Volume 5, Issue 25
June 26, 2020
THIS SUNDAY: June 28, 2020
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICES RESUME

8:00AM
Chris Neumann (EM*)
John Hanaoka (U)
Marge Akana (AG)

9:30AM
Mary Margaret Smith (EM)
Nelson Secretario (LR)
Mario Antonio (U)
Janis Wright (AG)
Vikki Secretario, Mabel Antonio (HP)

* EM - Eucharisitic Minister; U - Usher; LR - Lay Reader; AG - Altar Guild; HP - Healing Prayers
UPCOMING EVENTS
REOPENINGS

ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICES
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
We're Open for Business!
Guidelines for In-Person Worship at All Saints'
Aloha mai kakou,

We have begun in-person worship again on Sundays at All Saints'! Therefore, we will follow the guidelines below:

  1. We will still have both services (8:00AM and 9:30AM), but with social distancing and face masks. Households and couples can sit together, though, without social distancing.
  2. Both services will be held in the Sanctuary with overflow seating on the side lanai with additional seating under the big tent on the Church lawn. 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 his music; 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 supplies 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 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.

Much mahalo for your steadfast prayers, service, and support,
Kahu Kawika+
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
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Ka`u `Ohana i ke Akua,

15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of your presence.
16 They rejoice daily in your Name;
they are jubilant in your righteousness.
17 For you are the glory of their strength,
and by your favor our might is exalted. (Psalm 89:15-17)

One of our readings for this coming Sunday is from Psalm 89, which is one of the Royal Psalms, because it praises God for being Sovereign in our world and over our universe. It describes God’s people as happy and jubilant in God for being both good and great. It praises God for who God is and for what God has done for God’s people.

In reading these verses above, I am struck by the line in verse 17, “For you are the glory of their strength.” It seems to suggest that God should get the glory for when we feel strong and empowered in our lives. I know that many times in my life, I have been at the end of what I thought I could do in a tough circumstance. When I have seen God come through, though, I was certainly happy and glad. Perhaps you have felt the same when you realized that God had worked things out beyond what you could have imagined.

My parents taught me to acknowledge any gift someone has given me, usually through a note or phone call. They presented it as doing the right and polite thing; while this is true, I have also found that by giving thanks to someone who has extended kindness to me, it also completes the circle of happiness – I feel more glad and content when I return the act of kindness with my own act of kindness.

However, how many of us publicly give God the glory, as this Psalm suggests we do? The language here is a rather holy way of saying that we should give God the credit. Many of us think of evangelism as a bad word, due to the fear of browbeating other people with what we think is the truth. I wonder, though, if what sharing the Good News is about is really simply telling the truth of something great that God has done for us? In short, giving credit where credit is due – no more and no less.

I heard a church leader once say that telling God’s Good News is like “one beggar telling another where to find bread.” We tend to worry and stress over the thought of telling someone else about God in our lives, for fear of imposing our own belief system on them. But the approach here is one of humility – of simply sharing whatever God has done for us, whether it be a sense of knowing God’s presence in our lives, or more specifically to some concrete great thing that has happened to us like an unexpected check in the mail, a word of timely encouragement that lifted us up, help working through a disagreement or contentious issue, or even simply finding God in nature around us – a colorful rainbow, the crashing of waves at the beach, etc. 

We can humbly share the good news of something God has done for us, and thus give God the credit where credit is due. May God’s Spirit open our eyes to see the many daily and weekly miracles that God does for us, and the courage to let someone else know about them. As Psalm 89 implies, when we give God the credit, we complete the circle of our own happiness.

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, Mike, Nora, Keith, Gwen, Chadd, Penny 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.
Improvements to the Church Sanctuary
David Crocker Has Been Busy
David Crocker has given his time and talent to make our sanctuary a more welcoming and safe space for Sunday services. He recently installed a shield on the lectern from which the lessons and Prayers of the People are read. The readers can now read without wearing a face mask and not worry about their exhalations reaching the congregation.

David also tinted the windows in the Queens' Chapel. The tinting will help protect the paintings, prie-dieu and cushion, and altar from damage by UV rays that come through the windows.

