Volume 6, Issue 29
July 16, 2021
THIS SUNDAY: July 18, 2021
Eigthth Sunday after Pentecost


2 Samuel 7:1-14a
When David offers to build God a "house" in the form of the Temple, instead God says to David that God will build David's "house" in terms of his royal dynasty.

Psalm 89:20-26, 36-37
God's parental love and protection for David and his descendants.

Ephesians 2:11-22
In Christ God has reconciled two groups of people formerly opposed to one another -- Jews and Gentiles. Thus God's love is inclusive of all people no matter who they are.

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Jesus, the Great Shepherd, welcomes all kinds of people for their healing and wholeness.
ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICE
WITH COMMUNION

8:00AM
Linda Crocker (EM)*
David Crocker (U)
Marge Akana (AG)
Mark Cain (DM)

9:30AM
Mary Margaret Smith (EM)
CeCe Caldwell (U)
CeCe Caldwell (LR)
Jan Hashizume (AG)
Mabel Antonio, Nelson Secretario (HP)
Joan Roughgarden, Jan Hashizume (DM)

Live Stream
9:00AM on our home page, YouTube, or Facebook accounts
@allsaintskauai

* EM - Eucharistic Minister; U - Usher; LR - Lay Reader; AG - Altar Guild; HP - Healing Prayers; DM - Digital Ministry; SS - Sunday School
UPCOMING EVENTS

Guest Celebrant
Rev. Heather Mueller
Sunday, July 18th
8:00 and 9:30AM
Church

Daughters of the King
Thursday, July 22nd
7:00 - 8:00PM
Zoom meeting
Contact Mabel Antonio for login info.

Travel with Joan - Ethiopia
Monday, August 2nd
5:00 - 7:00PM
Memorial Hall

Recurring Events
Aloha Hour
Every Sunday, 10:45AM - 12:00PM
Under lanai tent

Monday/Friday Crew
Every Monday/Friday, 8:00AM 
Church Office
Laundry Love
1st & 3rd Wednesday, 5:00PM
Kapa`a Laundromat

Daughters of the King
2nd & 4th Thursday, 7:00 - 8:00PM
Zoom
Those affected by the pandemic, those affected by racial violence, Nestor, Wanda, and those we name silently or aloud, let us pray to the Lord. ​Lord, have mercy. 

For those saints who have gone before us in the Grander Life, especially those affected by the COVID-19 virus, Lawrence and those we name silently or aloud, in the hope of the resurrection, and for all the departed, let us pray to the Lord. ​Lord, have mercy. Amen.
Reflections from Kahu Kawika
Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Ephesians 1:3-14
Amos 7:7-15
Mark 6:14-29
Proper 10B
11 July 2021

This Sunday marks the 52nd anniversary of my baptism, when I came forward at the age of seven at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. My mother and I had moved there to stay in Topeka for a year while my father was stationed with the US Air Force in Vietnam, and to be closer to my mother’s sister and her family. They were all there in church when something prompted me to want to come forward. While I admit I didn’t fully know all the reasons why I took that action, the one that I did get is that I wanted to belong – to God and to the family of God. That initial step began a long journey of redemption and renewal that is still ongoing to this day. Whenever I have gone through difficulties in life, I have often looked back on that day as a comforting realization that I am God’s own.

Our second reading from Ephesians 1:3-14 describes this journey, with reference to the Trinitarian love of God. Meant actually as a circular letter to a number of congregations in Asia Minor, or in modern-day Western Turkey, the author writing in the name of Paul and toward the end of the first century encourages the congregations there to be united in their diversity of ethnicity and geographic locale, as well as united together in light of both the external threat of Roman persecution under the emperor Domitian and the internal threat of de-emphasizing Christ in favor of working one’s own way up the spiritual ladder. Basing the members’ unity on the unity of all things to Christ, the author makes this argument through an appeal to the three persons of the Trinity, noting their unity within one Godhead.

