On Wednesday, September 27th, 56 people with a shared interest in ethnic and multicultural ministries came together in a "Visioning Day" to develop a strategic plan for those ministries in the Diocese of California. The daylong meeting was facilitated by the Rev. Michael Yoshii, Pastor of Buena Vista United Methodist Church in Alameda, and included a reflection and response by Bishop Marc Andrus and other diocesan leaders.

According to the Rev. Richard Helmer, Coordinator of the Ethnic and Multicultural Ministries Strategic Plan Steering Committee, "Right now, ethnic and multicultural ministries tend to operate in isolation -- what some have called a silo mentality -- and it is very clear that it will be more fruitful if these ministries become a part of the greater movement of the diocese and collaborate with one another."

Helmer also expressed how important it is for there to be even broader consensus throughout the diocese that this is work worth doing. "We attempted to gather as much of the leadership form across the dioceses as possible with hope that we could forge a strategic plan and build investment in that plan."
 

For eight years Rod Dugliss, PhD, has been the dean of the School for Deacons in Berkeley. The School for Deacons is an institution of the Diocese of California, which also provides diaconal formation for most of the Diocese of Northern California and for most of the Diocese of El Camino Real. There are twelve school weekends a year (held every three weeks), and a mandatory school retreat -- the thirteenth weekend. The School for Deacons is the only diaconal educational program in the country that confers a degree: a Bachelor of Diaconal Studies (BDS).

I must be honest that I've always been a little dumb when it comes to diaconal ministry. For one thing, spelling words like diaconal and diaconate drives me crazy. But my real problem has been trying to understand why the ministry of a deacon seems so much like the ministry of a priest, and so much like the ministry of a lay person, and not very much like either. Perhaps I was a bit too antagonistic in my questions for Dugliss -- a man I really like … he's kind and intelligent and one of the most gracious men you'll ever meet -- but my antagonism came from a place of really needing to understand. I mean I went through catechism in the '70s when we had to memorize all of the answers by rote, and I graduated from seminary, so I should know more about the ministry of deacons than I do.

Episcopod, a podcast hosted by Sean McConnell, Communications Officer of the Diocese of California, has posted the audio of Bishop Marc's address to the 157th Diocesan Convention -- his first. You can listen to Bishop Marc's address through iTunes (click the button below to go to Episcopod in iTunes), or from Episcopod's website.

(Newly Updated: 10/27/2006)

This summer at the General Convention, in a discussion within the House of Bishops, one bishop raised an objection to language that referred to the Baptismal Covenant in a resolution regarding relationships within the Anglican Communion. He claimed that the affirmations that follow the Apostles’ Creed in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer are unique to the Episcopal Church, that other members of the Communion either have another set of affirmations attached to the Creed, or, most commonly, rely on the Apostles’ Creed alone to make the Baptismal Covenant

I would like to suggest that the BCP 1979 form of the Baptismal Covenant, precisely in its stirring set of affirmations following the Creed, makes the Creed dynamic rather than static. Or, you could say it gives the Creed feet. Or, best of all, it allows the Creed to dance. While Bishop Pike said we should sing the Creed (not I think to make it easier to assent to, but because singing makes the Creed prayer), the Episcopal Church form of the Baptismal Covenant lets the Creed dance.
 

The Rev. Dr. J. Barton Sarjeant, former Rector of St. John's, Ross, died September 14th, after a long illness, surrounded by his friends and family.

Sarjeant was born on July 16th, 1939, to Dorothy & Gerald Sarjeant of San Pedro. During college both his chaplain and parish priest urged him to go to seminary. He began his Masters of Divinity studies at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in 1962. That same year he also married his high-school sweetheart and love of his life, Beverly Racek.

At seminary he developed an intellectual curiosity and love of literature, alongside his passion for people, and in 1965 he followed his true calling and became a parish priest. "There wasn't anything else I wanted to do," he said. "I simply wanted to be with people, young and old, in the triumphs and tragedies of life-in their homes, at their bedside, and at their graveside."

St Francis' Episcopal Church is very pleased that in April, 2006, the St. Francis Neighborhood Food Pantry was presented with the very first Food Pantry of the Month Award given by the San Francisco Food Bank.  Comments from the clients surveyed during the award process gave the pantry high marks for the quality of the food selection and many stated that the clients were always treated with respect.

In 2002, St. Francis Church was approached by St. Gregory of Nyssa Church (who was operating a pantry on Potrero Hill), and by the San Francisco Food Bank, and asked if they would be interested in becoming a Pantry site.  The Rev. Bente Carter approached the Vestry with this proposal who eagerly responded to the call.

Cal Bears fans! Save the date of Friday, November 3 for “An Evening with Lee Grosscup,” a fundraiser for UC Berkeley Canterbury. The event will include a dinner with a discussion and question and answer period with Grosscup, and will be held at Christ Church in Alameda.

