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The Episcopal News
MAY 17, 2015
4 nominated for presiding bishop
PHOTOS / ANATHANIAL KATZ
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Graduation Day at Bloy House Above: Graduates of Bloy House — The Episcopal Theological School at Claremont pose with Dean Sylvia Sweeney (second row, second from left) and Joanna Satorius, canon for formation and deployment (second row, right), after graduation ceremonies on May 9. At left: Six members of Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Placentia, who completed the Fresh Start course for lay leaders gather with Satorius, who led their training, and Bishop J. Jon Bruno, who presided and preached at the graduation service.
Agencies provide relief after Nepal earthquakes
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piscopal Relief & Development continues to provide emergency assistance after another powerful earthquake struck Nepal on Tuesday, May 12. The 7.3-magnitude quake hit eastern Nepal between Mount Everest and Kathmandu. According to recent reports, at least 48 people have died and more than 1,200 have been injured. Aftershocks continue, including one with a magnitude of 6.3. Neighboring countries such as India and Bangladesh have experienced major tremors, with more than a dozen deaths in northern India. Episcopal Relief & Development has provided additional humanitarian support through the ecumenical ACT Alliance. They are delivering emergency food, shelter, clean
water and other essentials. Episcopal Relief & Development has contacted other potential partners in the region to help reach people affected by this disaster. Less than three weeks earlier, on April 25, Nepal was devastated by 7.8-magnitude earthquake close to Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara, which killed more than 8,000 people. Subsequent aftershocks leveled neighborhoods, businesses, religious sites and other structures. ACT Alliance’s priorities include providing shelter, food, clean water and household items, as well as installing or rehabilitating sanitation systems in camps and established neighborhoods. For more information or to contribute to relief efforts, visit episcopalrelief.org. ?
our nominees were announced May 1 by the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The four are: Bishop Thomas Breidenthal (Southern Ohio), Bishop Michael Curry (North Carolina), Bishop Ian Douglas (Connecticut), and Bishop Dabney Smith (Southwest Florida). The House of Bishops will elect the 27th presiding bishop on Saturday, June 27 during the Thomas Breidenthal church’s 78th General Convention, which will be held June 25 - July 3 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City (Diocese of Utah). The bishops’ choice must be ratified by the House Michael Curry of Deputies. The committee has established procedure for nominations “from the floor,” which must be submitted in advance to allow for the same background screening process required for the initial Ian Douglas nominees. Members of the Joint Nominating Committee include a bishop, a member of the clergy, and a layperson from each province and youth representatives appointed by the Dabney Smith president of the House of Deputies. Bishop Suffragan Mary Glasspool of the Diocese of Los Angeles was a member of the committee, representing Province VIII. Brief biographies of the candidates are included in the Late Spring 2015 issue of The Episcopal News, available at www.episcopal news.com. The committee’s full report, which includes a statement from each candidate, may be downloaded at bit.ly/1zlbkvh.
AROUND THE DIOCESE
FROM THE BISHOPS
— SUNDAY, MAY 17 — 12 noon Foster Care Project Art Show and Sale All Saints Episcopal Church 132 North Euclid Avenue, Pasadena Information: 626.583.2734
The very first psalm
4 p.m. An Old-Fashioned Gospel Hymn Sing St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church 6201 E. Willow Street, Long Beach Information: 562.420.1311 5 p.m. Children’s & Youth Choirs Spring Concert All Saints Episcopal Church 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena Information:
[email protected] — SATURDAY, MAY 23 — 4 - 6 p.m. Bishop Steven Charleston Book Launch ProCathedral of St. John 514 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles Information/Registration: theguibordcenter.org — SUNDAY, MAY 24 — 5 p.m. Jazz Vespers: Sara Gazarek & Josh Nelson All Saints Episcopal Church 132 North Euclid Avenue, Pasadena Information: 626.583.2725 — WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 — 7 p.m. Prism: An Evening with Helen Prejean Church of Our Saviour 535 W. Roses Road, San Gabriel 91775 Information: 626.703.4474 /
[email protected] — SATURDAY, MAY 30 — 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Year-round Stewardship Seminar All Saints’ Episcopal Church 3847 Terracina Drive, Riverside Information/Reservations:
[email protected] 9:30 a.m. Disaster Preparedness Conference Episcopal Church of the Ascension 25 East Laurel Avenue, Sierra Madre Registration: bit.ly/1DPQ5x3 For more listings and program details, visit www.ladiocese.org (select “Calendar”). THE
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 19
Episcopal News Weekly Editor: Janet Kawamoto,
[email protected] Advertising: Bob Williams,
[email protected] By Mary D. Glasspool
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n the Revised Common Lectionary, the psalm for the seventh Sunday of Easter is Psalm 1. It is no accident that Psalm 1 is first in the Book of Psalms. Psalm 1 is really a complex Beatitude — a description of the one who is blessed. “Blessed are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful! Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night.” A simpler version of this beatitude is “Blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord.” The first psalm is both an introduction and an invitation to the rest of the book. It is like a template, showing a basic pattern of the psalms. And the psalm says something like this: There are two ways you can go in life. You can travel the way of the wicked. Or you can travel the way of the righteous. If you want to travel the way of the wicked, start by being scornful. Never pass up an opportunity to criticize. There are plenty of opportunities for this — there’s a lot wrong in this world. You can take delight in the failures and shortcomings of your neighbors. And you can always begin by looking for something that is negative. (More on the ways of the wicked later on in the Book of Psalms.) However, if you would prefer to travel the way of the righteous, you can begin by loving the law of God — by loving it so much that you think about it all the time, and use every opportunity to look for something in God’s world to affirm — to say “Amen!” to, to praise, to delight in. These opportunities abound — and the one who praises God in this way will bear lots of fruit. And what is the “law of the Lord”? The law of the Lord is the “torah” — a word that means, simply, “teaching.” I used to think FEATURED ITEM:
Gifts
that “Torah” referred exclusively to the first five books of the Bible — the “Pentateuch.” But that is “torah” defined in its narrowest sense. “Torah,” for Jewish people, refers to the whole Bible, the oral law, and all of Jewish culture and teaching. “Torah” contains not only laws, but also history, legend, folklore, and moral and ethical teachings. Study of Torah has always been considered a fundamental, lifelong obligation for Jews; and historians view it as the source of Jewish spiritual strength and survival. What we are to delight in, and meditate on day and night, is the Lord’s teaching — all of it — the whole body of tradition through which instruction in the way and will of the Lord is given. This is how wisdom for the living of life can be gained. It is the medium from which one can learn the way and will of the Lord and store up that learning in one’s heart so that it shapes the structure of consciousness. Torah is the cause of delight, not because it is an available instrument of selfrighteousness, material for a program of selfjustification, but because the Lord reaches, touches, and shapes the human soul through it. For this psalm, torah is a means of grace. So — What can we affirm today? What makes your heart sing, and your voice offer praise to God? What can we say a ringing “Amen” to? Yes. Yes! YES! ?
Now Online The Late Spring 2015 issue of The Episcopal News magazine is available for reading and printing at www.episcopalnews.com.
Did you know? The Diocese of Los Angeles has a full-service Credit Union.
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