January 11, 2024 | VOLUME 36, ISSUE 02

VIEW AS WEBPAGE

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

January 14, 2024

SCRIPTURE READINGS

1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20)

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

John 1:43-51

Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

Preacher: The Reverend Dr. Akani Fletcher

Sunday, January 14, 11:30 AM: End-of-Life Advance Planning seminar in the Parish Hall

Sunday, January 21, 7:30 PM: The Friends of Music presents The Avanti Ensemble, performing Schubert's "Trout" Quintet in the Sanctuary



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



Reverend Dr. Akani Fletcher partners with the choir for his sermon at the MLK service last year on February 15, 2023.

Join us for an educational seminar with Dignity Memorial / Gates Kingsley & Gates Smith Salsbury Funeral Directors [FD 2336] following the MLK service this coming Sunday. We will discuss pre-planning, veteran benefits, and provide you with resources in order for you to protect yourself and your family. Our mission is to help create remembrances that reflect the unique values, character and traditions of the families we serve. That is our passion, that is our purpose, that is our promise. Guaranteed. Our short, twenty minute presentation will help you make a more informed decision should you choose to work with our team and our organization in securing your final arrangements and providing protection and peace of mind to your loved ones.

The Procession

The beloved congregation

Visiting priests show their loving support

Sr. Warden Bond Harper delivers a warm welcome to all in attendance while Rev. Jennifer looks on

Sr. Warden Bond Harper & Jr. Warden stand-in Alice Short accept letter of installation from Bp.

Bp. Taylor gives lively, relevant and powerful sermon

Rev. Jennifer holds up painting of St. Bede's, a gift given by Vestry members Emily Mayock & Roman DelRio

Rev. Jennifer & daughters Emma & Francesca engage in a loving embrace after they give her a family photo gift

Bible & Breakfast representatives, Ralph & Cay Sibley, give Jennifer gift of Bible & Commentary

Holy Communion

Dismissal given by our newly installed rector, The Rev. Jennifer Wagner Pavia

The Recession

We all toast our newly installed rector, Jennifer!

Additional photos can be found here. You can also upload your own photos at this site.

A Letter from Rev. Jennifer

Dear Friends,

January 29 marks one year when St. Bede's Search Committee members first interviewed me on a Zoom call. I imagined if this community could be my spiritual home. With generosity, kindness, and the ease of a group well known to each other, they asked thoughtful questions with genuine curiosity about my life in and out of the collar. Even through a computer screen, I could sense a distinctive ethos and vibe, and wanted to know more about you.

A few meetings in person, and a lunch with the Vestry later, I felt a strong tug of the Holy Spirit calling me to ministry alongside you. At the same time, the Spirit called St. Bede's to partner in ministry with me. We both said yes!

We've spent a liturgical year together (Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, and more Ordinary Time), inspired and empowered by the Spirit that leads us forward. I've seen how "belief in faith through action...united in Christ through the values of social justice, diversity, and our call to love and live our faith in this world" are not just aspirational words from your Parish Profile. This is my witness of you living your faith within and outside these four walls, caring for each other and working together to help heal a hurting world.

Last Saturday, on the Feast of the Epiphany, the LA Diocese recognized the special partnership between rector and congregation at a service of The Renewal of Ministry with the Welcoming of a New Rector. Diocesan Bishop John Harvey Taylor presided over a packed house of the faithful. Friendly and generous ushers welcomed family, friends, and clergy from around the Church, and our new friends from A'Havat Torah. Glorious music from Music Director Frank Basile and the choir, a beautiful sanctuary decked out for Christmas and Epiphany, a thoughtful and creative liturgy, an abundant (and fun!) reception by the Sisters of Bede, and everyone else involved to host an important service of this size, made it a day I will never forget. Bp. Taylor preached with his trademark wit, and depth of thought and feeling. His affection and respect for this community is obvious. We laughed, we cried, we passed the peace for fifteen minutes! We were gifted a day of blessing and joy. St. Bede's is featured in the Bishop's Blog of the Episcopal News. You can read it here: (https://diocesela.org/the-bishops-blog/)

I am grateful for the trust you have placed in me to lead, pastor, and love you all through good days and challenging ones. We live in a time of heightened fear and violence, making the Gospel message of hope, peace, and God's unwavering and inclusive love more important than ever. In thanksgiving for our own resources and abilities, we live into ministry that seeks to break down barriers, serve all people, and love our neighbors as ourselves in the name of Jesus the Christ.