But what does this have to do with us, nearly 2,000 years later, in another culture and on the other side of the world? Many of us, too, face challenges of various kinds – the pandemic (although thank God it is subsiding, but we’re not out of the woods yet), economic ups and downs, and especially disunity along racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, orientation, and religious lines. Like the audience of this letter to the Ephesians, we also need to know how we are linked to God and to each other – that we are not meant to be a mere collection of individuals, but we have a faith that unites us to God, to humanity, and to nature around us. In a fashion reminiscent of the Stevie Wonder hit song “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” that he wrote when only 20 years old, the writer of this biblical letter instructs their readers, and us, of three outstanding dimensions to this unity:

Signed … for Belonging (by God the Source)
Sealed … with Believing (by God the Spirit)
and Delivered … in Becoming (by God the Son)

Signed … for Belonging:
The writer starts this very encouraging letter declaring that God the Maker and Source of all things has given us the gift of belonging, from the start of creation: “Before the world began, God chose us in Christ to be holy, blameless, and full of love. God likewise predestined us through Christ Jesus to be adopted children – such was God’s pleasure and will – that everyone might praise the glory of God’s grace that was freely bestowed on us in God’s Beloved, Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:4-6, emphasis mine). 

A few things to note here. Firstly, this idea of “predestination” has been taken out of context for much of church history – the intention is not a “dry as dust” kind of theological argument, but rather an assurance that God’s love and choosing of us as adopted children has its roots “from the get-go,” from the beginning of time, meaning that none of us is an accident or an afterthought. God in effect “signed” divine love or us from Day One. In Genesis 1:27 at the beginning of the Bible, God makes humans in God’s image, and our own Baptismal Covenant makes clear that God gives us dignity as beings made in God’s image: “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 305, 417).

As an adoptee myself, I take great comfort from this – that despite being conceived and born into unplanned and even haphazard circumstances, my hanai parents chose me from the start of my young life and gave me a purpose, direction, and sense of belonging. In an even greater way, the writer declares that God our Source of life wanted to adopt us as children alongside Jesus our natural brother, and wanted to do this from the start – we belong to God.
Secondly, in addition to belonging to God we also belong to each other. God’s goal is that everyone might praise the glory of God’s grace – not just a small group or a subset or the elite or the ones with the right connections. This is the “mystery” that the writer says God wants to reveal: “God has taken pleasure in revealing the mystery of the plan through Christ, to be carried out in the fullness of time; namely, to bring all things – in heaven and on earth – together in Christ” (Ephesians 9-10). The writer wants us to know that God loves everyone – without limits, boundaries, or exceptions – and that we should recognize and celebrate our call to unity as a gift from God. The writer further makes an ethnic argument for God’s intention of unity between Jews and Gentiles by “breaking down the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14). The writer even makes the audacious claim that it is from God our Source “that every family in heaven and on earth takes its name” (Ephesians 3:15). Indeed, God’s plan according to the author is “to bring to a head all things – in heaven and earth – together in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10). So from Day One, God signed us up to belong to God and to each other – if only we would realize it, take it on board, and live it out.

Sealed … with Believing:
The writer to the Ephesians further states that “you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance, the deposit paid against the full redemption of a people who are God’s own” (Ephesians 1:13-14). Whereas God the Source’s work of choosing us is something done in our past, God the Spirit’s work of sealing us is our believing hope for the future. This is a hope for our full redemption, when we will be made completely whole and all things will be pono, or just and right, once again.

Interestingly, our two other readings today highlight the noble acts of good people in the face of setbacks and opposition for doing right. Set in the 700s BCE, we find the prophet Amos courageously giving up his relative comfort of shepherding in Southern Judah in order to go up to the Northern Kingdom of Israel to speak out against the practices of social injustice and idolatry of King Jeroboam and his elite cohort. While much of the book declares gloom and doom for those who use their power to oppress the people, it concludes with a hopeful word: “I will raise up the booth of David that has fallen and repair its breaches … I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall repair their ruined cities” (Amos 9:11, 14). Reading between the lines, what gives Amos the courage to speak truth to power is the hope of God’s ultimate restoration.

