Bishops call for end to Ukraine conflict, approve racial equity resolutions

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Bishops call for end to Ukraine conflict, approve racial equity resolutions
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The House of Bishops, moving rapidly through their June 9 legislative calendar, called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and concurred with deputies to approve racial equity resolutions, marking a new chapter for The Episcopal Church.

On the 80th General Convention’s second legislative day, bishops approved Resolution A129 which directs presiding officers and the Church Pension Fund to conduct historical research on the ways in which financial and other assets of The Episcopal Church are directly tied to the enslavement of humans, the slave trade, and historical and current racial injustices, allocating $150,000 for the work.

An amended Resolution B008, “A Call for Cessation of Conflict in Ukraine,” offered by the Committee on Social Justice and International Policy, elicited lively debate.

The Rt. Rev. Mark D. W. Eddington, bishop of the Convocation of Churches in Europe, said he supported the amendment but cautioned: “We will all agree that Russia is uniquely responsible for a war of aggression in Ukraine. However, atrocities in war have a funny habit of being equal opportunity employers.

“I’m concerned that as a church our role ought to be to call on all sides in this conflict to cease war immediately. That’s the call of the Gospel and, while I support this resolution as amended, I want to offer caution that, after this is over, we will have to continue to work with churches in Russia and Ukraine and this makes it a little more difficult for us to be an even-handed broker.”

Another amendment, to remove a paragraph calling upon “the leaders of the Russian Federation and its supporters” to cease aggression and to begin negotiations, was challenged by Los Angeles Bishop John Harvey Taylor and ultimately defeated. Taylor said: “I find it difficult to imagine we can’t find a way both to identify the cause of initial aggression as well as to call upon both sides to behave humanely.”

Read more here.

Diocesan Commission To Host Mental Health Justice Town Hall, July 19th via Zoom

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Diocesan Commission To Host Mental Health Justice Town Hall
Tuesday, July 19th via Zoom; All Welcome To Attend

A Mental Health Justice Town Hall – set to underscore professional best practices for dealing with mental health crises often referred to local police – will be hosted via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19, by the Bishop’s Commission on Gospel Justice and Community Care of the Diocese of Los Angeles. All are invited to attend; registration links will be published on the diocesan website.

The town hall will be opened by Bishop John Harvey Taylor, who will introduce a pre-recorded video presentation by U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter, who represents the 45th congressional district in Orange County. An Episcopalian, Porter has long advocated for deploying mental health professionals to respond when people living with psychological issues need assistance or restraint.

Porter’s remarks will be followed by a live discussion with panelists Taun Hill, founder of the Miles Hall Foundation in memory of her late son who during a mental health crisis was fatally shot by police; Gigi Crowder, executive director of the National Alliance of Mental Illness, (NAMI), Contra Costa County; and Pete Cohen, retired sergeant, San Diego Police Department.

Read more here.

Do You Cultivate The Fruits of the Spirit?

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Do You Cultivate The Fruits of the Spirit?

Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16

1 My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. 4 All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. 5 For all must carry their own loads.

6 Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.

7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8 If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. 10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

11 See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. 14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! 16 As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

– – – – – –

Like many people who grew up in the church in America, I grew up in an environment that imposes our socio-political context on the Scriptures. Paul’s letter to the Galatians was not immune from being funneled through a myopic, individualist lens. The first half was misinterpreted to mean that each person should “do their own work” or “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” However, Paul’s intentions were quite the opposite. Paul is motivated by the desire to see communal unity. At the beginning of the letter, we remember that Paul is writing to people struggling to accept non-circumcised Jews as faithful followers of “The Way.” This is where the Galatians are reminded that the law is a trusted way to encourage and correct, but the law neither negates nor supersedes the movement of the Spirit.

Furthermore, the law is not an end in itself. The law, coupled with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, is a means to bear the fruits of the Spirit, which Paul outlines in the previous chapter. Therefore, the work that Paul is referring to is those transformational practices that allow the community to be bound together in unity – to be the hands and feet of Christ. Some may do this by following the law, and some may not, but their “work” should produce a cruciform life of self-giving love for one another, their community, and the world.

