February 19
The
Episcopal News Weekly www.episcopalnews.com
serving the six-county diocese of Los Angeles
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The Episcopal News
february 19, 2017
Diocesan Council backs L.A. County Measure H, opposes city Measure S Measure H would assist homeless countywide with human services, coordinating with new housing janet kawamoto
S
Members of the Seeds of Hope staff engage women in a cooking class at Immanuel Church, El Monte, teaching them how to use fresh, highly nutritious foods in appealing recipes.
Diocese awarded major grant to address high obesity rates in Los Angeles area Seeds of Hope will provide education in nutrition, exercise, gardening
S
eeds of Hope, the food justice ministry of the Diocese of Los Angeles, will administer “Champions of Change — Healthy Communities Initiative,” a program to reduce obesity in low-income residents, funded by an $880,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the California Department of Public Health and the United States Department of Agriculture. The initiative aims to reduce the prevalence of obesity among low-income Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Educationeligible populations by providing nutrition education, physical activity promotion, and working to create healthier environments for low-income individuals and families where they live, learn, work, play, pray, and shop. Key efforts under the initiative include teaching fundamental skills such as cooking, reading food labels, shopping on a budget, growing fruits and vegetables, and introducing low-cost and fun ways to be physically active. In addition, champions in communities throughout the county will be identified to help improve access to healthier foods and increase opportunities to be physically active in
a variety of settings, including early childcare centers, schools, faith-based organizations, corner stores, parks, work sites, and cities. “We are working toward making notable changes at each of our church and community partner sites to help make healthy foods and a nutritious lifestyle more accessible,” said Tim Alderson, executive director of Seeds of Hope, “as well as sharing ways to integrate physical activity into the day to improve the overall health for families in the Los Angeles communities of Lincoln Heights, Highland Park, Echo Park, Hollywood, Koreatown, and Pico Union.” Seeds of Hope was created by the diocese as a response to the health crises in our communities related to poverty and food insecurity. The program grows and distributes food in over 100 communities of need across six Southern California counties while providing garden-based nutrition and fitness education under contract with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. For more information about Seeds of Hope and its programs in the diocese, contact Alderson at 213.482.2040 or talderson@ladio cese.org. ?
eeking to expedite construction of permanent supportive housing for the homeless, Diocesan Council voted Feb. 9 to align with Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to endorse L.A. county Measure H and to oppose L.A. city Measure S on the ballot for the upcoming election on March 7. Favored by government and business leaders from Pomona to Santa Monica, county Measure H provides human services working in tandem with housing construction under the Prop HHH $1.2 billion bond measure that voters overwhelming approved last November. More information is here: voteyes onh.com. In contrast, Measure S would “go too far,” Garcetti has said, in delaying and complicating L.A. City efforts to build the housing authorized by Prop HHH. Garcetti called local homelessness a “moral crisis” that affects some 28,000 people citywide and more than 47,000 countywide, according to 2016 figures. In wider housing issues beyond homelessness, the city is some 382,000 housing units behind demand, Measure S opponents say, contributing to unaffordable rents and low rental inventory citywide. Further information is here: www.goestoofar.com/facts/why. Measure S supporters, however, favor its emphasis upon updating neighborhood development plans while stalling or blocking further construction, citing traffic congestion, among other issues. Meanwhile, Measure H would create a quarter-cent sales tax, starting in July and sun-setting in 10 years, to fund county services, both short- and long-term, for people experiencing homelessness. Services would be assigned by city according to local homeless population counts. ?
