July 11, 2024 | VOLUME 36, ISSUE 28

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

July 14, 2024

Preacher: The Reverend Holly Cordone

Saturday, July 13, 7:00 PM: "Mexico City Fish Dinner" SoB venue at Hornof-Scharre residence

Wednesday, July 17, 12:30-6:00 PM: Volunteer opportunity with Better Angels (see flyer & article below)

Backpack Project with Dinner at St. Bede's: Date tbd. Donations needed.

Bible and Breakfast

Tuesdays | 9:30 AM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Midweek: Evening Prayer thru 7/17

Wednesdays | 7:00 PM

Sanctuary

Adult Forum: Break until 7/24

Wednesdays |

Luther Hall & Zoom

BETTER ANGELS VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

DATE: Wednesday, July 17

A volunteer opportunity is available to St. Bede's parishioners who would like to help the Better Angels organization combat homelessness. According to parishioner Elizabeth Combs, some members from LAN4N, the organization that previously hosted homelessness services at St. Bede’s on a monthly basis, are now volunteering with Better Angels.

FROM THE BETTER ANGELS WEBSITE

We believe the time has come for the residents of LA county to tackle homelessness head on. Better Angels is taking a bold, holistic approach to confront this huge, complex problem.

The Bitter Reality:

Homelessness in LA is escalating despite billions in taxpayer-approved spending. The government has failed to create sufficient housing, and non-profits, while well-intentioned, lack the resources to address the crisis at scale. Bureaucratic delays mean new government initiatives are slow and inefficient, with much of Proposition HHH funds being spent on costly, slow-to-build units. We urgently need more housing, as existing shelters and outdated service systems are inadequate. Basic needs like clean water, bathrooms, and trash pickup are not being met.

The Solution:

Homelessness may seem like an insurmountable issue, but we can solve it together. Our community, the largest and most culturally diverse in the U.S., will use innovative thinking, practical solutions, advanced technology, and hard work. As Lincoln urged, let’s unite for the betterment of our City of Angels.

After years of researching what works and what doesn’t, and meeting with everyone from supportive housing providers and government officials to shelter workers and citizens eager to help, it’s clear that we need a more aggressive, comprehensive, and integrated approach to tackling this crisis. We are simultaneously addressing five critical areas to tackle the homelessness epidemic in our city.

Preventing Homelessness (prevention pillar): Intervening early to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place
Community Engagement (services pillar): Empowering communities throughout LA county to serve our unhoused neighbors
Shelter Accessibility (shelter pillar): Providing modern tools to locate the right shelter for the right person at the right time
Expanding Housing (housing pillar): Innovating real estate finance to rapidly increase the affordable housing supply in LA county
Innovative Enabling Technology (tech pillar): Harnessing the power of tech to move people from the streets to the path back to housing

The Better Angels’ holistic approach has already had a notable impact, demonstrating the power of collective action and pragmatic solutions. The Better Angels 2023-2024 Impact Report is available here.

ST. BEDE'S BACKPACK PROJECT RETURNS

By Alice Short

For the last several years, St. Bede’s has partnered with First AME Church on a

back-to-school backpack project for children in foster care, and this summer we

are doing it again!

We plan to fill 45 backpacks (15 for elementary school-age children, 15 for middle

school and 15 for high school), and we’re collecting monetary donations to buy the

supplies that will go in the backpacks.

If you’re writing a check, please make them payable to St. Bede’s with “Backpack

Project” in the memo portion (at the lower left corner of the check.) You can bring

the checks (or cash) to church, mail the checks to church, or send your checks to

Alice Short (3156 Coolidge Ave. Los Angeles 90066). In addition, you can donate

via the St. Bede’s Vanco e-giving and payment process site.

We’d be grateful if you could make your donations by July 26, and we plan to

schedule our “assembly dinner” shortly after that (early August is likely).

Questions? Please reach out to members of the mission committee.

REDISCOVER THE ST. BEDE'S BOOK CART

Bring out your (gently) used books!

The St Bede’s Book Cart, located at the north end of Luther Hall, is alive and well! It’s attracting so many readers that we are in need of gently used fiction, particularly mysteries and thrillers.

How does it work? Donated books are lovingly curated by Kathy Russell and Melora Sundt, and rotated onto the shelves. Recently donated books receive a colored sticker, coded to the month in which we acquired the book. Any book remaining after 4 months is pulled off the shelves and donated elsewhere, making room for new books. We review and refresh the cart on the first Sunday of each month.

Mysteries and thrillers are particularly popular, so please check your own bookshelves, and bring your oldies-but-goodies to St. Bede’s. You can leave them on top of the cart or give them to Kathy or Melora when you see us. Please donate only books in good condition and perhaps route those outdated textbooks, old health books, and the dusty, battered volumes to other worthy charities.

As always, there are no prices on the books in the book cart, but we’d appreciate your leaving a donation in the baskets on the cart if you decide to claim something new to read. All proceeds go to the scholarships for NYA.

Thank you!

Melora Sundt

PRAYER FOR PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND

ST. BEDE'S ONLINE GIVING PORTAL

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.

EPISOCOPAL NEWS SERVICE

Ethan Morris became organist for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chillicothe when he was 16 years old. Now 17, he will continue serving in that role until he graduates from high school in 2025. He plans to study organ performance in college. Photo: Chillicothe Bands/Facebook

Southern Ohio parish’s teenage organist continues to impress congregation, community

By Shireen Korkzan

Ethan Morris learned to play piano when he was 9 years old. He discovered the organ a year later and immediately fell in love with the instrument.

