March 19, 2025 | VOLUME 37, ISSUE 12

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Third Sunday of Lent

March 23, 2025



SCRIPTURE READINGS

Exodus 3:1-15

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Luke 13:1-9

Psalm 63:1-8

Preacher: The Reverend Jennifer Wagner Pavia

Saturday, April 5, 6:00 PM: "Paint & Sip & Nosh Party" SoB venue in Luther Hall

Saturday, April 19, 8:00 PM: "The Great Vigil of Easter" in Sanctuary

Sunday, April 20, 10:00 AM: "Easter Mass of the Resurrection" in the Sanctuary followed by Easter Brunch

Bible and Breakfast

Tuesdays | 9:30 AM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Midweek Eucharist:

Wednesdays | 7:00 PM

Sanctuary

Adult Forum: Lenten Study

Wednesdays, | 8:00 PM

Luther Hall & Zoom

LENTEN WEDNESDAYS

ADULT FORUM

March 12, 19, 26 & April 2

8pm

In person and via Zoom

Click here to join via Zoom

How do we live compassionately in a time of violence and despair? What can we do with our private disappointments and the anger we feel in such an unjust world? Richard Rohr turns to the writings of the Jewish prophets, revealing how some of the lesser-read books of the Bible offer us a crucial path forward today. The Tears of Things breathes new life into ancient wisdom and paves a path of enlightenment for anyone seeking a compassionate way of living in a hurting world.

Available in hard cover one day delivery on Amazon, and instantly on Audible and Kindle.

Click here to buy on Amazon

Sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace. In the case of Holy Baptism, the outward and visible sign is water in which the person is baptized in God's name, and the inward and spiritual grace is union with Christ, birth into God's family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit. Special days are set aside for baptisms, the next being The Great Vigil of Easter on April 19. If you are interested in Holy Baptism for you or someone you know, please speak with Rev. Jennifer.

The Townsend clan looks on as brother Keith gives the acceptance speech.  Pictured from the right are Vyonne, Keith’s wife, David and wife Jan, nephew Alex, Carl, nephew Spencer and Jennine.

The conference had many good topics. New this year was a new group of landowners brought in by their interest in carbon capture. We also got to sample some of New England’s finest treats including lobster rolls and locally crafted maple syrup. A second sweet surprise were several bottles of homemade black walnut syrup from Alex’s tree farm in Kentucky.  

Finally, when Keith and David got back to the ranch, they met up with brother Steve (rear left, below), and erected a permanent sign to commemorate the event.  

Luna Kovalovs, daughter of Vestry member Marissa Kovalovs, is a St. Bede's member who attends our 8:00 AM services weekly with her mother and sister. Recently Luna participated in the prestigious Showstopper Dance Competition where she performed a solo. She placed third in the 5-Year Old Advanced Jazz category!!! How exciting!

We can't help but notice that her trophy is nearly as big as she is! Way to go, Luna . . . CONGRATULATIONs❗

Yale's Classiest A Cappella Group Visits St. Bede’s

By Greg Schaffer

St. Bede's was honored to host Yale University's acclaimed a cappella group, the Yale Alley Cats, for a special concert on Sunday, March 9th. This delightful performance came to our community through the combined efforts of St. Bede's Music Director Frank Basile, a Yale alumnus and former Alley Cat, and Ryann Schaffer, a sophomore at Yale from Sherman Oaks who made history as the first female member in the group's 81-year tradition.

Schaffer, who graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills, brought her collegiate singing group to her Los Angeles hometown as part of their spring tour. Her journey to becoming an Alley Cat is particularly noteworthy - while she always aspired to join Yale's vibrant a cappella scene, she never imagined she would break the gender barrier in this storied group. Her exceptional vocal talent and musicianship have earned her a respected place among her fellow performers, opening doors for future female vocalists interested in joining the traditionally all-male ensemble. (Ryann is the daughter of the author and pictured on the right.)

