Commission Invites Letter-Writing To State Senators For Action On Miles Hall Lifeline Act, 9-8-8 Mental Health Call Centers

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Commission Invites Letter-Writing To State Senators For Action On Miles Hall Lifeline Act, 9-8-8 Mental Health Call Centers
The Bishop’s Commission on Gospel Justice and Community Care are urging California clergy and laity to join a letter-writing campaign for senate action on the Miles Hall Lifeline Act in the state legislature.

The recent launch of the national 9-8-8 mental health crisis phone line, now accessible by every phone in the United States, has increased the interest in AB 988, the Miles Hall Lifeline Act in the California legislature, notes Sister Patricia Sarah Terry, commission chair.

Passage of this bill has been supported by mental health organizations, many police departments, and the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times.

AB 988 went before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, Aug. 1, and the meeting can be viewed here. If the bill passed Appropriations, it would go to the Senate floor for a vote by all senators.

 Is There A Promise You Hope For That Inspires Your Faith?

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 Is There A Promise You Hope For That Inspires Your Faith?
Hebrews 11: 1-3; 8-16

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
– – – – – –

In this passage from Hebrews, we hear the story of Abraham and Sarah cast as a story of faith in God’s promises. Abraham and Sarah, argues the writer, trusted that God’s promises would be fulfilled in God’s own time. These words were likely written within 50 years of Jesus’ resurrection and were meant as an assurance to those following the nascent Christian faith that, if Abraham and Sarah can act in faith, trusting that God would prepare a city for them, Christians can draw inspiration from them, and trust that God’s will shall unfold in God’s own time.

It’s been a long time since these words were written to reassure first-century Christians. We are still waiting for the full revelation of God’s kingdom on earth. Just like the descendants of Abraham, many generations of Christians “died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them” (v. 13).

  • Sometimes, the idea that the promises of God will be revealed in God’s own time can breed complacency. But the author of Hebrews argues that Abraham’s, Sarah’s, and their offspring’s faith in God’s future promises kept them moving. Is there a promise you hope for that inspires your faith? How does that promise inspire you?
This Bible study, written by Kirstin Swanson

Do You Feel At Times Unable To Pray?

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The Lord’s Prayer1 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

Perseverance in Prayer5 And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

– – – – – –

This passage in Luke’s Gospel begins a long section about discipleship, so it is fitting that he begins by talking about prayer. The Lord’s Prayer serves as a template for structuring prayer (it is shorter than Matthew’s version): adoration, supplication, and confession, as well as moral implications. Luke impresses the attitude and ethos of prayer: it should be continuous. As Paul said, we “pray without ceasing.”

Jesus’ disciples speak for us when they ask Jesus to teach them to pray. Such a request is one that we might make today! After all, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, “God is the first mover of all things,” so we must rely on the Holy Spirit to move us first, that we might participate in prayer. But the Lord has given us the words to pray that we might not be completely lost. Not only has he given us the Lord’s Prayer, but he has also given us all of Scripture, most notably the Psalms. And these prayers are both temporal and spiritual. The Lord himself has taught us to pray for both our physical needs and our spiritual needs.

  • Can you recall a time you felt unable to pray?
  • Do you have a memory of a prayer that was answered? Do you have a memory of a prayer that you felt was unanswered? How did you respond in those cases?
This Bible study, written by Jake Schlossberg

Visiting Clergy Bring Hope, Healing to Episcopalians in Virgin Islands Churches

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Graduates of the 2022 All Saints Cathedral School, who survived two hurricanes, social unrest, mass shootings, have seen more than their share of trauma, says interim dean Sandye Wilson. Photo: Sandye Wilson

– – – –

For nearly half of Trevor Bridgewater’s life, St. Mary’s Church in Virgin Gorda, in the Episcopal Diocese of the Virgin Islands, had been without a priest.

Then the Rev. Ellis Clifton arrived last November, as part of an initiative of The Episcopal Church’s Office of African Descent Ministries programs, and “Father Fireball” as he is affectionately known, has inspired visions of planting new congregations, and serving as a community hub. Attendance has tripled, and the church has added a second Sunday morning service, said Bridgewater, 30, the senior warden.

“We were without a resident priest for 13-and-a-half years,” Bridgewater said. “So, for 13-and-a-half years, St. Mary’s was trying just to stay above water.”
“It’s a great journey. They are beautiful islands down there and nobody pays attention to them, at least that’s the way they feel,” Byrd said. “My mission is to bring them into fuller participation in The Episcopal Church.”

