The
Episcopal News Update
A weekly newsletter serving the Diocese of Los Angeles
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Publication note:
The Resource Roundup and Episcopal News Update will not be published during the week of August 17 - 23, but will resume weekly publication the week of Aug. 24. Please send items for publication to [email protected]. |
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New Community to examine systems of oppression in webinar series beginning Aug. 22
"Trauma and (Un)Truths: Promises Broken in God's Name" is the title of a new series of webinars to be presented by New Community, the Diocese of Los Angeles' multicultural ministry, hosted by Bishop Suffragan Diane M. Jardine Bruce. The series will begin on Saturday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., with an introduction and overview of these series topics:
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Doctrine of Discovery, presented by the Rev. Canon Mary Crist and the Rev. Fennie Chang. The Doctrine of Discovery, established by European governments and ratified by early United States policy, held that the claims of European Christians took precedence over those of Indigenous peoples throughout the world, launching five centuries of human rights violations. The Episcopal Church repudiated the doctrine in 2009, yet it lives on through the church's laws, systemic racism, and historical trauma. New Community is working to discover the untold truths in order to work together for change and to build Christ's beloved community.
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Racial Identity, presented by Canon Suzanne Edwards-Acton, the Rev. John Limo and Gayle Kawahara. Although race has no scientific basis in biological or genetic reality, it is nevertheless a very real social construct intentionally designed to separate people into perpetual power hierarchies of superiority and inferiority. Whether or not individuals are aware of it, want it, or feel they have it, racial identity — especially in the deeply racialized history and culture of the United States, greatly affects all human experience. Racial identity is both externally imposed and internally constructed, and is crucial to understanding how people's identities and experiences have been shaped by race.
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Racial Capitalism, presented by the Rev. Peter Kang, the Rev. Peter Huang, the Rev. Yein Kim and the Rev. Nick Griffith. Racial capitalism is a development of economic, political and social systems of oppression, formed by exploiting division between racial and cultural groups. These systems, sustained through power dynamics, are less likely to be seen as overt forms of racism and are instead demonstrated as hegemonic undercurrents. They exist in most systems of economy, including the church.
Additional webinars exploring each of these topics in depth will be offered on dates to be announced. Spanish-language interpretation will be provided for all four webinars, which will be conducted via Zoom. Advance registration is required: click here. For additional information, contact Bishop Bruce at [email protected]. |
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Episcopalians, Anglicans organize relief efforts after catastrophic explosion in Beirut
By Egan Millard
[Episcopal News Service] In the aftermath of the devastating explosion that caused widespread damage across Beirut, Lebanon, on Aug. 4, Episcopalians are reaching out to their Anglican counterparts in the region to assess their needs and offer assistance. The explosion, which killed at least 135 people, injured more than 3,000 and left 300,000 homeless, leveled much of the city’s port when a fire ignited a massive amount of explosives that had been warehoused there for six years.
Read more here. To donate to the emergency relief fund, managed in the U.S. by American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, click here.
From Bishop John Harvey Taylor:
“My fellow Los Angeles Holy Land pilgrims know of the familial ties among Episcopalians and Anglicans in the Diocese of Jerusalem. Beirut is less than 150 miles from St. George’s Cathedral. Please join Kathy and me in supporting Archbishop Suheil’s Beirut Emergency Fund, which will help All Saints Church, its affiliated seminary, and its neighbors recover from this devastating tragedy.”
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Diocese-wide service with Bishop Taylor coming Sept. 20
Bishop John Harvey Taylor and Canon Kathy O’Connor will offer a diocese-wide virtual worship service on Sunday, Sept. 20, with the express purpose of giving parochial clergy a break from planning virtual services for their congregations, and to give the bishop an opportunity to speak to the entire diocese. The service, to be conducted in English and Spanish, will be live-streamed from St. Paul’s Commons with the support of Provost Frank Alton and the altar guild of St. Athanasius’ Church.
Bishop Taylor notes that the issues that caused the diocesan website to crash during the last all-diocese service have been addressed. Log-in and service bulletin information will be announced in a future issue of the Update; for now, please save the date.
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‘Your liberation is our liberation’: Pacific Islanders, Asian Americans show solidarity with Black Lives Matter
By Pat McCaughan
[Episcopal News Service - August 4] With passing cars honking approval, the Rev. Peter Huang and hundreds of Asian and African Americans gathered Aug. 1 in South Los Angeles’ historic Leimert Park neighborhood raising fists; praying on bended knee; singing; chanting in solidarity, “Your liberation is our liberation”; affirming that Black lives matter.
The Gathering: A Space for Asian American Spirituality participated as a co-sponsor and helped to plan the socially distanced and livestreamed “Vigil for Solidarity and Love.” The group’s involvement signaled a shift for this Diocese of Los Angeles ministry, created in 2019 to affirm and explore Pacific Islander and Asian American identity within The Episcopal Church. The nation’s current conversation about race has led the ministry to further define that mission through the question: How do we fit into this work, this dialogue?
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‘They can’t silence us.’ Instagram accounts recount racism at L.A.’s elite private schools
[Los Angeles Times] Black at Harvard-Westlake. Dear Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. Black at Oakwood School. Oaks Christian Stories. Dear Polytechnic School. These are among the Instagram accounts linked to some of L.A.'s most elite private schools — but created by students and alumni who are going public with personal stories of racism that have otherwise gone unheard. In an outpouring born of the national Black Lives Matter movement, these private school letter-writers talk of their encounters with bias, exclusion and microaggressions at schools where annual tuition can run as high as $40,000, and class sizes can be as low as 15 students.