The afternoon featured a captivating range of musical selections from jazz standards to contemporary hits, all arranged by current or former group members. During the performance, Ryann was featured in several solos that showcased her remarkable range and expressive interpretation, drawing enthusiastic applause from the hometown crowd. The audience was treated to the group's signature harmonies and musical sophistication that has earned them performances before notable figures and taken them to international destinations. Their blend of traditional and modern pieces showcased their versatility and talent.

Following the concert, attendees enjoyed a lovely reception in the church courtyard, where they had the opportunity to meet the Yale Alley Cats. The beautiful afternoon sunshine provided a perfect backdrop as proud family members, friends, and community members gathered to celebrate the performance. After their Mar Vista appearance, the Alley Cats will continue to Orange County before heading to Singapore and Seoul, South Korea, then returning to New Haven for the remainder of their spring semester.

Special thanks to Frank Basile for his instrumental role in bringing this talented group to St. Bede's, and to Ryann Schaffer for including her hometown in the Alley Cats' spring tour schedule and for representing Los Angeles with such distinction on the Yale campus.

Kelly Riggle-Hower & Cynthia Rothchild help set up for Alley Cats reception in the garden

Alley Cats Alum & St. Bede's Music Director Frank Basile joins in for a photo in the garden

We’re all-in for the Sisters of Bede

By Tim Peters

Check. Call. Raise. Fold. There are just four actions in the game of poker, but an infinite variety of permutations and nuances, all on display last Saturday when a small but enthusiastic crew dropped by the parish hall for a Sister of Bede’s event: “An Evening of Texas Hold’em" sponsored by me. 

We learned a little about basic poker strategy, and a lot about how different players approached the game: Carl Townsend, for example, showed a lot of discipline, while Jerry Hornof bluffed with ease. Susan Holder played solidly, as did Karen Hornof, while Rob Kadota played a cautious game (but it didn’t seem like he was getting a lot of good cards). Rob's wife Melora Sundt started off “card dead” but ended up making some big hands. Probably the biggest pot of the night was contested by Susan and Melora; both players made full houses, but Susan’s eights full of aces edged slightly ahead of Melora’s sixes full of aces. 

Pizza and salads from Pitfire, oodles of chips, and beer and root beer provided by Carl provided the kind of sustenance that poker players need. 

Thanks to the players for their interest and generosity in supporting the Sisters of Bede, and thanks to Reverend Jennifer for helping to set up and clean up. 

By Liz Mohler

I would like to say thanks to my husband Dan for manning the grill, brewmaster Carl and his wife Jennine for bringing delectable homemade beer, my high school friends who flew out with Wisconsin cheese in their suitcases, and everyone who attended the Beer and Brats! 

It’s always a pleasure to gather with our church family and it’s a treat to welcome people who have been attending for years as well as first timers! 

A large array of wonderful Wisconsin cheeses were available for noshing. An informal contest was held to determine the favorite cheese of all the guests. This encouraged everyone to sample all the cheeses and vote for the top three they liked most. The Treasure Cave Blue cheese took the prize.

What a pleasure it was to hear that Tana Raikes said that she and her husband Steve have been coming to Beer & Brats every year since she joined St. Bede’s. While highlighting the delicious food and beer, along with the delightful company, she declared that they wouldn’t miss it.

We look forward to next year and hope you can join us!

The "Paint, Sip & Nosh" Sisters of Bede venue has been rescheduled to Saturday, April 5. We truly hope that everyone already signed up can attend--and there's room for more guests.

Keep in mind that this is the FINAL "Paint, Sip & Nosh" venue since Kelly Riggle Hower and her husband, Mark, are planning a move to Spokane this summer. As an art teacher for children and a truly compassionate and beautiful soul, Kelly leads this venue with inspiration, encouragement and tons of positive feedback.

No art experience is needed—just come ready to enjoy a creative and social atmosphere. Plus, all proceeds from Sisters of Bede events go directly to St. Bede's Outreach Programs—so you can have fun while supporting a great cause!

