By the Rev. James Richardson

The recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, struck especially close . Seeing photographs of young men holding torches and giving Nazi salutes directly across the street from my former church, St. Paul's Memorial, made this feel exceptionally personal.

The Rev. Will Peyton, rector of St. Paul's Memorial Church, prepares to welcome the ecumenical crowd that gathered for prayer the night before the white supremacists held their rally.  Dr. Cornel West, who grew up in Sacramento and teaches at Harvard, was the featured speaker.  Photograph by Andrew Shurtleff / The Daily Progress.

White supremacists descended upon what is normally a bucolic university town that has work

ed very hard to lower racial barriers and become an 

co mmunity for all people and many faiths. The white supremacists were in Charlottesville ostensibly to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. But they came looking for a fight. Three people - including two police officers - lost their lives. A deranged young man with Nazi sympathies drove his car into a crowd, killing a young woman and injuring many others.

 

We need to name it: What happened in Charlottesville is evil. (more...) 

The Missioner for Leadership Development and Networking position is now open and accepting applications. To learn more about this and other openings within our diocese, visit our Open Clergy Positions Page . Interviews will begin immediately and the position will be open until filled.

• Aug. 20 - Grace Church, Wheatland
• Aug. 27 - St. Barnabas', Mount Shasta
• Sept. 3 - Good Shepherd, Cloverdale
• Oct. 1 - Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento 
• Oct. 8 - St. Peter's, Red Bluff 
• Oct. 15 - St. John's, Petaluma 

A note from the Rev. Casey Kloehn of The Belfry, a joint Episcopal-Lutheran campus ministry in Davis: 

"As many of you may have experienced in your own lives (or in the lives of your children), campus ministry is a vital part of lifelong Christian formation. The connections we build here at our students' home away from home stick with them throughout their college experiences and their adult lives. We're a safe place for questions and concerns, a quiet place to study, a community full of laughter, and-most importantly-a source of free food.

"Is someone in your congregation headed off to college or graduate school? Have you encouraged them to get in touch with the campus ministry there? Have you considered reaching out to the chaplain to let them know your loved one is on the way? There are so many ways that congregations and campus ministries can work together to shepherd young adults through this next phase of faith and life, and this is chief among them. My colleagues around the country and I look forward to hearing from you!"

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat featured  Deacon Phina Borgeson talking about the theological

significance that lies in a meditation on food, its symbolic importance within religions and understanding local food systems in an Aug. 8 article on North Bay's Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative expansion. It also mentioned St. Andrew's-in-the-Redwoods, Monte Rio, as an example of a faith site using U.S. Department of Agriculture grant funds to open access to CalFresh users. Read the entire article here.

Last month, Trinity, Folsom, partnered with local families, a refugee resettlement agency, and the Folsom State Prison in a Saturday Bike Drive supporting those recently relocated to the Sacramento area.  

For recently-resettled persons, a bike can represent a way to get a job, go to school, receive medical care, and access community resources-all vital things that are easy for those who have a means of transportation to take for granted.

In June, said the Rev. Charlie  Knuth, assistant rector at Trinity,  a local woman of Afghan descent approached the church about hosting a bike drive.  Opening Doors Inc. was on hand to write receipts for tax-deductible donations, as well as to answer any questions donors may have had about refugee support and advocacy. Folsom State Prison volunteered to refurbish the bicycles in their workshop, so that when Opening Doors distributes them to their clients, they would be like new. 

  

The drive collected 62 bicycles (and a unicycle!), with Folsom Prison pledging an additional 20 bikes to the effort.  Many helmets, tubes, pumps, tools, and racks were also collected.

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The Very Rev. Paul Blanch, rector at All Saints, Redding, is leaving for England at the end of August and will be installed on Sept. 4 as a vicar of three churches in the Diocese of Lincoln.