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Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service (IRIS), an agency of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, is already feeling the positive effects of President Joe Biden’s sweeping immigration reforms, “with an increase in calls from the community to come in and file initial DACA applications,” according to executive director Meghan Taylor.

Reinstatement of the DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or “Dreamers” program – could potentially mean legal status for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors by their parents. “These are homeowners, business owners, parents of U.S. citizens, people who have been here for decades, living in the shadows,” Taylor said.

Biden’s initiatives also reverse the anti-Muslim travel ban, paving the way for “IRIS families who have not been able to be reunited with loved ones from Muslim countries for the past four years and (who) were ineligible to apply for visas” to finally join their families in the U.S.

“There is one case we are super excited about,” Taylor added. “Hopefully, sooner rather than later we’ll be greeting him at the airport with his parents, who haven’t seen him in four years.”

With Biden’s plan to raise the annual ceiling for U.S. refugee admissions to 125,000, IRIS and others “are excited and rebuilding,” Taylor said. “It’s been a long, painful four years and we’re looking forward to getting back to work reuniting families here in Los Angeles.”

Read more here.

by Pat McCaughan

“Truth and Love” is the theme leading up to and including the November annual meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, Bishop John Harvey Taylor announced at the Feb. 11 regular gathering of Diocesan Council.

“Our theme is drawn from Paul’s letter to the church (Ephesians 4:14). Believe it or not, Paul was writing not about the 21st century, but about the first,” Taylor said, referring to the apostle’s admonition to speak the truth in love. Taylor invited council members as “leaders in the church to encounter people wherever they are,” especially given current conflicting political, public health and theological narratives.

MSF missionaries ‘find a way forward’

The diocesan Mission Share Fund (MSF), to which all churches contribute, ended 2020 at $3.9 million of cash receipts from parishes and mission congregations compared to the initial $4.6 million budget.

“This significant shortfall was expected as many churches struggled to adapt to online giving and will hopefully be the nadir in our collective stewardship. For 2021, we conservatively budgeted for $4 million in MSF income and will hopefully exceed this level as churches return to normal in-person worship,” Canon Andy Tomat, diocesan treasurer, reported to council.

In addition, council members volunteering as MSF missionaries continue to engage parishes that are significantly past due in meeting their 2020 pledges, offering support, advice and counseling.

“We approach the congregations very cautiously because we are oftentimes aware of pastoral issues that are related to their inability to fulfill their commitments,” said Dan Valdez, chair of the Episcopal Federal Community Credit Union board of directors and an MSF missionary.

“But we are being aggressive about establishing the contact, making sure that each of these congregations knows that we want to work with them, we want to help them find a way forward and to help them meet their obligations.”

Read more here.

The most interesting Ash Wednesday Bob Williams ever spent began in the Havana government offices of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Williams, Canon for Common Life and head of the Diocese of Los Angeles communications office, is celebrating 35 years as a church journalist and public relations officer – a ministry of reporting news stories from as far away as Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, across the Caribbean and the Americas to as near as the Southland.

“We are keepers of one another’s stories, to tell them and to be able to pass them along,” says Williams. In his role as historiographer and archivist, he hopes to complete “Horizons and Heritage,” a historical look back at the diocese, by 2024. He frequently recalls Southland saints during the diocesan staff’s online weekday morning prayer; on a recent morning, he offered prayers of thanksgiving on the 30th anniversary of the consecration of retired Bishop Suffragan Chet Talton.

Williams’ vocation “is an amazingly rich tapestry of gifts – writer, editor, and historian; ecumenical and interfaith leader; exemplar, and evangelist of the best of the true Anglican Episcopal tradition,” said Los Angeles Bishop Diocesan John Harvey Taylor. “I rely on his counsel, friendship, and kindness each day. He brings such energy to his ministry that, although he’s been on the job in Los Angeles and New York for 35 years, it feels like he’s just getting started.”

Read more here.

Presenter: Davey Gerhard, Executive Director of the Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS). Register here.

Learn valuable tools and best practices and procedures to help you serve as treasurer for your congregation. Register here. Presenter: The Rev. Michele Racusin, CFO of the Diocese of California, former CFO of the Diocese of Los Angeles

Zoom. Register here

Learn valuable tools and best practices and procedures to help you serve as treasurer for your congregation. Presenter: The Rev. Michele Racusin.