 

The Rev.Canon Sandye Wilson, left, interim dean at Cathedral of All Saints in St.Thomas in the Episcopal Diocese of the Virgin Islands, collaborates with Provisional Bishop Scott Benhase, retired bishop of Georgia, to create new hope and ministries for congregations that have been without clergy for years. Photo: All Saints Cathedral

 

Visiting clergy already have made a visible impact.

Now, “we’ve seen incredible turnaround,” Bridgewater said. “Fr. Clifton brings new, fresh energy. Now we are in the process of finishing the construction of a barbecue pit in a park we own. The park had been dormant and inactive. Members of the church cleaned it up and we are opening it to the community to bring their children for family-oriented activities.”

Similarly, the 173-year-old Cathedral of All Saints on a neighboring island, St. Thomas, had been without a consistent dean for more than a decade, and the spiritual toll was apparent, among the congregation and students of the century-old pre-k through 12th-grade school it operates, when the Very Rev. Sandye Wilson began serving as interim dean in December 2020.

The school’s student body is about 200, a decline from previous years, “due to the reality of hurricanes over time, and families leaving the island or sending their kids away,” Wilson said.

“The students are resilient but, talk about generational trauma. This year’s class had two hurricanes that came within two weeks of each other. Then there was the George Floyd murder and then the pandemic, and mass shootings.”

Like Clifton, Wilson had responded to a call from Byrd, to “become hope peddlers in what sometimes feels like a hopeless world,” she said, by serving in a diocese, where at least half its 14 churches were without clergy.

“Ron Byrd is an innovative, entrepreneurial leader, who looks at the fact that often we have been passive about responding to the needs of congregations and clergy,” Wilson said. “He has lit a fire under many of us. He’s very clear about the fact that clergy can come for a couple of weeks and bring a spirit of respect as well as excitement about the living God, to share with others.”

Byrd created the initiative in response to a request for assistance from former Bishop Ambrose Gumbs and it is funded through his office.

“Bishop Gumbs came to me in 2018 and said we really need help in the Virgin Islands,” Byrd recalled. “‘We are worth saving’, Gumbs said. It was really a call for help, and this is just one of many programs and activities we have launched in the Virgin Islands as they are on their way to recovery.”

At the time, it was still early in the diocese’s recovery from two devastating category-5 hurricanes—Irma tore through the islands on Sept. 6, 2017, followed by Maria 10 days later. Irma, considered the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever measured, killed four people and damaged or destroyed 85% of the housing stock on Tortola Island. On Sept. 16, Maria struck St. Croix, damaging, or destroying 70% of buildings, including schools and the island’s only hospital, and knocking out the power grid and communications systems.

Byrd had initially lined up at least six visiting supply clergy, ready to go for short-term stays. Then, COVID-19 happened, Gumbs retired on May 31, 2021 and Byrd decided to expand the program to add a longer-term initiative.

 

The 173-year-old All Saints Cathedral on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands is enjoying a revival and will be hosting one for the entire community later in the year featuring the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, chaplain to the House of Deputies. Photo: Sandye Wilson

“The people here are amazing folks. Most either work in education or the tourism industry. They are proud, with a wonderful sense of humor, deeply committed to the church and doing lots of ministry in their neighborhoods and immediate communities.”

When Clifton arrived he was newly retired, recently widowed and ready for a change. “When Covid travel restrictions lifted, I jumped at the chance, and I have not regretted it one day. I live in the church rectory and it’s the finest place I’ve lived since I’ve been ordained. There is a breathtaking ocean view from the back porch, and I wake up each morning in time to see the sunrise.”

Clifton sees a renewed energy as well. Sunday school young adult programs and Bible study groups have revived, and “I’ve been blown away by the number of people who will stop in the church just to pray,” he said.

Interest in engaging the wider church has rekindled, he added. “People are hungry and thirsty for spiritual fulfillment and fellowship with the wider church.

St. Mary’s has hosted community gatherings and offered worship opportunities to grieve the hurricanes. “People died because of the hurricanes. There were problems rebuilding because the church was under-insured. So, insurance continues to be a problem.”

The Hon. Vincent Wheatley, a member who serves in local government, said St. Mary’s is resuming its former role “as the beacon on the hill.”

A September revival is planned for the entire community, featuring the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, chaplain to the House of Deputies and rector of St. Mary’s Church in Laguna Beach, in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

For Sandye Wilson, who June 24, celebrated the 42nd anniversary of her ordination to the priesthood, serving in the Virgin Islands feels like a homecoming.

