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Members of the Program Group on Stewardship are available to help congregations with their fall campaigns, according to Bishop Suffragan Diane M. Jardine Bruce, who is stewardship officer for the diocese.

"Please let us know how we can help you in this year of pandemic and social distancing," Bruce tells clergy and lay leaders. "Our available days and hours are listed below. Please email any one of us to set up a convenient time to meet with you or your stewardship team. If none of these time work for you, please contact a member of the Program Group on Stewardship of your choice for their availability. We look forward to working with you."

For more stewardship resources visit the diocesan stewardship webpage here. For links to recent stewardship webinars and presentations, click here or visit the stewardship page.

Monday after 12 p.m.

Tuesdays after 10 a.m.

Wednesdays after 12 p.m.

Tuesday, October 6, 9 – 11 a.m.

Tuesday, October 13, 1 - 3 p.m.

Thursday, October 15, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Monday, Oct 12, after 12 p.m.

Monday, October 19, after 5 p.m.

Monday, October 12

Monday, October 19

Saturday, October 3, after noon

Monday, October 5, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Thursday, October 8, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Thursday, October 15, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

(Or email to arrange another date/time)

Since the pandemic began affecting all our lives in March, we at The Episcopal News have changed our weekly email newsletters around several times in our efforts to inform and serve the congregations and people of the Diocese of Los Angeles. This week we're making one more change.

The weekly Resource Roundup will return to its original mission of providing information specifically for clergy, lay leaders, church administrators, wardens and lay professionals, and will no longer be sent to our Update subscribers. If you belong to one of the aforementioned groups and would like to receive the Roundup, please contact me and I'll be happy to put you on the list.

We will continue to send the Update on Wednesday afternoons. Items to be considered for publication may be sent by email to [email protected]. Our weekly deadline is Tuesday at noon. We are always interested in hearing about your ministries. (And we love photos.)

Thank you for your attention. Stay safe and well.

Janet Kawamoto

Editor, The Episcopal News

By Pat McCaughan

[The Episcopal News - September 29, 2020] While business, real estate or legal experience may be helpful for members of the Corporation of the Diocese, the group weighs “compassion, understanding, seeking for justice and good, with solid business policies, what’s good financially and good stewardship,” says Ravi Verma, a three-term director.

“That’s a priority, that while we deal with financial, legal, and corporate responsibilities, we do it from the midst of our faith,” added Verma, who holds both a master’s degree in business administration and serves as program director for Stillpoint, an institution of the diocese that trains spiritual directors.

The Corporation of the Diocese is a diocesan governing body, consisting of nine directors. Eight are elected by diocesan convention; a ninth position is appointed by the Bishop Diocesan who serves as the President of the Corporation.

The group, which meets online monthly, oversees funds for use in supporting the needs and ministry of the diocese. Often, directors deliberate about real estate sales, church building programs and other property issues, consider grant requests and, more recently, have drafted policies for the capital campaign and the endowment fund.

“Finances are sometimes seen as separate from faith, but we all know the budget is a deeply faith-based document, a guiding principle,” said Verma, 67, a parishioner at All Saints Church in Pasadena. “We see how hard the diocesan staff and the bishops work and we experience that joint desire to serve God, to do the best possible for the people in the diocese. That motivation gives me strength.”

Read more here.

The story above is part of 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.

[The Episcopal News - Sept. 22, 2020] Diocesan Convention 2020, themed "Servants of the Spirit," will be a one-day meeting held online on Saturday, Nov. 14 due to the Covid pandemic, Secretary of Convention Steven Nishibayashi told Diocesan Council at its meeting on Sept. 17.

Convention will resume on Sunday, Nov. 15, with a virtual Eucharist open to the entire diocese, he said.

"The agenda will include addresses from the bishop diocesan, bishop suffragan and canon to the ordinary, as well as elections for offices and a change to the diocesan canons defining Mission Centers," Nishibayashi wrote in his monthly "Convention Notes" newsletter to clergy, delegates, lay leaders and church staff members.

"Worship liturgies will be interspersed throughout the day as will opportunities to visit the virtual Exhibit Hall and accommodate the need for bio breaks."

Read more here.

Author and theologian Kelly Brown Douglas will speak at "Reimagine Justice," a virtual fundraiser for Prism Restorative Justice, on Sunday, Oct. 4, 5 - 6:30 p.m. Douglas (pictured at left), author of Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God, dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary, canon theologian at Washington National Cathedral and theologian-in-residence at Trinity Wall Street, will engage in a conversation moderated by the Rev. Mike Kinman, rector of All Saints Church, Pasadena. Suggested ticket price is $60, but any donation is welcome. For tickets, click here. All proceeds will benefit Prism, which provides chaplaincy services for the incarcerated in Los Angeles County jails.

