Volume 6, Issue 34
August 20, 2021
THIS SUNDAY: August 22, 2021
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost


Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
After entering the Promised Land, Joshua gathers the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel to establish a new covenant between God and the people, front and center of which is to put God first in all things.

Psalm 34:15-22
While God's faithful will suffer losses and setbacks in this life, God promises to be with us through thick and thin.

Ephesians 6:10-20 
The writer is prepping their readers to arm themselves with the full array of God's spiritual protection, and reminds them that their enemy is not flesh and blood but rather the spiritual forces of darkness.

John 6:56-69
After Jesus had performed the miracle of the Feeding of the 5,000, he goes to offend them with stark language about feeding on his flesh, drinking his blood, and that he is the Son of God. As a result, Jesus suffers the rejection of the vast majority of these people, except for his close disciples and a few others.
ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICE
WITH COMMUNION

8:00AM
Mark Cain (EM)*
John Hanaoka (U)
Lorna Nishi (AG)
Muriel Jackson (DM)

9:30AM
Linda Crocker (EM)
David Crocker (U)
Nelson Secretario (LR)
Faith Shiramizu (AG)
Vikki Secretario, Nelson Secretario (HP)
Joan Roughgarden, Carolyn Morinishi (DM)

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

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

Aloha Hour
Canceled
Until Further Notice

Ke Akua Youth Group Meeting
Wednesday, August 25th
5:00 - 6:00PM
Zoom Meeting
Contact Cami for login info.

Daughters of the King
Thursday, August 26th
7:00 - 8:00PM
Zoom Meeting
Contact Mabel Antonio for login info.

Organ Concert
Sunday, September 12th
2:00 - 4:00PM
Guest Organist: Peter Dubois
Church


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

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

Daughters of the King
2nd & 4th Thursday, 7:00 - 8:00PM
Zoom
For the sick and suffering in body, mind, and spirit, especially Those affected by the Pandemic,Those affected by racial violence, Clay, Vanessa, Noah, Patsy, Susan, Maddy, and those we name silently or aloud, let us pray to the Lord. ​Lord, have mercy. 

For those saints who have gone before us in the Grander Life, especially Those affected by the COVID-19 virus, 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.
August 18, 2021

The following message from the Bishop was just shared with all Clergy, Wardens, and Administrators in the Diocese of Hawaiʻi. 

All Virtual Online Education Day and Annual Meeting of Diocesan Convention

October 22 and 23, 2021


My Dear Siblings in Christ Jesus,

With the current surge in COVID-19 infections caused by the Delta variant of the virus and the uncertainty this causes for the next few weeks, I have decided that it is prudent for the 2021 Education Day (Friday, October 22) and this year’s Annual Meeting of Diocesan Convention (Saturday, October 23) to be held entirely online (as we had to do last year).

This was certainly not my hope. The hall we were planning for the gatherings at ʻIolani School does not provide the space needed for six feet of social distancing. While the current surge might well – hopefully – have abated by mid-October, we cannot count on that reality. The Diocesan Support Center staff and Convention committees needed direction by mid-August for organization and logistics. So, all voting Clergy and lay Delegates need to be prepared for an online Annual Meeting of Convention (everyone is welcome to watch online as well). I also hope that an online Education Day can mean more people in the Diocese will take part.

The Convention Theme this year is “Remembering those who have gone before.” As a Diocesan ‘Ohana, we need to take some time to remember those who have died, but are still our spiritual guides. This includes those who died in our congregations during the isolation of the Pandemic (of COVID-19 and otherwise), but also our spiritual ancestors as we face a “new” normal and changed reality. While we are in the midst of the Pandemic, we are actively grieving for those we have lost and we are still looking to the future as a people of the Resurrected Christ. We can celebrate the new ways we have learned to be God’s Church and care for God’s people. Grief, joy, and hope are not contradictions, but realities of the human condition. It is from our ancestors that we can gratefully learn how to face the challenges of our time. We are strengthened by their faith. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:54-58: “‘Death has been swallowed up by a victory. Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death?’ Death’s sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! As a result of all this, my loved brothers and sisters, you must stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord as always, because you know that your labor isn’t going to be for nothing in the Lord.”