Register Now



For more information, reach out to Kelly or Daphne. We can’t wait to see you there!

My Great, Big, Wonderful, Grownup Field Trip Day at the Balloon Museum!

By Kelly Riggle Hower

The thing about St. Bede’s is that people take you on beautiful adventures, whether it’s in a chat at coffee hour about a transformational moment in life, or in the joy of a Sisters of Bede venue … or on a field trip with some truly remarkable women to the Balloon Museum!

When Daphne Moote texted to tell me our dear Susan Holder had a jury duty conflict and asked if I'd like to join her and Stephanie Landry on an outing to the Balloon Museum, I knew absolutely zero about the museum---but I also knew that I was 100% in on this thing.

After lunch in the flower district at Poppy & Rose, a black-owned restaurant where the waitress brought free mimosas to the table because she knows a fun group when she sees one, we headed to the Balloon Museum at Ace Mission Studios on 6th Street. The big placard as we entered promised us “a groundbreaking exhibition that brings together monumental inflatable artworks by renowned international artists,” and they were not over-selling it! 

We were lifted and transported by the artists whose works engaged us in an "Alice in Wonderland"/"James and the Giant Peach"-like adventure. We crawled through a ginormous black-lit ball pit, meandered through a mirrored labyrinth, drifted through more bubbles than Lawrence Welk could have imagined in his wildest dreams, swung an enormous ball with charcoal attached that marked the walls with balloon-swipe art, and lay on our backs on bouncy-waterbed-type cushions while a giant balloon butterfly---in scintillating, vibrating colors---swept over us...to name just a few of the out-of-body and in-our-nerve-endings kind of experiences we had.

Some of the artists who contributed to this included Cyril Lancelin with a vividly alluring, luminous labyrinth, MOTOREFIICO’s wildly bouncing spheres, Sasha Frolova with her delightfully disorienting kaleidoscopic fountain. And then there is the black-light ball pit where grown adults could actually swim among black plastic balls in a stadium parking lot-sized ball pit lit with the kind of black lights I haven’t seen since a junior high school dance.

I have to say that while in that ball pit I was divided between the pure joy of a black-light mega-ball to being disoriented, invited, mystified, stimulated and just taken back to the feeling of being 5 on the big fairground Ferris wheel. We squealed, shouted and sang. Our pop repertoire included “Come Fly With Me!,” “Up, Up, and Away!,” and the lyrics to Lawrence Welk’s sign off with the Champagne Music Makers orchestra (OK, that was me, but I was very, very young when I heard that closing theme… I just have a great memory for lyrics!).

It was a day to remember, and I always will---probably even at the very end when I hardly remember my name. Thank you for inviting me, Daphne and Stephanie. And for those of my fabulous St. Bede’s fellow adventurers who haven’t been yet...what are you waiting for?

Dear friends,

Many of you have shown concern about new immigration policies and how they will impact this vulnerable population among us here in Los Angeles. Below is information about how you can get involved through CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice), an organization that St. Bede's works with and supports. Join us in preparation for this essential work.

Blessings,

Rev. Jennifer+

At the core of nearly every faith tradition lies the concept of a just, harmonious, and loving society where all souls are valued and everyone can thrive. 

It is unconscionable that people fleeing violence in other countries would be deported back to those places, regardless of threats to their safety and security.

Because the Trump Administration is threatening immigrant communities across the country (regardless of documentation status), CLUE is working across Southern California to protect immigrant workers and their families in a variety of important ways. 

You can join us in this work or support it with your donations knowing that you are doing your part to protect vulnerable people.

SUPPORT CLUES IMMIGRATION WORK

RAPID RESPONSE NETWORKS

If you see ICE Activity anywhere you go, you can report it to the Rapid Response hotlines in your area.