Mahalo nui to David for all his work at All Saints'!
Labyrinth Plaques are in the Works
Paul Iwai Contributes His Time and Talent
Paul Iwai
Paul Iwai with a completed plaque.
Paul Iwai is donating his time and talent to create the plaques for our Labyrinth donors. The process is very labor intensive. It starts with artwork drawn by Ron Morinishi in Adobe Illustrator. Then Keven Hanano of The Sign & Print Machine, Inc. cuts a rubber mask. Paul places the mask onto the cut and polished Basalt stone, and carefully peels away the letters and graphics. He sandblasts the letters and graphics, which he then fills with white epoxy paint. The final step is to apply a clear coat of epoxy over the entire plaque. Mahalo for the hard work!

We still have plenty of the smaller sidewalk tiles available, which we have not started making yet... so get your orders in to Cami ( church@allsaintskauai.org ), Carolyn Morinishi ( carolyn.morinishi@gmail.com ) or Faith Shiramizu ( faith.s@hawaiitel.net ).

-Ron Morinishi
Jr. Warden
This Week In Sunday School
Sunday School is in recess for the summer but spiritual growth happens every day. It doesn't take a summer break. This is the perfect time for you to nurture your child's spiritual development through daily prayer. Your Epistle is committed to helping you nurture your children's spiritual development this summer through prayer and scriptural guidance. This week we present our first installment.
A Prayer Moment with Your Child

Let’s pray now to God, the source of all love and compassion:
God of judgment and mercy, thank you for your love,
which continually calls me to come closer to you.
Help me to see you in all people I meet
and to recognize how to serve you by helping others,
especially those in need.

Amen
Chronicle Highlight: 

A Return to Our Worship Spaces
After three long months, churches in the Diocese were given the go-ahead to open their sanctuaries and to worship in person. Along with CDC, State, and County guidelines,  "The Diocesan Customary In the Time of Pandemic"  was created to help keep our church spaces and worshipers as safe as possible. To view photos, videos, and comments from clergy and lay as they return to their worship spaces, click  HERE .
Important Notice from our Chancellor:
License Required for Live Streaming Music
As you may know, U.S. copyright laws do not apply for the performance or display of copyrighted works during on-site religious services. However, this religious service exemption does NOT apply to livestreaming or retransmission of the service over the Internet. Churches using copyrighted music in a live streamed service must either obtain specific written permission or a streaming license. Please review the article for more information  HERE .

Please contact me if you have any questions:
Email: wayne.yoshigai@jacksonlewis.com or call (808) 282-6088
Good Shepherd Welcomes The Rev. Cn. Moki Hino
The Rev. Cn. Moki Hino will be the new Priest-in-Charge at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Wailuku, Maui, beginning on August 1, 2020. Fr. Moki has been serving as The Cathedral of St. Andrew's Canon Administrator and Priest-in-Charge for the past 3-1/2 years.

"As you may or may not know, I was ordained to the Priesthood at Good Shepherd and, like the Cathedral, it holds a special place in my heart," said Fr. Moki in an announcement to The Cathedral.

In a letter to The Cathedral, Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick shared the news and thanked Fr. Moki. "I am grateful to Moki for his time back here at the Cathedral. He has walked the Cathedral through administrative reorganization and then nurtured the congregation with the virtual worship required by these first months of the COVID-19 pandemic."

He closed with a fitting quote from Matthew, “‘Well done! You are a good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.” (Matthew 25:23).

Fr. Moki will be celebrating at all three services for his final Sunday at The Cathedral on June 28.
Christ Memorial's Thrift Shop: Back in Business!
For Christ Memorial Episcopal Church in Kilauea, their thrift shop has been a vital source of income for nearly 40 years. At the helm is 95-year old Helen Mitsui, who was honored in 2013 for over 30 years of devoted service, and the shop was renamed to bear her name: The Helen Mitsui Shared Blessings Thrift Shop.

When the pandemic hit, workers took the down time to clean, paint and refurbish the space. On May 15, when the County lifted restrictions, they reopened the beautifully renovated thrift shop with business continuing better than ever.

