August 24, 2023 | VOLUME 35, ISSUE 32

VIEW AS WEBPAGE

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost:

August 27, 2023

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Isaiah 51:1-6

Psalm 138

Romans 12:1-8

Matthew 16:13-20

Preacher: The Reverend Jennifer Wagner Pavia

Monday, August 28, 7:00 PM: Vestry Meeting

Saturday, September 2, 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM: The Way of Spiritual Consciousness POSTPONED

Saturday, September 9, 11:00 AM: Memorial for Linda Guagliano

Saturday, September 16, 9:30 AM - 2:00 PM: Climate Change Summit at St. Paul's Commons in Echo Park or Online

Bible and Breakfast

Tuesdays | 9:30 AM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Midweek Eucharist

Wednesdays | 7:00 PM

Sanctuary

Adult Forum

Wednesdays | 7:45 PM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Please note that "The Way of Spiritual Consciousness," a day of spiritual retreat in Malibu with Dr. Akani Fletcher and others, has been postponed due to the Labor Day holiday. Please stay tuned for a new date. In the meantime, a small group session is pending; details can be obtained by calling 310-710-4540.

Elizabeth Coombs is extending an invitation to all St. Bede’s parishioners concerned about climate change. She is encouraging us to be part of a team that actively participates in contributing to the prevention of irreparable planetary damage and the advancement of intergenerational justice at the local level. Elizabeth enthusiastically plans to be a representative and encourages all interested parties to attend the Diocesan Climate Change Summit described below. Please let Elizabeth or Rev. Jennifer know of your plan to attend the summit, either in-person or online.

During the hottest month on record — July 2023 — the sun sets over Echo Park, where the Sept. 16 diocesan Climate Change Summit will be held at St. Paul’s Commons. Photo: Bob Williams

Diocesan Climate Change Summit set for Sept. 16 in Echo Park; all congregations asked to send representatives to hybrid event

By Bob Williams

With July 2023 now on record as the hottest month worldwide, the Bishop’s Commission on Climate Change has set a summit meeting for Saturday, Sept. 16, at St. Paul’s Commons in Echo Park, asking each congregation in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles name a representative or team to attend either in person or virtually online.

Focusing on practical action by congregations and individuals, the Climate Change Summit will underscore U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s recent statement that “the era of global warming has ended” and “the era of global boiling has arrived.”

“The summit is a great opportunity to bring our diocesan community together to do what we can to address this issue which affects our whole world. It’s not easy work but it is necessary work,” said the Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy, diocesan canon to the ordinary, who chairs the 30-member commission on behalf of Bishop John Harvey Taylor.

“The church has tremendous potential to make a difference,” McCarthy added. “I firmly believe we can do anything we are called to do when we are working in community and with God’s help. The issue of climate change needs our concerted, intentional, and communal attention.”

The summit has been called in keeping with Diocesan Convention resolutions adopted last November.

Summit topics will include priorities of reducing carbon footprints and use of fossil fuel while adopting green technologies.

The summit program will bring news of Commission partnerships, including the “Climate Connections” disaster resilience plan, now a pilot project, engaging congregations in strategic, collaborative response to crises including earthquakes and heatwaves. Made possible by a grant from Southern California Edison, the program is coordinated by Lucy Jones, Ph.D., a Cal Tech seismologist and parishioner of St. James’ Church in South Pasadena, who co-chairs the Commission’s Disaster Resiliency Subcommittee with Mary Nichols, a lay leader at St. James’, Los Angeles, and former head of the California Air Resources Board.

Summit presentations will be announced when confirmed.

An online registration portal for the Sept. 16 summit is here. All are welcome to register for either the in-person or online program.

Box lunches, available for a donation of $12, will be provided during the 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. program. St. Paul’s Commons, the diocese’s administrative and ministry hub, is located at 840 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles, with free parking available in the on-site garages.

Further information may be requested from Samantha Wylie, coordinator of Diocesan Convention, by email at swylie@ladiocese.org.

A sincere note of thanks for our participation in the backpack project !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

T H A N K Y O U

August 22, 2023

St. Bedes Episcopal Church

3590 Grand View Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90066

Attn: Alice Short

“Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me.” 

 Fred Rogers

Dear St. Bedes Episcopal Church,

You are the special type of people that change lives, lift people up, and make the world a better place. Because of your kindness and multiple donations, the FAME Back to School Drive For Foster Children was able to give almost 300 backpacks to foster youth all over the Los Angeles County area. You are a big reason why these students can have a successful start to a new school year. We thank you for your support and your willingness to help us succeed in this venture. People like you are an inspiration to us all.

