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Above: Clients line up at St. Luke's Church, Long Beach, for a shower, clean clothes and food. Photo: Jane Gould Below: United Thank Offerings are collected throughout the multi-nation Episcopal Church in the organization’s signature blue mite boxes. Photo: UTO

By Pat McCaughan

[The Episcopal News – October 28, 2020] United Thank Offering Covid-19 grants have been awarded to two ministries within the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles — the Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service, or IRIS, and St. Luke’s Church in Long Beach.

Meghan Taylor, IRIS executive director, said the agency, a ministry of the diocese and an affiliate of Episcopal Migration Ministries, received a $25,000 grant to launch the New Start Asylee Orientation Program in January 2021. The program will assist recently released detainees in gaining access to much-needed services and support.

“Asylees and asylum seekers are among the most vulnerable populations,” Taylor told the Episcopal News recently. “They are not eligible for stimulus payments and they are not work authorized.” As more people are being released from detention because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for such services is growing, she said.

On any given weekend, St. Luke’s Church in downtown Long Beach typically offers food, showers and laundry room facilities to about 100 guests.

A recent $10,000 UTO grant will enable the congregation to expand that ministry by building commercial-grade laundry facilities, according to the Rev. Jane Gould, St. Luke’s rector.

A motivating factor in applying for the grant was the lack of capacity, she said. “In using conventional washers and dryers, we would never get through all the laundry on Saturdays, which meant we had baskets full of dirty, possible diseased baskets of laundry sitting around our courtyard.”

Read more about both ministries and their UTO grants here.

Assisting Southland congregations and individuals hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis, four new grants from the One Body & One Spirit Emergency Appeal Fund have been awarded by the Corporation of the Diocese, which has announced Nov. 13 as the application deadline for the next round of grants. Application procedures are online here.

As reviewed by the diocesan Special Committee on Incorporation of Parishes and Admission of Missions prior to consideration by the Corporation at its September and October meetings, new grants range from $5,000 to $7,500 and have been awarded to:

The Corporation of the Diocese has made a total of 18 grants to date from contributions that last week reached a total of $200,000. Contributions to the fund may be made here, and video reports of “Grants in Action” are here.

We all may be loath to add (or restore) one more hour to the challenging pandemic-laden year of 2020, but fall back we must. Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour on Saturday night, Oct. 31.

St. John’s Cathedral invites the diocesan community to “A Service of Prayer for Our Nation” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, as the United States enters the final weekend before its 2020 general election on Nov. 3.

Bishop John Harvey Taylor will offer an election-tide message at this virtual service hosted by the cathedral, with music, prayers and readings calling worshippers “to be agents of hope and healing as we strive for peace and justice,” according to the planning committee for the event.

“Join us as we lift our voices in common prayer and commit ourselves to living out God’s values of love, justice and compassion in our beautiful and broken world,” the committee’s notice continued.

The service will be livestreamed on the Diocese of Los Angeles’ Facebook page and YouTube channel. No reservations are necessary.

A new secure website, www.bishopsgala.org, is now live for registration and donations toward the Nov. 7 Bishop’s Gala featuring Presiding Bishop Michael Curry as keynoter.

While there is no charge to view the 6 p.m. virtual event online, generous contributions are requested to benefit diocesan programs including Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Los Angeles.

Bishop John Harvey Taylor invites all in the diocese to join the event by logging in via the diocesan YouTube channel and Facebook page; please note the corrected start time of 6 p.m.

Read more here.

[The Episcopal News - October 7, 2020] A general election of more than usual interest has prompted the Ecumenical and Interfaith Program Group of the Diocese of Los Angeles to issue a voting guide that reflects the priorities of the Episcopal Church in the diocese as established in diocesan convention resolutions of recent years.

Because the program group also includes members of other faith groups, their voices are also taken into account in the guide. Ravi Verma, chair of the program group, and diocesan interfaith minister Tahil Sharma led the development of the guide, which is available as a PDF in English here and Spanish here.