In addition, our Gospel reading from Mark 6 describes the martyrdom of John the Baptist, who also spoke truth to power against Herod and his family, losing his life on Herod’s whimsical orders following the spite of his wife, Herodias. Although we don’t hear directly from him in this account, we know elsewhere that John had his hopes set on the inbreaking of the Realm of God through Jesus against the forces of this world. While in an understandably human moment during his incarceration, he sends two messengers to ask Jesus, “Are you the One, or are we to wait for another?” (Luke 7:19), we do know that John had given up the privileges of an educated priestly lifestyle at the Temple based on his hope of the inbreaking of God’s Realm so that the world can live into a better reality.

The writer to the Ephesians also wants us to know that we have a hope – we are sealed with God’s Spirit, and the Spirit’s presence and activity in our lives are the promise and deposit of more to come when we will be made whole and can see God face-to-face in Heaven. This word is especially encouraging whenever we face troubles in this life, either as individuals or as a society full of inequality and injustice. Our hope for the future should fuel our desire to realize God’s pono in the here-and-now, as we regularly pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We are sealed by the Spirit as we believe in our hope for the future that God has in store for us.

Delivered … in Becoming:
Finally, the writer of Ephesians explains how we are to live between the past of God the Source signing us with the imprint of God’s image, and the future hope of God’s Spirit as a sign and deposit of the fuller life awaiting us: “It is in Christ and through the blood of Christ that we have been redeemed and our sins forgiven (Ephesians 1:7). The more exact translation in the Greek of the first part is, “In him we are having deliverance …”, meaning that this is an ongoing process in our everyday lives, not just a one-off event. In essence, our salvation is not just something one-and-done from the past, it is an ongoing reality of becoming more and more the people God intends us to be. We are delivered in the act of becoming, and knowing both that we belong to God and that we have a future hope of wholeness and completion gives us motivation to “keep on keeping on” with our upward movement in God’s love for us.

This also means that our knowledge and love of God are neither a remote concept from the past nor an esoteric “pie-in-the-sky” pipedream of the future, but a palpable relationship in the here-and-now. The very first question of the Westminster Catechism used in confirmation preparation in the reformed churches is, “What is the chief end of people? Their chief end is to know God and to enjoy God forever.” (Westminster Catechism, Question 1, in gender-inclusive language) 

In short, the journey is as important, if not more, than the destination. In our society of “instant-this” and “fast-produced that,” when communication now happens nearly as quickly as we can think and we can travel within a day at distances that used to take months or years, let’s take time to seek to enjoy our Maker and Deliverer, who has signed us for belonging, sealed us with believing, and delivered us in becoming. Amen.
Heather Mueller

Join Us in Welcoming the Rev. Heather Mueller
Guest Celebrant for July 18th
Rev. Mueller is a long-standing priest of our diocese and was one of the first women ordained as priest in the United States. She served as Curate (starter clergy, like a resident in a hospital) under then-Rector and future-Bishop Richard Chang here at All Saints' about 40 years ago. She will be onsite from Wednesday evening July 14th until next Wednesday, July 21st.
Vestry Report
June 27, 2021
Finances

Church: 
May 2021: 
Income: $27,729; Expenses: $30,340. Difference: -$2,611 ($186 over budget) 
YTD 2021: 
Income: $144,591; Expenses: $$152,030. Difference: -$7439 ($4,673 under budget) 

Preschool:
May 2021 (approx.): 
Income: $34,720; Expenses: $40,000. Difference: -$5,280 
YTD 21-22 Without Grants: 
Income: $398, 613; Expenses: $434,013, DIF: -$35,400 
YTD 21-22 Grants: 
$123,423. Updated Difference with Grants: +$93,938 

Solar Panel Project: Roof work commencing on July 5th.

Tenting of Sanctuary: Getting quotes.

Livestreaming Improvements: New camera, audio, and platform equipment required an additional $1,000 to be spent. We are appealing especially to our church 'ohana who benefit from livestreaming to consider a special donation to offset this cost.

Centennial Planning Group (CPG): Considering members. Anyone interested should contact Kahu or someone on Vestry.

Installation of a New Sanctuary Security System: Approved.

Upcoming Organ Concerts: (1) Peter DuBois on Sunday September 12th at 2:00PM; (2) Katelyn Emerson on Saturday October 16th at 6:00PM. Suggested donation of $20 per attendee.

