Volume 5, Issue 46
November 20, 2020
THIS SUNDAY: November 22, 2020
Christ the King and the Holy Sovereigns

ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICES
with COMMUNION

8:00AM
Joe Adorno(EM)*
Jeff Albao (U)
Nora Takenouchi (AG)
Muriel Jackson (DM)

9:30AM
David Crocker (EM)
Mario Antonio (U)
Joan Roughgarden (LR)
Jan Hashizume (AG)
Nelson Secretario, Vikki Secretario (HP)
Ron Morinishi, Jan Hashizume (DM)

Live Stream
9:30AM 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
UPCOMING EVENTS
ON-SITE CHURCH SERVICES WITH COMMUNION
8:00AM and 9:30AM
Memorial Hall

Aloha Hour
Every Sunday
10:45AM - 12:00PM
Tent

Monday Crew
Every Monday
8:00AM
Church Office

EAM/ACAM Meeting
Sunday, November 22nd
1:00PM
Zoom meeting
Those who are interested in the Youth Group Meetings may contact Cami at Cami@allsaintskauai.org for login information.

Kauai Interfaith Association Thanksgiving Service
Thursday, November 26th
10:30 -11:00AM
Under the false kamani tree

Kauai Interfaith Thanksgiving Luncheon
Drive Through Box Lunch Pickup
Thursday, November 26th
11:00AM - 1:00PM
Gym Parking Area

Daughters of the King
Thursday, November 26th
7:00 - 8:00PM
Rectory
For the aged and infirm, for the widowed and orphans, and for the sick and the suffering, especially the victims of Hurricanes Eta and Iota, Glen, Jody, Milfred, Linda, Larry, Bill, Nancy, Maka, Nathan, Kellen, the Lauretta 'Ohana, the Telles 'Ohana, and those we name silently or aloud, let us pray to the Lord. ​Lord, have mercy. 

For all who have died, especially Alfred, Kalani, 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.
Reflections from Kahu Kawika
You Have to Speculate to Accumulate
Matthew 25:14-30
Proper 28A
15 November 2020
All Saints’ Church, Kapaa


One story I like to share is that of when Muriel and I were kids (ages 9 and 7, respectively) and our families met up to enjoy the Christmas holiday together when Muriel’s dad was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, NE. When we opened our gifts on Christmas morning, I was excited to get my first “all-age” board game – Monopoly. So later that day, Muriel and I started playing on my brand-spanking new board.

As the game went on, I got pretty competitive and was accumulating more property than Muriel. As one does in Monopoly, I started building houses and hotels, and unfortunately the dice rolls weren’t going Muriel’s way. Finally, I rolled the dice and it indicated that I would land on Boardwalk, which coupled with Park Place would give me the most valuable color-group monopoly of properties on the board – at least I thought the dice said that. Muriel and I got into a dispute about whether I should have landed on Boardwalk or the space before, since we disagreed about where I had started the roll from since we each had a different idea of the square I had been on at the start of the roll. We then began snatching the title deed of Boardwalk back and forth, resulting in the thorough scrunching up of my once pristine title deed to the most valuable property on the board. We called off the game, but then made up later that day.

One thing is certainly clear when you play Monopoly – in order to stand a chance of winning, you have to buy up or trade properties and develop them. Imagine what would happen if you decide to hoard your initial $1,500 that every player gets at the start of the game – refusing to buy any properties in order to save your cash – what would happen? Others would buy properties, develop them, and soon you would lose all your saved-up cash. Squirreling away your cash will never win you the game. As the British say, “You have to speculate to accumulate.”

Jesus’ story of the Talents in Matthew 25 is the third of a string of parables Jesus tells about getting ready for his eventual return to earth to relieve the saints, restore justice on the earth, and to set everything straight again. The first of these is the Parable of the Two Servants, showing one faithful to his duties and the other lazy and even abusive of the other servants – this is Jesus’ word against the religious leaders of his day, that they should be faithful and cognizant of the God they worship and concerned about the people they serve.

The second parable, the Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids, is meant for Christian followers of Jesus, both to encourage them that one day Jesus will return and also that they should be alert and ready for his return – whether at the end of time or at the moment of their own deaths.