Camp Stevens will launch an online fundraising auction beginning on Oct. 1, with new items for purchase announced each week until Oct. 31. New items will be posted on Thursdays on social media — Facebook and Instagram (@campstevens). The first set of auction items includes an art photo of the camp chapel by Ari Robinson; a day trip with Kayak Adventures Worldwide; and a "Taste of Camp Stevens" basket of homemade and homegrown goodies (pictured at left). Future offerings will include original art and photography; handmade textiles and jewelry; private classes led by camp staff; day trips and overnight stays; homemade goodies; exclusive Camp Stevens gear; and even an opportunity to name a camp chicken.

Camp Stevens, located in Julian, California, has served the dioceses of Los Angeles and San Diego since the 1950s with summer camp programs for families, weekend family camps, off-campus excursion programs and facilities for conferences and retreats. Although many of its programs were suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic, the camp continues to offer short retreats for family groups, and will reopen its other programs as soon as it is safe to do so. For more information, visit the camp website.

The Center for Spirituality in Ontario, based at Christ Episcopal Church, invites all to "The Wisdom of the Dream," a six-workshop online series led by Peter Fritsch and Kathy Sperling, beginning Oct. 17 and continuing on alternate Saturdays through Dec. 26.

"Learning to understand and 'work' our dreams, with the help of expert guides, is a beautiful way to connect to the soul and experience human wholeness, which brings freedom, spaciousness, and meaning," says the course description. "... [W]hether or not you can remember your dream clearly or you have worked with dreams in the past, this will open up for you new possibilities to develop greater compassion for yourself and the world around you." The workshops will be based on the Jungian tradition of dream interpretation and will be open to all spiritual expressions.

The Rev. Peter Fritsch, an Episcopal priest and spiritual director canonically resident in the Diocese of Oregon, has been teaching workshops on prayer and dreamwork for more than 30 years. He is the author of Dreams: A Spiritual Guide to Healing and Wholeness, A Moment of Great Power: Sacramental Prayer and Generational Healing, Hungary: Finding A Place to Call Home and The Spirituality of the Holy Grail: Restoring Feminine Spirit in the Western Soul (coming in 2021).

Kathy Sperling is a spiritual director, writer, professional musician (piano and cello), and facilitator. Her passion for spirituality and inner work led her to courses in spiritual direction, dreamwork, and the intersection of spirituality and psychology. She works from St George's Center for Wellness & Learning in Edmonton AB, as well as online. She has published a volume of poetry and images titled Solid Ground (2019) and is working on a book about her first year of exploring her dreams.

Workshops titles and dates, as well as more information about the series, presenters and individual session, is here. All workshops will be held via Zoom beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 12 p.m. Cost is $380 per person for the series. Enrollment is limited; some scholarships are available. To enroll, contact Ashanti Smalls (here).

Stillpoint: The Center for Christian Spirituality will present "Lament, Protest & Praise: Praying with Spirituals," a one-day virtual retreat on Saturday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., led by Belva Brown Jordan, Disciples of Christ minister and seminary teacher and administrator.

"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.”

A native of Texas, Belva Brown Jordan was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1986. She served the denomination in its general offices in Indianapolis, Indiana, then transitioned into theological education in schools ranging from Lancaster Theological Seminary to Harvard Divinity School to Phillips Theological Seminary to Claremont School of Theology. She is currently interim president of Disciples Seminary Foundation in Claremont. 

For more information and a song list, playlist and discography of music to be used in the workshop, click here. Cost is $60 per person. To register, click here.

The Gathering: A Space for Asian Pacific American Spirituality opened the program year Sept. 19 with an online panel conversation, “Your Liberation is Our Liberation: Why Black Lives Matter to Asian-Pacific American Christians.”

Bishop Diane M. Jardine Bruce, the Rev. Peter Huang, and the Rev. Yein Kim hosted the conversation, which featured Rachel Bundang, feminist ethicist and faculty member at Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Francisco and Santa Clara University; Suzanne Edwards-Acton, educator and founder of MyWorkToDo.com, and chairperson of the Program Group on Black Ministries in the Diocese of Los Angeles; Ezer Kang, associate professor of Psychology at Howard University; and Diane Ujiiye, co-founder of Black and API Solidarity and activist minister. Erika Bertling, intercultural educator, moderated the conversation. A video of the panel discussion is available for on-demand viewing here.