Additional information about the workshop series is here. All workshops are livestreamed and recorded, and will be made available for on-demand viewing here.

Hillsides, the residential and community program in Pasadena for at-risk children and families, will hold its annual gala and auction, "Raising Hope" online on Saturday, Feb. 27.

There is no charge this year for the program, which will be held online. The virtual reception will begin at 5:30 p.m.; the program at 6 p.m. Fritz Coleman, longtime local NBC weatherman, will again serve as master of ceremonies. Donations, as well as auction bids, are encouraged and welcome.

Online auction items will be available for viewing on Feb. 17. Silent, live and paddle auction bidding will open on Feb. 24.

For more information, to register, view auction items and donate, click here.

Hillsides was founded in 1913 by Episcopal Deaconess Evelyn Wile as an orphanage. It now offers a wide range of programs to assist at-risk families and children and youth in foster care. It is an institution of the Diocese of Los Angeles. More about Hillsides is here.

Men in the diocesan community are invited to "Exploring Male Friendship in the Maori and Oglala Lakota Traditions," an online workshop on Saturday, Feb. 27, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., offered by the Orange County-based Center for Spiritual Development.

The Rev. Canon Robert Two Bulls of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota and the Most Rev. Don Tamihere of the Anglican Diocese of New Zealand will lead discussions of how their Oglala Lakota and Maori (respectively) traditions view friendships between men. Participants will hear insights that will be helpful in deepening their own friendships and starting new ones.

The workshop is the first of five in a series titled "On the Road: A Spirituality Series for Men - Friendship Series" to be presented in 2021. It is sponsored by the Rt. Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce and Stephen Bruce, who is a member of the Center for Spiritual Development's program development team. The center is a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, a Roman Catholic order based in the City of Orange.

According to Bruce, attendees of the workshops will:

Future dates and topics include:

Saturday, April 24, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Presenters: Daniel Smith-Christopher, Ph.D., and Jordan Christopher, Ph.D. candidate

Via Zoom. Fee: $40

Saturday, May 22, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Presenter: David Robinson, S.J., Ph.D.

Via Zoom. Fee: $40

Saturday, October 2, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Presenters: Jim Clarke, Ph.D., and Joe Lonergan, M.Div.

In-person at CSD. Fee: $60

Saturday, October 30, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Presenters: Jim Clarke, Ph.D., and Joe Lonergan, M.Div.

In-person at CSD. Fee: $60

Fee for the Feb. 27 workshop is $40 per person. For additional information and to register, click here, call 714.744.3172, or email [email protected].

The Center for Spirituality at Christ Church, Ontario, will present "Beyond Materialism: A Critical Time for Disciples" on Wednesdays in Lent, beginning Feb. 24 and concluding on March 24, 6:30 p.m., via Zoom. "What is a Christian response to the present plight? As people of faith, we can look at this pandemic as a launch pad rather than just a depressing and unproductive time in our life," says the Rev. Gianluigi Gugliermetto, center director.

Gugliermetto will lead the discussions, based on Walter Brueggemann’s Materiality As Resistance: Five Elements for Moral Action in the Real World (Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2020) "to re-think the ways in which we habitually make use of our money, our food, our bodies, our time, and our places as Christians." For information on how to join the Zoom sessions, click here.

Gugliermetto is an Episcopal priest, rector of Christ Church, Ontario, and director of the Center for Spirituality. He has published in the fields of inter-faith dialogue, the history and theology of Anglicanism, and theology and sexuality (theology of desire). He also enjoyed a brief flirt with film studies.

"Healing Our World: Addressing Cancel and Call-Out Culture" is the topic of an online interfaith conversation to be sponsored by the Guibord Center on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 4 - 6 p.m.

The program will address a vexing problem, especially on the internet: "What exactly is 'cancel and call-out culture'? How do I respond when someone cancels me or calls me out? Where’s the line when raising important issues turns into blaming and shaming? And how can our faith traditions help us discern when we cross that line?"

Presenters will be Marium F. Mohiuddin (Muslim), regional communications director of the American Red Cross, Los Angeles Region; Zachary S. Ritter (Jewish), associate dean of students at California State University, Dominguez Hills, who also teaches social justice history there and at UCLA; and the Rev. Michael Reid Trice (Christian), founder of Religica Theolab and director of the Center for Religious Wisdom and World Affairs, School of Theology and Ministry, Seattle University .

