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7th Sunday after The Epiphany
Sunday, February 27, 2022
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Genesis 45:3-11, 15
Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42
1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50
Luke 6:27-38
Preacher: The Reverend Dr. Akani Fletcher
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Saturday, February 19
LA Neighbors4Neighbors
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
10:00 AM - 2:00PM (Client Hours)
St. Bede's
Friday, February 25
Beer and Brats
6:00 PM - 9:00PM
Mohler Residence
Sunday, February 27
Annual Meeting of the Congregation
11:30 AM
Sanctuary & Online
Wednesday, March 2
Ashes To Go
7:15 AM - 9:00 AM
Expo/Bundy Metro Station
Wednesday, March 2
Ash Wednesday Services
12:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Sanctuary & Online
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Bible and Breakfast
Tuesdays | 9:30 AM
Currently on Zoom Only
Evening Prayer
Wednesday | 7:00 PM
Currently on Zoom Only
Education Forum
Wednesday | 7:45 PM
Currently on Zoom Only
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On February 16th, California health officials lifted the statewide indoor mask mandate in public venues for vaccinated people. However, the County of Los Angeles will maintain the indoor mask mandate for all people, regardless of vaccination status, until at least February 28th.
LA County’s Public Health Director, Barbara Ferrer, stated the indoor mask rule would not be lifted until the county’s virus-transmission rate falls to the “moderate” level as defined by the CDC for two straight weeks, or until COVID vaccines are available to children under five years old for eight weeks.
The state’s decision to no longer mandate that masks be worn indoors does not impact St. Bede’s policy that requires all attendees to worship, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks indoors. The county’s health codes inform St. Bede’s health policies. Members of the congregation who sit outside for services are not required but are strongly encouraged to wear a mask. In addition, those individuals sitting outside will need to wear a mask to enter the sanctuary to receive communion or use the restroom facilities.
Thankfully, both the state’s and county’s COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have declined. In partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the Vestry of St. Bede’s will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our COVID-19 policies when it is safe and prudent. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.
The Reverend Ryan D. Newman
Interim Pastor
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Tuesday Evenings in Lent
Learning to Walk in the Dark
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Throughout our liturgy in the Episcopal Church, we use the language of “light” and “darkness.” This imagery finds its roots in the Bible and dates before our modern industrial era when nighttime truly meant darkness. Often in our society, pain, sadness, adversity, and tragedy are described as darkness—the absence of light and/or goodness, which can be troublesome and a disservice.
How does the "dark" shape, inform, and provoke our journey?
The Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, theologian, professor, and one of America's most renowned Christian preachers. Reverend Taylor’s book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, will be the foundation of our Lenten Study at St. Bedes’ Episcopal Church. We will gather in-person and online Tuesdays in Lent, March 8, 15, 22, 29, and April 5, 12. Before the Study, at 6:00 PM in the Sanctuary, a celebration of Holy Eucharist will be offered.
We hope you will join us for this thought-provoking Lenten series. Session agendas and resources will be available on the St. Bede's Learning to Walk in the Dark webpage.
Registration is required, please use the link below.
Barbara Brown Taylor’s book Learning to Walk in the Dark explores our uneasy contemporary relationship with darkness. Darkness, Taylor writes, is “shorthand for anything that scares me.” The absence of God or the loss of a loved one or a life-threatening illness—the dark can scare us. Taylor shows us how to embrace spiritual darkness as a place where healing and growth occur. If we can learn to embrace the journey through darkness, then we will emerge stronger on the other side.
“Taylor challenges our negative associations with darkness and our attraction to light in this thought-provoking new book. She draws on her own experiences—from exploring caves and experimenting with blindness, to her questioning of her own religious training and faith—to explore what might be gained by embracing darkness.” (Spirituality & Health)
Copies of the Learning to Walk in the Dark will be available starting next Sunday, February 27 in the Narthex ($15 Suggested Donation for a copy of the book). The book is currently free on Kindle if you are an Amazon Prime Member. To register for the Lenten Study, please click on the link below or register when you pick up your copy of the book.