As Bp. Taylor instructed before the final blessing, "We have celebrated this new pastoral relationship in the great prayer of the Church. Jennifer, I commend to your love and care the people of St. Bede's. My brothers and sisters in Christ, I commend to your love and care your new Rector, colleague and friend, Jennifer."

Beloveds,

God’s blessing be with you,

Christ’s peace be with you,

the Spirit’s outpouring be with you, now and always. Amen.

Yours in Christ,

Jennifer+

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.

Mackenzie meets with fellow Anglican Communion representative Archbishop Julio Murray, bishop of Panama and primate of Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America.

Lester Mackenzie, Episcopal Church rep to COP28, reports that church’s influence is growing – but so is climate menace

By Pat McCaughan 

The 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP28, included a first-time ever faith pavilion with an intentional focus on the voices of Indigenous people, but left the Rev. Lester Mackenzie wanting “mechanisms for actionable steps,” he told a January 8 regular meeting of the Bishop’s Commission on Climate Change.

Mackenzie, who serves as rector of St. Mary’s Church in Laguna Beach, was among 21 delegates representing the office of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry at the 2023 United Nations climate change conference. COP28 was held Nov. 30 through Dec. 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mackenzie attended the second week of the conference in person, he said.

The Episcopal Church’s presence was tangible. “We kept sharing The Episcopal Church’s mission towards collective responsibility environment for future generations,” Mackenzie said. “It was a lot of work, a lot of late nights and a lot of relationship building. It’s wonderful because it affirmed just how far we’ve come as an Episcopal Church … and how cutting edge we are in this conversation in Los Angeles.”

He added: “I want to celebrate more how much we connect with real people on the ground in local communities, not only within our Episcopal Church, but … the Anglican Communion. We had so many people coming around. We don’t celebrate enough. We don’t make people aware about that enough. We need to do that more often.”

READ MORE HERE

A crew of seafarers sit and stand aboard their ship docked at the Port of Baltimore in Maryland. Photo: Maggie Schorr

Episcopal-affiliated nonprofit supports seafarers docked in Baltimore, Maryland

By Shireen Korkzan

For the Rev. Joshua Messick, executive director of the Baltimore International Seafarers’ Center, a typical work day consists of going inside bulk carriers docked at the Maryland port to offer seafarers welcome gifts to pass on to their families, local information, transportation and spiritual counseling.

“We’re really trying to make a welcoming space for seafarers to come and see different faces outside of their regular floating four walls and be able to relax,” Messick told Episcopal News Service. “They can come to the center, which we’ve newly renovated, and have some refreshments and be somewhere different for a bit. We provide good quality internet here for them to call their families.”

Seafarers’ time ashore is “very limited” before they need to depart for their next destination. If a seafarer who’s cleared to leave the ship requests to run errands, Messick and his small team operating near Fort McHenry will offer transportation to wherever they ask to go, usually a nearby shopping mall for entertainment to keep them preoccupied during voyages and gifts to send their family, or a grocery store for provisions. Sometimes, the seafarers simply request to order food from McDonald’s.

“Seafarers go unseen and underappreciated most of the time, so my job is to do what I can for them and to help shed light on their work, their industry and what they do for us every day,” Messick said. “We can’t live our lives without the work that they do, so what I do is I serve the people that move the world.”

READ MORE HERE

View the latest edition of Episcopal News Service