Lee Grosscup, former all-American quarterback and first round draft pick with the New York Giants in 1959, provided color commentary for Golden Bears football for 15 years and is currently the co-host of the Cal Bears radio post-game show, “The Fifth Quarter.” He is also an Episcopalian, an active member of Christ Church since 1987. He was confirmed by Bishop William Swing in 1996. “I had to play golf with him first, and he beat me,” Grosscup says.

Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”  (Luke 18:16-17)

This scripture certainly makes it clear that children are important to Jesus. And if nothing else, it calls us, as adults who lead and serve in our parishes, to consider children in our church discussions and planning, particularly around stewardship which affects all aspects of our lives.

I think this verse also tells us that adults can learn a lot from children. Luke 18 continues by telling the story of the man who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus tells him to sell all his possessions and distribute the money to the poor, the man hangs his head in sadness, unable to fulfill Jesus’ call. Yet how often do we witness children eagerly share all that is in their pockets or their piggy banks to help a friend or a cause they care about. 

Generosity lives in children’s hearts. As adults, it is our role to empower children to discover, nurture, celebrate and share this God-given generosity. This is beyond simply including children in common stewardship practices, but is about modifying the practices so that children can experience the transformation that comes from a deepened relationship with God.

The March 2006 17-day tour of China, a benefit for International Maritime Center (IMC), has now come and gone.  The tour was a great success!  The group was comprised of 130 travelers, 38 of which were in the IMC tour group, many of whom during the course of the trip became great friends.

The travelers visited Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuhan, Chongqing, Guilin, Xi’an, and Beijing, and spent five nights and six days on the Yangtze River and half a day on the Li River.  Travelers visited the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, The Temple of Heaven, and The Summer Palace.  They also saw the Terra-cotta Soldiers, the Neolithic Bampo Village, the Wild Goose Pagoda, and  the mountains along the Li River, the Three Gorges and the Lesser Gorges on the Yangtze River.  They visited carpet, silk, embroidery, jade, cloisonné, tea, and carpet production facilities, and had an opportunity to shop at a market attached to the facility. One highlight was the beautiful and educational tour on the Yangtze River.

"Walk in Their Shoes" is a weekly public witness to the human cost of war held most Saturdays from noon to 1:00 p.m. in San Mateo's Central Park. Participants walk a labyrinth lined with shoes while a list of the names of all those who have died in Iraq is read. 

In an attempt to raise consciousness about the human cost of the occupation, a simple rope labyrinth is lined with shoes of every description:  boots, sneakers, sandals, high heels, bedroom slippers, children's shoes.  These represent all the dead: military and civilians, men and women and babies.

Most of us still remember how frightened we were being taken to the doctor as children – no matter how nice the physician, and how good the candy was afterward. St. Luke’s Hospital Auxilians remember and they are wrapping their arms around the community’s children in supporting the creation of a pediatric treatment room at St. Luke’s Hospital Emergency Department.

“Each year over 7,000 children from the community come to St. Luke’s ER for immediate medical attention,“ said Dr. Marc Snyder, Medical Director of St. Luke’s Emergency Department. “Entering a big city ER is frightening enough for anyone, but imagine the impact on a small child. We are very grateful to St. Luke’s Auxiliary for helping us fund a child-friendly treatment room in the ER with their Musée luncheon and fashion show on November 15.”

In early August members of God Squad, a ministry collaboration of youth from six Contra Costa congregations, travelled to the Gulf Coast to assist in building and clean up projects. Almost one year after the devistation wrought by Hurricanes Katrina there is still plenty of work to be done and the youth of God Squad proved to be up to the task. They not only worked hard, but they prayed and reflected on the spiritual meaning of their work, and they contributed text and photos for a blog recounting the experience. Amazing tales of their experiences and encounters can be read at their blog: GodSquad on Mission. 

St. Francis’ Episcopal Church in San Francisco (The Rev. Bente Carter, Rector) announces its eighth season of Choral Evensongs under the direction of Robert J. Kerman, Organist and Choirmaster. Four Evensongs will be presented during the 2006-2007 academic year.

For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling—if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see,everything has become new!
2 Corinthians 5.2-4, 16,17

[Photo: The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus during the prayers for his ministry as Bishop of California.]

At 11:00 a.m. (Pacific) today, the Diocese of California will receive its eighth bishop, the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, in a recognition and investiture service at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.  Many will gather from around the Diocese, with visitors from throughout the Episcopal Church and the world. Overflow seating is still available in Grace Cathedral's Gresham Hall, where two large screens will provide a close up view of the liturgy, and participants will share in the Holy Eucharist. A reception will follow the service, and tickets for the reception can be purchased at the Cathedral ($30 for adults, $25 for children).