May our journey into the darkness lead to a glorious new light of insight and hope.
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LENT, HOLY WEEK, AND EASTER SCHEDULE | |
To download the schedule, click on the image below. | |
MORNING PRAYER FROM CANTERBURY | |
Welcome to the second installment of "Everyday Faith: Spiritual Tools and Resources for our Busy Lives." Everyday Faith columns will be written by various members of St. Bede's and invite us to experience ways to incorporate daily prayer, scripture, and practices into our busy daily lives. This installment is written by Bond Harper, St. Bede's Junior Warden. | |
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I find Dean Robert’s style to be relaxing, educational, and the perfect respite from a busy day. His love of animals also touches my heart. In addition to scripture readings, prayers, and reflections, there are a wide variety of fun anecdotes, poetry, readings from literature, historical facts, and more. As an added bonus the videos take place throughout the Deanery property, so you get a virtual tour of the gardens and various rooms. If you like cats (as I know many of you do), you’ll enjoy the frequent guest appearances by the Cathedral cats Leo, Tiger, and Lilly.
It would be quite a commitment to watch the videos daily, but exposure to different styles of prayer and scripture reading offer a fresh perspective and a fun way to approach the daily readings.
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2022 LENT MADNESS STARTS SOON | |
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With the Season of Lent comes the quest for the “Golden Halo,” the most coveted Lenten honor in the “Episco-techno-cyber-geek world.” Lent Madness begins Thursday, March 3rd when Stephen faces off against Wenceslaus.
What is Lent Madness?
“Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of the Rev. Tim Schenck. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the Church’s Calendar of Saints, Tim came up with this unique Lenten devotion. Combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints.” (Lent Madness website)
The format is straightforward: 32 saints are placed into a tournament-like single elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for a set period of time and Who will win the Golden Halo?people vote for their favorite saint. 16 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.” ((Lent Madness website)
Who is Wenceslaus? Great question. Log onto the Lent Madness website, follow the action, and vote for your favorite saints.
To download the 2022 Bracket, click on the image below.
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Limited spaces are still available.
The event will offer both indoor and outdoor seating.
To sign up, email Daphne Moote or Liz Mohler.
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Below are some photos from the most recent Sisters of Bede Venues, "Seasonal Pairing of Food and Wine," hosted by Alice Short and Steve Vielhaber on Saturday, February 12. | |
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine hosted a memorial service for The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) to celebrate Archbishop Tutu’s legacy and prophetic voice for justice. Click below to view the service. | |
SUMMER CAMP AT CAMP STEVENS | |
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Camp Stevens opens registration for Summer 2022 sessions
Registration for summer sessions at Camp Stevens is now open.
"We talk a lot at summer camp about 'adventure': adventure groups, adventure time, adventure arrows, and adventure seeking," according to the camp's Facebook page. "Adventure exists in the space between your comfort zone and your panic zone. It’s where our bodies and brains wake up and join the moment, where we make memories, and where we learn about ourselves and others. You might think of adventure as happening at the ropes course or on the top of a mountain, but it’s also happening in the creek bed, around a campfire, at the lunch table, in a creative project, or even in a first night away from home."
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Camp Stevens staff have established Covid mitigation strategies that worked well last year:
- Proof of testing or vaccination
- Reduced total capacity
- Increased hygiene and sanitation requirements
- Most activities and gatherings are held outdoors
The camp works closely with its staff nurses to follow American Camping Association guidance and closely monitor public health information. In 2021, no Covid cases were reported among summer staff, counselors and campers.
Camp sessions are open for campers ages 8 to 15; those 16 and older may apply to attend Counselor Training (June 12 - 21).
A video showing camp activities is here. (Like the photo above, the video was made before the pandemic; activities are currently modified to follow health guidelines.)
Each session begins on Sunday afternoon and ends on Friday for ages 8-15
- Adventure Session 1: June 26 – July 1
- Adventure Session 2: July 3 – July 8
- Adventure Session 3: July 10 – July 15
- Adventure Session 4: July 17 – July 22
Cost is on a tiered system, with each family choosing which rate to pay, according to their means. Fees for a week-long camp range from $625 to $795. Some camperships are available.
