Episcopal Diocese 

of Northern California


Beloved Community

Resource Newsletter


Published by

The Commission for

Intercultural Ministries

October 2022 

Episcopal Church Becoming Beloved Community

Newsletter Highlights:


  • Commission for Intercultural Ministries Completes Racial Healing and Justice Workshops Schedule for 2022 at All Saints, Redding, and Incarnation, Santa Rosa
  • General Convention 80 Resolutions and The Commission for Intercultural Ministries
  • St. Luke's in Woodland Investigates Solar Power
  • Petition to Further Resolution A087 Through the Development of Congregation-Based Plans to Achieve Carbon-Neutral Facilities and Operations by 2030
  • Save the Dates! Dr. Meeks to Speak at Trinity Cathedral
  • The Power of Song - "Sundays at 4" Christ Episcopal Church, Eureka
  • Upcoming Lectures on Land Stewardship and the Color of Labor, Episcopal Church of St. Martin, Davis
  • Talking Through Political Divisions: Having Hard Conversations with Compassion
  • California Votes in 4 Weeks

Washington National Cathedral I Posted October 6, 2022

A CALL TO ACTION

BE Campaign


In this time of political polarization as we head into the fall elections, Washington National Cathedral is joining many Episcopal and United Methodist churches in the BE Campaign, a call to action rooted in the prophet Micah’s exhortation to be just, kind and humble.

 

Each Sunday in October, our readings, prayers, and sermons will be focused on a specific theme: Be just (Oct. 2); Be kind (Oct 9); Be humble (Oct. 16); Love your neighbor (Oct. 23); and the intersection of religion and politics (Oct. 30). You can learn more and make the pledge to embody justice, kindness and humility at www.becampaign.org. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Sermon By the Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson


"We can't come to church and only hear about kindness and humility. We can't only be about being nice. We are called to follow Jesus and to do the work of justice. So let's stop merely loving justice and do a little more justice. Let's stop admiring Jesus and start following him and loving the people he loved."

10.2.22 Sunday Sermon by The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson

Celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Gains Momentum Across Episcopal Church


Episcopal News Service I David Paulsen I Posted October 7, 2022

Episcopal dioceses and congregations are preparing services and celebrations marking Indigenous Peoples’ Day as part of the nationwide movement away from honoring the Italian explorer whose federal holiday, Columbus Day, is the second Monday in October.


This will be the first Indigenous Peoples’ Day since The Episcopal Church registered its support for the movement. At its July meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, the 80th General Convention passed a resolution specifically calling on churches and dioceses to designate a day honoring Native Americans and to refer to Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Read More

Read the October 2022 Redbud Review, a newsletter by the Redbud Resource Group whose mission is to help improve public health outcomes for Native American communities through education, research, and community partnership. This month:


  • Sebastopol and Windsor acknowledge the month of October as Pomo Honoring Month with several public cultural sharing events in Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.
  • Healthy Ecosystems Feed Healthy Communities (education resources for teachers)
  • RSVP for Redbud's Zoom Masterclass on October 18, "Going Beyond Land Acknowledgments." 
Read the October 2022 Redbud Review Newsletter

What is the Truth and Healing Commission on

Indian Boarding Schools Policies Act?

From the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition

Explanation of the bill on the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act

Becoming Beloved Community from an Indigenous Perspective


Webinar, November 2, 2022, 10 am PT

Episcopal News Service I Posted October 6, 2022


The Indigenous Ministries Office and the United Thank Offering [UTO] invite you to kick-off Indigenous People’s Month with an opportunity to learn about what it means to be the Beloved Community from an Indigenous perspective. Panelists will each share about their ministries which help to reconnect Indigenous practices within Indigenous communities or those which restore Indigenous practices on lands where Indigenous people were forcibly dislocated. (Several will share how UTO grants supported them in this work.) They will share stories and discuss how all of creation is connected and through reconnecting humans to creation we can heal historical, environmental, and personal trauma.