Sloggett Center Solar and Roofing Project Update
An Environmental Initiative
The preschool roofing and painting project is finally reaching a conclusion. All of the Spanish tiles have been removed and sent to PCCC for recycling. The protective underlayment has been placed over the entire roof and now they are installing the asphalt shingles. The roofing should be completed this week and painting will be finished by early next week. Note some of the before/after pictures of the painted facia boards and stucco walls. The new colors will be dark burgundy facia boards and light tan stucco walls. The kids will have a brand new preschool when classes begins in August.

The solar panel project is in the KIUC permitting stage. Most likely, we will wait for the fall break in the school calendar (October) to do that installation.
The Vestry and the Environmental Ministry are grateful to all the donors who have contributed to make this project possible. A special thanks to Kathy Northcutt for writing the NPT grant application that brought in $100,000 toward our goal. We are thankful that the All Saints’ `Ohana recognized the value of this project and donated so generously.

Mahalo nui loa to you all!


Travels with Joan - Ethiopia
Monday, August 2nd, 5:00 - 7:00PM
Dr. Joan Roughgarden has offered to share with us her presentation of her pilgrimage to Ethiopia -- a land steeped in Christian tradition dating back to the days of the early church. Joan is an expert photographer and also has a keen sense of entering into cultures and being able to talk story with us.

This will take place at Memorial Hall on Monday, August 2nd, 5:00-7:00PM. We plan on catering with prepared Ethiopian food, and you are invited to bring along a side dish, desert, or beverage to share. Those of you who joined us a few weeks ago for Joan's presentation of her pilgrimage to the Holy Land know what a wonderful time we had together, so this coming event promises to be one not to be missed.

Episcopal Church Camp
Lifetime Benefits for Spiritual Growth
As a boy growing up in central Florida in the 1960s my life was indelibly marked by my experiences in the Episcopal Church. As a youth, I attended church services on a weekly basis, participated in the EYC (Episcopal Youth Community, i.e. youth group), and served as an acolyte. While these were very important to me, the experience that had the greatest impact on my physical, emotional, and spiritual life within the Church was summer camp.

I first attended Camp Wingmann in Avon Park, Florida while I was still in elementary school. Their vision has remained unchanged: 

"CAMP WINGMANN IS A BEAUTIFUL AND HOLY PLACE SET ASIDE FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND ADULTS IN THE HOPE THAT THEY WILL MEET JESUS AND GROW IN THEIR FAITH. OUR DESIRE IS FOR OUR PARTICIPANTS TO DISCOVER THAT CHRISTIANITY IS FUN AND THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THEY CAN DO IS PUT CHRIST AT THE CENTER OF THEIR LIVES.”

I not only experienced physical activities such as sailing, water skiing, and archery that were not available to me on a regular basis, but I also learned how to live my Christian faith on a daily basis, not just in church on Sundays. I met my very best friend at Camp. He was my Best Man and I was his. We are still best friends 50 years later. To this day I remember daily Compline Service in All Saints’ Chapel at Camp and the calming effect it had on me at the end of the day. The entire experience was so meaningful that I spent several summers serving on the camp staff.

I am so thankful for the support that the church in Florida provided to Camp Wingmann. It was, and remains, transformative for our youth.

We are blessed to have our own diocesan Church Camp that has provided our youth with growth opportunities for almost 75 years! Taking a lesson from the church camp movement, Camp Mokule`ia is a place for physical, emotional, and spiritual growth.

Please encourage your youth to take advantage of the Camp Experience!

-Bill Caldwell
Kahu Kawika Serves as Chaplain

Camp is excited to welcome Kahu Kawika (Rev. David Jackson) as our Chaplain for our first Family Camp Session July 15th - 18th. Kahu Kawika has served in a variety of church and academic settings and enjoys swimming, exercising, learning ukulele, and spending time with his family! He currently serves as Priest-In-Charge at All Saints', Kapa`a.

Please join us in prayers of support and thanksgiving for Kahu Kawika!!
Aloha From Camp Mokule`ia!