"We have maintained our pre-pandemic sales numbers which is quite surprising since we are not entertaining tourists on our island now," said Rebecca Hellum, the Bishop's Warden. "Normally, much of our customer base includes a large group of tourists."

Greeters help customers follow social distancing and mask wearing rules. Hellum added, "Our customers continually tell us how happy they are that we are open as we are one of the few variety shopping venues on the Northshore."

But probably no one is happier than Aunty Helen, who is back in her isolated space, busy pricing nearly every item that comes in! For more information, visit their webpage  HERE , or Facebook page  HERE .
Bishop Bob's Wednesday Bible Study Reflection on The Letter of James
BISHOP'S MONDAY MESSAGE:
Symbols and Faith
June 22, 2020 - In today’s message, Bishop Robert Fitzpatrick talks about symbols and faith, referring to the book The Dynamics of Faith by Paul Tillich.

FROM THE EPISCOPAL CAFÉ
Building the Universe

June 23, 2020

Clanging through the gray skies trying to turn blue, the town siren sounds. “It’s noon! It’s noon,” Isaac says as his dinosaurs crash into one another. 
 
“It’s NOT noon,” Charlotte replies with her fists closed together and the stomp of her foot. 
 
Standing between them I see tears forming on both their faces. I take a deep breath as the siren continues to ring. 
 
“It’s noon, Charlotte,” Isaac keeps repeating. 
 
“NO!” Charlotte turns inside and slams the door. 
 
Over lunch I grab a book of poems and open to Mary Oliver’s  Why I Wake Early
 
On a summer morning
I sat down
On a hillside
To think about God – 
 
“Move, Charlotte!” Isaac says and pushes Charlotte’s hands away from his plate. 
 
“I’m playing,” she replies.
 
“NO!” 
 
A worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
A single cricket;
It was moving that grains of a hillside
 
I try to think of God as Mary Oliver recommends despite not being outside on a hillside but rather surrounded by my children’s arguments. I try to picture God’s presence surrounding me as I take a deep breath. 
 
This way and that way. 
How great was its energy,
How humble its effort.
Let us hope
 
It will always be like this, 
Each of us going on 
In our explicable ways
Building the universe.  
 
A few minutes later, with dishes piled on the counter and bellies full, the kids find their dinosaurs and trucks. On top of the couch they’ve created a construction site building with their imagination, dreaming dreams, and bringing to life a new world. 
 
I sit and watch them play from my chair on this summer day. 
 
A worthy pastime, indeed, for all of us.
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
Feasts of the Church Year
What and When
The calendar of the church year includes two cycles of feasts and holy days. One cycle is based on the movable date of Easter Day, and the other is based on the fixed date of Christmas Day, Dec. 25. Easter Day is the first Sunday after the full moon that falls on or after Mar. 21. The four Sundays of Advent are the four Sundays before Christmas Day (BCP, p. 15). The principal feasts of the church year are Easter Day, Ascension Day, the Day of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints' Day (Nov. 1), Christmas Day, and the Epiphany (Jan. 6). Ascension Day is celebrated on the Thursday forty days after Easter. The Day of Pentecost is the eighth Sunday after Easter, the fiftieth day of the Easter season. Trinity Sunday is the Sunday after the Day of Pentecost, nine Sundays after Easter. All Saints' Sunday is the Sunday following All Saints' Day, Nov. 1, and the feast may be observed on either day. The principal feasts take precedence over any other observance.
 
The feasts of the Holy Name (Jan. 1), the Presentation (Feb. 2), and the Transfiguration (Aug. 6) also take precedence over the usual Sunday observance if they fall on a Sunday. These are Feasts of our Lord. Other Feasts of our Lord include the Annunciation (Mar. 25), the Visitation (May 31), St. John the Baptist (June 24), and Holy Cross Day (Sept. 14). Other major feasts include all feasts of Apostles, all feasts of Evangelists, St. Stephen (Dec. 26), the Holy Innocents (Dec. 28), St. Joseph (Mar. 19), St. Mary Magdalene (July 22), St. Mary the Virgin (Aug. 15), St. Michael and All Angels (Sept. 29), St. James of Jerusalem (Oct. 23), Independence Day (July 4), and Thanksgiving Day. 
 