Register Here


'Prophets Among Us': New Films and Resources Featuring

Canon Ed Rodman


Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs I Posted October 5, 2022


Two new films—and accompanying study guides—explore the life and wisdom of Canon Ed Rodman, a justice pioneer who has helped shape The Episcopal Church’s journey toward beloved community for more than 50 years.

 

For: Episcopal justice leaders, seminarians, youth, and young adults

 

Canon Ed Rodman This documentary-style film chronicles the life and ministry of Rodman, from his teen years as a civil rights activist featured on the cover of Life magazine, to his tenure as a board member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, to his role as a founder of the Union of Black Episcopalians and as primary author of The Episcopal Church’s anti-racism training.

 

Prophets Among Us: Conversations with Justice Pioneers featuring Canon Ed Rodman”:  A conversation between Rodman and priest-activist Hershey Mallette Stephens. This lively, shorter film explores lessons for justice leaders of today and tomorrow.

 

Films produced by the Committee to Celebrate the Legacy and Wisdom of Canon Ed Rodman, through partnership with The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication and Office of Social Justice and Engagement, along with Episcopal Divinity School and the Diocese of Massachusetts. “Canon Ed Rodman” filmed by Heritage Films. “Prophets Among Us” filmed by the Office of Communication.

Commission for Intercultural Ministries Completes

Racial Healing and Justice Workshops Schedule for 2022

at All Saints, Redding, and Incarnation, Santa Rosa

The Commission for Intercultural Ministries presented their final two one-day workshops, "I Will, With God's Help: Journey Toward Racial Healing and Justice" on September 10 at All Saints Episcopal Church in Redding and on September 24 at Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa.


Workshops are being scheduled for 2023. Keep an eye for news in the Beloved Community Resource Newsletter and in the Diocesan E-News about the dates and locations.  

All Saints Episcopal Church, Redding

Fr. Aidan Rontani, Rector of All Saints, Redding, with workshop facilitators (l-r) Michael Adams, Miriam Casey and Bob Wohlsen.

Fr. Aidan in a table discussion with several workshop participants.

Twenty-nine participants actively engaged in a challenging day of learning the truth about the history of racism in our church and country, reckoning with their own actions and feelings, and imagining their part in building the Beloved Community.  Members of All Saints; St. Peter’s, Red Bluff; and St. Barnabas, Mt. Shasta, participated in the all-day event.

 

Fr. Aidan Rontani, Rector of All Saints, welcomed the gathered and shared his own story about becoming aware of racism.  The workshop facilitators researched the history of racism in Shasta, Siskiyou, and Tehama Counties and included the information in the workshop sessions about Indigenous people, African Americans, Latino Americans, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

 

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Mt. Shasta sponsored lunch and snacks which were hosted by All Saints’ members.

 

The Workshop Team is extremely grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality received from the clergy, staff, and members of All Saints and for the assistance with set up and audio system from Mark Dibelka and members of St. Barnabas.

Church of the Incarnation, Santa Rosa

Fr. Stephen Shaver, Rector of Incarnation, discussing workshop presentation

with participants.

The Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa hosted 33 participants at a one-day racial healing and justice workshop. Many of the participants were parishioners from Incarnation in addition to participants from St. Patrick's Church, Kenwood; St. Mary's, Napa; St. John's, Petaluma; Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento; Holy Trinity, Ukiah; and St. Martin's, Davis.


Fr. Stephen Shaver, Rector of Incarnation, welcomed everyone and shared his personal witness of an Anglican person of color who expressed that her lived history was not like that of her white Anglican colleagues.


Workshop facilitators The Rev. Tom Gartin, The Rev. Robin Denney, and Jo Ann Williams 

presented historical and current information and examples of racism within the Indigenous, African American, Latino, and Asian American/Pacific Islander communities and within Sonoma County. Participants discussed the materials and reckoned with racism within The Episcopal Church, ways they might address these issues, and striving to become the Beloved Community, all within the context of our Baptismal Covenant.


The facilitator team appreciated the warm hospitality by Fr. Stephen and his staff who set up and provided lunch, and for the thoughtful engagement by participants. 