"We are an Episcopal Camp and Retreat Center located on the North Shore of Oahu that is committed to being a place of rest, recreation, and renewal."
MAHALO CAMP MOKULE'IA COUNSELORS!
Mahalo Nui loa to the group of counselors at Camp Mokule'ia who have been working hard at different churches.
At Emmanuel in Kailua, summer camp staff helped us move mountains of bricks and an entire office today! They also power washed, assisted with pre-construction demolition, removed trees, and more! What an amazing group of young women and men! Many hands make light work, and these hands make our hearts full!! Thank you! (Photo from the Emmanuel weekly e-news)
At St. TImothy's in 'Aiea, they helped do a deep clean and reset of the Outreach pantry, cleared weeds, dug out roots, and raked leaves in various planter boxes. An artistic pair of workers hand decorated the valance in the middle church office! They stayed all day to help with outreach distribution and we were blessed to have them.
(Photo from the St. Tim's weekly e-news)
Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers Reopen with New Challenges and High Demand

Egan Millard
July 12, 2021
Campers enjoy snow cones at Camp Kanuga in western North Carolina earlier this month. Kanuga, the largest camp facility affiliated with The Episcopal Church, was closed in 2020 due to COVID-19. This year it is operating at 70% camper capacity. Photo: Kanuga

[Episcopal News Service] This summer, Episcopal camps and conference centers across the United States are reopening in-person programs for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – for the most part. While a few still face the possibility of being sold, most have adapted to the now-familiar realities of the coronavirus era, adding another layer of ingenuity to a line of work that already requires multitasking and problem-solving on the fly.

For many administrators, the pandemic has been an unimaginable challenge requiring months of behind-the-scenes work to produce an experience that feels normal.

“Most camps did not run anything resembling in-person [events] last summer,” said Ashley Graham-Wilcox, director of communications and events for Episcopal Camps & Conference Centers, a nonprofit organization. Some facilities ran virtual camps or delivered “camp in a box” to participants, while a few offered different kinds of in-person experiences like mountain biking and archery, or rented cabins to families looking for a safe getaway.

“It’s not just adding the COVID layers of running camp in person; it’s also that we’re recovering, coming back from a year of totally not doing the traditional job that all of our directors and staff are trained for,” Graham-Wilcox told Episcopal News Service. “We’re shaking the cobwebs off. … I think there are parallels to what everybody’s dealing with as we figure out how to engage in the world together.”

Click here to learn more.
Episcopal Church Voices Support for Cubans Taking to the Streets in Rare Anti-Government Protests
By Lynette Wilson 
Posted Jul 14, 2021
People shout anti-government slogans during a July 11 protest in Havana, Cuba. Photo: Alexandre Meneghini/REUTERS

[Episcopal News Service] Earlier this week in response to rare anti-government street protests across Cuba, the Rt. Rev. Griselda Delgado del Carpio called Cubans to “Paz y Vida,” or “Peace and Life.”

“Expressing concern and frustration is the right of every citizen and every people. The right to freedom of expression in peaceful public demonstrations is a human right,” Delgado, who has served as bishop of Cuba since 2010, said in a July 12 letter.

The church, Delgado said, is concerned with the lack of space for people to voice their civic concerns. “As long as people manifest themselves in a peaceful and respectful framework, they should be allowed to do so,” she said.
Cuba Bishop Griselda Delgado del Carpio leads the recessional following the Feb. 28, 2019, Eucharist opening the Episcopal Church of Cuba’s 110th General Synod. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Crowds of protesters took to the streets across the Caribbean island nation on July 11 denouncing the government for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, food and medicine shortages, long lines, price hikes and an ever-worsening economy. They shouted, “Libertad,” in a call to freedom, and “Patria y Vida,” a play on the Communist government’s slogan, “Patria o Muerte,” “Fatherland or Death,” according to news reports.

The long-deteriorating economic situation and food and medicine shortages preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made the situation worse. Cuba is reporting more than 5,300 daily infections, the highest since the start of the pandemic. New government-enacted economic policies implemented earlier this year also have exacerbated the situation.

“Uncertainty, frustration, burden, and despair have been generated by the constant lack of basic food products and medicines — among other misfortunes. All of us are experiencing increased emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual deterioration. The average wage has been dramatically devalued, while the most important products are offered only in new stores for foreign currencies. Power plants have been put out of operation due to various mechanical failures resulting in power outages, which added to the concern of the population in the middle of summer,” Delgado said, as she called for dialogue to address people’s urgent needs.