Read more here. Episcopal-affiliated Campbell Hall and Harvard-Westlake are among the schools mentioned in this article.
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Abundant Table shifts fundraising focus to relief for farmworkers
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, "Feast in the Field," The Abundant Table’s annual August fundraising dinner, has been transformed into an appeal for Solidarity Shares for area farmworkers. Each donation of $90 — the price of last year's dinner ticket — buys six discounted weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes of fresh, organic, pesticide-free fruits and vegetables for farmworkers who cannot otherwise afford the produce they pick and pack.
Originally founded by the Episcopal/Lutheran campus ministry at California State University Channel Islands in 2006, The Abundant Table "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," according to its website.
According to The Abundant Table, "Farmworkers and their families will also be invited to participate in farm visits and educational programs to learn more about organic farming and healing relationships with the land. In this environment, children of farmworkers alienated by the damaging industrial exploitation of agriculture can begin to heal and restore relationships with the land, and a new community of care that values people and the land will grow and help to renew the bonds that make us all whole."
To contribute to the Solidarity Shares, click here. Donations may also be made by check: send to The Abundant Table, P.O. Box 6295, Ventura, CA 93006. |
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'My Work to Do' offers online space for white people working to overcome racism
"My Work to Do," an online affinity group designed to help white men and women build stamina for discussing racism, systemic injustice, racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in their everyday lives, is planning new sessions and invites members of the Diocese of Los Angeles to participate. "We invite those feeling lost or overwhelmed into the conversation," says Canon Suzanne Edwards-Acton, project founder, "especially white people who might not have a local anti-racism program or accessible discussion happening in their lives." The initial program is a five-week session, with one 1.5-hour online meeting per week at which participants will discuss such topics as housing discrimination, implicit bias, whiteness as a function, and systems of white supremacy — and where to go from here. To learn more and to register for upcoming sessions, visit the website here. For more resources see “Countering Racism, Building Community” here. |
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Late-summer blood drives continue in congregations
Each of the churches offering a blood drive in coming weeks (listed below) requests that donors make appointments by visiting RedCrossBlood.org. Type the sponsor code (specified below) in the donor box. Donors may save up to 15 minutes by completing pre-donation reading and answering health history questions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass, rather than filling out forms on the day of donation. Donations are by appointment only; no walk-ups will be permitted.
Additional helpful resources:
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
All Saints Church
132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena
Sponsor code: ASEC
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
St. Paul's Church
242 E. Alvarado Street, Pomona 91767
Sponsor code: SPECP
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WEDNESDAYS through September 9, 6:30 - 8 p.m.
Sacred Journey Series: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Church of Our Saviour, San Gabriel
Book discussion via Zoom led by the Rev. Jeff Thornberg, the Rev. Dennis Gibbs, the Rev. Greta Ronningen and Sharon Crandall. "White Fragility is a vital, necessary and beautiful book, a bracing call to white folk everywhere to see their whiteness for what it is and to seize the opportunity to make things better now. -- Michael Eric Dyson, author of Tears We Cannot Stop.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 10 a.m.
Webinar: Creating Virtual Community for Stewardship
TENS (The Episcopal Network for Stewardship)
Online: Click here for reservations Learn more about how to create meaningful small groups and pastoral teams virtually. The Diocese of Los Angeles login is (username) 1PETER; (password) FOUR:10
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Summer in Romans with St. Paul: Vacation Bible School for Adults
St. John’s Cathedral, Los Angeles
Sessions are held online via Facebook. Katherine Grieb, author of The Story of Romans, with a presentation reflecting on why Romans is one of the most important letters ever written for the church in the 21st century. This is the last of a series of presentations that opened July 12 with an introductory session led by cathedral co-Dean Mark Kowalewski, followed with classes led by authors Brian Walsh on “Romans, Empire, and Home” and Sylvia Keesmaat on “Economics and Creation.” All sessions are archived on the cathedral’s Facebook page for on-demand viewing.
MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 24, 5 p.m.
The Gathering Summer Book Club
Online: Register here in advance An opportunity to read, reflect, and discuss some of the most significant Asian (American) literature, offered by The Gathering: A Space for Asian Pacific American Spirituality. The book for the Aug. 24 meeting is The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui. Financial assistance is available for the purchase of books. An event page is available on Facebook here. For additional information, contact the Rev. Yein Kim at [email protected].
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 10 a.m.
Webinar: How to use the TENS 2020 Materials for Your Stewardship Campaign
TENS (The Episcopal Network for Stewardship)
Online: Click here for reservations Walk through this year's TENS resources to maximize their usefulness. The Diocese of Los Angeles login is (username) 1PETER; (password) FOUR:10
Online Sunday and weekday worship services in the Diocese of Los Angeles are listed here. To add a congregation's services, send information to [email protected].
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Central Europe: Oberammergau Passion Play
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. (Please note the date change. The Passion Play has been postponed for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.)
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EMPLOYMENT
Current job listings in the Diocese of Los Angeles are here. Listings are free: send information to [email protected]. Applications for jobs must be sent to the contact included in the listing. |
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