Volume 5, Issue 23
June 12, 2020
THIS SUNDAY: June 14, 2020
Second Sunday after Pentecost

ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICES RESUME

8:00AM
Chris Neumann (EM)
Judy Saronitman (U)
Dee Grigsby (AG)

9:30AM
Dileep Bal (EM)
Linda Crocker (LR)
Mary Margaret Smith (U)
David Crocker (AG)
Mabel Antonio, Nelson Secretario (HP)
UPCOMING EVENTS
REOPENINGS

ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICES
June 14 th
8:00AM and 9:30AM
Sanctuary and Side Lanai






RECURRING EVENTS
ALL RECURRING EVENTS SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Sunday School
Every Sunday, 9:30 - 10:15AM
Memorial Hall

Aloha Hour
Every Sunday, 10:45AM - 12:00PM
Under the big tree

Monday Crew
Every Monday, 8:00AM
Church Office

Laundry Love
1 st & 3 rd Wednesday, 5:00PM
Kapa`a Laundromat
McMaster Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele Concert
Every Wednesday, 6:00PM
Church

Choir Practice
Every Thursday, 6:00PM
Choir Room
OH HAPPY DAY!!

All Saints' Open for In-Person Worship on June 12 th
Aloha mai kakou,

We have begun in-person worship again on Sundays at All Saints'! I have enjoyed filming the recorded Morning Prayer services in cooperation with Fr. Andrew McMullen and the crew from St. Michael & All Angels, and have found it God's blessing that our two parishes could work together in such a meaningful way. This has been indeed a special time and season, and now we are about to enter into a new one of transition.

To that end, the vestry and I want to make sure that we do so in a way that transitions with intention and care for the physical, social, and spiritual well-being of our `Ohana. Therefore, we will follow the guidelines below:

  1. We will still have both services (8am and 9:30am), but with social distancing and face masks. Households and couples can sit together, though, without social distancing.
  2. We thought at first that we would conduct the services outside near the deck, but instead we decided to hold them in the Sanctuary. There is room enough for everyone at 8am, and we will have the side lanai doors open with lawn chairs our for 9:30am with the addition of the big tent over that area. I would ask all those coming to the 9:30AM service to pack some lawn chairs in your car in case you might need them to sit on the side lanai.
  3. Hank will continue to bless us with leading us in music ministry; however, in accordance with diocesan guidelines, for the time being we will have no in-person choral or congregational singing. We will have instrumental music, and the likelihood of more Virtual Choir musical offerings.
  4. We will have Holy Communion in a few weeks after we receive some special orders from the Mainland. In the meantime in our first few weeks together, we will have the "Liturgy of the Word," that is, the first portion of our normal service but without the latter Communion element.
  5. In addition, our Healing Ministry leaders are also planning on still offering prayer support - more instructions about that on Sunday.
  6. Finally, we will have a modified "Aloha Hour" after the 9:30am service -- no pupu's, but beverages like coffee, juice, and water in disposable cups.

These are all steps toward returning to the full in-person style of worship we love as statewide and nationwide virus testing becomes more robust and, eventually, a vaccine is developed. While the above measures are by no means perfect, I would invite us nevertheless to find God's moments of blessing in the midst of them. I am reminded of Moses and the Israelites, who escaped Egyptian slavery only to have to wander about in the desert for 40 years before "coming home" to the Promised Land -- the trick was to find God in the midst of their sojourns rather than wanting to go back to their former lives. While we are also sojourning through this wilderness experience, let's also look for "God-moments" and find ways to love and serve each other and our community in new and creative ways.

Much mahalo for your steadfast prayers, service, and support,
Kahu Kawika+
Considerations For Moving from the Lawn to the Sanctuary
  1. The big mounds of gravel and dirt by the deck will need quite a bit of time and work to remove.
  2. We are not having printed bulletins, but will show the service on a screen in the Sanctuary.
  3. We can fit all the 8am crowd no problem in the Sanctuary even with social distancing, and most of the 9:30am as well. For the 9am crowd, we are still asking folks to bring lawn chairs in their cars in case they may need to sit on the covered lanai.
  4. Sound system will work better using the Sanctuary and lanai.
  5. We will be recording the service for our website, and again the logistics for that are much easier from within the Sanctuary.
  6. For Altar Guild, it is easier to set up the Sanctuary than the Deck. Plus we can show our liturgical colors on the Altar and Lectern.
The Recorded 9:30AM Service Will Be Available On-Line
You will be able to view a recording of our 9:30AM service via a link on the All Saints' website. To access it on our website, click here: allsaintskauai.org and look for the link to the service .
Reflection from Kahu Kawika
Never Give Up: Meeting God and Each Other in the Desert
Ka`u `Ohana i ke Akua,