To learn more and register, visit the Camp Stevens website for the 2022 Summer Camp.
Information courtesy of The Episcopal News.
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FROM THE EPISCOPAL NEWS
A newsletter serving the Diocese of LA
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Bystander training is a first step toward stopping hate against Asians, Pacific Islanders
by Pat McCaughan
[The Episcopal News – February 16, 2022] A Feb. 12 online survey of about 68 Southern California Episcopalians indicated that 31% of those responding had experienced, and 47% had witnessed incidents of racially based overt or subtle harassment at their churches.
The poll was conducted among participants of “Love My Neighbor: Stand Against Hate,” an online bystander training hosted by The Gathering: A Space for Asian American Pacific Islander Spirituality, a ministry of the Diocese of Los Angeles. The training was offered in conjunction with Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, a branch of the nation’s largest nonprofit legal aid and civil rights organization for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
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Presiding bishop and other dignitaries remember Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s gracious moral strength at memorial service
At a memorial service for Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City on Feb. 13, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry remembered the former primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa as a relentless optimist who saw the promise of Easter even when it looked like Good Friday.
In addition to a sermon from Curry, the memorial service for Tutu, who died on Dec. 26, 2021, at age 90, featured eulogies from international dignitaries and prayers and hymns in multiple ethnic and religious traditions.
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Prison chaplains find jail visits even more urgent, rewarding in wake of pandemic
For Prism staff and volunteers, the need to be companions and to share Communion with those in local jails and detention centers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has never been more urgent or more rewarding.
“People are daunted by the issue of incarceration, but that’s not what we’re doing,” says Ann Noble, program coordinator of Prism, the restorative justice ministry of the Diocese of Los Angeles. Often, she says, “it’s just one human being talking to another human being and sharing a story. So, it’s the biggest deal, and yet it’s not a big deal. It feels like it requires so much and all it requires is the greatest gift you have, which is your presence, and everyone can give that.”
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Relief grants help some dioceses plug budget holes; others step up service in their communities
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruptions to parish life, dioceses have provided details on how they are putting to use more than $3 million in one-time churchwide relief grants. The wide range of examples point to the diverse ways in which congregations are adjusting, innovating and surviving in these unprecedented times.
Starting last year, each diocese was able to request a $40,000 grant to use however it saw fit, no strings attached, and 76 dioceses had received grants as of Executive Council’s last meeting, in late January. A spreadsheet summarizing the grant requests was provided to Episcopal News Service by the church’s finance office.
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PREVIOUSLY SHARED...WORTH REPEATING | |
Health Screening: Do you wonder about the cardiovascular health of yourself and/or loved ones? Do you have any risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, smoking, or family history? If you have any of these concerns or “just want to make sure” you are healthy, you have the opportunity to take advantage of a preventative screening at St. Bede’s Luther Hall on Saturday, March 5, 2022. St. Bede’s is hosting the Life Line Screening team who will be working in collaboration with the Beverly Hills Health Center. Life Line Screening uses advanced ultrasound technology that looks inside your arteries for signs of plaque buildup. They offer five different screenings for $139. They have partnered with over 100 hospitals across the country and have conducted over 10 million screenings since 1993. To register for your appointment, please call 1-888-653-6450 or visit https://llsa.social/HSC. | |
Annual Meeting: The Vestry of St. Bede's has rescheduled the meeting to Sunday, February 27, 2022. The meeting will begin at 11:30 AM and be held in a hybrid format (in-person and online). If conditions allow, we will host a luncheon following the meeting. | |
Digital Service Program Initiative: The initiative encourages congregation members to download the Sunday service program onto their mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Kindle, etc.) to minimize our overall environmental footprint. Our initial goal by Holy Week 2022 is to reduce our weekly printing output by 15%. Each week in The Quill, there is a link to the Service Program page on St. Bede’s Website. Programs are uploaded by Saturday evening and often earlier. A link to the page can also be found under the “Worship and Education” tab on St. Bede’s Website. | | | | |