The program will include small group breakout sessions. For more information and a registration link, click here. (Advance registration is required.)

The Guibord Center works to increase understanding among Los Angeles' diverse religious communities. It was founded by the late Gwynne Guibord, a priest of the Diocese of Los Angeles.

My Work To Do has announced that it will hold new sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning Feb. 23 and 24, respectively.

Founded in 2018, My Work To Do is an online affinity group designed to help white people build stamina for discussing racism, systemic injustice, racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in their everyday lives. "Black, Indigenous and People of Color allies are welcome with an understanding this is a white-centered, and therefore not always safe, space," according to the program's website.

"We invite those feeling lost or overwhelmed into the conversation, especially white people who might not have a local anti-racism program or accessible discussion happening in their life," the invitation continues.

Each session is a listening and learning circle that meets via Zoom for 90 minutes. Themes include housing discrimination, implicit bias, whiteness as a function, and systems of white supremacy, and "where we go from here." It is "space to learn, share, heal, and grow."

Upcoming "Getting Started" sessions for new ​participants are:

​A "Going Deeper" series for those who have already participated in a Getting Started session will be held on Thursdays, Feb. 25 and March 4, 11, 18 and 25 at 5 p.m. Register here.

My Work To Do is supported by donations; there is no direct cost for the sessions, but participants are asked to pay what they can. So far, some 800 people have undergone the program; 80 percent of them report "increased stamina for discussing race" after participating.

Episcopal Communities and Services has announced new training sessions for By Your Side Vigil Companions, a program that trains volunteers to be a compassionate presence for those nearing the end of life.

"This year has brought all of us to an acute awareness of life’s fragility, and of the immense value of being companioned," says the course announcement. "The mission of By Your Side, which has always been to be supportive of people in palliative care and to be at the bedside at the end of their lives as needed, has had to adapt to the realities of COVID. We‘ve needed to ask: 'How can we practice presence without proximity?' We have also grappled with the need many of us feel to talk about what we are living through, perhaps to grieve. Together we are exploring being together, in the hospitals, in our communities, over technology or the phone, in whatever ways we can."

Each of the three training programs will be conducted in 2-hour sessions over five weeks via ZOOM. Session dates and times are:

There is no obligation to volunteer at the completion of the training. A fee of $70 ( which includes all materials) is due by the second class. Scholarships are available. CE credit (12 hours) for nurses is available for an additional $30.

For more information or to register, contact Susan Brown, By Your Side administrator, at [email protected] or 818.822.6044. Enrollment is limited to 30 people.

Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce and The Gathering invite the diocesan community to a panel conversation and discussion on “Who Shall We Be? Theological reflections on being Asian Pacific American Christians in today's world” on Sunday, Feb. 28, 4 - 6 p.m.

This virtual event, held on Zoom, will focus on how Christians make meaning and respond to the events of the world. The conversation will feature Heidi Kim, director of the Melrose Family Center for Servant Leadership at the Breck School and formerly The Episcopal Church's staff officer for racial reconciliation; Winnie Varghese, priest for Ministry & Program Coordination at Trinity Church, Wall Street; and Gale Yee, Nancy W. King professor of Biblical Studies emerita at Episcopal Divinity School. Yein Kim, rector of St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Westwood, will moderate the conversation. More information about the presenters is here.

The program is hosted by The Gathering - a Space for Asian Pacific American Spirituality, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles to Asian Pacific Americans. There is no charge, and all are invited to attend virtually. Advance registration is required: click here.

For additional information, email [email protected] or visit the Gathering website here.

The first will be The Great Vigil of Easter on Saturday, April 3 at 8 p.m., coordinated by the Rev. Canon Susan Russell with participation by Taylor, Bishop Suffragan Diane M. Jardine Bruce and Canon to the Ordinary Melissa McCarthy and people from all over the diocese.

The second service, on the second Sunday of Easter, April 11, will be a simple celebration of Holy Eucharist conducted by Taylor and Canon Kathy O'Connor.

Both services will be livestreamed and available for viewing on demand on the diocese's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Lenten study program to focus on Presiding Bishop Curry's Love Is the Way

Designed for online book groups, the curriculum includes bilingual English/Spanish study guides with video presentations from the Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy, the Rev. Antonio Gallardo, the Very Rev. Canon Gary Hall, Missioner for Youth Ministries Gabriel Vasquez-Reyes and Bishop John H. Taylor. The resources now are available on the One in the Spirit webpage.