This past Sunday was the re-opening of in-person worship at All Saints. In anticipation of this past Sunday, I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

I was excited finally to get to see many of you in person at church after over ten weeks apart – it felt like an eternity! While it has been a blessing to have recorded services with Fr. Andrew McMullen and the team from St. Michael & All Angels in Lihue, the fact is that there is nothing like being able to gather together and experience the Spirit of God among us as a congregation. In addition, we got to bless our new Labyrinth after both services, which is and will be a source of helping us draw closer to God in prayer.

However, I was also a bit nervous, in that in this transitional time for worship, we had to break in a number of new ways of doing things in order for us to adhere to the current safety measures and to assure that we keep church as a safe environment for all, especially to be in a good position if the coronavirus gets re-introduced on our island. Many people helped out greatly here: the guys who got the big tent up as protection from the rain, the Altar Guild in getting the church clean and presentable, tech people like Ron Morinishi and Cami Baldovino to help us with our order of worship on the screen, Wayne Doliente with his offer of numerous facemasks and modified Aloha Hour beverages, Joe Adorno and David Crocker serving as our Lectors, and Hank with his inspiring music. I’m sure I am leaving out others who were indispensable to getting us ready to re-open. Suffice it to say that it was a herculean task to get ready!

One of our readings for this coming Sunday comes from Exodus 19, which shows Moses and the Israelites in their desert wanderings and right before they would receive the Ten Commandments. Through Moses, God reminds the Israelites of how God had saved them from Egyptian slavery, of how much God loves them as a treasured possession, and thus of how they are to serve the whole earth as God’s priests.

As I shared this past Sunday, like them we have just escaped our “slavery” of lockdown, but for the time being on our way to the “Promised Land” we have to pass through an extended time of “wandering” in the wilderness of sitting more apart, doing the Peace with hand and body gestures rather than hugs and handshakes, having no choir nor congregational singing at the 9:30 service, and for the next few weeks not being able to celebrate Holy Communion (we will get to do this soon, though – certainly by the beginning of July if not earlier).

While meeting together with facemasks and social distancing is not ideal and makes us miss how we could worship together less encumbered, nevertheless we can learn new ways of encountering God among us as fellow travelers on this journey. We are having to be creative in ways we had not imagined. We are realizing ever more our complete dependence on God and on each other. Indeed, I am amazed at the many ways you as members have kept up with each other through phone calls, by bringing groceries to some of our kpuna, in conducting meetings and attending Bible studies via Zoom, the way our electronic newsletter The Epistle has kept us in touch with each other and with what has been going on, and continuing to support our church through pledges and offerings as well as prayer. A heartfelt “mahalo nui loa” for your faithfulness and for doing your best in trying circumstances! I am humbled to serve among you.

Like the ancient Israelites, we are in a new situation in which we have to depend on God and count on each other to get through. Let’s have eyes to see the Aloha love of God and each other as we walk through this new pilgrimage together. I have no doubt that God will get us to the other side and to the Promised Land.

I ka mahalo o ke Akua,
Kahu Kawika+
For the aged and infirm, for the widowed and orphans, and for the sick and the suffering, especially Bill, Ann "Tommie", Mike, Nora, Keith, Gwen and those we name silently or aloud, let us pray to the Lord. ​Lord, have mercy. 

For all who have died, especially those affected by the COVID-19 virus 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.
Back Together Again!
A Return to Services in the Sanctuary and Blessing of the Labyrinth
The All Saints' `Ohana was delighted to return to the church sanctuary for our first service since the shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Trinity Sunday, June 5 th. Sitting with face masks in socially distanced family groups was a far cry from our norm but the spiritual power of coming together to worship was a profound comfort.

After the services Kahu Kawika blessed the newly installed labyrinth under beautiful blue Kaua`i skies.