The third parable is the one we have today – the Parable of the Talents. If the second parable of the 10 Bridesmaids is about the why of Christians being ready (because Jesus can come back at any moment), then this parable of the Talents is about the how of getting ready for Christ’s eventual return – what should we be doing in the meantime? Namely, the how is about being busy with what matters in God’s kingdom rather than sitting passively on our hands and not caring about this world at all.

Jesus’ story shows an employer who wants his workers to invest his money in different ways, “each according to his ability” – presumably this may well look different for each worker according to what they can achieve. Now a “talent” was a lot of money in Jesus’ time – about 6,000 days of an average worker’s daily wages, or at least 20 years of work! From this parable we get our own word “talent,” which now means a resource within ourselves that we can exercise to bless others and for our enjoyment. But in Jesus’ day, a “talent” was a large unit of money.

To the first, the boss gives five talents; to the second, two talents; and finally to the third, one talent. Again, the boss’ only instructions is for each of them to make use of the boss’ money according to the ability of each worker. As a result, both the first two workers invest their boss’ considerable amount of money and end up doubling their investment – and to each, the boss commends them, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” They both get promotions because they had done what their boss wanted them to do – invest the money. Notice that they both get the same reward, even though the first guy made more money for the boss than the second one. But both were faithful, and both got praised by their employer.

However, the third worker did not put his boss’ money to work – instead, he buried it in the ground. When confronted by his boss about this, the third worker claims that his boss is a mean ogre and so might come down hard on him if the worker were to invest it and end up losing a lot of money. But like the Monopoly player who hoards their cash out of fear, the third worker loses out in the end.

Why is this the case? First of all, we may well doubt the third worker’s viewpoint of his boss – according to how the boss had reacted to the first two workers, it didn’t matter what the amount of gain there was, but simply that they had both done what the boss wanted them to do – invest the boss’ own money. So it seems that the boss would have given some latitude to the third worker if he had also done the same thing as the first two workers – even if that would mean losing some value in the effort to invest. After all, the boss had given a certain amount of money to each worker “according to their ability” to make it work. So the boss is judging the third worker on his own merits, realizing that this worker was not willing to do what he was capable of doing. So, the bottom-line standard for all three workers is that they should work to the best of each one’s ability while the boss is away and until the boss returns – the results are secondary. This is an example of grace – the boss simply wants each one to do their best with money that is not even theirs to keep! And similarly, God wants us to make use of all of God’s resources entrusted to us, for God’s glory and for the blessing of others.

Secondly, the third worker failed to recognize that burying the money in the ground actually made it LOSE value by default. The boss rightly challenged the third worker’s claim of fearing the reaction of the boss by responding that the worker could have at least put the money in the bank where it would gain some interest, if in fact the worker was that afraid of his boss.
It is thus clear that the third worker neither likes nor respects his boss. Of course, if like the third worker we are convinced that there is no joy to be had—that the boss is a “hard-to-please man” who is more to be feared than loved—then even God’s grace cannot make a dent. But if you catch all the joy of the grace that kicks all this off in the first place, it makes all the difference in the world in what you then do in response. The first two workers understand the grace of their boss and respond to it by doing their best, but the third one has a bad view of his boss and so that influences how he serves his boss – which is in a negligent, lackluster way, rooted in fear rather than in faith.

Indeed, we demonstrate that we understand this joy when we do throw ourselves into such Christian living wholeheartedly – whatever we invest that God has given in our lives, be they skills, money, or time. Hence, the motivation for getting busy with our talents is based not on fear nor on guilt, but on the very joy with which those talents are handed out in the first place! And it’s not a matter of what we do versus what God does but is a matter of our cooperating with God by participating with God in God’s great program of cosmic restoration – our wanting to be a part of something better and grander than ourselves.