For more information contact the Rev. Canon Susan Russell at [email protected].

The Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Los Angeles encourage all to take part the Church Periodical Club's triennial Quilt Fundraiser by bidding on one of two handmade quilts; the "Aloha" (pictured at top) and the "Star." Bids are accepted here until Feb. 28.

The Church Periodical Club is an independent, affiliated organization of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, dedicated to the worldwide ministry of the printed word and to the promotion of Christian mission, according to its website. It is the only organization in the Episcopal Church dedicated solely to providing free literature and related materials, both religious and secular, to people all over the world who need and request them and who have no other source for obtaining them. Prayer Books, books for seminarians, educational materials, medical textbooks, agricultural manuals and books for those in local and global mission are some of the publications The Church Periodical Club supplies.

[Los Angeles Magazine - February 16, 2021] The pandemic has renewed our affection for drive-thru meals and movies. Now, for this year’s Ash Wednesday, one local church is offering a drive-thru “ash and dash” service, where you can receive blessings and even ashes (though no physical touching of the forehead is involved) without leaving the safety of your car.

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Upland has staged drive-thru Ash Wednesday services before, offering blessings through the window for busy commuters in the morning hours and for those with mobility issues that made traditional indoor services difficult. This year, they realized they could adapt the idea to offer a COVID-safe Ash Wednesday.

Read more here. Photo: A pre-pandemic 'ash and dash' at the church. Photo courtesy of St. Mark's Church, Upland

Blood supplies are critically low in California, and congregations in the Diocese of Los Angeles have stepped up to help replenish them by hosting blood drives. Currently scheduled events are listed below.

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.

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

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

100 N. Third Avenue, Covina 91723

Information: 626.967.3939

Red Cross reservations here or call 1.800.RED.CROSS (1.800.733.2767)

Sponsor code: HTEC

Holy Trinity will offer a blood drive each month. Upcoming dates are: Thursday, March 18; Thursday, April 15; Thursday, May 6. Reservations through the Red Cross are required.

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church

12692 Fifth Street, Yucaipa 92399

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

Sponsor code: ST ALBANS

Upcoming dates are: March 23, April 20.

St. James Episcopal Church (The Great Hall)

3209 Via Lido, Newport Beach 92663

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

Sponsor code: stjamesnewport

Reservations may also be made at the church website here or by calling the church office at 949.675.0210. St. James' Church has also scheduled a blood drive on Wednesday, May 26.

All Saints 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]

Donations will be by appointment only, scheduled through RedCrossBlood.org. Upcoming dates at this location are April 20, June 22 and Aug. 17.

Will your church host blood drives in 2021? Send the information to The Episcopal News ([email protected]) for inclusion in the calendar.

By Tracy Sukraw

[Diocese of Massachusetts - February 17, 2021] As the one-year anniversary of the death of Bishop Barbara C. Harris on March 13 approaches, Bishop Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris are inviting people and congregations in the Diocese of Massachusetts – and across The Episcopal Church – to include remembrances of her in their prayers and liturgies.

In a letter of invitation issued to congregations in the diocese on Feb. 11 – the 32nd anniversary of the historic consecration of Barbara Harris as the Anglican Communion’s first female bishop – Gates and Harris remembered her as “a courageous pioneer, an outspoken prophet and an indefatigable champion of God’s justice and witness to God’s grace.”

They added that in the Diocese of Massachusetts, where she served as bishop suffragan for 13 years and remained an active part of diocesan life in her retirement years, “she was for us also a wise counselor and faithful companion. For three decades our diocesan gatherings were enlivened by her keen wit, consummate storytelling and impromptu musical accompaniment.”

Read more here. Photo: Retired Bishop Suffragan Barbara Harris leads the Diocese of Massachusetts in singing hymns during its 2014 electing convention. Photo: Matthew Cavanaugh/Diocese of Massachusetts

Lent Madness, the lighthearted annual competition pitting saints of the church against each other for the Golden Halo, will begin this year on Thursday, Feb. 18, the day after Ash Wednesday.

