February 29, 2024 | VOLUME 36, ISSUE 09

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Third Sunday in Lent

March 3, 2024

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Exodus 20:1-17

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

John 2:13-22

Psalm 19

Preacher: The Reverend Jennifer Wagner Pavia

Monday, March 4, 6:30 PM: Sisters of Bede meeting in Parish Hall

Tuesday, March 5, 6:00 PM: Film - "The Philadephia Eleven" at St. Augustine by-the-Sea (see below)

Sunday, March 10, 4:00 PM: Lenten Evensong with the Wessex Consort in Sanctuary

Monday, March 18, 7:00 PM: Vestry Meeting

Bible and Breakfast

Tuesdays | 9:30 AM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Midweek Eucharist

Wednesdays | 7:00 PM

Sanctuary

Adult Forum: Lenten Series - The Way of Love

Wednesdays | 8:00 PM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Wednesdays in Lent 8pm

Following the Mid-week service at 7pm

In person and via Zoom

Click here to join

The journey through Lent into Easter is a journey with Jesus. We are baptized into his life, self-giving, and death; then, we rise in hope to life transformed. This Lent, you are invited to walk with Jesus in his Way of Love and into the experience of transformed life. Together, we will reflect anew on the loving actions of God as recounted in the Easter Vigil readings, and walk through the depths of salvation history into the fullness of redemption.

In an act of civil disobedience, a group of women and their supporters organize their ordination to become Episcopal priests in 1974, at a time when female ordination was prohibited by the Episcopal Church canon law. The Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia welcomes them, but change is no small task. The women are harassed, threatened and banned from stepping on church property.

In this feature-length documentary film, being released in 2024 in this 50th anniversary year of women's ordination, we meet the women who succeed in building a movement that transforms an age-old institution, and challenges the very essence of patriarchy within Christendom.

Director's Statement

I am not Episcopalian. I was raised in a Congregational Church, and to me this story is for everyone. It is about how to break down barriers with grace, and be true to oneself in the process. And it is about standing up to institutions that do not allow all people to be who they are called to be.

The story of the first Episcopal women priests has been under the radar for decades. Perhaps this is because they disregarded certain institutional edicts, or maybe because their story is inconvenient. After all, they challenged the very core of patriarchal culture. These pioneers have taught me new ways to think about whose history is recorded and remembered, and who does the work of remembering. ​And they provide a vision for what a just and inclusive community looks like in practice. If we are serious about loving every human being as they are, then we must find new ways forward that disrupt the hierarchies we have inherited, and replace them with the same kind of radical inclusivity demonstrated by these priests. 

​

My greatest hope is that viewers will watch, listen deeply, and engage with others about how you might stand up so that all of us can live fully who we are called to be.

This film can be seen on Tuesday, March 5,starting at 6:00 PM, at St. Augustine by-the-Sea located at 1227 Fourth Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Phone: (310) 395-0977.

6pm - Evening Prayer - Chapel

6:30pm - Supper in Pierson Hall

7pm - Film Screening in Church

For more information and to watch the trailer, click here.

Additional Films on Faith in Action - Tuesday Evenings in Lent

Our faith calls us to bear witness to God's love for all by working for justice and the absolute dignity of every human being. This Lent we are screening films on people of faith at the heart of battles for racial and gender justice, peace, LGBTQIA+ rights, and equality in the church - at the global level on down to right here at St. Augustine's.

March 12 - Disturber of the Peace

6pm - Evening Prayer - Chapel

6:30pm - Supper in Sts Francis & Clare room

7pm - Screening in Church

A rare opportunity to see this unreleased documentary-in-progress on Malcolm Boyd - activist, writer and priest who served at St. A's for well over a decade. From his early days as a Hollywood producer to becoming the 1960's radical "Coffeehouse Priest" and bestselling author, Malcolm's story weaves through the violent beginnings of the Freedom Movement, the contentious eruptions against the Vietnam War and the ongoing struggle for LGBTQIA+ rights. This work-in-progress screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, Andrew Thomas. Click here for the film's website.

Running time: 1h 45min

March 19 - Of Gods and Men

6pm - Evening Prayer - Chapel

6:30pm - Supper in Pierson Hall

7pm - Screening in Pierson Hall

Of Gods and Men is based on the true story of the French Trappist monks of the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria, who were living in harmony with the largely Muslim local population until the Algerian Civil War broke out in the mid 1990s and they were faced with imminent violence and the spiritual challenge of whether to flee. Click here for the NY Times review.

Running time: 2h 2min

French with English subtitles

All films can be seen at St. Augustine by-the-Sea located at 1227 Fourth Street,

Santa Monica, CA 90401. Phone: (310) 395-0977

For more information, click here.

On Sunday, March 10, at 4:00 PM, the St. Bede's choir, joined by the Wessex Consort, will present a Choral Evensong in the Sanctuary. The event will feature Renaissance music by Christopher Tye, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Thomas Tallis. Come and experience this contemplative and prayerful music. We hope to see you there!

Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), an interfaith organization, is part of a coalition of nonprofits that are helping migrants and their families who arrive in Los Angeles with no–or very few– resources. Their current drive is focused on very young children, and the Mission Committee at St. Bede’s is hoping we can contribute.