“When I go places, and into stores, people are like, ‘I know who you are, I listen to you every Sunday night on the radio.’ Radio is a form of evangelism for us that works really well,” she said. “It is very important to people here. We have services on Facebook Live every Sunday morning.”

She recalled that “53 years ago, I was here, representing the Diocese of Maryland as part of a team of young people who worked on St. Croix and St. Thomas. We were working with young people whose parents worked in the sugar cane fields. We learned how to serve on the altar, and then we went back home to a Baltimore [Maryland] church where the priest told us he would rather drop dead before he’d see a girl serve on the altar.

“My call to ministry was manifested in my time in St. Croix and St. Thomas. I knew I wanted to be a priest then,” she said. “This was the place where all of that possibility got started. Life comes full circle.”

The diocese encompasses 14 churches on three islands in both the American and the British Virgin Islands and is one of two predominantly Black dioceses in The Episcopal Church, the other being the Diocese of Haiti.

What Is Your Reaction When Someone Wrongs You?

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What Is Your Reaction When Someone Wrongs You?
Psalm 52

Judgment on the Deceitful
To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

1 Why do you boast, O mighty one,
of mischief done against the godly?
All day long 2 you are plotting destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
you worker of treachery.
3 You love evil more than good,
and lying more than speaking the truth. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.

5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous will see, and fear,
and will laugh at the evildoer, saying,
7 “See the one who would not take
refuge in God,
but trusted in abundant riches,
and sought refuge in wealth!”

8 But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
because of what you have done.
In the presence of the faithful
I will proclaim your name, for it is good.
– – – – – –

David wrote this Psalm in reaction to a personal betrayal. Fearing for his life in Saul’s court after yet another attempted murder (see the book of 1 Samuel), David took refuge in the home of Ahimelech, the high priest. The chief herdsman, Doeg, informed Saul that David had taken refuge with Ahimelech, and accused the priest of confederacy with a traitor. Saul responded by ordering Doeg himself to kill all the priests.

David was clearly angry and wrote his reactions in this Psalm. But besides anger and despair, in the midst of all of his sorrows, David also finds joy. He triumphs and rejoices, full of life like a green olive tree, and gives thanks. He writes his anger into his song, blasting those who betray and lie. But David also uses his individual circumstance as an illustration of choices we make every day: One can take refuge in God, or in riches of power and wealth. For individuals or nations, the choice to live with God will make us rejoice!

  • What is your reaction when someone wrongs you?
  • How can you turn to rejoice in God’s love amidst human drama and betrayal?
This Bible study, written by Christopher Sikkema

Hundreds of Bishops & Episcopalians March, Calling for an End to Gun Violence

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Hundreds of Bishops & Episcopalians March, Calling for an End to Gun Violence
 A murder on July 7 near the site of General Convention and the urging of two bishops, including one who happened upon the scene as it unfolded, prompted a march of hundreds of people from the Baltimore Convention Center to an open area a few blocks from the scene of the shooting, coordinated by Bishops United Against Gun Violence.

According to news reports, 48-year-old Timothy Reynolds was shot and killed after an altercation with two young men who were washing drivers’ windshields at an intersection near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, about two blocks from the Baltimore Convention Center where the 80th General Convention is taking place July 8-11. After words were exchanged, Reynolds got out of his car and swung a baseball bat in the direction of those who sometimes are called “squeegee workers,” one of whom shot Reynolds. He later was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

When marchers, who had been joined by local journalists, some onlookers and curious tourists, reached an area deemed large enough to accommodate the crowd, Perry noted the march was taking place “to remember all the victims – those where were attacked by a baseball bat, and for the folks who shot a person who died, for the structures of poverty and racism that cause things like this to happen, but mostly because of the ready, accessible nature of guns in our country.”

EC Bishop PraysBishop Susan Haynes of Southern Virginia, who happened upon the scene of yesterday’s murder, reads a passage from Isaiah. 

Bishop Susan Haynes of the Diocese of Southern Virginia told Episcopal News Service that she was walking back to her hotel yesterday afternoon when she saw first responders approaching a nearby intersection. She then noticed a body lying in the street and paramedics beginning to administer CPR, later placing the man into an ambulance. “I just felt the need to stay there and pray, because there was nothing else I could do,” she said. “I had a sense that this man was dying, and he needed to have prayer as he died.” Then, she said she “spoke a word of encouragement to the police officers and thanked them for their work.”