There are other days of optional observance, including the commemorations listed in the calendar of the church year. The BCP provides proper readings and collects for the major feasts. Propers for the lesser feasts and fixed holy days are published in Lesser Feasts and Fasts. The BCP also provides the Common of Saints, which are propers for general categories of lesser saints such as martyrs, missionaries, pastors, theologians and teachers, and monastics.
Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
Cicero said that to be ignorant of the past is to remain always a child. That is not the childlikeness that walks the way to heaven; it is the childishness that sees no way at all. Moses said, "And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness . . ." (Deuteronomy 8:2). And before that he said, "Then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Deuteronomy 6:12).

On the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the Church remembers how their deaths planted the Faith in Rome. It is rare for a saint's feast to replace the ordinary propers of the Mass on Sunday. On a wall of the North American College in Rome is inscribed, "O Roma felix, quae duorum Principum es consecrata glorioso sanguine! (O happy Rome, which was consecrated by the glorious blood of the two Princes!)"

St. Peter urges us to "remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles" (2 Peter 3:2). St. Paul encouraged the Christians in unruly Corinth: "Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you" (1 Corinthians 11:2). Both of these men were very different, and did not enjoy compatible temperaments (saints are not inevitably easy to get along with), but they were bound by a holy memory that had changed their lives.

Christianity is what it is because it is much more than that kind of human remembering which when strong is fidelity and when weak is nostalgia. At the center of Christian living is a kind of hyper-remembering, the Eucharistic anamnesis, in both the Roman Canon and the Divine Liturgy of the Easter Church. This is not simply the antidote to amnesia: it is an active participation in what is being remembered. It is the difference between recalling and calling, between representing and presenting. Thus the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Christ: his Body and Blood and Soul and Divinity.

St. Peter had a vivid memory of the Perfect Victim's crucifixion, which is why he asked to be crucified upside down, as he felt unworthy to imitate what he remembered seeing on Calvary. And St. Paul could remember every word the Master spoke to him on the Damascus road. They had no need of diaries or scrapbooks, because the Master was with them at the Holy Table, fulfilling his unfailing promise: "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). 

Copyright © 2014  Father George W. Rutler
Presiding Bishop joins Poor People’s Campaign’s massive online demonstration

By Jack Jenkins
Posted Jun 22, 2020
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry speaks to the National Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington Digital Gathering on June 20, 2020.

[Religion News Service] — With COVID-19 restrictions preventing an intended in-person rally in Washington, D.C., at least a million supporters of the Poor People’s Campaign reportedly tuned in on June 20 to watch a mix of live speeches and pre-recorded clips of liberal religious leaders calling for a “moral revolution” and the enactment of a sweeping policy agenda focused on the poor.

“We are gathered today to call for a radical redistribution of political and economic power, a revolution of moral values to demonstrate the power of poor and impacted people banding together, demanding that this country change for the better,” said the Rev. Liz Theoharis, a Presbyterian minister who co-chairs the campaign with the Rev. William Barber, a Disciples of Christ minister and pastor in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

Her remarks to the National Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington Digital Gathering were introduced by Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., who planned the original Poor People’s Campaign in 1968. The rally invoked the Poor People’s March on Washington of that year, the last major event called by King before his assassination in April 1968.

Bernice King, who runs the King Center in Atlanta, said she was joining the modern iteration of the campaign to “stand with the 140 million poor people and low-wealth people urging America to address with the fierce urgency of now the big issue of poverty and race.”
Representatives for the Poor People’s Campaign said that more than 1.2 million people viewed the gathering via Facebook Saturday morning, and nearly 200 different groups — including houses of worship — hosted the stream on their Facebook pages. The event was also broadcast on MSNBC and various radio stations. Organizers planned to broadcast the event three times over the weekend, hoping to accommodate religious participants who are observing different sabbaths on different days.

