, All Saints Church. Full time with benefits. Performs routine administrative functions for Pastoral Care, such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files; write reports of prayer requests and pastoral care needs; handle phone and email, provide information, coordinate meetings and more. A complete job description is here.

THOUSAND OAKS: Assistant Principal, St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School. Duties include helping with admissions, development, parent relations, student supervision, and program development. Candidate must have a college degree, a teaching credential, and a minimum of five years working in a school. Administrative experience is desirable. If interested, please send resume to [email protected].

OAKLAND: Director of Children and Youth Ministries, St. John’s Episcopal Church. The founding congregation of Confirm not Conform, St. John's prides itself on being welcoming, innovative and action focused. Its vision is to manifest God’s love through invitation, inclusion, faith and action and it is seeking ways to extend its relevance to the unchurched now and in the future. St. John's is seeking a Director of Children and Youth Ministries to lead its efforts in actively revolutionizing ministry for and with young people within the church and the larger community. St. John’s seeks a person who is passionate about social and environmental justice and equity, and who is excited to empower children, youth, and families to take action locally and beyond. The DCYM oversees the creation and delivery of a holistic formation program from birth through high school graduation and beyond, including intentional spiritual nourishment of the caring adults who walk alongside children and youth during these times. Full job description is here. Interested and qualified candidates should submit a resume and cover letter to Martha Whitesides, [email protected].

Additional job listings are here. Listings are free: send information to [email protected].

The Episcopal News Update is published on Wednesday afternoons. News items, job listings, calendar items, questions and comments may be sent to [email protected]. Weekly deadline is Tuesday at 12 p.m. Photos are welcome: please include them as attachments (rather than embedded in a document). To subscribe, click here.

— Janet Kawamoto, editor