The Episcopal Public Policy Network of California has also issued a call for all who are eligible to make a plan to vote: by mail, early in person, or on Election Day. In addition, The Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations has created a comprehensive suite of resources for advocacy, the U.S. election, and 2020 Census engagement.

Read more here.

Singers from across the diocese are invited to be a part of a virtual choir for the Convention Eucharist, which will be held online on Sunday, November 15, and to which the entire diocesan community is invited.

Singers in all parts (SATB) are invited to perform "Christ Has Called Us to New Visions."

To participate, click here and fill in and submit the registration form. Sheet music, a video guide track and an upload link will be sent to all who register. Videos must be submitted by Wednesday, Nov. 4 at noon.

The virtual choir's first offering (pictured above) was "Come down, O Love divine," recorded for Pentecost and also featured in the diocese's first-ever online ordination service on June 13. The second was "There's a wideness in God's mercy," recorded for the diocesan Pride service in late June.

Since convention delegates and visitors can't walk into a convention center hall this year to visit exhibits from ministries, services, institutions, spirituality and education providers and the wider church, convention coordinator Samantha Wylie is bringing the exhibits to them online.

The Virtual Exhibit Hall, according to Wylie, will allow not only convention-goers, but the entire diocese to explore offerings from a wide range of exhibitors through a dedicated section of the convention website with photos, links, descriptions and catalogs to allow participants to place orders and learn about ministries. The virtual exhibit hall is updated weekly.

Read more about exhibit hall here.

By Pat McCaughan

[The Episcopal News - October 21, 2020] With the Diocese of Los Angeles’s Nov. 14 - 15 virtual 125th annual meeting just a few weeks away, St. Paul’s Commons in Echo Park is beginning to look and feel a lot like convention.

Typically, this would be the time convention coordinator Samantha Wylie would be packing registration and other materials into “huge gondola-like” shelves on wheels, she says. St. Paul’s Commons Building Superintendent Luis Garibay would wrap them in plastic and load them onto a truck in preparation for transport to the Riverside Convention Center.

Instead, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, they are arranging tables, tinkering with microphones, checking headsets, cameras, live feed capability and planning dry runs to test equipment for the upcoming Facebook and YouTube livestreamed event.

Read more here.

Delegates to Diocesan Convention who aren’t sure what to expect will have an opportunity for a practice session to be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday Nov. 7. The event will include a test run at using the electronic voting system. The Zoom link for participation will be emailed directly to delegates and congregations.

Several additional online forums will be provided for discussing aspects of the convention. Clergy, delegates and all interested members of the diocesan community are invited to participate.

Secretary of Convention Steve Nishibayashi and Samantha Wylie, convention coordinator, offer weekly question-and-answer sessions. Log-in is here.

The Rev. Canon Kelli Grace Kurtz, chair of the Program Group on Mission Congregations, will offer a discussion of the proposed canonical change affecting representation for non-traditional worshipping communities in the diocese. To register (in advance), click here. Text of the proposed change is here.

With Canon Andy Tomat, treasurer, and the Rev. Michele Racusin, chief financial officer. To register (in advance), click here.

The Episcopal News has published a series about the councils, boards and committees for which Diocesan Convention will elect members during the 2020 virtual convention on Nov. 14. Those interested in running for any of these offices will find nomination information and forms at the convention website here.

Articles in the series are on the Episcopal News website or at the links below:

Bloy House will host a memorial service for Canon James A. Sanders via Zoom on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 11 a.m. Email the Bloy House office at [email protected] to be sent the Zoom link and program bulletin.

Canon Sanders, an eminent Old Testament and Hebrew Bible scholar, an editor of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a beloved professor at Episcopal Theological School at Claremont and Bloy House (Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, now Los Angeles), died Oct. 1 at his home in Claremont, his family at his side. He was 92.