Facilitator The Rev. Robin Denney presenting a workshop session.

Facilitator The Rev. Tom Gartin presenting a workshop session with Rev. Robin as scribe.

Keeping Track of Sacred Ground

 

Are you forming a Sacred Ground Circle? Let the Commission for Intercultural Ministries know by registering it here:

https://forms.gle/hriHCPKmLwjUHEyEA

 

Are you interested in joining a Sacred Ground Circle? Sign up here:

https://forms.gle/G26EPxDzEFSpnsZW7

General Convention 80 Resolutions and

The Commission for Intercultural Ministries

At General Convention 80 there was a major focus on social justice and racial justice. These are the areas of ministry embraced in the work of the Commission for Intercultural Ministries (CIM). See the complete list of successful racial justice, healing and reconciliation-related legislation here as of July 2022.

 

Our Vision and Mission of CIM

The Commission strives to reflect the diversity of heaven by living into the long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice of Beloved Community in the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California.


Our Ministries

1.   LGBTQ+ (Rainbow Ministry)

This is a new ministry that will support the diocese to be more celebrating, welcoming and affirming to people of all genders. Education of clergy and lay leaders will be a priority for 2023. (D072) 


  • D072 Resolution on Gender and Sexuality Training

 

2.   Indigenous Ministry (under the leadership of The Rev. Canon Tina Campbell)

This ministry will continue its efforts to encourage churches to develop and promote land acknowledgments, to develop and promote relationships with the local Native communities, and to promote land acknowledgments at the beginning of gatherings. (D019)


  • D019 Acknowledgement of Indigenous Lands

 

3.  Racial Justice Audit

In 2023, the Racial Justice Audit Task Force will work with the Mission Institute to conduct a diocesan racial justice audit, focusing on diocesan governance, committees and commissions.

 

4.  Sacred Ground and Anti-Racism Training

CIM will continue to provide encouragement and support for Sacred Ground Circles (D014). It will also provide one-day anti-racism training (I Will with God’s Help: Journey Toward Racial Healing and Justice) for clergy and lay leaders throughout the diocese, including for General Convention deputies (C009, C011)


  • D014 Resolution to Encourage Usage of the Sacred Ground Curriculum
  • C009 Mandates Anti-Racism and Racial Reconciliation Training for the House

                  of Deputies

  • C011 Anti-Racism Training for Deputies and Alternates

 

5.  Refugee Resettlement Ministry

The Refugee Resettlement Ministry was expanded in 2022 to respond to people fleeing violence and war, especially in Afghanistan and Ukraine. The Ministry mobilizes churches and individuals to resettle refugee families. This year, fifteen (15) families have been welcomed by 6 churches and community groups in the diocese.

 

6.  Public Policy Advocacy

The Public Policy Advocacy Team encourages voting in general elections and advocacy regarding legislation that promotes the Beloved Community.

 

7.  Latino/Hispanic Ministries

This ministry develops approaches and strategies for reaching out more fully to the Latino/Hispanic community. It also develops and shares worship resources.


Jesus tells us to “love God and love our neighbors.” The work of CIM is to support our churches to more fully live into our call to love our neighbors.


If you are interested in learning more about the work of the Commission, please contact Lynn Zender or Miriam Casey, CIM Co-Chairs, at norcalcim@gmail.com.


Diocesan Convention

Redding Civic Auditorium

October 20-21, 2022


Indigenous Ministry Talk. The Rev. Canon Tina Campbell, Diocesan Indigenous Missioner, a member of CIM and invited speaker to the Convention, will be giving a talk titled, "Indigenous Ministry - Acknowledge Witness Engage." Depending on the flow of convention business, her talk is scheduled around 3:30 pm on Friday, October 21.


CIM Presentation. On Saturday, October 21 in the afternoon, Miriam Casey and Lynn Zender, CIM Co-Chairs, will give a short presentation about the various ministries of the CIM, in addition to the latest status of next year's diocesan Racial Justice Audit.