Next Sunday is the feast day of my favorite author and one I like to quote, C. S. Lewis, the Oxford professor and author of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Aslan the Lion (the character representing Jesus) takes the children Lucy, Edmund, Peter and everyone to the New Narnia–to what we would call “heaven” or the New Creation. It is a place of astonishing light and beauty; a place where every blade of grass seems to mean more and where every creature sings for the sheer joy of the Creator. It is a place where everything is just so real in depth and color that the mere sight of a daisy takes your breath away and makes you weep for the sheer beauty of the thing.

But then, in the midst of all this splendor, the children see a group of dwarves huddled together in a beautiful field, convinced that they are sitting in the rank stench of a barn–a place so dark that they cannot see their hands in front of their faces. Lucy is so upset that the dwarves are not enjoying the New Narnia that she begs Aslan to help them to see. Aslan replies, “Dearest Lucy, I will show you what I can do and what I cannot do.” Aslan then shakes his golden mane and a sumptuous banquet instantly appears in front of the dwarves. Each dwarf is given a plate heaped with juicy meats, glistening vegetables, plump grains of rice. Each also receives a goblet brimming with the finest wine anyone could ever imagine.
But when the dwarves dive in and begin eating, they start gagging and complaining. “Doesn’t this beat all,” they lament. “Not only are we in this stinking stable but now we’ve got to eat hay and dried cow dung as well!” When they sip the wine, they sputter, “And look at this now! Dirty water out of a donkey’s trough!” The dwarves, Aslan goes on to say, had chosen suspicion instead of trust and love. They were prisoners of their own minds. They could not see Aslan’s gift of the New Narnia (Heaven) for they would not see it. Aslan can only leave them alone to the hell of their own devising.

Might something similar be going on with the third worker in this parable? Could it be that he just could not see the goodness of his boss, choosing fear and suspicion over hope and joy? It begs the question, then, of our own motivation for being a Christian ourselves – what is our view of God? If we see God as good and giving us all things we need and can enjoy “according to our ability,” then increasingly we’ll want to speculate to accumulate – certainly as we give of ourselves to God and to each other, we gain much more of the joy of heaven and other tangible gifts of God in this life. 

We simply cannot outgive God. Amen.
Kapa`a Interfaith Thanksgiving Luncheon
Covid-Style
The Kapa`a Interfaith Thanksgiving Luncheon is still happening this year. The committee has made plans to work within COVID restrictions to provide this wonderful gift to the community.

Support is still needed for a successful KIA Thanksgiving Luncheon.

  1. Small flowers, esp. anthuriums for flower bouquets to go with meals. 
  2. Fruit or flowers to decorate the altar.
  3. Drivers to deliver meals - Drivers need to be in pairs, wear masks and have a cell phone. Sign up sheets located at the church on Sundays, or call Mary Margaret or Sarah. 
  4. Individual juice boxes. We already have 1200 donated but will need 300 more.  

All flowers and fruit will be needed at the gym the morning of Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving. 

Mahalo for your support and assistance in making this a very unusual but wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Event Co-Chairs
-Mary Margaret Smith 821-2878 and Sarah Rogers 822-3473 
The Rosales Opus 41 Organ Project
A Word of Thanks
organ facade
Organ façade with gilt elements applied

It is indeed exciting to have all the parts of the organ strewn throughout our sanctuary, ready for the two Organ Crews that will install the Rosales Opus 41. The first crew of three will be with us for about three weeks from November 29th, whose job will be the essential installation of all parts. The second crew of two will arrive from January 2nd, taking two weeks to "voice," or fine-tune, the organ pipes, which will be the final stage of the overall installation.

In addition to the many of you who have given financial donations, I wish to take a moment to offer our thanks for the following people who have been "instrumental" in bringing the organ project to completion:

Dick Sloggett, who gave his approval for us to apply previous Sloggett funds toward the outstanding balance owed on the Organ Project.

Rob and Janna Mori: They are Plantation Hale condo owners who are annual visitors from Pleasanton, CA. Rob is a childhood classmate of Carolyn Morinishi. ​They are offering the installers the use of their condo at a significant discount in the December period.

Dr. Adam Ayers and Wendy Ayers: Kauai Kailani condo owners and frequent visitors to the island, Dr. Ayers is a retired non-denominational pastor from Costa Mesa, CA. They have offered their condo for the installers at a significant discount for the December period and essentially free of charge for the January period. In addition, they have also offered their car free of charge for both sets of crews to use.