Click on the link below to see a slideshow of photos from both services and the blessing of the labyrinth.
Refinished Pews Are Almost Ready
Larry and Max Richardson Hard at Work to Complete the Project
Larry and Max sanding and staining the pews.
The correct stain for the job recently arrived at Home Depot and the Richardsons promptly began the project of sanding and staining the remaining pews in the sanctuary. Their efforts will result in a much more welcoming and aesthetically pleasing place of worship. This is no small task but the pews should be ready for services this Sunday, June 14 th . Mahalo nui loa to the Richarsons for all their time and effort on this project.
This Week In Sunday School
Eucharist Feeds Us Every Week
Sunday School has been suspended until the School Year resumes this fall and this is the last lesson for the semester. The staff of your Epistle  have been delighted to include more information than usual in this article so the parents of our keiki can share the lesson with their children during the COVID-19 lockdown. Please let us know what you think of this service by emailing us at news@allsaintskauai.org.

Where You’ll Find Today’s Theme

Luke 22:7-23 (The Last Supper)

Wondering and Learning

In the Episcopal Church, we celebrate the Holy Eucharist (or Holy Communion) every Sunday in church. Some churches also celebrate Holy Eucharist on weekdays.

The Holy Eucharist is  the  celebration and prayer of the whole Church. Today, we will focus on how we continue to remember and re-enact that supper, as Jesus had commanded us to do. How do we celebrate this sacrament in our church? And why do we call it a “celebration”? Why should we do this every week “in remembrance of ” Jesus, and what does it means when we do it?

Growing in Faith

If, as John Westerhoff says in  A People Called Episcopalians  (New York, NY: Morehouse Publishing, 1996), we are as we worship, then the Eucharist—as the worship of the Church tells us supremely what we are. We are a community offering praise and thanksgiving to God, offering our obedience to our Lord’s command to “Do this,” making our commitment to him in our confession of faith, and offering up ourselves (through the offering of Christ himself) to God.

In  Introduction to Christian Worship  (Nashville: Abingdon Press 1990, p. 240), James White identifies five New Testament eucharistic themes: thanksgiving, communal fellowship, commemoration, sacrifice and presence. He then adds two more: the work of the Holy Spirit and the eschatological dimension.

Central to Holy Communion is the theme of thanksgiving, which is the translation of the Greek word  eucharist . This is a prayer to God and often gives thanks to God as creator as well as redeemer.

With thanksgiving comes sacrifice the reason for our thanksgiving to God. The Old Testament connection to sacrifice is the meal of the Passover; all New Testament accounts see Christ as the new paschal lamb of sacrifice. However, Christ’s sacrifice differs from temple worship and sacrifice in that it was “a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world...” ( BCP , p. 334).

Another theme is that of the proclamation of our faith through the story of God’s saving acts. In ages past, God entered into our lives and brought us salvation through mighty acts in the world. These acts had their fulfillment in the saving act of Christ on the cross, in his death and resurrection. At this time, we recount these acts, and especially Christ’s oblation, not as a thing of the past but as a part of our present lives.

We then re-call or re-enact the sacrifice of Christ in his death and resurrection. The church offers and receives the bread and cup, which are truly the body and blood of Christ, through the act of the words of institution. The Reformed (Protestant) churches see the rite as simply a commemoration of Christ’s sacrificial act and redeeming work in the past. The Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church—befitting their “middle way” ( via media ) position in the faith—mention both the real presence and the commemoration, th e “once-offered” sacrifice and the re-presenting of this sacrifice, at the same time.

Side by side with this movement of the past into the real present is an eschatological dimension which brings us to the future—God’s future and the fulfillment of God’s plans with us. “...and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom” ( BCP , p. 363) or “In the fullness of time, put all things in subjection under your Christ, and bring us to that heavenly country...” ( BCP , p. 369).

The horizontal relationship—our communal fellowship in Christ and with Christ—is one which is often overlooked in our prayers at Eucharist. But the rite began as a fellowship meal with the community. This communal fellowship is essential to the Eucharist and guides our sense of the Christian life beyond the rite and the walls of the church.