Exhibit Tables.  We invite you to stop by the CIM's and the COE's exhibit tables at the Convention where we will have information about all of our ministries to include the newly-formed Commission on the Environment (COE) and LGTBQ+ (Rainbow) ministries.

St. Luke's in Woodland Investigates Solar Power

by Matt Weiser

The process of installing solar panels on a church can be a little bit intimidating. The Diocesan Commission on the Environment is working with one church, St. Luke’s Episcopal in Woodland, in hopes of making the process a little more manageable.

 

St. Luke’s recently began investigating solar power primarily as a means to reduce its electricity bill, said The Rev. Alex Leach, Priest-in-Charge at the church. This past summer, the bill for power at the church surpassed $2,000 per month, mainly driven by air conditioning. One large church building in particular is difficult to air condition efficiently. Known as the Great Hall, it was built in an old style with open-beam ceilings that lack any insulation from the broiling Sacramento Valley sun.

 

Kevin Hawkins, Senior Warden at the church, presented his Vestry with an idea: Invest in solar panels so the church can generate its own power. With a half-dozen buildings on the church campus, there’s plenty of roof space for photovoltaic panels. The panels, in turn, would shade those roofs to help keep buildings cool.

 

The Vestry was interested, so the investigation began.

Read More

Petition to Further Resolution A087

Through the Development of Congregation-Based Plans to Achieve Carbon-Neutral Facilities and Operations by 2030


From The Commission on the Environment


Frequently Asked Questions about the resolution:


What does it mean to be carbon neutral or net-zero carbon?


Carbon neutrality means that there is a balance between the amount of carbon that is emitted by a facility and the amount of carbon emissions that are absorbed or removed from the atmosphere using offsets. For example, carbon can be removed from the atmosphere by planting trees or offset by purchasing carbon “credits.”    


A net-zero facility does not emit carbon at all, such as a facility that runs entirely on solar power. Net-zero facilities do not use fossil fuels and do not require an offset.                                                            

What are congregations asked to do?

 

  • Study, pray, and work to discern how the Spirit is leading the congregation to address climate change in their households and daily lives.
  • Conduct a facility needs assessment to identify actions necessary to enable the congregation’s facilities and operations to become carbon neutral by 2030. The results of the assessment should be presented to the vestry by the end of 2024.
Read More Q & A

Simple Actions Go a Long Way---

Ten Tips for Congregation and Household Energy Savings

Review this list of things churches and individuals can do.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

New Social Justice and Racial Equity Pilgrimage Opportunities

Episcopal Journeys I Posted October 8, 2022

Social Justice and Racial Equity Pilgrimage Program Announced

  • Custom designed itineraries to sites throughout the South
  • For groups of 20 or more
  • Opportunities for corporate worship, discussion, and reflection


Episcopal Journeys, a division of Faith Journeys, announces the start of a new program offering that is focused on the struggle for civil and human rights, racial equity, and reconciliation. They have developed a base itinerary of sites through the South that not only highlights some of the most significant monuments, museums, churches, and memorials, but also ties them together with time for reflection, processing, and prayer.

Read More

Living the Inclusion We Profess

The Living Church I Posted September 22, 2022


Review by Brandt L. Montgomery

The Rev. Gayle Fisher-Stewart’s Black and Episcopalian offers a survey of the Black diaspora’s presence within the Episcopal Church, insights from Black Episcopalians about being Episcopalian, and questions for personal reflection. For individuals and parishes desiring a volume addressing issues of race that is accessible for all levels, Fisher-Stewart provides a good resource.


“Is it possible to be Black and Episcopalian?” The author says yes, but only if the church takes certain actions. If the church takes seriously the call to Christian discipleship, creates space for all people to bring their whole selves to the Lord’s table, and goes all-in with Jesus in his mission to change the world, “maybe then, I can be Black and

Episcopalian” (p. 161).

