The 11th Sunday after Pentecost

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When Has God Been Your Refuge?

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When Has God Been Your Refuge?
Psalm 71
Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help
1 In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress,[a] to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel. For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 6 Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

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In Psalm 71, the psalmist presents themselves as aged (v. 9), perhaps looking back and appealing to God not to forget them. It is a lament mingled with appeal, hope, and praise of God. The theme of God as refuge implies the psalmist’s relationship with God is one of seeing God as providing safety but also as one of a sanctuary (v. 2) or more concretely, as a stronghold (v. 3). The psalmist also expresses their faith in God from birth until now (v. 5-6).

  • When has God been your refuge? How have the psalms been a part of that experience or how could they be in the future?
  • How do your prayers to God resemble this psalm or not? What in this psalm inspires your own prayers to God?
This Bible study, written by Lisa Ginggen

What Is Fruitful In Your Life & What Needs Trimming?

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What Is Fruitful In Your Life & What Needs Trimming?
Isaiah 5:1-7

1 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!- – – – – –

Chapter five concludes the introductory section of the Book of Isaiah. While previous chapters have been hopeful, chapter five is one of indictment and judgment. The primary verdict is that God’s people have acted unjustly; they have not acted in accordance with God’s justice. Isaiah uses the metaphor of a vineyard, depicting God’s activity as agricultural labor. Israel and Judah are the vineyard in which God has labored, striving for good fruit, but what his people have yielded is inedible. He will now remove them from the land promised to their forefathers and it shall become a wasteland. Saint Jerome recalls the tears that Jesus shed for Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-44, weeping for the city that is the religious and political center of his people. Saint Basil the Great offers a spiritual reading of this passage, calling each of us to be vines in the vineyard, cultivating fruit in our souls and in our lives, so that we might not be thrown into the fire. One might think of Jesus cursing the fig tree in Mark 11 or the vine that is burned in John 15. Let us respond to, rather than reject, the Lord’s cultivating labor.

  • Where do you see fruitful branches in your life? Where do you see branches needing to be trimmed?
  • We do not often think of God grieving over his people. How does such an image change your perspective of Isaiah’s prophetic message?
This Bible study, written by Jake Schlossberg

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.
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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!”

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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

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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.