One important implication of the communal aspect of the Eucharist is that we are called to a particular pattern of Christian life, that of commitment to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. The vertical dimension of the Eucharist—our relationship with God in the redeeming work of Christ—is, of course, the whole point of the prayer of the church. But the horizontal dimension—our relationship with one another in community—is the other part. There needs to be a balance of connection with God and with our neighbors. After all, the Great Commandment that Jesus reminded us about is “Love the Lord your God... and your neighbors as yourselves.” Both of these are here in the Eucharistic Prayer and in the action of the Eucharist. (It is  sharing,  after all!).

Telling the Story, Exploring the Theme

A lesson on the Holy Eucharist may be taught as an interactive lesson. Set the scene by having children gather around a table or in a circle. Have bread and juice to pass around.

Read aloud from a children’s Bible the story of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples or tell it in your own words. Then pass around the bread and juice.

When your storytelling is finished, put everything away and move on to Prayer. Later, while sharing snacks, you can invite the children to talk about Jesus’ last supper and Holy Communion in church.
PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO LISTEN TO THIS SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE FROM OUR BISHOP
During this time of separation, Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick will be sharing video messages. To watch the Monday video message click on his image below, or visit the Diocesan website  HERE .
BISHOP'S MONDAY MESSAGE
Instructional Videos: ASL for Eucharist
The Rev. Cn. Sandy Graham has put together two videos for those who may want to use American Sign Language during their congregation's Eucharistic liturgies, especially in a time when wearing face masks make communal participation more difficult. Click on the links to watch the videos:

Introducing the NEW  Hawaiian Church Chronicle !
We are delighted to release our latest electronic news format! Although the format may be slightly different, the name is familiar. Many of you have been receiving the bi-monthly E-News that contained the latest announcements and upcoming activities in the Diocese, and until recently, was paired with the  Chronicle  that was released every other month, featuring stories of special interest and reporting on events that have taken place.

Since the inception of a regular e-news and electronic  Chronicle  in 2011, there has always been some confusion between the two. In one of our monthly meetings, the Communications Design Team (Rae Costa, the Rev. Mark Haworth, Lindy Marzo and myself) discussed combining everything into one publication, but we didn't want folks to scroll endlessly with so much information to share. To keep it as condensed as possible you will find links to external web pages and documents for expanded reading and information.

The team also mulled over a proper name for the new format, and It was decided to stick with our historical roots by keeping the Hawaiian Church Chronicle name. Did you know that the first issue was published in 1908? The Bishop at the time (Bishop Henry Restarick) appointed himself editor-in-chief! Stuart Ching, the Diocese's Archivist, wrote a very interesting article on the origins of our church publications that dates back to the 1870s under various names. Visit our news website  HERE  to read Stuart's article about the history of the  Hawaiian Church Chronicle .

Communication in the Diocese has always been a challenging area as we try to stay on top of the ever growing platforms, apps, and trends. During this age of COVID-19, we have witnessed an exponential jump in online use as people have been forced to shelter at home and connect through the internet. We are grateful for the grand efforts of everyone in the Diocese, both clergy and lay, who have stepped outside of their comfort zones to embrace technology in ways no one gave a second thought to just a few months ago. Let's keep it going!

As always, we welcome your feedback as we endeavor to keep you informed and continue to improve communications in the Diocese.

Mahalo,
Sybil Nishioka, Editor

FROM THE EPISCOPAL CAFÉ
Where the Light Lands

June 9, 2020

From where I’m sitting I see a few remaining puddles on the road. With my computer turned on and open to Facebook I sit and wait. I check the time, a few minutes before 1 pm. I scroll mindlessly to pass the minutes. My hands need to keep busy, my mind avoiding the feelings that want to emerge. Finally, after many times refreshing my browser I see the church sanctuary. To the left a group of people sit close together wearing a variety of shades of black, a casket draped with the white pall stands in the center of the aisle.
 
The pastor at the lectern offers words from the funeral liturgy I’ve heard before, words I’ve spoken: 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of all mercy and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows so that we can comfort others in their sorrows with the consolation we ourselves have received from God. (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 279)
 
I’ve lost track of how many days my family and I have been staying at home since the pandemic swept the United States. All I know is that life is vastly different now. 
 
Funerals, for one, are not the same. 
 
In the top left hand side of the video on my screen, I see a picture of an eye and the number 364. From my desk at home that number tells me I am not alone in watching the funeral. Three hundred sixty four different households are also honoring the life of the deceased. 
 