Read More

The Rev. Dr. Gayle Fisher-Stewart joined Rector Mike Kinman of All Saints Church in Pasadena via Zoom on Sunday, February 13, to discuss her new book, Black and Episcopalian: The Struggle for Inclusion. It is a personal story of the struggle for authentic inclusion in the church which offers both a powerful lament and a hopeful message about the future. Dr. Fisher-Stewart spent 20 years working as a police officer for the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department. She serves as the Associate Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church where she is the founder of the Center for the Study of Faith in Justice. Enjoy this important and inspirational conversation.

Interview by All Saints Church in Pasadena with Dr. Gayle Fisher-Stewart

SAVE THE DATES!

Dr. Catherine Meeks to Speak at Trinity Cathedral

Dr. Catherine Meeks, Executive Director of the Absalom Jones Episcopal Center for Racial Healing in Atlanta, Georgia, is coming to Sacramento and will spend the weekend at Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento.

 

  • Friday, October 28, 7 pm – Speaking in the Cathedral (a $20 donation is requested) with a reception to follow.

 

  • Saturday, October 29 – Leading a morning training and educational session in the Cathedral’s Assembly Area.

 

  • Sunday, October 30 – Preaching at the Cathedral’s 11 am service.

 

More details to come! Follow this link HOME | CFRH to find out more about Dr. Meeks and the Center. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Hotchkiss.

The Night is Long but Light Comes in the Morning

Meditations for Racial Healing

by Dr. Catherine Meeks

In her work as Executive Director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing, Meeks has fought tirelessly to shed light on racism and provide tools and experiences to enable faith communities to work to combat it. In this new book, she shares highlights and insights from her journey and offers a much-needed meditative guide for the weary and frustrated. By looking inward and at each other clearly, she argues, good people of all backgrounds can forge a long term and individual path to making a difference. With personal stories and thoughtful direction, she takes the reader on the trajectory from self-awareness to recognition of the past to a new and individual way forward. (Book will be available in November. Description by Amazon.)

Read More

The Power of Song

"Sundays at 4" at Christ Episcopal Church, Eureka

Enjoy this afternoon concert on African American spirituals held at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka.  Vocalist Elizabeth Smith was grateful to sing and provide Scriptural messages and a spiritual backdrop of peace, unity and joy.

Video of African American Spiritual Sung at Christ Episcopal Church, Eureka

Upcoming Lectures on Land Stewardship and the Color of Labor

Episcopal Church of St. Martin, Davis


The Episcopal Church of St. Martin in Davis invites you to join them for the following

Seeds of Justice: Year Two upcoming lectures. 


After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.


Check the church website for additional details.

Cultural Fire, Storytelling, and

Reclaiming Indigenous Land Stewardship Practices

Sunday, October 16, 2022, 4 pm on Zoom 

Melinda Adams (N’dee San Carlos Apache), PhD candidate in the Department of Native American Studies, UC Davis, and previous Tribal College Professor of Environmental Science at Haskell Indian Nations University

 

As temperatures rise and wildfire engulfs communities, scientists and academics search for long term solutions to the risk and extent of wildfire.  


In California, Native Americans are actively managing the effects of climate change and wildfire by reclaiming our land stewardship practices held since time immemorial. Cultural burns are an example of these practices and can aid in strengthening preventative measures of climate and wildfire effects. Through a Native perspective, this talk will centralize the significance of partnering with practitioners and cultural bearers to reclaim cultural fire land stewardship and cultural lessons. Equally important, this work discusses the need to reshape local California history by centering Wintun Peoples and the history of Native peoples in relationship to the landscapes and waterscapes of what is now “California” –as articulated through place-based storytelling and Indigenous ways of knowing and being. 

Register Here

How Manifest Destiny Changed the Color of Labor

Sunday, November 13, 2022, 4 pm on Zoom

John M. Liu, Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Asian American Studies and Sociology, UC Irvine

 

Manifest Destiny as a doctrine of white expansion ironically required the introduction of more people of color into the United States. The shortage of white labor on the Pacific Coast and Hawaii to build the region’s economy required the serial recruitment of labor from Asia between the 1850s to the 1930s. This was followed by the primary reliance on Mexican labor until the post-WWII period. Immigrant labor was crucial in the development of mining, transportation, industry, and agriculture. Exploitation of this labor laid not only the foundations of U.S. immigration law but also complicated the binary white/black racial classification, both locally and nationally.