The Rev. Alvin O’Neal Jackson, executive director of the event, said the campaign was dedicated to addressing five “interlocking evils and injustices” plaguing the United States: “systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war-based economy and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism.”

Viewers also heard from low-income Americans who discussed their struggles with health care access, wage inequality, labor rights, voter suppression, racism, police brutality, homophobia, climate change, militarism, indigenous rights and immigrant rights, among other issues.

“At one time, poverty was a temporary condition,” said Claire, a woman from Flint, Michigan, who didn’t share her last name. “You were on a down slope for a minute, but you could bounce back up. We can’t bounce back up today. It’s permanent. We’re not going back to the factory and building cars and trucks like we once did.”

A man named Curtis, who described himself as a “poor, white, gay Christian,” said the “war on the poor in this country seeks to blame the poor people for their circumstances.”
Their accounts were bolstered by short pre-filmed talks from faith leaders such as the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church; Sister Simone Campbell, head of the Catholic social justice lobby Network; Valarie Kaur, a prominent Sikh activist and author; Linda Sarsour, Muslim activist and co-chair of the original 2017 Women’s March; Rabbi Sharon Brous, head of the Ikar Jewish community in California; and Wendsler Nosie, former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

“I come here as a Muslim because my faith teaches me that I must stand with the most vulnerable people in my society,” Sarsour said in a clip taken from a past Poor People’s Campaign rally. “My God doesn’t just tell me to go pray in the mosque. This that we’re doing today is an act of worship, because my God is a practical God.”

Brous echoed Sarsour in her own talk, citing Judaism’s approach to debt forgiveness.
“The oldest and the boldest formula for economic justice comes straight out of the Hebrew Bible,” she said. “In the 50th year, the jubilee year, the great shofar is sounded and two things happen: all of the slaves are freed and all property reverts back to its original owners. This is a holy reset button … Fifty years after the assassination of Dr. King, we declare a jubilee.”
The stream also featured short talks from celebrities such as entertainers David Oyelowo, Wanda Sykes, Danny Glover and Jane Fonda, as well as vice-president-turned-climate-activist Al Gore.

“We already know that poverty and systemic racism are completely and tightly linked with the climate crisis,” said Gore. “The climate crisis is already causing massive human suffering around the world and … it disproportionately affects the vulnerable — that’s particularly true for low-income families, communities of color, the elderly, children, the mentally ill, the homeless and those with preexisting conditions.”

Barber and Theoharis, calling their campaign a “fusion movement” that has drawn unions and low-wage workers in addition to activists and faith leaders, were apparently emboldened by recent protests against the killing of George Floyd, the black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer.
The Rev. William Barber speaks at the National Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington Digital Gathering on June 20.

“The worst mistake we could make now, with all of this marching and protesting in the street, would be to demand too little,” Barber said.

Among the  policy demands  the Poor People’s Campaign unveiled on Saturday morning were a single-payer universal health care system, free tuition at public colleges, an assault weapons ban, ending inequalities in the criminal justice system and granting Washington, D.C. statehood.

While their goals were overtly political and echoed the policies put forth by liberal Democrats, organizers insisted that their organization was nonpartisan. President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was repeatedly criticized, but he was rarely mentioned by name, with speakers focusing instead on what they framed as systemic issues.

Barber said his passion for eradicating poverty, including policy proposals, is rooted in his faith.

“Now I know somebody’s out there saying, ‘Well, did you get that from the Democrats? Did you get that from the progressives?’ No, I got it from the Bible,” Barber said. “Jesus said that every nation is going to be judged by how it treats the poor, how it treats the least of these, how it treats the sick and the hungry and in prisons. I got it from the prophets that Jews, Muslims and Christians honor. Isaiah 10 said: Woe unto those who legislate evil and rob the poor of their rights and make women and children their prey.”

