Sep 6, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #Stories
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Tiende la Mano a Vecino Molesto: Basura de Materiales Plásticos de Un Solo Uso
Artículo de Pamela Stevens
[1 de septiembre de 2023] El Buen Pastor de Belmont, una pequeña pero creciente misión especializada de la Diócesis de California, los miembros de la congregación reflejan en el Tiempo de la Creación en 2023 comprometiéndose a conocer a uno de sus vecinos más molestos: los desechos plásticos.
Manuel Morales, músico y miembro de la congregación señala que “en mi comunidad hay basura por todas partes y mucha de ella es plástico. El plástico es para siempre. No es un buen vecino”.
Marta Álvarez, activista residente de la comunidad, señala que “los latinos necesitan ejercer su voz para recuperar el poder de sistemas opresivos de todo tipo”. Sugirió centrarse en los sistemas que han creado el desperdicio que les recuerda todos los días su marginación.
La congregación se comprometió a ver juntos la película “Plastic Wars” de NPR Frontline, a participar en debates sobre su propio papel en el daño al planeta y a explorar cómo pueden tomar medidas personales y comunitarias para luchar contra la contaminación. También participarán en una práctica reflexiva de recoger. Compartirán fotografías y escribirán reflexiones para compartir en una presentación de diapositivas sobre la experiencia.
En la Estación de la Creación en 2022, la congregación hizo su primer pacto de cuidado de la creación: limitar todas sus compras de suministros a materiales reutilizables o totalmente compostables a base de plantas. Desplegó el compromiso del Tiempo de la Creación en un servicio de Confirmación para diez de sus miembros.
Paty Herrick, miembro de la congregación de muchos años, afirma que “Somos muy afortunados de ser parte de una diócesis donde el Obispo Marc es un líder en el área del Cuidado de la Creación. Él modela ese activismo.”
Según la Agencia de Protección Ambiental, las comunidades hispanas/latinas tienen más del 40% más de probabilidades de vivir en lugares donde con frecuencia hace demasiado calor para trabajar un día completo al aire libre y de experimentar los efectos de los contaminantes en el flujo de desechos.
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Spanish-speaking mission congregation enters the Season of Creation
Reaches out to annoying neighbor: Single-use plastic trash
Article by Pamela Stevens
[September 1, 2023] At El Buen Pastor de Belmont, a small but growing specialized ministry congregation of the Diocese of California, congregation members greeted the start of the 2023 Season of Creation by committing to get to know one of their most annoying neighbors: plastic waste.
Manuel Morales, musician and member of the congregation noted that “trash is everywhere in my community and much of it is plastic. Plastic is forever. It is not a good neighbor.”
Marta Álvarez, the community’s resident activist, said that “Latinos need to exercise their voice to take back power from oppressive systems of all kinds.” She suggested a focus on the systems that have created the waste that reminds them every day of their marginalization.
The congregation committed to watching “Plastic Wars,” the NPR Frontline film, to engage in discussions about their own roles in buying plastic products that harm the planet and to explore how they can take personal and community action to fight pollution. They will also engage in a practice of picking up that is reflective. They will share photos and write reflections to create a slideshow about the experience.
In 2022, the congregation made its first-ever creation care covenant: to limit all of its purchases of supplies to reusable or fully plant-based compostable materials. It deployed the Season of Creation commitment at a confirmation service for ten of its members.
Paty Herrick, a long-time member of the congregation, affirms that “we are fortunate to be part of a diocese where Bishop Marc is a leader in the area of Creation Care. He models that activism for us.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Hispanic/Latiné communities are more than 40% more likely to experience the effects of pollutants in the waste stream and to live in places where it will frequently be too hot to work a full day outside.
Aug 22, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #Stories
Written by Todd Bryant
I went to EYE 2023 (Episcopal Youth Event) as an adult leader. It took place on the campus of the University of Maryland in beautiful swamp-sweat Baltimore over three days in July. There were about 1100 people of which roughly 1000 were youth. EYE is the second largest event that the Episcopal Church sponsors next to General Convention. I’m not going to describe each component of the event because social media pages do an excellent job of that.
Facebook | Website
If you just went over to Facebook to look at the experience, you saw that it was high energy, full of joy, and full of life. One of the participants told me that it was the first time they thought the church wasn’t just full of old people. As one of those old people (who is also clergy), I was overjoyed to participate and experience vitality in the workshops, group worship, and the preaching. Just hanging out playing cards and talking over meals was pretty excellent too.
I have the vantage point of growing up with church revivals in the 1980’s. It was a very different experience from EYE. The 80’s were also high energy, but there was a dark edge to them. In those bad ol’ days, you worried about your eternal soul, and God was really freaked out by every thought that passed through your head. EYE had all of the good parts of a big revival event, with none of this baggage. It was fully queer inclusive. The leaders and speakers were diverse in race and class. The calls for political engagement and environmental activism were clear and inviting.
EYE focused on young people figuring out their ministry right now. I heard this refrain more than once, ”You’re not the church of the future You are the church of now”. All people were welcome, all people were leaders, and all people had a voice. I want to specifically thank Caren Miles and The Rev. Maggie Foote for the hard work they did leading up to and during the event. Many lay leaders and clergy from around the country gave so much for this to go so well. As an aside, Caren loved riding ebikes, just ask her*. Even Spider-Man endorsed EYE on day three (you had to be there).
I’m not writing as a fundraiser, but as somebody who completely believes that EYE is a part of the vital future we need. Please pray for financially support and give your time to the youth and young adults in the Episcopal Church. They are the church now, and EYE 2026 is almost here.
*it turns out you can forget how to ride a bike – Caren
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Aug 15, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #FunFacts
Welcome to the Social Justice Timeline of The Episcopal Church in the San Francisco Bay Area!