Sanders founded the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center for Research and Preservation, an archive and research facility at the Claremont seminary. Previously he taught at Union Theological Seminary. He was the author of numerous books, most recently The Rebirth of a Born-Again Christian: A Memoir (2017).

An obituary is here.

Bishop John Harvey Taylor will address the theme "Thinking About Faith and Politics" in the next virtual installment of the monthly speaker series offered by St. Matthew's Church, Pacific Palisades, on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 12:30 p.m.

In this free webinar, Bishop Taylor will reflect on the intersection of faith and politics in his life and in the life of the diocese as a family of faith journeying forward together in the wake of the election. Before he entered the ordained ministry, Taylor was a chief of staff to former President Richard Nixon and director of the Nixon Library.

All are welcome, but advance registration is required (click here). Register early to ensure a space; please limit registrations to one per household if possible. Deadline to register is 9 a.m. on Nov. 5.

Camp Stevens, the Diocese of Los Angeles' facility in Julian, is raising funds for its programs through an online auction of a wide variety of items, many of them created by camp staff, local artists and friends. The auction also includes experiences such as guided excursions, getaways and a kayaking day trip in Alaska.

New items added this week include:

More items are listed on the auction website here. Bidding ends Oct. 31 at 11:45 p.m.

The Birth of Jesus: Myth, History, and Spirituality, a four-session virtual discussion of the revolutionary meaning of the Gospel birth narratives, will be presented on Tuesday evenings, Nov. 24 - Dec. 15, 7 - 8:30 p.m., by the Center for Spirituality in Ontario, led by Jim Dunkly, Ph.D., and the Rev. Gianluigi Gugliermetto, Ph.D.

Dunkly is a New Testament scholar who teaches at Bloy House (Episcopal Theological School at Los Angeles). He holds degrees in theology from Oxford University (UK) and Texas University, and a doctorate from Vanderbilt University. He has previously taught at the University of the South and Nashota House, and also specializes in theological libraries, having served as librarian for three different Episcopal seminaries over forty years.

Gugliermetto, rector of Christ Church, Ontario, is a native of Italy where he studied music, philosophy, and theology, and received a doctorate in the philosophy of religion and theology in 2008 from Claremont Graduate University. As a scholar, he has published in the sub-fields of interfaith dialogue, history and theology of Anglicanism, and theology and sexuality. He worked as translator of theological works into Italian and as a spiritual retreat leader after moving back to Europe in 2008, often in collaboration with the Episcopal priest and theologian Matthew Fox. In 2013 Gugliermetto founded the “Associazione Spiritualità del Creato” in Italy as a non-profit offering retreats and seminars.

Suggested donation is $100. To enroll, contact Ashanti Smalls at [email protected]. For more information, visit the center's website here.

"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.

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

Christ Episcopal Church

1127 N. San Antonio Avenue, Ontario 91762

Register here or call 1-800-RED-CROSS

Sponsor code: CCPOntario

By appointment only. Donors must be healthy and be able to show identification. Christ Church will host additional blood drives on Thursday, Dec. 10 and Monday, Jan. 4.

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church

12692 Fifth Street, Yucaipa 92399

Sign up here

Sponsor code: ST ALBANS

St. Alban's will host a blood drive on the following Tuesdays: December 29, January 26, February 23; continuing on fourth Tuesdays through August 2021.

By Egan Millard

[Episcopal News Service - October 28, 2020] With the threat of voter intimidation and suppression hanging over the United States general election, which concludes Nov. 3, The Episcopal Church has organized training for clergy and lay chaplains to serve as “poll chaplains” on Election Day. The effort, a partnership with the nonprofit group Lawyers and Collars, recruits volunteers to “provide a calm and loving presence in the way of love, peace, justice and reconciliation” at polling places during one of the most turbulent moments in recent memory.