“The church urges that reason, sanity, and responsibility prevail. That path must be chosen by all Cubans. There will always be divergences, diverse opinions, different thoughts — that is the richness and integrality of being a people. The value of dialogue must be raised in order to seek understanding and ways to resolve this situation,” she said.

Anti-government protests are uncommon in Cuba, where its authoritarian regime retains tight control over society and the media. International news outlets worldwide, including the New York Times, characterized the July 11 protests as “a remarkable eruption of discontent not seen in nearly 30 years.”

“The church in Cuba has stood with the people and continues to stand with the people,” the Rev. Glenda McQueen, The Episcopal Church’s partnership officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, told Episcopal News Service. To know that the church stands with the people and that Episcopalians from around the world are praying for the Cuban people, “gives them a sense of hope, hope that is needed in this difficult time.”

In a July 13 letter to his diocese, Western North Carolina Bishop José McLoughlin, whose mother fled Cuba in 1961, addressed the situation.

“At present, Cuba is experiencing its most significant protests since the early 1990s. Aggravated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a recent spike in COVID-19 cases, many protesters, frustrated by the country’s struggle to combat the coronavirus and resulting poor conditions for many residents, are calling for the resignation of current President Miguel Diaz-Canel. Facing a lack of access to food and other necessary supplies, lack of communication and deadly violence plaguing the streets, most people fear for their wellbeing,” McLoughlin wrote.

“My family and so many Cubans have suffered deeply as a part of this six-decade-old regime, a situation only complicated by the pandemic and the economic collapse brought on by the government’s changing of the nation’s monetary system,” said the bishop, who still has family in Cuba and whose diocese has a companion relationship with the Diocese of Cuba. “What many of you are seeing in the news I have received as firsthand reports from my family and that of our sister, the bishop of Cuba, the Rt. Rev. Griselda Delgado del Carpio.”

On Jan. 1, the Cuban government ended its dual currency, devaluing the Cuban peso and phasing out the CUC or “Cuban convertible peso,” which was tied 1-to-1 with the U.S. dollar. The devaluation of the peso and the discontinuation of the convertible peso have led prices on basic goods, which are already scarce, to increase anywhere from 500% to 900%.

“What we are witnessing is something we have not seen in decades: people taking to the streets of Cuba. As I hear from my family and from Bishop Griselda, the situation is in fact dire. There is deep suffering among the people of Cuba,” McLoughlin said.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry also voiced his support.

“I stand in solidarity with you during this time of sickness, food insecurity, economic suffering and civil unrest. I am praying for you, and I stand for the human rights of all peaceful protesters,” said Curry on July 13 in pastoral word addressed to Delgado and the Episcopalians in the Diocese of Cuba.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry preaches and Luz Dinorah Padro, the church’s manager for language services, interprets March 6, 2020, during a Eucharist celebrating the Diocese of Cuba’s readmission into The Episcopal Church at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Havana. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

“When I saw you early in March of 2020, I said then, and I mean now: ‘We love Cuba and all her people.’ In 1 Corinthians, St. Paul reminds us that in the Body of Christ, ‘When one member suffers, all suffer together with it,’ and we share in your pain with the loss of lives due to the pandemic,” the presiding bishop said.

The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church in Cuba celebrated the readmission of the Diocese of Cuba after more than a half-century separation in March 2020, a week before the coronavirus pandemic led to worldwide lockdowns. Curry preached at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Havana during a March 6 Eucharist.

The Cuban church traces its origins back to an Anglican presence that began on the island in 1871. In 1901, it became a missionary district of The Episcopal Church. The two churches separated in the 1960s after Fidel Castro seized power following the 1959 Cuban Revolution and diplomatic relations between the two countries disintegrated. The Episcopal Church in Cuba functioned as an autonomous diocese of the Anglican Communion under the authority of the Metropolitan Council of Cuba following the separation, though the two churches maintained limited connections through diocesan and other partnerships.

The Episcopal Church has called for an end to the long-standing U.S. embargo against Cuba.