Lent Madness, also known as the "saintly smackdown," was founded in 2010 by the Rev. Tim Schenck, rector of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Hingham, Massachusetts. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the Church’s Calendar of Saints, Schenck came up with this unique Lenten devotion combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints.

The format is straightforward: Thirty-two saints are placed into a tournament-like single elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for a set period of time and people vote for their favorite saint. Sixteen saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Faithful Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the coveted Golden Halo. "The first round consists of basic biographical information about each of the 32 saints," according to Schenck and the Rev. Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement, which has sponsored the tournament since 2011. "Things get a bit more interesting in the subsequent rounds as we offer quotes and quirks, explore legends, and even move into the area of saintly kitsch."

Besides the daily saint bios and voting link, the Lent Madness website includes weekly Monday Madness videos, the Saintly Scorecard and information about how to participate in Lent Madness as a congregation.

"We’ve also inspired thousands of people along the way by forming an online community of people who are passionate about taking their faith but not themselves too seriously," write Schenck and Gunn, who are the "self-appointed Supreme Executive Committee" of Lent Madness. Their efforts have garnered widespread attention; articles and spots about Lent Madness have appeared in the Washington Post, NPR, Huffington Post, FOXNews, NBC, USAToday, and even Sports Illustrated.

"As Lent Madness continues to grow and evolve, what won’t change is the essence of Lent Madness: allowing people to get to know some amazing people who have come before us in the faith and reminding one another that there’s no reason for a dreary Lenten discipline," Schenck and Gunn note. "If this helps people connect with the risen Christ during this season of penitence and renewal, and have a bit of fun in the process, then it continues to be worthwhile.

"We hope you’ll participate fully this Lent and vote with reckless abandon! (Once — this isn’t Chicago)."

For more about Lent Madness, and to participate, visit the website here.

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

Live-streamed and on demand here

Center for Spirituality in Ontario

Information here

Enrollment: Ashanti Smalls, [email protected]

A series of interactive online meetings using Matthew Fox’s book Original Blessing as the springboard for exploration and reflection. The series, which began Oct. 12, is for persons of any age or walk of life, who share an interest in processing their inner journeys. Participants may join at any point, though regular participation is presumed. Sessions are led by the Rev. Gianluigi Gugliermetto, director of the Center for Spirituality. Suggested donation is $7 per session.

Via Zoom. Register in advance here

Information: [email protected] or here

This virtual event, held on Zoom, will focus on how Christians make meaning and respond to the events of the world. The conversation will feature Heidi Kim, director of the Melrose Family Center for Servant Leadership at the Breck School and formerly The Episcopal Church's staff officer for racial reconciliation; Winnie Varghese, priest for Ministry & Program Coordination at Trinity Church, Wall Street; and Gale Yee, Nancy W. King professor of Biblical Studies emerita at Episcopal Divinity School. Yein Kim, rector of St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Westwood, will moderate the conversation. The program is hosted by The Gathering - a Space for Asian Pacific American Spirituality, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles to Asian Pacific Americans. There is no charge, and all are invited to attend virtually.

Zoom. Register here

Presenter: Davey Gerhard, Executive Director of the Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS).

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.

HOLLYWOOD-LOS ANGELES: Seeds of Hope Food Distribution Associate. Bilingual (English-Spanish). This position will be an essential part of the Seeds of Hope team getting healthy, nutritious food to more families in need in Los Angeles and surrounding counties. Job duties include picking up, sorting, organizing and delivering produce; providing great customer service; documenting quantities and submitting data for reports. Work hours are full time, but variable. Valid Class C driver's license, experience with driving 16-ft or larger truck required. Full job description is here.

CLAREMONT: Spirituality center executive director. The Center for Spirituality & Practice (CS&P), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing resources for those seeking wisdom and spiritual practices for their daily lives, seeks a committed spiritual practitioner and high-capacity nonprofit leader to be its first executive director. A respected name in the spiritual enrichment landscape, the Center runs the multifaith/interspiritual website SpiritualityandPractice.com which offers a vast array of resources for the spiritually hungry. The new executive director will collaborate with founders Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat to advance their legacy and develop the organization into its next phase. A detailed position profile can be found here.

SANTA ANA: Office Manager, Church of the Messiah. Part-time. The Office Manager will serve as the focal point for parish business operations, and is responsible for a broad range of administrative, specific operational and oversight functions. Bilingual proficiency (English/Spanish) required. More information is 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.