England: Church issues statement on reopening of buildings for public worship

Posted Jun 23, 2020
[Church of England] Following the U.K. Government announcement that church buildings will be able to reopen for public worship from July 4, providing physical distancing remains in place, Bishop of London Sarah Mullally, who leads the Church of England’s Recovery Group, said:

“I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement today that we will soon be able to begin to meet and worship together in our church buildings again. The last three months have been an extraordinary time – the first period without public worship and the sacraments in England in more than 800 years. There will be real joy as we begin to come together again – if even at a physical distance – but I also know that many will be understandably cautious at this news.

“We will not be returning to normality overnight – this is the next step on a journey. We’ve been planning carefully, making detailed advice available for parishes to enable them to prepare to hold services when it is safe and practical to do so. It is important to say that the change in Government guidance is permissive, not prescriptive.

“I would particularly like to thank clergy and lay leaders for all they have done during the time our buildings have been closed. Not all church buildings will be ready to hold regular services from July 4th, but we are providing whatever support we can to enable them.

“There will still be restrictions and we must all still do everything we can to limit the spread of the virus to protect each other, especially the most vulnerable. The online services and dial-in worship offerings we have become used to will continue.

“This has been an incredibly difficult time for the whole country, especially for those who have been ill, who have suffered financial hardship, the loss of livelihoods and indeed, for many, those they love. We know that is not over and the Church has a task ahead to bring consolation and hope.

“Churches and cathedrals have risen to the recent challenges, finding new ways of meeting for worship, of serving our neighbours, and of reaching new people with the love of God. The challenge before us now is to take the next steps carefully and safely, without forgetting all that we’ve discovered about God and ourselves on the way.”
Environmental Racism – a Statement from the Anglican Communion Environmental Network

24 June 2020
“Black lives matter. Indigenous lives matter” - Members of the community of the Anglican Cathedral of the Resurrection in Brasilia kneel in solidarity and protest. 8.6.2020. Image: Andrea Valente, Cathedral of Resurrection, Anglican Diocese of Brasilia, Brazil.

“The delayed global response to climate injustice gives the impression that #blacklivesdontmatter. Without urgent action Black lives will continue to be the most impacted, being dispossessed from their lands and becoming climate refugees. We stand at a Kairos moment – in order to fight environmental injustice, we must also fight racial injustice.” ACEN statement on environmental racism, 19 June 2020

On June 19th, a day known as Juneteenth in the United States to commemorate the official end of slavery there in 1865, the Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN) issued an  urgent statement on environmental racism , which shines a light on the connections between racial injustice and climate injustice. The impacts of environmental racism on indigenous people are particularly highlighted.

The statement is also a call to concrete action with signatories committing to: listening to voices of indigenous people; recognising and challenging white privilege in society and the Church; recognising the colonial past of the Anglican Communion, its ongoing Euro-centric values and the dominance of English; identifying the need for further study and active listening around issues of racism; recognising and challenging theological ideologies and social norms that perpetuate racism; acting in solidarity with vulnerable populations experiencing eco-injustice by actions such as advocacy for policy change at national and regional levels, nonviolent protest and boycotts; acting as a mediator between indigenous people and farmers or extractive industries, understanding the legal frameworks involved.

Already, eight primates and a further fifty bishops from every part of the Anglican Communion have signed the document, including the Archbishop of Canterbury. Several of the signatories also contributed to the document with examples from their own contexts of the interplay between racial and environmental injustices. One such was Archbishop Julio Murray, Primate of the Anglican Church of Central America, who brings leadership in the Communion on environmental justice and  attended the UN climate talks in Madrid (COP26) last December . He is also a trustee of the Anglican Alliance.

Archbishop Julio writes, “The challenging times in which we live call for concrete actions of solidarity against all types of injustice. Let us join together as a sign of what we are working for and what God has promised: ‘new heavens and new earth, where justice will rule’ 2 Peter 3:13.

“Our hope is to start re-imagining what the new reality can look like. May this statement be another step in the right direction.”

The ACEN statement is available in  English Spanish Portuguese  and  French .
The Anglican Alliance participates in ACEN and actively endorses this statement.
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 .
KUPUNA SHOPPING ASSISTANCE MINISTRY
Any of our All Saints' kupuna who need assistance with grocery shopping can contact Carolyn Morinishi (808-651-2061) 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.