  • How do you cultivate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?
  • Can you recall a time when you were corrected with gentleness? How did you work through that correction?
This Bible study, written by Brittany Sparrow Savage

All Saints, Pasadena, Hosts Vigil Protesting Supreme Court ‘Roe vs. Wade’ Decision

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All Saints, Pasadena, Hosts Vigil Protesting Supreme Court ‘Roe vs. Wade’ Decision
All Saints Church, Pasadena, hosted a June 24 community protest against the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade. The decision will allow states to decide whether or not to allow abortions, or to restrict access to the procedure.

The rally drew hundreds of people of all ages, many carrying signs protesting the court’s decision.

California law permits abortions up to the point of viability (about the 24th week); terminating a pregnancy after that point requires certification from two doctors. Abortions are legal in California at any time in cases of rape or incest, or if the pregnant person’s life is threatened.

Since 1967, The Episcopal Church has maintained its “unequivocal opposition to any legislation on the part of the national or state governments which would abridge or deny the right of individuals to reach informed decisions [about the termination of pregnancy] and to act upon them.”

The Rev. Canon Susan Russell of All Saints (pictured below left) was among those who spoke at the rally. “Today, we catch our breath, because we’ve been gutpunched,” she said. “We grieve because we’ve been wounded. We lament because we can. And we vent and we rage, and, yeah, we say, ‘I told you so.’ We grieve, and then we fight.”

Photos by Luwin Kwan.

Secular press coverage of the rally:

Hundreds Rail Against Supreme Court Abortion Decision at Pasadena Protest (Pasadena Now – June 25, 2022)

Joy, fear, anger at Sunday church services shows widening divide over abortion (Los Angeles Times – June 26, 2022)

Do You Speak With Righteous Indignation For A Greater Good?

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Do You Speak With Righteous Indignation For A Greater Good?

Galatians 1:1-12

1 Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the members of God’s family who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! 9As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!

10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul’s Vindication of His Apostleship11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

13 You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

– – – – – –
Some letters attributed to Paul are contested, but the letter to Galatians is undisputedly written by the real Paul. In the opening of this letter, he is angry that others have come to this community and told them that Christians must still follow the Mosaic laws, calling anyone who perverts the gospel of Christ accursed (or anathema). Paul is ultimately concerned with spreading the Gospel of our “Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age.” The revelation that Paul received and his beautiful and brilliant letter to the Galatians proclaim a radical vision of Christian freedom and a Gospel of grace and peace for all people.

  • Is there a time you have spoken out with righteous indignation for a greater good?
  • Paul the apostle received the Gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ and we in turn have received it from him. How do you understand the Bible, written by human authors, as the inspired Word of God that still speaks to us today?
This Bible study, written by Christopher Sikkema

Making Space For The Spirit of God

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Making Space For The Spirit of God

John 16:12-15

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.16 “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”

– – – – –

A few years ago, I went through a really horrible situation. I kept thinking I had hit rock bottom, and then I would find that I could, in fact, fall even lower. If I had seen the whole story at once, all the trips and stumbles it would take for me to be whole again, I would probably have given up. Instead, I could only look at what was right in front of me— one day at a time.

Jesus knew that sometimes the whole story is too big, scary, and complex to tell at once. This passage from John comes from the account of the “last supper.” Jesus tells his friends that the truth he has told them so far is radically incomplete. As Martin Smith writes, “They are incapable of taking in any more until his death, resurrection, and ascension have opened up a totally new relationship with God.”

With the Spirit’s help, the truth of God’s love and Jesus’ resurrection will continually be revealed to the disciples and to us. As our lives continually change, we will continually be moved into a deeper relationship with Christ. And we will hear what we need to hear, even if it’s not the whole story.

  • How do you make space to listen to the Spirit in your life?
This Bible study, written by Anna Sutterisch