Morris Wise: Our own church member who has overseen the Organ Project and has been the tireless go-between in communications between the organ builders and us.

From the bottom of our hearts, we offer our thanks to everyone above for bringing this Organ Project home.

-Kahu Kawika+
Priest-in-Charge and Head of School
We Need Your Help!
Please Donate a Meal for the Organ Crew
The Organ Crews are flying to Kauai`i from Los Angeles to install the new organ. They will be working long hours, 6 days a week to complete the installation and voicing of the organ within the next few months. Our congregation will be donating meals for the crew while they’re here. You can sign up to donate lunches or dinners by clicking here: Feed the Crew and filling out the meal donation form to select the meal and your preferred date.

Meal Instructions:
  • Meals may be dropped off at the Church and handed to any one of the workers present.
  • Meals may be dropped off at the Church earlier than the time slot indicated but packaged so they can be refrigerated and eaten later.

Crew #1: 11/30/20 - 12/19/20
  • Please prepare and drop off 3 meals per time slot

Crew #2: 1/4/20 - 1/16/21
  • Please prepare and drop off 2 meals per time slot
It's Never Too Late to Pledge
Bring In Your Pledges of Time, Talent, and Treasure to the Honor and Glory of God
You may still bring in your pledge cards on Sundays to place in the offertory calabash, bring them to the church office, or mail them in. Prayerfully consider what you would like to give back from the wonderful gifts given to you by a loving God.
Sunday School Restarts in November!!

Looking for Teacher Volunteers
Aloha Everyone,

Kahu Kawika and Cami plan on restarting Sunday School on November 29, 2020. Plans are to hold classes on the deck under the false kamani tree until they can return to Memorial Hall. In case of rain, class will be moved to the Youth Room or the gym. Cami will lead the first class.

This year the curriculum will be reading stories from the “Spark Story Bible” that correspond to the lectionary readings for that Sunday. Kahu and Cami have planned out the first few months which will be posted to the All Saints’ website soon. Sunday School teachers can use http://textweek.com/ to incorporate podcasts, videos, reflections and discussion questions, and prayers into your lessons. They can also research their own activities online. 

Please let Cami know if you are interested in returning as a Sunday School teacher or would like to join the ministry. Returning teachers should feel free to reach out to their original partner to see if you can return as a team. All are welcome to join the first class to help watch the keiki and see how the curriculum is offered.

If you are interested in this ministry, please contact Cami with any questions: church@allsaintskauai.org, 808-822-4267

-Cami Baldovino
 Church administrator and Youth Minister
Coming Soon!!
New Church Directory
November 30th Deadline: Get Your Information in Now
We are working on updating the Parish Directory with a projected deadline of December 1st 
In a time of social distancing, please check in with your 'ohana to make sure they are receiving all our emails so they remain up to date. 
 
As a reminder, this information is only for our church family. Please treat this as confidential. 
 
If you have any questions please let her know. 
 
Mahalo! 
 
Dominique Cami Baldovino
Church Administrator 
808-822-4267
Confirmation Classes and Baptisms to be Scheduled
Call Cami to be Included
In preparation for the February 7th visit of Bishop Fitzpatrick to All Saints’, Kahu Kawika is planning on conducting confirmation classes. The classes will be open to candidates of all ages. The baptisms may be held before the Bishop’s arrival or during his visit.

The confirmation classes will probably be in three sessions, one hour each, in December/January. The location will be determined after the number of participants is finalized. We currently have 8 candidates for confirmation and two candidates for baptism.

If you are interested in either confirmation or baptism, please contact Cami at: church@allsaintskauai.org or 808-822-4267.