around the diocese
F r o m t h e b ish o p s
— SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19 — 5 p.m. Bilingual Jazz Vespers: Carol Bach-Y-Rita All Saints Episcopal Church 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena Information: [email protected]
Engaging the Abrahamic Faiths
6 p.m. ‘The Standard Bearer’ with Neil Dickson St. Thomas the Apostle 7501 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles 90046 Information: 323.876.2102 — WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 — 7:30 p.m. A Service in the Style of Taizé All Saints’ Episcopal Church 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Information: www.allsaintsbh.org — FRIDAY – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 – 25 —
ECW Annual Conference
All Saints Episcopal Church 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena Information/Registration: conta.cc/2f4L0NO — FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24 — 6 p.m. UBE Regional Conference Opening Service ProCathedral of St. John 514 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles 90007 Information: [email protected] — SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 — 7:30 p.m. ‘Broadway Lights Up the Silver Screen’ All Saints’ Episcopal Parish 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Information/Tickets: www.allsaintsbh.org — WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1 — 7:30 p.m. Missa Mystica for Ash Wednesday All Saints’ Episcopal Church 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Information: www.allsaintsbh.org — SUNDAY, MARCH 5 —
5 p.m. Choral Evensong for Lent All Saints’ Episcopal Church 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Information: www.allsaintsbh.org For more events and program details visit www.ladiocese.org and select “Calendar.” THE
Volume 6, Number 7
Episcopal News Weekly Editor: Janet Kawamoto, [email protected] 840 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90026 • 213.482.2040, ext. 251
By J. Jon Bruno
I
would encourage all of our congregations to engage in dialogue and friendship with their neighboring houses of worship if they have not already done so, and especially to seek understanding and common cause with fellow members of the Abrahamic faiths. If your congregation is already in dialogue with local synagogues and mosques, what are ways in which you can deepen those relationships? Particularly at this time of national and international tensions, we need to increase our solidarity as Jews, Muslims and Christians, likewise sharing in conversation and friendship with people of other faith traditions, as well. As we know, our Muslim sisters and brothers have been affected by recent rhetoric and the courtblocked federal immigration ban, and our Jewish sisters and brothers are also receiving painful messages relating to the Holocaust. Expressions of friendship are much needed. If you are looking for new resources and opportunities to build these relationships, please contact our diocesan Community Relations Office and members of the diocesan Program Group on Ecumenical and Interfaith Life, a joint task force of our diocese and the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Also, coming up today (Sunday, February 19), 2 – 4 p.m. at the Islamic Center of Southern California, 434 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, is a solidarity rally that Bishop Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce and I have endorsed together with the Interreligious Coun-
cil of Southern California and other groups. More information is online. If you would like to read a helpful book, please consider Muslims and the Making of America, a new release by Dr. Amir Hussain, Loyola Marymount professor of theological studies, in which he documents the ways in which Muslims have been part of the American experience from the beginning, and remain so. In this book, Dr. Hussain dispels stereotypes while affirming the many contributions of Muslim-Americans to national and international contexts. Please consider ordering the book, published by Baylor University Press, through the Cathedral Bookstore. May God bless you in your own efforts to seek understanding and common cause with people of faith, bearing in mind the biblical calling to love and serve our neighbors. ?
SAVE THE DATE: ‘Called to the Wall’ pilgrimage set for Saturday, April 1
J
oin Bishop Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce and Coadjutor-elect John Taylor April 1 for a Lenten Via Crucis trek from Echo Park to Friendship Park at the Mexico-U.S. border. Offered to express solidarity with immigrants, the journey features Stations of the Cross at parish churches along the drive, culminating with a beach walk to the border fence. San Diego Bishop James Mathes will share in presiding at the Eucharist there. Times and itinerary will be posted in the coming weeks. ?
Episcopal News Weekly www.episcopalnews.com
serving the six-county diocese of Los Angeles
Scan to subscribe to
The Episcopal News
february 19, 2017
Diocesan Council backs L.A. County Measure H, opposes city Measure S Measure H would assist homeless countywide with human services, coordinating with new housing janet kawamoto
S
Members of the Seeds of Hope staff engage women in a cooking class at Immanuel Church, El Monte, teaching them how to use fresh, highly nutritious foods in appealing recipes.
Diocese awarded major grant to address high obesity rates in Los Angeles area Seeds of Hope will provide education in nutrition, exercise, gardening
S
eeds of Hope, the food justice ministry of the Diocese of Los Angeles, will administer “Champions of Change — Healthy Communities Initiative,” a program to reduce obesity in low-income residents, funded by an $880,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the California Department of Public Health and the United States Department of Agriculture. The initiative aims to reduce the prevalence of obesity among low-income Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Educationeligible populations by providing nutrition education, physical activity promotion, and working to create healthier environments for low-income individuals and families where they live, learn, work, play, pray, and shop. Key efforts under the initiative include teaching fundamental skills such as cooking, reading food labels, shopping on a budget, growing fruits and vegetables, and introducing low-cost and fun ways to be physically active. In addition, champions in communities throughout the county will be identified to help improve access to healthier foods and increase opportunities to be physically active in
a variety of settings, including early childcare centers, schools, faith-based organizations, corner stores, parks, work sites, and cities. “We are working toward making notable changes at each of our church and community partner sites to help make healthy foods and a nutritious lifestyle more accessible,” said Tim Alderson, executive director of Seeds of Hope, “as well as sharing ways to integrate physical activity into the day to improve the overall health for families in the Los Angeles communities of Lincoln Heights, Highland Park, Echo Park, Hollywood, Koreatown, and Pico Union.” Seeds of Hope was created by the diocese as a response to the health crises in our communities related to poverty and food insecurity. The program grows and distributes food in over 100 communities of need across six Southern California counties while providing garden-based nutrition and fitness education under contract with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. For more information about Seeds of Hope and its programs in the diocese, contact Alderson at 213.482.2040 or talderson@ladio cese.org. ?