Unlike poll workers, volunteers who serve as poll chaplains won’t have any formal capacity or specific duties, but will serve as a nonpartisan “peaceful and prayerful presence” and be on the lookout for any potential voter intimidation, said the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, the presiding bishop’s canon for evangelism, reconciliation and creation care, during an Oct. 20 training webinar.

“I really believe that protecting every single voter and every single vote is not only essential for the health and integrity of our democracy – I really see it as an act of Christian discipleship,” said the Rev. Adam Taylor, interim president of Sojourners, who helped lead the training. “If we truly believe that every person has been made the image of God … then that means any person that is intimidated or is dissuaded or suppressed from voting – that that is an assault on the very image of God.”

Read more here.

By David Paulsen and Egan Millard

[Episcopal News Service - October 26, 2020] Albany Bishop William Love’s agreement to resign early next year removes one of the final barriers to marriage equality across The Episcopal Church’s domestic dioceses, with some congregations in the Diocese of Albany considering whether to begin offering marriage rites to same-sex couples upon Love’s exit.

Love was one of the church’s most conservative bishops on that issue, and the only one to refuse to implement the compromise resolution passed by General Convention in 2018. A disciplinary panel determined on Oct. 2 that Love’s refusal violated church canon law and his ordination vows.

On Oct. 24, at the upstate New York diocese’s convention, Love, 63, announced he had reached an agreement with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to resign effective Feb. 1, 2021, rather than face further disciplinary action for blocking same-sex weddings in his diocese. The agreement is the final resolution of the disciplinary case against him.

Read more here.

By David Paulsen

[Episcopal News Service - October 22, 2020] Thirty years ago, as Arizonans prepared to go to the polls, the state’s Episcopal bishop urged them to vote yes.

“Establishing a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. represents a moral commitment that unites all religions, races and political affiliations,” Bishop Joseph Heistand said in a state-issued pamphlet outlining arguments for and against the 14 ballot measures in the Nov. 6, 1990, election. Two of the propositions asked whether the state should restore a holiday honoring King.

Other Episcopal leaders had joined Heistand that year in lobbying for passage, but it was not enough. By a slim margin, voters said no to a King holiday, leaving Arizona among only a handful of states that had yet to follow the federal government’s lead in recognizing the civil rights leader on their calendars. Arizona’s 1990 election bore no direct effect on The Episcopal Church, yet the propositions’ failure initiated a chain of events in 1991 that continue to shape how the church engages with issues of injustice and systemic racism and how it confronts its own historic and modern-day complicity.

The 70th General Convention in 1991 marked a turning point. Church leaders initially faced a backlash for meeting in Phoenix – bringing thousands of Episcopalians and their travel dollars to Arizona right after voters rejected a King holiday. The controversy compelled the church that year, through the triennial gathering of its governing body, to commit to examining its own racism over the next nine years.

Read more here.

[Episcopal News Service - October 12, 2020] As the United States struggles through a time of turbulence and tension, Washington National Cathedral will host a national interfaith prayer service on Sunday, Nov. 1 – two days before Election Day – featuring Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and other spiritual leaders. The service, titled “Holding Onto Hope: A national service for healing and wholeness,” will be livestreamed on The Episcopal Church’s Facebook page in English and Spanish from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern time (1 - 2:30 PT).

Read more here.

Episcopal Communities & Services

Information/Registration: contact Susan Brown, [email protected] or 818.822.6044

This program trains volunteers to be a compassionate presence for those nearing the end of life. The training will take place in 10 2-hour sessions over five weeks via ZOOM. It will have a special focus on the needs of staff at PIH Good Samaritan Hospital, but will be open to everyone. A fee of $70 ( which includes all materials) is due by the second class. Scholarships are available. CE (12 hours) for nurses is available for an additional $30 under California Board of Registered Nursing Provider Number CEP 16239. Deadline to enroll is Oct. 30. (Due to an editing error, this item in last week's Update included some incorrect information about the number and duration of sessions. The News regrets the error.)