Discover our proud history of involvement in Social Justice movements:
At the forefront of social justice for decades, The Episcopal Church in the San Francisco Bay Area has a rich history of advocating for equality, compassion, and inclusivity in our communities. Our historical timeline, spanning from pre-colonial times to modernity and postmodernity, showcases our commitment to making a positive impact.
Key Moments from Our Timeline:
- In 1579, the San Francisco Bay Area witnessed the first Christian service and the use of the Book of Common Prayer in North America.
- During 1963-4, the Ad Hoc Committee to End Discrimination was formed, paving the way for civil rights activism.
- In 2003, The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, a significant step towards inclusivity.
- In 2008, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus was the first to allow open blessings of same-gender unions in The Episcopal Church after the passing of Proposition 8, which prohibited marriage equality.
- In 2015, the Breaking the Glass Ceiling Facebook Group was established by Canon Stefani Schatz, providing a safe space for women in The Episcopal Church to share their experiences and advocate for change.
- In 2020, the global pandemic of COVID-19 arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area, disproportionately affecting communities of color, especially Hispanic/Latinx communities.
- In 2022, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus played a key role in moving multiple resolutions on the environment to the House of Bishops’ Consent Calendar during the General Convention of The Episcopal Church.
- In 2023, Bishop Marc Handley Andrus participated in an interfaith Black Lives Matter die-in and rally held at Berkeley’s All Souls Episcopal Church, demonstrating our continued commitment to fighting racial injustice.
Explore our legacy of positive change
Our timeline is a testament to our dedication to creating a more just and compassionate society. Dive deeper into our inspiring journey by exploring the complete Social Justice Timeline.
Join Us in Celebrating Our Legacy
We invite you to celebrate our legacy and join us in working towards a brighter future. Together, we can continue making a difference in the lives of those we serve.
Explore the Social Justice Historical Timeline now!
Aug 8, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #FunFacts
Did you know? One of our diocesan institutions, Ohlhoff House, has been helping people recover from addiction for 60 years! Not only that, it was recognized and ranked in the Top 20 in Newsweek’s list of Best Addiction Treatment Centers in California in 2021.
A special ministry of The Episcopal Church, Ohlhoff House receives funds that are for its women’s program thanks to the Episcopal Impact Fund (EIF), DioCal’s outreach arm.
You can learn more about Ohlhoff House on their website. You can also donate to support their continued work.
Aug 1, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #FunFacts
The Vocations and Communications team worked together this year to make our discernment resources easier to navigate online! If you’ve been thinking about discernment for ordination or know someone who is send them over to: www.diocal.org/resource/discernment/
Jul 24, 2023 | #DidYouKnow, #Stories
Photo credits: Alina Dennis
Dear friends
“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.” – Maya Angelou, ‘On the Pulse of Morning’
These words are written on the side of the Legacy Museum, the first site our youth group visited on their Racial Justice pilgrimage, and became the defining mantra of our journey.
The Legacy Museum, and other sites we visited during our week-long journey, presented us with a multitude of wrenching truths about this country’s history of racism and racial injustice.
Our group of youth and adults, traveling from Grace Cathedral, were called repeatedly to engage with this history and its modern legacy, to try to comprehend images of lynchings, footage of mobs attacking students at lunch counters, modern day photos of incarcerated children too small to fit into the prison jumpsuits swaddled about them like blankets.
Our youth group, on every occasion, responded to the challenge of facing history with the courage Maya Angelou calls on us all to summon. They sat quietly and listened when the moment required them simply to listen, to hear the truths of others. Other times they asked question after question, undaunted in their desire to understand, to know what they could do to stop such histories being lived again. Their courage and determination gave their adult chaperones the courage to keep going, to continue through this troubled history that defines our present.
We sensed we were not alone in this journey. Many guides and angels welcomed us. These guides pointed to the great courage of those who fought against near impossible odds to change the lives of others, from the enslaved people who built the First African Baptist Church in Savannah at nighttime to the many heroes of the Civil Rights Movement immortalized in the mural at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church.
We found ourselves in constant communion with the souls and saints who changed the world. And everywhere, everything we saw pointed us to God, through whom all things are possible, and all wrongs, eventually, righted.
Our youth group made many friends and had many guardians and advocates. Special thanks must be given to our remarkable adult chaperones, Grace Cathedral staff members Alina Dennis and Dan Chiapelone. Their witness, courage and care profoundly shaped our journey and the outlook of our youth.
Our youth group shared this journey with each other. They sang and prayed together, laughed in joyful moments, and sat close together in the times when history presented them with a particularly wrenching truth, posed a question about humanity that only the Spirit can answer. They served as great ambassadors to our cathedral and to their generation.
I saw, to my great joy, how our young people’s constancy, grace and openness had such an effect on many that we met. Last Sunday, we had the opportunity to worship at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Savannah.
Each member of our youth group served in some capacity during the service.
The clergy and many congregants shared afterwards with us how moved they had been to worship with our youth group. I am so grateful to the Rev. David Wantland and Ministry Coordinator for Children and Families Betsey Bass for welcoming us.
I am overjoyed to share with you that the youth group of Grace Cathedral has fulfilled the commission given to them, undertaking this pilgrimage with grace, compassion, and courage. I know they would be delighted to share with you their experiences and reflections, and I invite you to speak with them when you see them! We also look forward to sharing further images and footage at Congregation Sunday on September 10, following the 11 am Choral Eucharist.
We are already planning our next pilgrimage, which will take place from July 9 to 16, 2024. We’d love to make this journey with pilgrims and chaperones from fellow youth groups! If you’d like more information, I’d love to hear from you: my email is [email protected].
With gratitude,
Steph McNally
Formation Programs Manager for Children, Youth, Families, and Adults