As we did last year, I ask that all congregations celebrate the Convention Eucharist in all of our churches on the Sunday before Convention (October 17). Special lessons and prayers will be sent to all Clergy, Wardens, and Administrators. I will also provide a pre-recorded Convention sermon for the entire Diocese to be shared as each congregation thinks best.
Your Brother in Christ Jesus

+Bob

The Right Reverend Robert L. Fitzpatrick,
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaiʻi
Remembering Haiti
Mary Margaret Smith
I am sure you have all seen the news and pictures of destruction in Haiti from the recent earthquake. I remember how in 2011 All Saints’ raised money to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

On October 22, 2011, we organized a fund raiser “Hope for Haiti”, a Caribbean Masquerade Ball. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we raised $2,000 and collected school supplies for distribution to those in need.
Mary_Janet
On April 20, 2012, Janet Wilson, who was a lay leader and later became Sr. Warden at All Saints’, and I traveled to Haiti to deliver the money and supplies. The trip was organized by Rev. Kesner Ajax, who was the partnership program coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti.

We flew to Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti where Rev. Kesner Ajax and Angela Galbreath, Rev. Ajax’s assistant, met us. He took us to the city of Les Cayes, where we met Rev. Colbert Estil, the Priest in Charge in Les Cayes.

We spent most of our time in Haiti at the church rectory with Rev. Colbert’s family. They had two children and one on the way. They were wonderful to us and most of our meals were with the family. Around the block was the church and school. We visited the school and the kids were amazing. All were so joyful and full of fun, wanting their pictures taken. 
Church Rectory, Les Cayes, Haiti

After staying in Les Cayes we traveled to Jeremie where we met with the vestry of Holy Cross, the local church mission. The vestry consisted of very passionate women who were excited to tell us about the plans for their church. We stayed the night in Jeremie at a small hotel. Definitely not a 5-star hotel, not even sure it would be a 1-star by US standards, $140 per night for 4 in a room. The next day which was Sunday, we went to services at their church. Their sanctuary was up a dirt and gravel road, and was a crude wooden structure with cloth sides. They decorated it with red and white paper flowers making it very festive. The church was full of people, with the children seated at the front. Everyone dressed in their Sunday best, especially the vestry ladies. They were in identical red and white outfits. They even did a song and dance routine for us during the service. Not speaking French or Creole I had no idea what the song was but it was great entertainment. They had been meeting at this location for five years but they were being forced to move and wanted to buy a building for the church.
The vestry of Holy Cross, a local church mission in Jeremie, Haiti

They were a wonderful group of people and so passionate about their faith. We just fell in love with them and exchanged gifts after the service.

Next we went to Marie Madeleine Station in Bon Bon, way out in the country. These small churches are called “Stations” which is below a mission in status. This station was in a very remote area down another long dirt rocky road. Their church was the same type of wood frame structure with white sheet walls decorated with red and white paper flowers as the last church. This church was run by men, had fewer people, very quiet and very serious with very little music. They were in need of money for a school. With no local school their children had to travel long distances to get to an education. 

We then made the long journey back to Les Cayes. After discussions with Rev. Colbert it was decided that our money was best given to the church in Jeremie to buy the building they wanted. They were able to rent the building with a lease to purchase in three years.  

I fell in love with the Haitian people, especially the children with their shy smiles and giggles. Everyone we met was friendly and welcoming. Les Cayes and Jeremie, the two locations where we stayed, are two of the towns hardest hit by this latest earthquake. My heart is saddened to think of what our brothers and sisters there are having to endure. Please pray for them and if you can please donate to Episcopal Relief and Development for Haiti Relief.
 
Blessings, 

-Mary Margaret Smith
Prayer for Haiti from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry 

Eternal God, send forth your Sprit to encourage and strengthen the people of Haiti in these difficult times. We pray especially for those impacted by the recent earthquake. Encourage and strengthen those who help and support others. In your mercy, receive the souls of those who have died; comfort their families and loved ones. Surround with your presence the sick and suffering. Aid the work of those who still search and rescue. Empower the medical and aid workers and all who labor to heal.
 