Register Here

Belonging:  Asian and Pacific Islander

Immigrant Stories in California

Saturday, October 15, 2022, 2:30 - 4:30 pm PT

Petaluma Regional Library

Join a film screening and discussion, “BeLonging: Asian and Pacific Islander Immigrant Stories.” Meet award-winning Petaluma journalist-filmmaker, Lina Hoshino and the people in the film, including Jean Chan, Sachiko Knapman, and Youngmi Jung.


"BeLonging" portrays the journey of three first-generation Asian women from their ancestral lands to California.


Youngmi Jung came from Korea and is a Methodist minister in the United States. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter Movement, she speaks up against racism. Sachiko Knappman moved to the US from Japan as a young bride but soon lost her husband to cancer and had to navigate her life in a new country alone with a newborn child. Jean Bee Chan, a retired Sonoma State University math professor, immigrated to the United States, escaping the turmoil in Southern China, and continues to honor her younger brother, Datman, who died as a child while China was under Japanese occupation.

Read More and Register

Episcopal Church Statement on 5th Circuit Ruling on DACA


Office of Government Relations I Posted October 6, 2022


On October 5th, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 2021 district court decision that ruled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy unlawful and sent the case back the district court.  


DACA provides protection from deportation and work authorization for over 600,000 people, the majority of which have been in the United States for more than 15 years.  


These protections will remain in place while litigation continues, but if DACA is ultimately struck down, the impact on DACA recipients, their families, and their livelihoods will be devastating for our communities and our country.  


Congress must proactively pass permanent protections for DACA recipients. The Episcopal Church has long supported providing a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients as well as all undocumented individuals who came to the United States as children.  


We also continue to push for legislation which will allow the millions of undocumented immigrants who have established roots in the United States to have a pathway to legalization and to full social and economic integration in to the United States.

Who is Hispanic?


Pew Research Center I Mark Hugo Lopez, Jens Manuel Krogstad and Jeffrey S. Passel I Posted September 15, 2022

Beauty pageant contestants at the Junta Hispana Hispanic cultural festival in Miami.

(Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Debates over who is Hispanic and who is not have often fueled conversations about identity among Americans who trace their heritage to Latin America or Spain. Most recently, the 2020 census has drawn attention to how Hispanic identity is defined and measured. The once-a-decade head count of all people living in the United States used a new approach to identify who is Hispanic and has provided fresh details about how Hispanics view their racial identity.


So, who is considered Hispanic in the U.S. today? How exactly are Hispanics counted? What role does race play in deciding who is counted as Hispanic? And how do surveys incorporate the various terms people use to describe their Hispanic identity, such as Latina or Latinx?


In this analysis, we’ll answer these common questions and others.

Read More

Talking Through Political Divisions:

Having Hard Conversations with Compassion

Facilitated by The Rev. Alex Leach

Saturday, November 5, 2022, 10 am – 4 pm, on Zoom

Another Election Day is approaching. Increasingly, this has become a day charged with heated conflict between neighbors, friends, and family. And in our increasingly politically polarized world, it is difficult to have conversations across those political divisions. To bridge these divides, the Commission for Intercultural Ministries will host a workshop on building communication skills that can help us have hard conversations with compassion and connection.

 

The Rev. Alex Leach has spent almost 10 years training, teaching, and coaching conflict navigation skills. Such skills help us listen to even the hardest messages, hear with the heart of Christ, and speak our honest truth with care so that our own message is heard rather than rejected because we have simply pushed the other person's buttons. 

 

Through this interactive workshop, participants will explore spiritual practices that help us stay rooted in Christ's love and build skills around listening and speaking. 

 

Register online at https://forms.gle/D6Q2tENHrqz6wo6F8.

 

The Commission is also planning to sponsor in-person conflict navigation workshops in 2023.

 

Questions may be directed by email to NorCalCIM@gmail.com or to Alex+ at apleac@gmail.com.