Morris is also quite good at playing the organ – so good that he became the organist for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chillicothe, Ohio, in the Diocese of Southern Ohio, at 16 years old. Now 17, Morris plans to continue performing every Sunday worship service until he graduates from Chillicothe High School next year.

“I fell in love with the organ because it’s a powerful and very versatile and expressive instrument,” Morris told Episcopal News Service. “The organ can make you sound like you are playing a whole orchestra at your fingertips.”

Todd Boler, St. Paul’s music director, told ENS that he was “astounded” by Morris’ talent when he auditioned for the organist position. He now serves as Morris’ mentor and has been teaching him how to perform as an accompanist in any church setting. The goal is to help prepare him for upcoming college auditions and to become marketable as a professional musician, especially during a time when the number of professional church organists is declining while the most selective music schools cap admission to one or two organ performance majors per academic year.

Episcopal, Anglican leaders respond to Israel’s forced closure of Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza

By Shireen Korkzan

Israel Defense Forces on July 7 forced Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City to close and evacuate all patients and staff after declaring the hospital’s immediate vicinity a “red zone” and conducting a series of drone strikes nearby, according to a July 8 statement from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. The diocese operates the hospital.

“We protest the closure of our hospital in the strongest possible terms,” Archbishop Hosam Naoum, bishop of the diocese and primate of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, said in the statement. “In a time of warfare and great suffering it is essential that emergency healthcare services are maintained to treat the injured and the dying.”

The diocese’s statement also said one of its ambulances was fired upon as it was en route to Al Ahli, but no information about the driver and passengers is available.

“We stand in solidarity with our Anglican family, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, against the closure and evacuation of this vital diocesan health ministry,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said in a July 8 statement released by The Episcopal Church’s Office of Public Affairs. “This action violates the dignity of already-vulnerable people and is against international humanitarian law.”

FROM THE EPISCOPAL NEWS

A newsletter serving the diocese of Los Angeles

Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe is flanked by his two immediate predecessors, Katharine Jefferts Schori and Michael Curry. Photo: Diane Jardine Bruce

Reporting from the 81st General Convention of The Episcopal Church

Louisville, Kentucky, June 21 – 28, 2024

From The Episcopal News

Click on the report date to view details

June 21

Episcopalians gather in Louisville | from the Bishop’s Blog: “Juneteenth and the work yet to be done” | presiding bishop candidates’ forum to be moderated by Thomas Diaz, deputy from Los Angeles

June 22

Presiding bishop candidates’ forum | House of Deputies president candidates’ forum

June 23

Revival meeting with Presiding Bishop Curry | Bishops and deputies begin legislative work on first official day of General Convention | Bishops pass 3 resolutions on peace in Gaza, Palestinian state, reject 4 other Middle East resolutions

June 24

Diocese of Los Angeles storms General Convention – photos of LA. bishop deputies, volunteers, exhibitors, and staff in Louisville | Demonstrators call out bishops for inaction on Holy Land resolutions; bishops later change course on one | Deputies reject proposal calling for Episcopal Church to sharply reduce diocesan assessment by 2033 | L.A. voices are heard in budget debate | Deputies’ vice president accuses president of leadership failures; president calls it ‘misrepresentation’ | LGBTQ+ bishops, deputies and others celebrate progress toward inclusion with photo op

June 25

House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris reelected on first ballot | Deputies celebrate advance of Navajoland resolution creating missionary diocese | Bishops pass ceasefire resolution, debate use of ‘genocide’ | Steve Nishibayashi, Thomas Diaz join fellow nominating committee members to introduce candidates for presiding bishop | Deputies, bishops from companion dioceses of Taiwan, Los Angeles meet

June 26

Sean Rowe elected 28th presiding bishop, will begin nine-year term Nov. 1 | Los Angeles bishop, deputies applaud election of Sean Rowe as next presiding bishop | From Bishop John Harvey Taylor’s blog – “Going off the grid for election of a new presiding bishop”

June 27

Kentucky priest elected vice president of House of Deputies | Bishops, youth working to end gun violence unite in Louisville rally | House of Deputies repudiates pro-slavery views of 19th century house president in somber vote | Bishops defeat prison reform measure

June 28

81st General Convention wraps up in Louisville | Presiding bishop-elect calls the church to ‘think differently’ about how it should work for the sake of sharing the Gospel | Bishops, deputies unanimously vote to adopt prayer to remember Indigenous children forced to attend boarding schools | Pride of the diocese(s) – Award for the best stanchion decor.

Bloy House names Paul Daniels as new dean; diocesan theological school relocates to Echo Park

[The Episcopal News] Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Los Angeles, today named as its new dean the Rev. Paul Anthony Daniels, rector of the Westside’s St. Mary in Palms parish and a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at Fordham University.

In his new post, Daniels will be based at St. Paul’s Commons, the diocese’s Echo Park headquarters, to which Bloy House has relocated. He succeeds Canon Linda Allport, who on June 30 retired as dean. Concurrently, the Very Rev. Gary Hall has retired as president, having held that office since 2020.

“Paul Daniels brings his amazing gifts and energy to the Bloy House deanship at an historic time for our home-grown theological school,” said Bishop John Harvey Taylor, chairman of the Bloy House board of trustees and an alumnus of the school.

“In recent years, thanks to its president, Gary Hall, its first-ever lay dean, Linda Allport, and its devoted board, Bloy House has accomplished an historic transformation,” Taylor noted. “Its charism has always been to rush in and provide the kind of teaching a changing church needs. Once an innovative option for master of divinity candidates balancing family and work responsibilities, Bloy House now innovates through lay leader education and licensing, affordable Christian education for all, and education for the diaconate.