Likewise, inspire and empower the resolve of the nations and peoples of the world to be your instruments of help and healing. Stir up the might of your love and compassion among the nations to rally resources and stay the course until the humanitarian job is accomplished. 
 
Lastly, enfold and uphold the people of Haiti—from the youngest newly born to the oldest among us—in the arms of your love and the strength of your might. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
UPDATED: Earthquake-battered Haitian Episcopalians Assess Damage as Ministry Partners Prepare to Help

Mary Frances Schjonberg
August 16, 2021
A man removes debris from a house the day after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021. Photo: Estailove St-Val/Reuters

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Aug. 17. 

[Episcopal News Service] Haitian Episcopalians have spent the hours since the Aug. 14 7.2 magnitude earthquake searching for family and friends while assessing the damage to their churches, schools and communities as their ministry partners across The Episcopal Church have anxiously awaited their news.

The death toll from the earthquake stood at close to 1,410 the morning of Aug. 17, Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said via Twitter. The agency said 6,900 people had been injured.

Amid the devastation, Tropical Storm Grace, now downgraded to a tropical depression, was expected to bring heavy rainfall over the island on Aug. 16, potentially causing flash flooding and mudslides into Aug.17.

After the quake “the streets are filled with screaming,” the Rev. Abiade Lozama, archdeacon at Saint Sauveur Episcopal Church in Les Cayes near the quake’s epicenter, told the New York Times Aug. 14. “People are searching, for loved ones or resources, medical help, water.”

He and others were welcoming teachers and parents on Saturday morning to discuss plans to return to school when the earthquake occurred. Everyone ran outside, looking for an open space free of trees or buildings that could collapse. Lozama said he walked from the school to the town center and saw only a handful of houses that did not have damage.

The quake struck at 8:29 a.m. Eastern time 5 miles from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes on the country’s southwest peninsula, and 78 miles west of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Shocks were felt as far away as 200 miles in Jamaica, according to the United States Geological Survey.

“People are sitting around waiting for word, and there is no word — no word from their family, no word on who will help them,” Lozama told the Times. “When such a catastrophe happens, people wait for word or some sort of confidence from the state. But there’s nothing. No help.”
“We know that lives have been lost and many buildings destroyed,” Elizabeth Lowell, a member of the board of St. Vincent’s Center for Children with Disabilities in Haiti, wrote to supporters on Aug. 14. “Episcopal clergy in the affected area are safe, but shaken.”
Among those shaken clergy members, Lowell told Episcopal News Service, is the Rev. Kesner Ajax, known to many Episcopal congregations and schools as the coordinator of partnership efforts between the Diocese of Haiti and Episcopalians elsewhere in the church. Ajax lives in Les Cayes. ENS received an email from him on Aug. 15 promising details of his experience as soon as possible.

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is numerically the church’s largest, with 92,651 members as of 2019, the latest year for which parochial report statistics are available. The diocese grew nearly 11% between 2009 and 2019.

Episcopalians are preparing to help in Haiti as best they can.

“We are deeply saddened by the reports coming from our friends and partners in Haiti,” Abagail Nelson, executive vice president of Episcopal Relief & Development, said in a statement posted on the organization’s website. “We pray for their safety as Tropical Storm Grace approaches the country. We are currently mobilizing to work with an array of development partners to meet the immediate and long-term needs of affected communities.”
Donations to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Haiti Fund will support the organization’s continued emergency response efforts in Haiti.

“Our hearts break for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. So many of us have visited Haiti and been blessed by her faith and resilience,” Atlanta Bishop Robert C. Wright said in an Aug. 15 press release. He also acknowledged that many Georgia Episcopalians have long-standing personal and ministry relationships with the people of Haiti. “We pray God’s grace and mercy on her now as she faces the tremendous trials of another earthquake and continued political upheaval. May God have mercy on the nation and people of Haiti.”