Thank you, again, and may God continue to shower you with His abundant blessings.

With love and kindness,

The First A.M.E. Foster Care/Adoption Committee

Jackie Houston-McNeal, Chairman

Jackie Houston-McNeal

Are you planning to attend worship online and want an easy way to make a pledge payment? Do you want to ditch the checkbook and set up reoccurring payments? Are you looking for a convenient way to make a one-time special gift to St. Bede's?

Did you know you can make donations online to St. Bede's, securely and easily?

Visit the St. Bede's website and at the top of every page, look for the "Donate" button. When you click on the "Donate" button, you will be transported to St. Bede's Vanco eGiving and Payment Process Site.

Vanco is an industry leader in online payments. More than 40,000 churches, faith-based groups, nonprofits, schools, and educational organizations trust Vanco to securely complete transactions every day. Vanco complies with PCI Level 1 standards, the highest security standard in the payment processing industry.

You are invited to set up one-time or recurring gifts using credit, debit, or bank transfer on Vanco's secure payment processing platform. Giving online through the Vanco site saves time and the hassle of remembering to bring your offering. In addition, you decrease the expense incurred by St. Bede’s from handling and processing checks and cash.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. Photo: Office of the Presiding Bishop

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is resting at home following a hospitalization to address a reoccurrence of internal bleeding, according to an Aug. 23 release from the church’s Office of Public Affairs.

On Sept. 8, Curry will undergo surgery to remove his right adrenal gland and an attached mass. His surgeon estimates his recovery period will be two to three weeks, after which Curry is expected to resume his regular work schedule.

Curry was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 17, after a reoccurrence of the internal bleeding that required him to be hospitalized over Memorial Day weekend.

The release asks Episcopalians to please continue to pray for the presiding bishop, his family and his entire medical team.

Jonor Lama, right, demonstrates the vibrations of singing bowls for Diane Maltester, left, in the exhibit hall of the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago on Aug. 15. Maltester, a classical clarinetist, said she was interested in incorporating singing bowls into her music. Photo: Lauren Pond for Religion News Service

World’s Religions’ parliament draws thousands, including Episcopalians, to its Chicago gathering

By Melodie Woerman

The Episcopal Church didn’t send an official delegation to the Parliament of the World’s Religions, which took place Aug. 14-18 in Chicago, Illinois, but the Rev. Margaret Rose, the church’s deputy for ecumenical and interreligious relations, said one wouldn’t know it, given the number of Episcopalians she encountered during the event.

Rose and Lynnaia Main, the church’s representative to the United Nations, were the two Episcopal Church staff members in attendance. Throughout the event they encountered Episcopalians from across the church, including House of Deputies Vice-President the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, members of Executive Council, and bishops, priests and church members who are connected to ecumenical or interfaith groups, Rose told Episcopal News Service.

In total, over 6,500 people registered for the parliament, according to Religion New Service, representing 212 spiritual traditions and 95 countries. The parliament describes itself as “the world’s premier interfaith convening of civic, spiritual and grassroots changemakers,” and this was the first time it had gathered in person since 2018. It is an international nonprofit, non-governmental organization affiliated with the United Nations Department of Public Information.

Its origins are rooted in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where the first convening of the World Parliament of Religions created a global platform for east-west religious engagement.



READ MORE ON ENS

During the 12-month period between June 2021 and July 2022, 1,648 books were banned

Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing counters surge in book bans with library project, new book club

By Caleb Galaraga

To counter the growing effort to ban books and censor what students can learn about race, gender and sexual identity, The Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing is offering ways to support books and authors affected by these efforts and to offer a space for Episcopalians to engage in learning and discussion.

Beginning two years ago states increasingly began banning books and attempting to legislate what can be taught or said in classrooms and shelved in school libraries. During the 12-month period between June 2021 and July 2022, 1,648 books were banned, with Texas and Florida leading the way.

These efforts are driven by representatives of the dominant culture’s desire to control the “soul of America,” both past and present, Catherine Meeks, the founding executive director of The Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing, told Episcopal News Service. Such fear and insecurity, the antiracism educator said, has “white supremacist energy” to it.

Those seeking to ban books in schools and libraries across the country, Meeks added, are disturbed by the progress of persons of color and other marginalized groups in society.

“I think it’s an absolute atrocity for someone to be using ‘banned’ and ‘books’ in the same sentence in the 21st century,” Meeks said. The underlying belief is they think “Black people have gotten out of their place and LGBTQ people are acting like they think they have a right to be whoever they want to be.”

READ MORE ON ENS

View the latest edition of Episcopal News Service