For a moment I wonder where everyone is sitting, perhaps in cars, or at their kitchen table, on the couch, or in their beds. Three hundred sixty four people bearing witness in a way that transcends place and connects us to one another and the family who is grieving. Thanks to the screen in front of me, I am able to attend the funeral of a friend who died during the pandemic. Thanks to technology I can grieve apart, yet together. I am not alone.  
 
My eyes are drawn not to the people in church but to the light fixtures hanging above them. They seem especially bright from the view on my computer. Or perhaps, it’s just the glow of my screen. Either way, it’s the light that draws me. I picture the light from over 300 hundred other screens and devices like a string of lights connecting us all together. 
 
Holy Spirit, author and giver of life, the comforter of all who sorrow, our sure confidence and everlasting hope, we worship you. 
 
Some days I have a running list in my head of all the things I’ve lost during the pandemic, or at least a list of things that I miss. My daughter’s preschool graduation didn’t happen, nor any final classes with her friends in person. A conference I had planned on attending for the last two years was cancelled. Visits from family postponed. Playdates, meals out at restaurants, playing at the park all ended abruptly. Worship moved from in person to online. 
 
I miss the safety I felt going to the grocery store or chatting with friends at the park. I miss the freedom to come and go without endless worry, handwashing, and facemasks. I lament not being able to hug and hold close my friends grieving the loss of their loved one. 
 
But then I remember the story told by my grieving friends. A day after their family member died the lights of the baseball field in their town were illuminated. Throughout the evening, people were drawn to the light and gathered to honor and remember the life of their friend. I didn’t personally see the light from this baseball field, but I can picture it clearly, as if the light from the field stretched all the way to my home. 
 
What I did see, though, was the light that dawned after a spring shower a few evenings after my friend died. Again, seated at my desk in the office I plugged away at my work. When I needed a book from the shelf behind me I looked up for the first time seeing a brilliant orange sunset, almost as if the sky was on fire. I quickly walked out my door where my eyes were drawn to the light of a double rainbow.  
 
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet streaked across the evening sky. A few birds chirped amidst the otherwise stillness of the day’s ending. Could this be what binds us together when we’re apart? Could this light draw us together? Can we be apart, yet together? 

I hope so. Some days more than others, I believe so. 
 
But on the days I need to be reminded that I’m not alone in my fear, worry, and grief, on the days where death’s sting feels stronger, on the days that meld into one another, I look to the light drawing me forward, basking me in its presence.
 
The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord’s face shine on us with grace and mercy. 
The Lord look upon us with favor and give us peace. 

Amen. 
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  Facebook or  sign up for her monthly newsletter
The following letter invites everyone in The Episcopal Church to participate in a survey about sexual misconduct in the denomination

Responses requested by: July 1, 2020

[June 8, 2020] A letter to Episcopalians from Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry and President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings:
 
Dear People of God in the Episcopal Church:
 
In early 2018, we issued a call for The Episcopal Church to come to a fuller understanding of how it has handled or mishandled cases of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse through the years. That work began to take shape at General Convention 2018 when the House of Deputies Special Committee on Sexual Harassment and Exploitation submitted more than twenty resolutions and the House of Bishops held a Liturgy of Listening to lament and confess the church’s role in harassment, exploitation and abuse.
 
Since General Convention, several task forces have been hard at work carrying out the resolutions of convention that address gender-based discrimination and violence. Today we are asking you to assist one of those groups—the Task Force on Women, Truth and Reconciliation—by taking an online survey designed to assess patterns of church-based harassment and abuse and the effect that it has on victims. Please take the survey online by July 1, 2020.
 
We know that recalling and recounting experiences of abuse and harassment can be difficult. We urge anyone who feels the need for pastoral care to seek support from their clergyperson or bishop, which can include a referral to local mental health resources. In addition, anyone can make a complaint against a clergyperson or bishop under the disciplinary canons of the church, called the Title IV canons. More information about that process is available on the  Title IV website .
 
The Task Force on Women, Truth and Reconciliation is tasked with “making an accounting of things done and left undone in thought, word, and deed, intending amendment of life, and seeking counsel, direction, and absolution as we are restored in love, grace, and trust with each other through Christ.” Thank you in advance for taking their  online survey , which is part of this work.
 