New Jersey Bishop William H. “Chip” Stokes called on his diocese, which has a Haitian Ministry, to offer special prayers on Aug. 15 for the Haitian people. “Pray for those who have died. Pray for those who have been injured. Pray for those who have lost their homes and shelter. Pray for those whose loved ones have been killed or injured. Pray for our brothers and sisters of the Diocese of Haiti which is part of our own Province II,” Stokes wrote in his call for prayer.

News from other Episcopal organizations and partners in the quake-struck part of the country is trickling out to partners in the United States. The Global Birthing Home Foundation, based in Kansas, reported Aug. 14 that the perimeter wall at Maison de Naissance had collapsed, taking down the power lines from its generator building. However, its solar power system appeared to be intact. The foundation of the main building is badly damaged, and the interior cannot be assessed due to the danger of collapse. The diocese and St. Vincent’s Center are among Global Birthing Home Foundation’s partners.

Ajax confirmed that the diocese’s Bishop Tharp Business and Technology Institute in Les Cayes suffered damage. He and others have confirmed that the earthquake collapsed the school’s Epiphany Guesthouse, which also houses BTI’s administrative offices, and it will have to be demolished. Ajax reported that the school’s classrooms appear to be undamaged.
Ajx told ENS via email that he is staying in a tent until the aftershocks are over. “The most shocking thing is to see people under the sun during the day and in the evening under the rain,” he wrote, adding that it was worse the night of Aug. 16 as Grace passed over Haiti.
In Maniche, about 14 miles north of Les Cayes, the 400-student school at St. Augustin Episcopal Church sustained significant damage, according to a Facebook post by the congregation’s ministry partner, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri. The two congregations, along with three other Episcopal parishes in the Kansas City area, have been partners for 25 years.

Click HERE to read the full story.

The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg retired in July 2019 as senior editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service.
Worship Ministry in Search of Ushers
Prayerfully Consider Serving This Essential Ministry
Please consider joining our Worship Ministry as an usher. While the pandemic has reduced the duties of our ushers it has not eliminated the need for these dedicated volunteers.

The duties of an usher are simple but vitally important to our Sunday services. If you feel called to serve, please contact Cami at church@allsaintskauai.org. She will pair you with a current usher to learn the responsibilities of this important ministry.
Announcing the Inaugural All Saints'
Gift of Music "Makana Mele" Organ Concert
September 12, 2021

First in an On-going Series Supporting Our Community
Featuring Peter DuBois
Director of Music and Organist

Third Presbeterian Church
Rochester, NY
Peter DuBois has served as Director of Music/Organist at Third Church since 1991. In addition to his full-time duties at Third Church, he is Host and Producer for the popular nationally syndicated public radio program With Heart and Voice. For 15 years, while serving Third Church, Peter concurrently served on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music as Assistant Professor of Sacred Music and Director of the Sacred Music Diploma program. Prior to coming to Third Church, he served 10 years as Director of Music/Organist at Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston, West Virginia, and taught at West Virginia Wesleyan College and the University of Charleston.

Peter holds degrees in organ performance from the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Peter maintains an active performing career, with recitals throughout the United States and abroad, including at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Notre-Dame de Paris (twice), the Basilica of Ste. Clotilde in Paris, and the Cathédrale du Saint-Saveur in Aix-en-Provence. 

Please join us on September 12th at 2:00PM for what promises to be a spectacular concert performed on All Saints' Rosales Opus 41 Pipe Organ.

Details to follow. Until then, mark the date!

Mahalo nui loa to David Murray, Bill Brown, and Chucky Boy Chock for putting their heads together to discover the perfect name for the All Saints' organ concert series: Makana Mele - The Gift of Music.
Coming Up: Daughters of the King Retreat
All Episcopal women are invited to take part in the Daughters of the King (DOK) Retreat, taking place on Saturday, September 11, 2021, from 9:00AM - 2:00PM, at The Cathedral of St. Andrew.

While one of the goals of the retreat is to connect DOK members throughout the State of Hawai'i, this retreat will broaden the Episcopal community's view of the mission of the DOK organization in Hawai'i: Through prayer, service, and evangelism, we are Episcopal women dedicated to the spread of Christ's love and the strengthening of the spiritual life of our congregations.