– Lynette Wilson is a reporter and managing editor of Episcopal News Service.
Pastoral Word from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to the People of Cuba

July 13, 2021
To Bishop Griselda Delgado Del Carpio, to my brothers and sisters in the Episcopal Diocese of Cuba, and to all of God’s children in your country, I greet you with the ancient words of the Apostles, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I stand in solidarity with you during this time of sickness, food insecurity, economic suffering, and civil unrest. I am praying for you, and I stand for the human rights of all peaceful protesters.

When I saw you early in March of 2020, I said then, and I mean now: “We love Cuba and all her people.” In 1 Corinthians, St. Paul reminds us that in the Body of Christ, “When one member suffers, all suffer together with it,” and we share in your pain with the loss of lives due to the pandemic.

Even in the face of despair, Jesus walks with us and gives us strength as we strive to serve others, preserve dialogue, and protect hope. We also encourage humanitarian agencies and the international community to be supportive of Cuba at this moment of suffering and need in order to help you move toward a society of justice, peace, and health.

To all people in The Episcopal Church, I beseech you to pray for our Cuban brothers and sisters and to hold them in your hearts and minds in the days to come.

Keep the faith,

The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
Explore the Way of Love
WORSHIP
Throughout the Scriptures, the people of God are called to worship.

As the Psalmist writes, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.” Just as God wants to enter into our lives and meet us where we are, so God desires for us to enter into God’s space together and be present there.

Worship is an important part of the Way of Love, the practice that followers of Jesus have traditionally followed. Worship brings us out of our own space to walk on sacred ground. Worship brings us out of our loneliness into communion with fellow worshippers, as we become one Body of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Worship reminds us who we are, in light of the God who creates, saves, and sustains us.

In worship, we can bring all of our selves before God, as a kind of offering. We can bring our hopes, our dreams, our joys and sorrows, our thanks and our praise. We can boldly proclaim ourselves to be who we are, and give public voice to what we believe, without reservation.

By coming to the table together, we have the opportunity to break bread together, and in doing so, share a common experience to which all are welcome.

Gathering together challenges us to leave our loneliness behind, and risk relationship with God and with those on our journey who also gather to seek God’s presence. As we join in worship together, we are experiencing the presence and glory and beauty of showing up boldly before God and sharing in the communal life of the multitude of followers of Jesus who have gathered here before us.

And we are one body.

Are you ready to make a commitment to regularly gather to worship?

Learn more about the Way of Love at episcopalchurch.org/wayoflove. You can find suggestions on getting started and going deeper with Worshiping at iam.ec/explore.

Published by the Office of Formation of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
© 2020 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.
In the final two Sundays of July, we get an interplay of the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John as they continue the story of Jesus and the many crowds that throng him whenever and wherever he shows up. Whether on this side of the sea or the other, on a hill or on a plain, the crowds find him. Jesus’ words invite us to engage the work we are given to do, but also to rest so that we may keep doing our important work in God’s vineyard.

We read Mark 6:30-34, 53-36 on the Sunday closest to July 20.

To me, in mid-summer, the fascinating thing about this passage from the lectionary is that it skips the famous part of this story, and just recounts the movement of Jesus. It is as if we are reading the travel log, but without the historical points of interest. We do not read about the feeding of the five-thousand. Instead, we learn that Jesus moved around a lot, that crowds followed him, and that his disciples were exhausted.

Jesus, having compassion on his disciples, extends an invitation.

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

Certainly, we did not experience a year of multitudes gathering. Even so, the many virtual meetings, webinars and online-classrooms, and socially-distant Zoom gatherings of friends and family extended our screen-time, lengthened our workdays, increased our burdens to communicate. We need rest. Getting away to a deserted place and being with the ones we have not been able to see in so many months feels like just the right thing we need. And it is essential. The work, whether our jobs, our educations, and our families; or our ministry, our volunteering, and our social work must go on. In order to fully engage it, we must have some refreshment.

This month offers us the gift of rest.

FROM THE EPISCOPAL CAFÉ
Your Words

Kimberly Knowle-Zeller
July 13, 2021
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). 

What can I say, Lord? 
Give me words –
your words

To encourage, support, inspire. 
 

Give me words – 

your words


Of hope, healing, forgiveness. 
 