If you are not able to attend the investiture service at Grace Cathedral you can watch a webcast of the service at www.GraceCathedral.org. The webcast will be available beginning at 10:30 a.m.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p. 515) 

It’s not too late to enroll in the summer session course Making a Home for Difference: Implications for Mission from the General Convention of 2006. Taught by Donn Morgan, president and dean of the Church Divinity School of Pacific in Berkeley, the course will be held 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, July 31 – August 4 on the CDSP campus. Beneath the excitement and publicity of some decisions at General Convention, there were many important commitments made by the Episcopal Church.  How do we make sense of it all?  How do we begin to put it all into action?  What are our next steps?  Come together with us to chart a path for your church’s mission and ministry.

To enroll, go to www.cdsp.edu/call_sumclass.html or call 510-204-0720.

What is going to become of me? That is my retirement question, BUT it has been my question for a long time.

The Searing

In 24 hours of a day in February 1993, I was visited by an urgent possibility. Some day, probably soon, the world will get so frustrated and alarmed by religiously motivated violence that it will demand that religions, collectively, get their act together. If a United Nations, why not a United Religions? So I committed the rest of my life to the creation of a new culture among religions, whatever the name, whatever the organizational design. The pilgrimage began in earnest.

The 27-year legacies of the seventh Bishop of California, William E. Swing, are temporal, spiritual and tangible. Only California’s first two bishops, William Ingraham Kip and William Ford Nichols, served longer terms (Kip, 40 years, and Nichols, 31).

In a recent interview and addresses to the diocese, Swing reviewed his tenure with characteristic humor, candor and humility. “Surprise factors and simple things,” stood out, he said – from making sure that all the diocese’s bishops’ portraits were in place, to seeing that money was in hand for a hugely expanded ministry. The diocese in 2006 supported some $14.5 million in beneficial programs, many under Episcopal Charities.

Members of congregations in the Diocese of California do not reflect the population of the Bay Area, according to several participants in a May 12 meeting with Bishop-elect Marc Andrus. The comment was not posed as criticism, but rather as an observation of the current situation.

Andrus had requested the meeting the day after his election, after reading comments in the San Francisco Chronicle from several members of the diocese who felt that the election was a missed opportunity to “move beyond the white Anglo male.”

The committee charged with facilitating a smooth transition of episcopal leadership in the diocese has announced two days of events to celebrate the recognition and investiture of the Right Rev. Marc Handley Andrus as the eighth bishop of California.

In twenty-seven years of writing to you, I have spent little or no time covering breakaway groups in the Bay Area which use our prayer book and hymnals, which advertise in the yellow pages under our name, but which have no legitimate standing in the Episcopal Church or the Anglican Communion.  My conviction has been that we as an historic people of God are on mission.  So let’s be about that mission; let’s not devote energy to the folks who have set up shop nearby and who trade off our good name.  The old saying goes like this:  “The dogs bark and bark, but the wagons moved on.”  So I’ve tried to keep us moving ahead on the mission of Jesus Christ, not bogged down in intramural squabbles

Nevertheless I want to share just a little sampling of my experience of these folks with you.  Perhaps this might be of help to you in the future as you discern what the words “Episcopal” and “Anglican” mean when you drive by church signs.

Episcopalians in the Diocese of California are deeply grieved by the news of the deaths of Prince Tu'ipelehake and his wife Princess Kaimana, and of Vinisi Hefa. Our hearts go out to King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, the people of Tonga, and the Tongan community in the San Francisco Bay Area in this time of sadness and grief.

The Prince and Princess were champions for justice and peace, and they leave behind a legacy of hope for the Tongan people. Please know that our prayers are with you, and may their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

On Sunday, July 23, the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus will gather together with the youth and young adults of the Diocese of California to celebrate their creativity and to honor all creation. Presented by Youth and Young Adult Ministries (YaYA), Sunday in the Parc with Marc is an opportunity to meet with and celebrate the eighth Bishop of California.

Held at Oakland's Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline Park (map), from 2 to 5 p.m., the event is open to all. Bring a picnic and your favorite outdoor activities and make a day of it.

The event will include live music and a celebration of all creation called Cosmic Walk: California Story, led by Eleanor DelBene, D. Min. A cosmic walk is a telling of the history of the universe, as inspired by the writings of cosmologist Brian Swimme.

For more information, contact Susan Peek at 415.869.7818. 

High-school aged youth from six Episcopal congregations in the Contra Costa deanery have come together to form the God Squad.   The God Squad’s focus is community service.  The congregations are:

• Church of the Resurrection, Pleasant Hill
• St. Anselm’s, Lafayette
• St. George’s, Antioch
• St. Michaels, Concord
• St. Paul’s, Walnut Creek
• St. Timothy’s, Danville