Please join us in praying for all victims and survivors of sexual abuse, violence and harassment, and in supporting the work of this task force and all those who are helping the church to be a community of safety that stands against the spiritual and physical violence of sexual exploitation and abuse.
 
Faithfully,
 
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop
 
The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings
President of the House of Deputies
 
Take the survey online:  SURVEY LINK
Virtual Executive Council meeting opens with passionate plea for justice, plans for possible budget cuts

By Egan Millard
Posted Jun 8, 2020
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry speaks during a virtual meeting of the Executive Council on June 8, 2020 .

[Episcopal News Service] On June 8, The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council met virtually to sketch out visions and plans for the church’s future in a world that bears little resemblance to the one that existed when council last met in person, in February.

The meeting of the group tasked with enacting the policies adopted by General Convention goes through June 11 and is being held on Zoom, as was a  brief special session in late April .

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry  opened  the meeting with a rousing, emotional address that acknowledged the suffering and anguish caused by the overlapping crises of the past three months: the  COVID-19 pandemic racial violence and police brutality against African Americans , and the government’s sometimes-violent  reaction to protests .

Quoting from  Isaiah 40 , Curry simultaneously expressed the spiritual pain and exhaustion of this moment, the solace of faith in God, and the need for the church to double down on its commitment to justice, even “when the cameras are gone.”

“We’re not going to quit,” Curry said. “We’re going to stay the course.”

Curry praised the way Episcopalians have risen to the occasion and engaged with the various issues that have arisen in recent weeks, and he gave an impassioned and unvarnished assessment of the political and cultural forces responsible.

“We have seen false representations of Christianity and Christian nationalism on display for all the world to see,” Curry said. “We have seen the blatant face of the brutality of racism that is very often far more subtle and pernicious and systemic and institutional. But we have seen its brutal face. We have seen fundamental challenges to the ideals of freedom, justice and human equality. … We have seen fundamental challenges to the democratic fabric of American society, something I never thought I would live to see.

“We have seen a ruthless virus, a plague in the land, sickness and death and hardship visited to one degree or another on all of us, but  particularly on the most vulnerable among us . And it has exposed inequities and moral wrongs that shouldn’t be in our land, or in our world.”

Curry and House of Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings told council that the way forward will be difficult, both spiritually and practically. The church, Jennings said, must own up to “centuries of institutional complicity in slavery and Jim Crow and mass incarceration, and the economic and social practices of systemic racism.”

“When people across the nation are rising up against racial injustice, police brutality and systemic racism, we must not turn away from this deeply painful history, our history,” she  told  council.

To read the entire article, please click here .

– Egan Millard is an assistant editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at emillard@episcopalchurch.org.
Executive Council to vote on 2 racial justice resolutions responding to black victims of violence

By David Paulsen
Posted Jun 9, 2020
[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church’s  Executive Council  will consider this week two resolutions amplifying the church’s opposition to violence against people of color, in the name of George Floyd and other recent victims of violence by police and white vigilantes.

Executive Council’s Joint Standing Committee on Mission Within The Episcopal Church, meeting online June 9 in a Zoom session, voted to recommend one resolution responding to the  killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia  and a second resolution about several recent killings by police of black citizens,  including Floyd in Minnesota .
House of Deputies Vice President Byron Rushing, from the Diocese of Massachusetts, speaks June 9 during a Zoom session of the Executive Council’s Joint Standing Committee on Mission Within The Episcopal Church.

House of Deputies Vice President Byron Rushing, who also helped to draft the resolution on police brutality, presented the Arbery resolution to the committee. Though the recent killings collectively have inspired widespread protests against racial injustice over the past two weeks, Rushing said he and other Episcopal leaders thought it appropriate to speak separately on  the Feb. 23 killing of Arbery  by a white father and son. Arbery was jogging in Glynn County, Georgia, when he was attacked.

“This was a very different kind of killing. This was borderline lynching,” Rushing said. “We don’t want to confuse this with the killings that have been moving so many people now, which are killings by the police.”

The resolution begins by invoking the Executive Council’s visit to the  Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice  during its  October 2019 meeting in Montgomery, Alabama . It then connects lynchings and other historic forms of racial terror with the attack on Arbery. The resolution condemns authorities’ delay of more than two months in arresting Arbery’s attackers, and it praises the Episcopalians in the dioceses of Georgia and Atlanta for their public calls for justice.