Make quick to listen – 
really listen. 
 

Make me slow to respond – 
with attentiveness. 
 
I want words filled with love
dripping with grace
overflowing with kindness. 
 
Help me offer words to family, friends, children
strangers, neighbors, and myself. 
 
Keep my words pointing to you – 
your kingdom, your peace
paving a path towards justice for all. 
Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is an ordained ELCA pastor, mother of two, and spouse of an ELCA pastor. She lives with her family in Cole Camp, MO. You can read more at her website, follow her work on Facebookor sign up for her monthly newsletter.!"
IN BRIEF . . .

These news briefs were featured in previous issues of "The Epistle"
From The Epistle, July 9, 2021

All Saintsʻ Celebration Honoring Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney and Independence Day
July 4th
Project Vision Hawaii
All Saints' to Assist Project Vision Hawai`i
Please Donate to the Mobile Shower Station: We depend on You!
All Saints' is helping collect needed items for Project Vision Hawai`i's (a 501(c)3 non-profit organization) mobile shower station which provides free hot showers to houseless people on Kaua`i. They also provide grab-and-go hygiene kits. For several Sundays (July 4 - August 15) there will be a blue plastic bin placed outside the church to collect donations. 

They currently have a need for the following:
  • gently used towels, any size (bath towels, hand towels, washcloths) and any color.
  • boxes of gallon ziploc bags for the mobile hygiene kits

For the contents of the mobile hygiene kits, they need unopened, individually-wrapped items like:
  • packets of wipes
  • bandaids
  • toothpaste
  • toothbrushes
  • feminine hygiene supplies
  • floss pics
  • unopened travel-size soaps, shampoos and lotions from hotels
  • hand sanitizers
  • any other unopened individually wrapped travel-size toiletries

For more information on this service project, please contact Carolyn Morinishi or the church office. For more information about Project Vision Hawai`i, please see https://hotshowerskauai.org. Thank you.


CONVENTION 53 and Education Day
Registration Now Open
  • Registration is now open for the Diocese's 53rd Annual Meeting of Convention and Education Day taking place October 22-23, 2021, at `Iolani School. (Please note recent change in dates.) Both the Annual Meeting and Education Day will be live-streamed. There is no fee to watch but online viewers must also register.

For more information, visit the Convention 53 webpage HERE. If you have questions, contact Rae Costa at (808) 536-7776, ext. 326 or email her HERE. To register, click on the button below.
Who Do You Call?

Contact information for All Saints' Ministries and Outreach

Please submit your story ideas to the Epistle Staff at news@allsaintskauai.org.
HALE HO`OMALU ACCEPTING DONATIONS
There is an on-going need for travel sized toiletries and canned goods so these items will be accepted every week. As always, monetary donations are gratefully accepted. Leave them in the red wagon outside the sanctuary

KUPUNA SHOPPING ASSISTANCE MINISTRY
Any of our All Saints' kupuna who need assistance with grocery shopping can contact Carolyn Morinishi at church@allsaintskauai.org to set up a delivery.

ALL SAINTS' VIRTUAL SWAP MEET
If any ministry has an unmet need, reach out to put it in the All Saints' Virtual Swap Meet and it will be published in the Epistle. Contact Bill Caldwell at news@allsaintskauai.org.

PASTORAL CARE CONTACT INFORMATION
Whenever you have a need for support, please call (650) 691-8104 and leave a voice mail. The system will immediately forward the information to the Pastoral Care Committee who will respond to each request. If you prefer, you may send an electronic pastoral care request via email to pastoralcare@allsaintskauai.org.

PRAYER CHAIN MINISTRY
Individuals who want to participate in the Prayer Chain Ministry must re-enroll to continue receiving the email communications. To re-enroll, please visit the newly established Pastoral Care web page or contact the Church Office at (808) 822-4267.

SUBMITTING A PRAYER REQUEST
Prayer requests will now be submitted online or by contacting the Church Office at (808) 822-4267.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Names can be added to the Prayers of the People petitions by using the Prayer Chain Request form or by contacting the Church Office at (808) 822-4267. Names will remain in the Prayers of the People for a maximum of four Sundays before a name must be resubmitted.