For more information about the retreat, click on the image above to view and/or download the event flyer. For more information about DOK, visit the Diocesan website HERE. Note: With increasing COVID-19 counts, organizers are preparing for an online version of the retreat if need be
News from the Diocesan Creation Care and Environmental Justice Task Force
The Creation Care and Environmental Justice Task Force is currently working on worship plans for this year's Season of Creation, which takes place September through October. For information about this global and ecumenical work, see www.seasonofcreation.org. If you would like to help in planning this worship event, please contact either the Rev. Jenn Latham HERE, or Vicar Bree Lloyd HERE.

The Task Force is also excited to learn what you are doing or what resources you have available for creation care and environmental justice! We have begun compiling an informational picture of the overall creation care and environmental justice work of each of the churches in the diocese and in other statewide conferences (i.e. asset-mapping). This includes advocates connected to our churches who are working at local and state levels. The purpose for this asset-mapping is to strengthen our network, our awareness of each other's work, and our ability to match needs with resources. You are welcome to contact us and share your work with us. We will be calling you at each of our faith communities. Anyone who is interested in helping with these conversations and/or putting together this asset map, please contact Jenn or Bree at the contact information above.
FREE Wisdom of Kalaupapa Series Project Now Being Offered

Quarantined for Life: More than 8,000 People Banished to the Kalaupapa Peninsula on the Island of Moloka'i

The Wisdom project is producing five video‐supported workshops for churches, which take us beyond the pain of human suffering and injustice to the triumph of God’s life‐giving work in the Kalaupapa settlement. The purpose of the series is two‐fold: 1) to draw upon the wisdom of kūpuna (elders) of Kalaupapa (those affected by Hansen’s Disease, otherwise known as leprosy) as they overcame the challenges of exile, social isolation and separation from family, to become resilient people of purpose; and 2) to be inspired by their example as we face our challenges today.

The Wisdom of Kalaupapa is being offered to churches as a set of five workshops. They focus on God’s redeeming work in the human conditions of:
  • Personal Response to Crisis: From Fear to Faith
  • Disruption to `Ohana: From Separation to Restoration
  • The Long Haul: From Despair to Hope
  • Speaking Your Truth: From Oppression to Freedom
  • The Path to God’s Future: From Estrangement to Forgiveness

The video preview from the first workshop is ready for viewing HERE. The first full 90‐minute interactive workshop is available for scheduling with churches as well. Modules are offered in
zoom and in‐person formats by facilitators of the Wisdom team. As modules continue to be developed, the project welcomes family stories about everyday experiences of the people of Kalaupapa. 

For more information, to schedule your church for a workshop, or to share a family story, please contact ReSource Director Phyllis Meighen HERE or call 808‐647‐4346. Mahalo nui loa for partial funding from the following foundations: G. N. Wilcox, Dora Isenberg, Elsie Wilcox, and Vidinha.

The Wisdom of Kalaupapa project is a collaboration of the Hawai‘i Conference UCC Formation Team, ReSource for Christian Spirituality, and Episcopal churches on Kaua‘i.
The Feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle
August 24
The Church celebrates the Feast of St. Bartholomew on August 24.

One of the twelve apostles of Jesus, Bartholomew is known to us only by his being listed among them in the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. His name means “Son of Tolmai, and according to Holy Women, Holy Men, “He is sometimes identified with Nathanael, the friend of Philip, the ‘Israelite without guile’ in John’s Gospel, to whom Jesus promised the vision of angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (Holy Women, Holy Men, 538).

Unfortunately, this is the only information recorded about Bartholomew across the Gospels; few other historically reliable sources are available. Despite this lack of a reliable historical record, tradition has filled in several details around his travels, ministry, and martyrdom.

