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By Pat McCaughan

[The Episcopal News] – The Venerable Canon Charleen Crean plans to retire Oct. 16, 2020 after 34 years of ordained ministry and — like many other Southland deacons who juggle dual roles — she doesn’t rule out the possibility of future active ministry.

“There are a lot of retired deacons still active in ministry,” said Crean, 69, who has doubled as associate for the diocesan Office of Formation and Transition Ministry and as archdeacon since 2017. Often, “when a deacon retires, they rev up their ministry and have more time to do some of the other things that will support the church and its mission,” she said.

Initially, however, her focus will be on family.

Like most deacons, the former psychiatric social worker understood her twofold vocations as a way of life. “I always worked full-time in my social work career, which was very demanding and hard, emotionally draining at times, heartbreaking at others, and incredibly rewarding at others,” Crean told The Episcopal News in a Sept. 8 phone interview. “Then, with what was left over, there was church and deaconing and family. Now, it’s time for family.”

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.

Bishop John Harvey Taylor and Canon Kathy O’Connor will offer a diocese-wide virtual worship service at 10 a.m. 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.

The service will be livestreamed here (Bishop Taylor’s Facebook page), here (Diocese of Los Angeles Facebook page) and here (Diocese of Los Angeles YouTube channel).

Bishop John Harvey Taylor will ordain Christie Ann Mossman and Dominique Nicolette Piper to the Sacred Order of Deacons on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. The service will take place at St. Paul’s Commons, and will be livestreamed here. The prayers and spiritual presence of the diocesan community are invited. Physical presence at the service is limited to specific people who will be notified personally.

The Program Group on Stewardship in conjunction with TENS: The Episcopal Network for Stewardship will present a webinar titled "Deepening our Stewardship Formation" on Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Goals for the webinar, according to Bishop Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce, include:

Advance registration is required: click here.

Girls Friendly Society - Los Angeles invites parents, GFS leaders, clergy and youth leaders to "A World of Difference," an anti-bias webinar on Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. via Zoom. This award-winning program, developed especially for those working with young people, helps participants:

GFS presents this webinar in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League. Register by Sept. 8 here. There is no charge. Participants are asked to complete a short survey to inform the workshop leader: click here.

In the video above Margaret Nolde, president of the board of GFS-Los Angeles, explains the purpose of this program.

Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce invites the diocesan community to an online panel conversation and discussion on “Your Liberation Is Our Liberation: Why Black Lives Matter to Asian Pacific American Christians” on Saturday, Sept. 19, 4 - 6 p.m. This event will focus on understanding race dynamics between Black and Asian Pacific American (APA) communities, and explore ways to promote racial justice in communities.

The conversation will feature Canon Suzanne Edwards-Acton, educator and founder of MyWorkToDo.com and chair of the Program Group on Black Ministries in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles; Ezer Kang, associate professor of psychology at Howard University; and Diane Ujiiye, board president of Healing Urban Barrios and activist minister. Erika Bertling, intercultural educator, will moderate the conversation.

The online event 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, which holds events to engage topics relevant to Asian American communities and offers a space for Asian Pacific Americans to gather to share in their spiritual journeys.

The event, to take place via Zoom, is free. Everyone interested in this topic is welcome to attend virtually. Registration is required; click here. Email questions to [email protected]. Additional information and biographies of panelists may be found here. An event flyer is 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 that will be covered more extensively in the following sessions (see dates and topics below). A video of that introductory session is available here; copies of the presentations are posted 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.

Register here.

Register here.

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

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].

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, has announced its Fall 2020 training schedule.

"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. "Our mission, 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?” Over the past 6 months, we have thought and “visioned” and experimented."

This fall's training will take place in two 10-hour sessions over five weeks via ZOOM. The first session will be on Thursday afternoons, Sept. 24 - Oct. 22, 3 - 5 p.m. The second will be on Monday evenings, Nov. 2 - 30, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. The November training 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. Deadlines to enroll are Sept. 22 for the first course and Oct. 30 for the second.

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.

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].

"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.

[The Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs - September 9, 2020] The Episcopal Church Offices of Church Planting and Redevelopment, and Ethnic Ministries are partnering to offer a Virtual Genesis-Koinonia Gathering from October 1 – November 5, 2020. The annual conference is designed to inspire, mentor, and support new community leaders as they plan and plant their ministries, and to connect with and thank the diocesan leaders who support and oversee new missional initiatives.

The theme of this year’s Gathering is “What would be possible if…?” In his keynote address, the Rt. Rev. Mark Edington, bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, will reflect on what could be possible if we learn to embrace a new model of ministry – one that nurtures an ethos of participatory worship, leadership and mission. The training sessions offered during this four-week period include these topics: shared leadership models, bi-vocational church planting, working with a mission team, and facilitating transformative conversations, and more.

Read more here (in English and Spanish).

[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.

[The Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs - August 25, 2020] The Episcopal Church Department of Faith Formation, in collaboration with the 2020 Episcopal Youth Event (EYE20) planning team and Episcopal Church leadership, announced today that the Episcopal Youth Event (EYE) will not be convened this triennium due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“I recognize and share the deep disappointment this holds,” said Bronwyn Clark Skov, staff officer for Youth Ministries. “During the next year, our office will focus on discerning and implementing creative and meaningful support for youth ministry and leadership formation. Undoubtedly, new models for ministry are emerging and God is calling upon us to unite and respond.”

Read more here.

St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church

7501 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles 90046

Streaming here (Facebook) and here (YouTube)

Information: 323.876.2102

Canon Ian Elliott Davies officiates. Music includes Recollection by David Conte, Evening Service in F by Syney Watson, O salutaris by Camille Saint-Saëns, Tantum ergo by Gabriel Fauré, O cor Jesu by Lorenzo Perosi, and Rhapsody No. 1, Op. 17, by Herbert Howells. The service will be broadcast live on St. Thomas’ Facebook and YouTube pages.

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].

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.