California Votes in 4 Weeks

Are you ready to vote in the California General Election on November 8th?  Very important Local, State, and National offices, propositions, and referendums are on your ballot.  The Episcopal Church urges us all to Vote Faithfully and, also to empower everyone in our congregations to do so. 

 

Presiding Bishop Curry has said, “Voting and participation in our government is a way of participating in our common life and that is a Christian obligation. We are blessed as a nation to vote. As citizens of this country this is a right, an obligation, and a duty. Go vote. Vote your conscience. Your conscience informed by what it means to love your neighbor, to participate in the process of seeking the common good, to participate in the process of making this a better world. However you vote, go and vote. And do that as followers of Jesus.”

 

Below are links to resources to assist you and your congregation members to vote:

    California Official Voter Information Guide EnglishSpanish

    Track Your Ballot - link: Select language in upper right corner

    Contact Info for your County’s Election Office - link

    Easy Voter Guide (League of Women Voters) EnglishSpanish

 

Commission for Intercultural Ministries

Advocacy Team

Miriam Casey - Chair

Join Evening Election Day Prayers Online November 8


Office of Public Affairs I Posted October 4, 2022

As polls begin to close on Nov. 8 for the U.S. midterm elections, all are invited to join an Election Day Prayers gathering online hosted by The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations.


Tune in from 8 p.m. to midnight EST [5-9 pm PT] via The Episcopal Public Policy Network Facebook page or The Episcopal Church Facebook page. Viewers do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

 

At the top of each hour, special guests from around the church will offer 10-15 minutes of reflection and prayer. Participants are encouraged to engage in prayerful conversation in the comments. The gathering will also feature simple video feeds from parishes throughout the U.S.


Scheduled guests include Presiding Bishop Michael Curry; House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris; the Rev. Charles Graves IV, missioner for Houston Canterbury; the Rev. Donna Gleaves, an Episcopal Public Policy Network ambassador; and Willis H.A. Moore, an Episcopal Election Activator.


“We welcome everyone as we reflect on this key process of our common life and on the importance of fair elections for our democracy,” said Rebecca Linder Blachly, director of the Office of Government Relations. “We hope many voters will join us that day to pray for our leaders, neighbors, and country.”


The Office of Government Relations offers a 2022 Vote Faithfully Midterm Election Engagement Toolkit and other resources for parishes interested in voter advocacy. Learn more.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to follow the way of love that Jesus teaches us, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.


We understand that the laws enacted at the federal and state levels impact the systems that operate within our communities. They either contribute to building just systems and the Beloved Community, or they diminish justice and equity within societal systems. As people of faith, we have an opportunity to advocate for laws that are just and help to build the Beloved Community.


The Action Alerts provided below are supported by the General Convention and/or the Executive Committee. Please review these Action Alerts and consider submitting a letter to elected officials encouraging them to support legislation that builds justice and the Beloved Community.  


H.R.8450, the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act will reauthorize critical child nutrition programs while providing important reforms that will further the goal of ending child hunger. 

Urge Congress to Pass the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act

H.R.8404, the Respect for Marriage Act, would repeal the 1996 so-called “Defense of Marriage” Act (DOMA), which the Supreme Court struck down in the 2013 United States v. Windsor case. DOMA, for the first time, enacted a federal definition of marriage and prohibited same-sex married couples from accessing federal benefits available to heterosexual married couples. Enacting the Respect for Marriage Act would ensure that the federal right to marriage equality cannot be infringed by future Supreme Court rulings.

Urge Your Senators to Support Marriage Equality

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California

Commission for Intercultural Ministries

Miriam Casey, Co-Chair (mlcasey7@yahoo.com)

Lynn Zender, Co-Chair (zenderlynn@gmail.com)

Karen Nolan, Sacred Ground Coordinator (norcalcim@gmail.com)

Jo Ann Williams, Editor (bjwilli@surewest.net)

Sign Up for Our Newsletter
Visit our Website

Stay safe, stay committed…and always know that you are beloved.

If the content of our newsletters is no longer relevant to you, please unsubscribe below.