[The Episcopal News - September 16, 2020] All Southland Episcopal congregations and neighboring houses of worship are encouraged to invite local law enforcement officers to join in conversations – via Zoom forums, virtual coffee hours, or in small, socially distanced groups outdoors – to mark national “Faith & Blue Weekend,” Oct. 9 - 12.

A protégé of the late Coretta Scott King, Pastor Markel Hutchins of Atlanta, is leading the Faith & Blue Weekend’s mission of engaging groups of racially and culturally diverse participants in balanced, respectful dialogue convened by neighborhood houses of worship to strengthen local relationships. Full details and registration information are online here.

Read more here.

"Trauma & (Un)Truths" is a series of webinars examining systems of oppression in church and society, presented by New Community, the Diocese of Los Angeles' multicultural ministry, and Bishop Suffragan Diane M. Jardine Bruce. The first of four webinars, held on Aug. 22, introduced three topics to be covered more extensively in following sessions; the second webinar, "Doctrine of Discovery," was held on Sept. 26. Videos of the first and second session are available here.

All are invited to join the remaining webinars. There is no charge, but advance registration is required: click on the registration links below. More information about the sessions is here.

Presented by Canon Suzanne Edwards-Acton, the Rev. John Limo, the Rev. Carlos Ruvalcaba and Gayle Kawahara. Register here.

Saturday, October 17, 1 – 3 p.m. (note time)

Cosponsored by The Gathering – A Space for Asian Pacific American Spirituality (Diocese of Los Angeles) and Episcopal Asian Supper Table (Diocese of New York). Led by Jonathan Tran, of Baylor University and Liz Lin of Progressive Asian American Christians in San Francisco. Register here.

Spanish-language interpretation will be provided for all webinars, which will be conducted via Zoom. For additional information, contact Bishop Bruce at [email protected].

The Daughters of the King of the Diocese of Los Angeles will hold its Fall Assembly 2020, titled "Into the Future ... By the Grace of God!" Online on Saturday, Oct. 24, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. The program, which will explore the question "Lord, what will you have us do?" from the DOK prayer, will include Morning Prayer, special guest speakers, election of new diocesan officers, and adoption of revised bylaws. To register, click here. For additional information, contact Kimberly Corner, [email protected].

The Daughters of the King is an order of lay and ordained women in the Episcopal Church and other denominations who live according to a rule of life and a rule of service. To learn more about the churchwide order, click here. For more about the Diocese of Los Angeles DOK, click here.

The churchwide Order of the Daughters of the King is currently engaged in "The Nehemiah Prayer Vigil: 52 Days of Prayer to Bring Peace and Healing to Our Nation," which began Sept. 1 and will continue through Oct. 22. The vigil was developed by Sharon Lundgren, a DOK member based in Georgia. After reading the Book of Nehemiah, she was inspired to create a practice in which DOK members, who have taken vows to regularly engage in intercessory prayer, might appeal to God "for help in healing the woundedness within our country," according to an announcement from the order. All are invited to participate; to find out how, click here.

By Your Side Vigil Companions, a program of Episcopal Communities & Services that trains volunteers to be a compassionate presence for those nearing the end of life, still has one training class open for registration. (The first session began Sept. 24.)

The training will take place in two 10-hour sessions over five weeks via ZOOM on Monday evenings, Nov. 2 - 30, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. 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. For additional information and to register, contact Susan Brown of Episcopal Communities and Services at [email protected], or phone 818.822.6044. Enrollment is limited to 30 people. Deadline to enroll is Oct. 30.

Bishop John Harvey Taylor recently announced that The Bishop’s Gala (previously known as the Bishop's Dinner) will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7 and will feature the Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church. "Bishop Curry will be the guest of the Diocese of Los Angeles, pointing his listeners along the Way of Love just four days after the historic 2020 elections," said the invitation, referencing Curry's initiative for prayer and service.

The socially distanced program, featuring a reception and the presiding bishop’s address, will take place in the White House East Room replica of the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. If the event can only be held digitally due to the pandemic, the address will be open for ticketed participants only. Proceeds will benefit Bloy House: The Episcopal Theological School at Los Angeles. Reservation information will be announced soon.

The Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools (SAES) and National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) will present a webinar titled "Whose School Is It Anyway?" on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 12 p.m. PDT. Leading a church with a school comes with a completely different set of blessings and challenges. This joint NAES/SAES webinar will offer church leaders some best practices for creating a healthy church/school relationship as well as how to support and nurture the head of school. To participate, register 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, and congregations in the Diocese of Los Angeles have stepped up to help replenish them. Currently scheduled blood drives are listed below.

Grace Episcopal Church

555 E. Mountain View Avenue, Glendora 91741

Sponsor code: GECG

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.

By Egan Millard

[Episcopal News Service - September 30, 2020] As vicar of Church of the Common Ground, a street-based ministry, the Rev. Kim Jackson serves homeless and vulnerable people living on the streets of Atlanta, Georgia.

This coming January, she hopes to serve them in an additional setting: the Georgia Capitol, as a member of the state Senate.

“About half the folks that attend my service on Sundays sleep outside of the Capitol during the week – they sleep across the street from the Capitol,” she told Episcopal News Service. “I will serve outside of the Capitol with people who sleep out there and I will go inside and fight like hell on behalf of them.”

Read more here.

[The Episcopal Church - September 30, 2020] The Task Force to Develop Model Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies & Safe Church Training is looking for Episcopalians interested in participating in Listening Groups related to the development of new and updated Safe Church (formerly called Safeguarding) training materials and approaches.

The purpose of the listening sessions is to ensure the diversity of voices within our church is represented in the topics, training methods, and personal stories in each training area. To achieve this diversity of voices, the Task Force invites those interested in participating to complete a demographic survey. The data provided will be used to set up listening groups with the goal of reflecting a true representation of The Episcopal Church.

Read more here.

By David Paulsen

[Episcopal News Service — September 22, 2020] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s latest book, Love Is the Way, was released on Sept. 22, and like his 2018 book, The Power of Love, it emphasizes Christian teachings, particularly Jesus’ command to love one’s neighbor, as a powerful force for unity and healing in a troubled world.

Whereas the earlier book was a collection of notable sermons, including the one Curry preached at the royal wedding in May 2018, Love Is the Way takes a more autobiographical approach to the lessons of his faith. Curry illustrates core Christian beliefs and applies them to today’s social context by mining personal stories, from his early childhood in Buffalo, New York, to his work as a parish priest in Baltimore, Maryland, to his time as bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.

Read more here.

[The Episcopal Church - September 10, 2020] Registration is now open for the New Community 2020 Virtual Conference, hosted by The Episcopal Church Department of Ethnic Ministries, October 30-31. The theme is "Weaving Our Diversity and Forming Life-Giving Relationships for the New Reality."

This gathering of Asian, Black, Latino/Hispanic and Indigenous clergy and lay leaders provides a safe place to explore mission in ethnic ministries, share resources and best practices, hopes and dreams, needs and concerns, gifts and ministries, suffering and joy.

The conference will include plenary sessions and workshops addressing current issues as well as ethnic-specific meetings, inter-ethnic and cross-cultural conversations.

Read more here.

[The Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs - August 24, 2020] Episcopalians are invited to join churches around the world in celebrating the Season of Creation; a time for people of faith to renew their relationship with God and all creation through celebration, prayer, and action. The Season’s roots rise from the Orthodox Christian tradition; the World Council of Churches was instrumental in making the special time a season, extending the celebration from September 1 until St. Francis Day, October 4. The Episcopal Church Office of Creation Care offers Season of Creation and St. Francis Day resources to help plan.

"The Season of Creation invites us to think deeply about our ecological, economic, and political ways of living, and to work towards justice and right relationship with God's Creation,” says the Rev. Melanie Mullen, director of Reconciliation, Justice, and Creation Care, “We are thrilled to participate in this global effort."

Read more here.

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

Live-streamed and on demand here

St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church

7501 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles 90046

Information: 323.876.2102 or here

St. Thomas' Church will welcome all to join in the annual blessing of the animals. To ensure the safety of all participants, the event will be held outside of the church in the open air, with social distancing precautions in place. All participants will be required to wear face coverings, and accompanying pets must be properly restrained. In addition to the blessing, Chef Scott May will provide affordable grab-and-go lunches and baked treats, Centennial merchandise will be on display and available for purchase, and further donations to the Parish will be accepted. All are welcome, with or without pets!

Online Sunday and weekday worship services in the Diocese of Los Angeles are listed here. (The URL was recently changed because of updates to the website.) To add a congregation's services, send information to [email protected].

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.)

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.