eeking to expedite construction of permanent supportive housing for the homeless, Diocesan Council voted Feb. 9 to align with Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to endorse L.A. county Measure H and to oppose L.A. city Measure S on the ballot for the upcoming election on March 7. Favored by government and business leaders from Pomona to Santa Monica, county Measure H provides human services working in tandem with housing construction under the Prop HHH $1.2 billion bond measure that voters overwhelming approved last November. More information is here: voteyes onh.com. In contrast, Measure S would “go too far,” Garcetti has said, in delaying and complicating L.A. City efforts to build the housing authorized by Prop HHH. Garcetti called local homelessness a “moral crisis” that affects some 28,000 people citywide and more than 47,000 countywide, according to 2016 figures. In wider housing issues beyond homelessness, the city is some 382,000 housing units behind demand, Measure S opponents say, contributing to unaffordable rents and low rental inventory citywide. Further information is here: www.goestoofar.com/facts/why. Measure S supporters, however, favor its emphasis upon updating neighborhood development plans while stalling or blocking further construction, citing traffic congestion, among other issues. Meanwhile, Measure H would create a quarter-cent sales tax, starting in July and sun-setting in 10 years, to fund county services, both short- and long-term, for people experiencing homelessness. Services would be assigned by city according to local homeless population counts. ?
around the diocese
F r o m t h e b ish o p s
— SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19 — 5 p.m. Bilingual Jazz Vespers: Carol Bach-Y-Rita All Saints Episcopal Church 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena Information: [email protected]
Engaging the Abrahamic Faiths
6 p.m. ‘The Standard Bearer’ with Neil Dickson St. Thomas the Apostle 7501 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles 90046 Information: 323.876.2102 — WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 — 7:30 p.m. A Service in the Style of Taizé All Saints’ Episcopal Church 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Information: www.allsaintsbh.org — FRIDAY – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 – 25 —
ECW Annual Conference
All Saints Episcopal Church 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena Information/Registration: conta.cc/2f4L0NO — FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24 — 6 p.m. UBE Regional Conference Opening Service ProCathedral of St. John 514 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles 90007 Information: [email protected] — SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 — 7:30 p.m. ‘Broadway Lights Up the Silver Screen’ All Saints’ Episcopal Parish 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Information/Tickets: www.allsaintsbh.org — WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1 — 7:30 p.m. Missa Mystica for Ash Wednesday All Saints’ Episcopal Church 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Information: www.allsaintsbh.org — SUNDAY, MARCH 5 —
5 p.m. Choral Evensong for Lent All Saints’ Episcopal Church 504 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills 90210 Information: www.allsaintsbh.org For more events and program details visit www.ladiocese.org and select “Calendar.” THE
Volume 6, Number 7
Episcopal News Weekly Editor: Janet Kawamoto, [email protected] 840 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90026 • 213.482.2040, ext. 251
By J. Jon Bruno
I
would encourage all of our congregations to engage in dialogue and friendship with their neighboring houses of worship if they have not already done so, and especially to seek understanding and common cause with fellow members of the Abrahamic faiths. If your congregation is already in dialogue with local synagogues and mosques, what are ways in which you can deepen those relationships? Particularly at this time of national and international tensions, we need to increase our solidarity as Jews, Muslims and Christians, likewise sharing in conversation and friendship with people of other faith traditions, as well. As we know, our Muslim sisters and brothers have been affected by recent rhetoric and the courtblocked federal immigration ban, and our Jewish sisters and brothers are also receiving painful messages relating to the Holocaust. Expressions of friendship are much needed. If you are looking for new resources and opportunities to build these relationships, please contact our diocesan Community Relations Office and members of the diocesan Program Group on Ecumenical and Interfaith Life, a joint task force of our diocese and the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Also, coming up today (Sunday, February 19), 2 – 4 p.m. at the Islamic Center of Southern California, 434 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, is a solidarity rally that Bishop Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce and I have endorsed together with the Interreligious Coun-
cil of Southern California and other groups. More information is online. If you would like to read a helpful book, please consider Muslims and the Making of America, a new release by Dr. Amir Hussain, Loyola Marymount professor of theological studies, in which he documents the ways in which Muslims have been part of the American experience from the beginning, and remain so. In this book, Dr. Hussain dispels stereotypes while affirming the many contributions of Muslim-Americans to national and international contexts. Please consider ordering the book, published by Baylor University Press, through the Cathedral Bookstore. May God bless you in your own efforts to seek understanding and common cause with people of faith, bearing in mind the biblical calling to love and serve our neighbors. ?
SAVE THE DATE: ‘Called to the Wall’ pilgrimage set for Saturday, April 1
J
oin Bishop Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce and Coadjutor-elect John Taylor April 1 for a Lenten Via Crucis trek from Echo Park to Friendship Park at the Mexico-U.S. border. Offered to express solidarity with immigrants, the journey features Stations of the Cross at parish churches along the drive, culminating with a beach walk to the border fence. San Diego Bishop James Mathes will share in presiding at the Eucharist there. Times and itinerary will be posted in the coming weeks. ?