This hagiography, or writing of the life of a saint, has come to diverse conclusions. Some sources hold that church historians Jerome and Bede knew of a Gospel of Bartholomew, though such a text is lost to us today. Eusebius of Caesarea writes in the third century that a Hebrew text of Matthew’s Gospel was found in India by a traveling philosopher-theologian, attributed by locals to “Bartholomew, one of the Apostles.”
There is also a tradition that Bartholomew, along with the Apostle Jude Thaddeus, brought the gospel to Armenia. While there, they are reputed to have converted Polymius, the king of Armenia, to Christianity, thus enraging the king’s brother, who ordered Bartholomew’s execution. The story holds that the apostle was flayed alive and crucified at Albanopolis, leading to a common (and sometimes grotesque) depiction of the saint as a man or skeleton holding his own skin.
Detail of St. Bartholomew the Apostle from Michelangelo's The Last Judgment

There are at least 18 Episcopal churches named in honor of the saint, from California and the Dominican Republic to Michigan and Georgia. Perhaps the most famous example is St. Bart’s on Park Avenue in New York City, a rare example of Byzantine Revival architecture from 1916 and a National Historic Landmark.

Collect for St. Bartholomew

Almighty and everlasting God, who gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach your Word: Grant that your Church may love what he believed and preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Published by the Office of Formation of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
© 2021 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.
EMM Affiliates Prepare to Welcome Families Fleeing Taliban as US Withdraws from Afghanistan

David Paulsen
August 16, 2021
People gather outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 16 in this still image taken from a video. Photo: Reuters

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal Migration Ministries and its affiliates are mobilizing to respond to an expected increase of people fleeing from Afghanistan to the United States after the Afghan government fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15, expediting the end of the 20-year American war in the country.

Episcopal Migration Ministries, or EMM, is one of nine agencies with federal contracts to provide refugee resettlement services on behalf of the State Department. The agencies also have helped resettle people through the special immigrant visa program, which is intended to offer sanctuary for Afghans and their families who fear persecution because of their work in support of the U.S. government.
People arriving from Afghanistan make their way at the Friendship Gate crossing point at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan, Aug. 16, 2021. Photo: Saeed Ali Achakzai/REUTERS

In recent days as the Taliban took over most of the country and the capital of Kabul, EMM officials say they have received inquiries from across the United States – from immigrant Afghan families wanting to help relatives back in their native country and from Episcopal congregations and Episcopalians asking how they can support those families. EMM is developing an online resource in Pashto, Dari and other languages spoken in Afghanistan to point families to available resources. Episcopalians interested in helping are encouraged to fill out a volunteer form or make a monetary donation.

“EMM is working in partnership with the government to assist our Afghan allies and provide resettlement services through our network of 12 affiliates,” Demetrio Alvero, EMM’s director of operations, told Episcopal News Service in a written statement. “We remain committed to providing welcoming services and necessary support to ensure Afghan arrivals receive the foundation they need to begin their lives in peace and safety in the U.S.”
....

“In responding so quickly and comprehensively to the Afghan evacuee crisis, we in The Episcopal Church are doing what we’ve done for over eighty years — showing Jesus’ way of love in tangible ways by welcoming those who have left all behind, and offering them new hope,” the Rev. Charles Robertson, canon to the presiding bishop for ministry beyond The Episcopal Church, told ENS by email.

Click HERE to read the full story.

– David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.
As Fires Rage Across the World, World Council of Churches Expresses Solidarity with Churches and Survivors

August 11, 2021
Orthodox faithful attend a memorial service for the victims of a forest fire, inside a church at Mati village, east of Athens, Greece. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)
A woman cradles a dog in her arms as forest fires approach Pefki, Greece. AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
[World Council of Churches] In a series of pastoral letters, World Council of Churches’ acting general secretary, the Rev. Ioan Sauca extended prayers to millions of people who are struggling to come to terms with the trauma and devastation wrought by the recent wildfires.

“It is becoming more and more obvious that the fires this year all over the world are not of the same scale as in previous years,” wrote Sauca. “They are part of the extreme phenomena increasingly observed as a consequence of the climate change.”

“This tragic situation is mobilizing many countries that are joining their forces to rescue those suffering from such a natural catastrophe,” he said. “We are also thankful for those professionals and volunteers who are participating in the operations risking their own lives.”

He also acknowledged that churches are providing comfort and counsel, hospitality and hope, strength and solidarity.