• Los Angeles: 888-624-4752
• Orange County: 714-881-1558
• San Bernardino/Riverside: 909-361-4588
• Kern County: 661-432-2230
• Central Valley: 559-206-0151

CLUE is working with RRN partners to offer ongoing trainings for faith leaders and community members who want to show up for workers and families being targeted by ICE.  

If you want to be trained to be a rapid responder and you live in Orange County, Los Angeles or the Inland Empire, contact Sithy Bin at sbin@cluejustice.org. 

CLUE WELCOME NETWORK

CLUE is cultivating its vast network of houses of worship to create a network of congregations that provide respite, and even longer-term shelter, to migrants released into Southern California. 

Over 30 congregations are already participating in the CLUE Welcome Network that houses asylum seekers and refugees. We receive referrals from CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights) for asylum seekers in need of shelter, from legal service providers that are seeking sponsors for people being released from detention, or direct walk-ins. Some congregations in the network provide temporary shelter or short-term housing, and others support those efforts with gifts of supplies, transportation, etc.

Thank you for standing in intimate solidarity as we seek to build a society where everyone is safe and lives with dignity.

If your congregation is interested in joining the network, offering housing or supplies or services, please contact Sithy Bin at sbin@cluejustice.org.

In faith and solidarity,

Rev. Jennifer Gutierrez

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.

Diocesan Council hears impact of federal budget cuts, policy changes; celebrates new strides in affordable housing

By Pat McCaughan

“Mind of the diocese” resolutions decrying federal measures harming vulnerable communities will be on Diocesan Council’s April agenda, calling congregations to consider action against such policies.

“Normally, Diocesan Convention does this, but it’s a long way until convention, and we are the body that stands for convention when it isn’t meeting,” said the Very Rev. Gary Hall, chair of the diocesan Program Group on Mission Congregations, who proposed drafting the resolutions during Council’s March 13 regular online meeting.

“I can’t imagine a more appropriate use our authority as a Council to act when urgent matters present themselves,” agreed Bishop John Harvey Taylor, who chaired the meeting.

Taylor cited the administration’s policies regarding climate change, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the transgender community, immigrant workers’ rights and asylees and refugees, as resolution possibilities. “I’ve had visits to churches recently on Sundays where a large number of folks … are afraid that they might be the subject of roundups,” he said. “They are said to be afraid to come to church or to go to work.”

READ MORE HERE

Members of the racial justice ministry of the Diocese of Georgia stand beside a monument dedicated to the “Weeping Time,” when in 1859, 429 enslaved people were sold in one of the single largest slave auctions in United States history. The monument was constructed by St. Cyprian’s, Darien, Georgia, and stands on the site of a former school near the church. Photo: Courtesy Clara Rowsey-Stewart

Georgia church creates ‘Weeping Time’ monument to remember 429 people sold into slavery

By Melodie Woerman

[Episcopal News Service] Clara Rowsey-Stewart and her husband, Arthur Stewart, along with other members of St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in Darien, Georgia, wanted to make sure that people in their community never forgot one of the most painful events in the history of the region – and of the United States.

The congregation recently helped create a monument to what is one of the single largest, if not the largest, auction of enslaved people in American history. The auction, which took place March 2-3, 1859, at a racetrack an hour’s drive north in Savannah, is known as the “Weeping Time,” in part because of the rain that fell nonstop throughout the auction and also because of the tears shed by those forced to leave family members and their community.

Those who were sold were the property of Pierce Mease Butler, an Episcopalian who owned a rice plantation on Butler Island, less than two miles as the crow flies from the town of Darien. The auction took place in Savannah because there wasn’t a site large enough near the plantation to hold the number of people auctioned in the sale. The monument is located in Darien not far from the church on the site of a former school named for St. Cyprian’s first Black priest.

Many of the people Butler enslaved were Episcopalians like him and attended the same church, Rowsey-Stewart told Episcopal News Service. “Everyone was an Episcopalian – Pierce, the auctioneer, the auction broker,” she said.



READ MORE HERE

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