The Rev. Devon Anderson, a Minnesota priest, presented the resolution regarding police brutality. It references Floyd and Breonna Taylor by name.  Floyd died May 25  after repeating “I can’t breathe” while a white Minneapolis officer pinned him to the ground for nearly nine minutes, pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck.  Taylor was shot and killed March 13  by white police officers during an overnight raid of her home in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Rev. Devon Anderson, a priest in Minnesota, addresses Executive Council’s Joint Standing Committee on Mission Within The Episcopal Church on Jun e 9.

“The idea here is focusing on acknowledging the brutality and the violence … and then raising up for the wider church efforts that are going on the ground as models, particularly around community engagement,” Anderson said.

The resolution highlights the racial justice work of  Episcopalians in Minnesota  and Kentucky. Referencing a  2018 General Convention resolution on police violence and racism, Episcopalians are further urged to “join community and grassroots leaders in advocating … substantive and mandatory change in police departments and policing and to allocate resources for community-based models of safety, support and prevention.”

The committee also was scheduled this week to discuss a resolution responding to the  disproportionate toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken  on communities of color. Another resolution that advocates criminal justice and police reforms was reviewed June 9, but a different committee will take the lead on discussing and recommending the measure.

Executive Council is meeting online June 8-11 after it canceled plans to meet in person in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The pandemic has forced all church governance meetings to shift online, starting with the  House of Bishops’ meeting in early March .

The resolutions on violence against people of color are scheduled for a final vote of the full Executive Council on June 11, along with  potential budget revisions  made necessary by disruptions caused by the pandemic and public health precautions that prompted suspensions of in-person worship across the country.

– David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org . esolution about several recent killings by police of black citizens,  including Floyd in Minnesota .
Canada: Bishops issue statement on church’s commitment to confronting racism

Posted Jun 10, 2020
[Anglican Church of Canada] Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada have issued a statement to remind everyone of the church’s commitment to confronting racism in its own life and acknowledging the place of racism and colonialism in Canada. They have stated that “this commitment needs to be renewed daily”.

The full statement in English follows:

The Anglican Church of Canada has committed itself to confronting racism in its own life and to acknowledging the place of racism and colonialism in our own nation. That commitment needs to be renewed daily.

We have been horrified by the public murder of George Floyd. We are deeply distressed and profoundly disturbed by the images, rhetoric, violence, division, and chaos that has followed. We offer our prayerful support and solidarity with our sister church, the Episcopal Church, as it prays and guides its people while it simultaneously repents of, and protests the sin of racism.

Our own house is not in order. Systemic racism exists in every part of Canada.


“The assumption of racial difference and inequality was the basis of much of Canada’s social legislation. For example, as a result of the Indian Act, First Nations people were confined to their reserves and their lands, and made susceptible to exploitation and take over. Immigration policies restricted Black, Asian and Jewish immigrants. Canadians of Japanese and Ukrainian descent were rounded up and interned during World War Two. Labour legislation dictated who could and couldn’t work for whom, and who could do what kind of work.”

We repent of our complicity in the continuing structures of racism and oppression in our church and in our culture, for racism is not of Christ. It is sin.

Every human being reflects the dignity of the very image of God. At baptism we commit to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being”. It is the centre of the ministry and message of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Marks of Mission, to which we are committed as a Communion, remind us that we are called to “seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation”.

The Anglican Church of Canada has been wrestling with racism and our complicity in systems of injustice for decades. It is a matter of public record that The Anglican Church of Canada has been committed to and learning about a new path to reconciliation with Indigenous Anglicans. We recommit ourselves today to that path.

The legacy of racism, colonialism, and the residential schools they spawned as well as the open wound of the plight of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls continues to call out for healing. This season in particular is the anniversary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015) and the Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) (2019).

As teachers of the gospel, we remind the world that Christ himself was crucified in part because of the threat he represented in standing with those who were marginalized. (Luke 6:20-28). We re-commit ourselves and our Dioceses to confront the sin of racism in all its forms and the patterns of silence and self-congratulation, which have silenced the experiences of people of colour, First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples of this land.
IN BRIEF . . .

These news briefs were featured in previous issues of "The Epistle"

Please submit your story ideas to the Epistle Staff at news@allsaintskauai.org .
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