“I pray that God’s good grace and wisdom will empower and strengthen you as you continue to lead the people through these difficult times,” Sauca concluded.
All through August we depart from Mark’s gospel in the Lectionary and explore the analogy of Bread and Body with John the Evangelist. The more Jesus asserts that he is the Bread of Life, come down from Heaven, the more urgent the opposition to this teaching becomes. Even his disciples begin to question it. “This teaching is difficult,” they observe, “who can accept it?”

Why is it that the disciples who, just a short while earlier witnessed and accepted a miracle that caused Jesus to bring forward abundance from a few scant loaves of bread, now cannot accept that Jesus compares himself with that heaven-sent miracle? Jesus offers himself to be miraculously created, broken, and shared to the nourishment of the whole world, and this is the teaching that we, his disciples, find “too difficult.”
The temple authorities and the Pharisees object to this on theological grounds, as they perceive Jesus to be coming too close to blasphemy as he compares himself with the manna that sustained their forebears in the wilderness, but what excuse do we have? We are not concerned with the theological argument of sacrifice and miracle, I believe we are disturbed by a more personal and more complicated truth. If Jesus offers himself to be broken and shared, what does that mean for those who follow him? What is our role in feeding, caring for, saving the world? Deep down we know the answer; that we also must be willing to be blessed, broken, and shared in order to accomplish God’s saving work in the world, and this is, in fact, a difficult teaching. When Jesus asks us “Do you also wish to go away?” how will we answer?

FROM THE EPISCOPAL CAFÈ
No Turning Back

Leslie Scoopmire
August 19, 2021

It was all good when Jesus was passing around the bread and sardines. 

It was fine when Jesus was poking his finger into the eye of the elites, the powerful. 

But Jesus’s talk about drinking blood and eating flesh bursts through the earliest taboos in Torah. So now, Jesus’s teachings HAVE proved too hard for some of his followers. They have not signed on for this. To drink blood and to eat flesh is unimaginable. They asked for bread, and Jesus seems to be giving them stones. Worse than stones, actually, they think. Jesus speaks matter-of-factly to them about bewildering mysteries when they were asking for another miraculous sign. “Moses,” they said, “laid out feasts in the wilderness. We want bread just like that.” They wanted manna, which they called the bread of angels, but Jesus instead gives them riddles. And so, many leave.

But a few remain—then and now. “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” The ones who leave and the ones who stay do not yet understand that, better than loaves and crumbs, Jesus is offering himself to them—and to us.

Too often, we fall into the silken trap that undergirds our modern world—the stubborn insistent voice that insists that each person is in control of his or her own destiny. Other people will get there first, and there won’t be enough to go around. We are driven by fear of scarcity, fear of the Other. We scramble after manna and ignore the feast Christ offers us.

Jesus, however, reveals a different standard for defining reality. Jesus comes into the world as part of God’s proclamation “God loves, therefore we are.” God freely sends God’s Son into the world as the Incarnate Word through love. 

There it is in John 3:16—“ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” 

Jesus is the sign and representation, the icon of God’s love for the world, love that feeds and sustains real life, not just existence. The is no turning back from an embrace that pure, that holy.
The Rev. Leslie Scoopmire is a priest in the Diocese of Missouri. She is rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Ellisville, MO. She posts daily prayers, meditations, and sermons at her blog Abiding In Hope, and collects spiritual writings and images at Poems, Psalms, and Prayers.
IN BRIEF . . .

These news briefs were featured in previous issues of "The Epistle"
From The Epistle, August 13, 2021
environmental stewardship logo

Sloggett Center Solar and Roofing Project Update
An Environmental Initiative
The preschool roofing and painting project is now finished. The new roof and paint give the Sloggett Center a fresh updated look. The kids will have a brand new preschool when classes begin in August.

The solar panel project is in the KIUC permitting stage. Most likely, we will wait for the fall break in the school calendar (October) to do that installation.

Our fundraising effort continue to ensure we have the capital to cover any unexpected expenses and to maintain our investment in our new roof and solar system. Continued support raised our total by $1,100 last week. Thank you to everyone who continues to give to this project.
The Vestry and the Environmental Ministry are grateful to all the donors who have contributed to make this project possible. A special thanks to Kathy Northcutt for writing the NPT grant application that brought in $100,000 toward our goal. We are thankful that the All Saints’ `Ohana recognized the value of this project and donated so generously.