CLUE is looking for baby formula (liquid or powdered) in all size packages (new and sealed), baby bottles (new and sealed), car seats and booster seats (either new or in good condition), and strollers (new or clean and in good working order). 

Liz Bar- El of CLUE is scheduled to come talk to the 10 a.m. service on Sunday, March 3, about the drive. For more information, please check out this link. Or you can talk to a member of the Mission Committee. Thank you !

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.

The pilgrimage group arrives at historic Goree Island, Senegal, an infamous transit point for the trade in enslaved persons. From left: Naomi Welikala, Martha Watson (partially hidden), Troy Elder, the Rev. Jean Chavanne, Lou Duncan, Bruck Rankin, Kim Ericson, Margaret McCauley, and David Telleen-Lawton.

Pilgrims from LA visit West African diocese for 'mission, outreach, and solidarity'

By Troy Elder

Nine travelers from the Diocese of Los Angeles and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe’s American Cathedral in Paris recently returned from "Forced Migration in History,” an 11-day pilgrimage of study, travel, prayer and encounter in the West African Anglican Diocese of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.

The travelers, representing St. John’s Cathedral, Los Angeles; St. George’s, Hawthorne; St. Stephen’s, Hollywood; St. George’s, Riverside; All Saints by-the-Sea, Santa Barbara; St. Mark’s, Van Nuys; IRIS (Interfaith Refugee & Immigration Service) and the diocese’s Program Group on Global Partnership, were led by Troy Elder, IRIS’s executive director. 

The purpose of the tour was to “pray, learn, interact with our African Anglican siblings, and discern future, sustained collaborations around themes of restoration, repentance for structural sin, and growth,” according to the tour announcement. 

The group “came together for this important work at the confluence of mission, outreach, and solidarity in Senegal and in Guinea, one of the poorest countries worldwide,” Elder wrote on Facebook. “A propitious, reflective beginning to Lent, and a new chapter in our revived, seven-years-and-counting relationship with our Anglican partners in West Africa.”

READ MORE HERE

The Rev. David Sibley poses with host Ken Jennings on the set of “Jeopardy!” Sibley first appeared on the show in October 2022. Photo: Jeopardy Productions Inc.

Episcopal priest returns to ‘Jeopardy!’ to compete in Tournament of Champions

By David Paulsen

The Rev. David Sibley’s four-day run on “Jeopardy!” in October 2022 has earned him a spot in the show’s Tournament of Champions, and Sibley, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Spokane, wasted no time proving he belonged there.

In the Feb. 27 episode of the popular quiz show, Sibley took a sizable, though not runaway, lead into the Final Jeopardy! round and answered the final clue correctly to maintain a razor-thin edge and advance to the tournament’s semifinals. He is now one win away from the finals in March.

Sibley, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Walla Walla, Washington, took to Facebook on Feb. 28 to thank all his fans for their support, calling himself “incredibly fortunate, and incredibly blessed.”

“One thing that I love about ‘Jeopardy!’ is that it is, in many ways, a celebration of curiosity about the world around us,” Sibley, 38, said in his post. “When we’re curious we discover things we never would have imagined about the people around us and discover aspects of our universe that would otherwise escape our sight.”

Sibley won $78,000 during his first appearances on “Jeopardy!” fulfilling a lifelong dream. He told Episcopal News Service in an interview at the time that growing up he was the kind of kid who would watch the show and “yell answers at the screen.”

Now, he has the distinction of being one of at least three Episcopal priests to compete on the show. The Rev. Kit Carlson, a priest in East Lansing, Michigan, appeared on the show in September 2008, and the Rev. Scott Russell, a chaplain at Virginia Tech, was a contestant in December 2011. Russell now serves as a chaplain at New Jersey’s Rutgers University.



READ MORE HERE

The House of Bishops poses for a photo at its March 2022 meeting at Camp Allen, near Navasota, Texas. After some bishops joined other church leaders in calling for greater scrutiny and transparency in disciplinary cases involving bishops, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and his designates have authorized the release of chronologies in six such active cases. Photo: Frank Logue

Presiding bishop announces Title IV transparency webpage detailing cases against bishops

Move follows calls by fellow bishops for renewed scrutiny

By David Paulsen

The Episcopal Church, on Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s direction, updated its website to launch a series of informational resources Feb. 22 intended to increase the transparency of pending disciplinary cases involving bishops while also making it easier for the public to file complaints and navigate the church’s inquiry process.

The new webpage on episcopalchurch.org includes chronologies for six active cases involving bishops under the church’s Title IV disciplinary canons — including two newly revealed cases against retired Florida Bishop John Howard. The webpage also shares statistical information on all complaints against bishops received in the past six months, data that will be updated at least once a year. And a blue “report misconduct” button was added to the top-right corner of all pages on the church’s website linking to the new Title IV page.

Until now, details about Title IV cases have mostly remained confidential unless they are referred to a hearing panel, the equivalent of a trial. Church canons require the release of information in hearing panel cases, though most cases are resolved without a hearing. Curry, as presiding bishop, has broad discretion under the canons to make some information public if he deems it “pastorally appropriate” to do so. Curry and, in some cases, bishops he has designated to act on his behalf are now exercising that discretion to release timelines and status updates in select cases when the “matter becomes public.” Church leaders are continuing to protect the identities of complainants and withhold other details about the allegations.

READ MORE HERE

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