St. Luke's Church

525 E. 7th Street, Long Beach

Information here

Reservations: [email protected]

The center, now in its 34th season, brings medieval history alive as it offers the art of brass rubbing to youth as an enhancement to on-line learning and to adults as a delightfully unusual outing. The event will this year be held outside; all Covid 19 safety measures of social distancing and masks will be observed. Each presentation is 90 minutes of learning about medieval times, knights' armor, and ladies' fashion, and making art to take home. The price is $8 per person, which includes all materials. Reservations are required for all groups Tuesdays - Fridays; presentation times are 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.. Saturday hours are 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. with no reservation for individuals. The center is closed on Sunday and Monday.

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 will be led by the Rev. Gianluigi Gugliermetto, director of the Center for Spirituality. Suggested donation is $7 per session.

St. John's Cathedral, Los Angeles

Livestreamed here (Facebook) and here (YouTube)

Bishop John Harvey Taylor will offer an electiontide message at this virtual service hosted by the cathedral, with music, prayers and readings calling us to be agents of hope and healing as we strive for peace and justice. Join us as we lift our voices in common prayer and commit ourselves to living out God's values of love, justice and compassion in our beautiful and broken world. No reservations are needed.

All Saints Church, Pasadena

Zoom link here

Information: [email protected]

Yarborough is the church relations officer with The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations, where he helps manage their grassroots advocacy engagement and develops resources aimed at educating and equipping the church in policy advocacy. Join us as we discuss the upcoming election and what it means to advocate through the Episcopal Church. This event is open to everyone; allies are encouraged to attend.

Stillpoint: The Center for Christian Spirituality

Virtual retreat: Information here. Register here.

A one-day virtual retreat led by Belva Brown Jordan, Disciples of Christ minister and seminary teacher. "Participants will listen, sing, prayer and engage in theological reflection on a selection of traditional and contemporary spirituals," according to the course description. "At the end of the day retreat participants will walk about having rehearsed a piece of our common American history, experiencing through this genre what continues to expressions of “lament and protest and praise.”

Streaming here

“Holding Onto Hope: A national service for healing and wholeness” will be livestreamed on the Episcopal Church’s Facebook page. Along with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, speakers will also include the Rev. James Martin (Jesuit) and Valarie Kaur (Sikh). Curry will also preach the same day at the cathedral’s All Saints’ Day Eucharist at 11 a.m.

Holy Trinity Church

100 N. Third Avenue, Covina 91723

Log-in information: 626.967.3939 or email [email protected]

Featuring pre-recorded Gregorian chant and live instrumental music.

St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, Hollywood

Information: 323.876.2102 or here

St. Thomas hosts its annual All Souls' Day Requiem Mass, sung by section leaders of the St. Thomas Choir. This year's Mass will be offered only as an online broadcast, featuring the traditional Gregorian chant Missa pro defunctis (with organ accompaniment written by Jeffrey Parola) and two movements from the Fauré Requiem interspersed. Broadcast live on Facebook here and YouTube here.

Information/Donation link here

The Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, will be the keynote speaker at the virtual Bishop’s Gala fundraiser. All are welcome, though online contributions are requested to benefit diocesan programs including BLoy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Los Angeles. The gala will be available for viewing via the diocesan YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Holy Trinity Church

100 N. Third Avenue, Covina 91723

Log-in information: 626.967.3939 or email [email protected]

Featuring live instrumental and pre-recorded choral music.

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 was postponed for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.)

LOS ANGELES: Associate for Formation and Transition. The Diocese of Los Angeles is seeking an experienced bilingual (English-Spanish) priest who shares a passion for discernment and formation, and the process needed for that work. The person called will work as an integral member of the ministry team in the office and will work with both clergy and lay leaders across all the congregations and ministries of the diocese. A full job description and application instructions are here.

Current job listings for laypersons 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.