Mahalo nui loa to you all!
From The Epistle, August 6, 2021
Taking advantage of a unique virtual opportunity, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry invites all Episcopalians over 18 to consider applying to be a delegate to the 2021 United Nations climate change conference — known as the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties, or COP26. Applications are due by Aug. 20, and the presiding bishop’s delegation will attend daily virtual events during COP26, which takes place in Glasgow Oct. 31 to Nov. 12.

“This year’s online platform will allow for wider representation on the delegation,” said the Rev. Melanie Mullen, director of reconciliation, justice, and creation care for The Episcopal Church. “Episcopalians who are young adults, people of color, Indigenous, LGBTQ identifying, and from communities affected by climate change and environmental injustice are especially invited to apply.”

Organizers underscored the vital importance of decisions from the annual COP gatherings in the effort to reverse the worst effects of climate change. Already this year, June was recorded as North America’s hottest on record and the fourth hottest globally; the western U.S. is experiencing its worst drought in two decades.

“Non-governmental organizations, including religious bodies like The Episcopal Church, participate in these UN meetings by advocating for our own needs and concerns, especially giving voice to vulnerable populations within our Church,” said the Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California and head of the delegation. “As delegation members, we stand in solidarity with smaller nations, such as those in the Pacific Ocean, who already feel the leading-edge effects of climate change.”

During the conference, delegates will be expected to attend two to five hours of events per day and follow a particular issue within the climate negotiations. They will have the opportunity to speak at Episcopal Church COP events and write and publish blog posts about their engagement with the event.

“We bring our values and beliefs into the room at the COPs,” Andrus said. “The world religions hold the earth to be sacred, respect the rights of vulnerable populations, and have sacred paths for people to travel that lead us from disintegration to wholeness.”

The presiding bishop began sending a delegation to the COP with the historic Paris Agreement meeting in 2015 and has done so every year since. Delegates bring back what they learn to share with the wider church and also carefully monitor the major workstreams of the COP. These workstreams include mitigation, finance, adaptation, loss and damage, and raising ambition, which means accelerating progress to achieve emissions reduction goals and involves building consensus and partnering strategically at local and global levels.

The presiding bishop will announce his nominations for the delegation by early September. Members will meet monthly ahead of COP26 via video conferencing as well as daily during the November event.

To learn more and to apply by Aug. 20, visit https://www.episcopalchurch.org/ministries/creation-care/cop26/

Contact creation@episcopalchurch.org with questions.

Published by the Office of Formation of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
© 2021 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.
office angel logo

Office Angels Want to Help Celebrate Your Birthday!
Look Forward to a Birthday Card in the Mail
The Office Angel Ministry humbly requests your participation in their new outreach effort. They would like to honor all participants on their birthdays with a special birthday card from All Saints' Church. If you would like to participate in this birthday initiative, please email back church@allsaintskauai.org with your birthday and any other information you would like to share. 

Birth years are not required, just the month and day. If you know of anyone else who may enjoy participating, please feel free to pass on their birthday and mailing address to us. Going forward, if we learn of birthdays from any sacramental events (baptisms, marriages, etc.) we will update your information to our list automatically. 
 
For those without email addresses, we will prepare a sign-up sheet to fill in at the church on Sundays. 
 
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. 
 
Mahalo!

-Cami Baldovino
Church Administrator
From The Epistle, July 30, 2021

Learn to Play Kaua`i's Only Pipe Organ
Scholarship Applications Being Accepted
Has All Saints' new organ sparked your interest in learning to play this wonderful instrument? The American Guild of Organists-Hawaii Chapter is accepting scholarship applications from August 1 to August 31, 2021 for the scholarship period October 2021 through September 2022. Auditions will be held in September 2021. Visit agohawaii.org to download an application. For details, e-mail Elizabeth Wong at ew_ago_hawaiichapter@yahoo.com

-Morris Wise
Who Do You Call?

Contact information for All Saints' Ministries and Outreach

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

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

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

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

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

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

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