-Cami Baldovino
Church Administrator and Youth Minister
Upcoming Holiday Events
Mark Your Calendars and Join Us
Interfaith Service: Thursday, November 26th, 10:30AM, All Saints' under the false kamani tree by the gym.
December 24th
  • 3:30PM Keiki Service led by the Ke Akua Youth Group
  • 5:50PM Festive Eucharist
  • 10:30PM Carole Prelude and Festive Eucharist

December 25th
  • 9:30AM Eucharist
Camp Mokule`ia Forges Ahead with Optimism in 2021
Mark Your Calendars and Save the Dates
Despite the uncertainties of life during a pandemic, Camp Mokule`ia has set its sights on making sure programs will be in place for children, youth, and families in 2021. They have already had a successful weekend "Stay-Cay" offering, and have announced plans for the following camp dates next summer (tentative of course). Save the dates!

June 6-11 - Elementary, Middle School, Senior High Camps
June 14-18 - Day Camp at The Cathedral of St. Andrew, Honolulu
June 14-18 - Day Camp at Holy Apostles, Hilo
June 21-25 - Day Camp at Epiphany, Honolulu
June 21-25 - Day Camp at All Saints', Kapa'a
July 5-9 - Day Camp at Good Shepherd, Maui
July 11-13 - Mini Camp, Elementary
July 15-18 - Family Camp
July 18-23 - Elementary, Middle School Camps

Scholarships - Camp Mokule`ia is once again offering scholarship funds in 2021. All congregations are eligible to receive up to $1,000 to help their children and youth attend camp.

Summer Staff - The Camp's goal next summer is to hire the majority of summer staff locally. If you have college students in your congregation that you think would make good counselors, please provide them with the following link here.

We don't know how much camp will cost yet and will update everyone as more information comes. We have been fortunate enough to be able to provide scholarships for our youth members in the past, so let me know if you're interested.

-Cami Baldovino
Youth Minister
The Bishop’s Bible Study Beginning December 2
The Gospel According to Mark
Bishop Bob will again be offering his weekly online reflection on a book of the Bible beginning on the first Wednesday in Advent, December 2, 2020. Over the following weeks, he will walk through the Gospel according to Mark. These twenty-minute reflections can be part of individual study and prayer, or they can be used as part of a small group study (perhaps for a Bishop’s Committee/Vestry as a shared study).

As in the past, the Bishop recommends the Common English Bible (CEB) translation for study and, especially, the CEB Study Bible with Apocrypha if you would like a good study Bible. He will be using the CEB for this study. The publishers of the Common English Bible have an “online sampler advertisement free of charge” HERE. This sampler provides an explanation of how this translation of the Bible was created, a sample article on the authority of Scripture, and the complete Gospel according to Mark! You can take a look at this translation and even have the complete Gospel available for this study (although the Bishop still hopes you get your own copy of the CEB).

As preparation for this time together, Bishop Bob invites everyone (lay and clergy) in the Diocese to read a chapter of Mark out loud everyday from today until December 2. There are only 16 chapters, so if you start right away, you can actually read it through almost twice (although you will need to double up on a few days, but try to get through the Gospel twice). Remember, though written down, Scripture was meant to be read aloud in the community. The Bishop particularly thinks a believer can get much more out of Mark’s Gospel if it is read out loud. Right now, he and Bea are reading a chapter of Mark every night.

Join the journey through the Gospel according to Mark.
Prophetic Voices: Preaching & Teaching
Across our church and our society, we are having profound dialogues about race, truth, justice, and healing. Coming this Advent, Prophetic Voices: Preaching and Teaching Beloved Community explores where that dialogue intersects with our faith. Join us and our invited guests as we share prophetic voices and explore the readings for each week of Advent and Christmas Day through the lens of social justice.

You’ll hear ancient texts interpreted in new ways, find fodder for preaching and teaching, and make present day connections to the prophetic voices of the Bible. This podcast will help us rethink how we hear, see, and interact with the lectionary readings, refocusing from the rush of the Christmas season to the voice crying out in the wilderness. Click HERE for more info.
Amputee Football Club
Freetown, Sierra Leone

A Special Video by Joan Roughgarden
Sierra Leone’s civil war from 1991 to 2002 was the backdrop to the 2006 movie, Blood Diamond, with Leonardo DiCaprio. The brutality of the rebel force left thousands of young men with amputated limbs. Survivors formed the famous Flying Stars Amputee Football Club, shown in the video below playing an exhibition game against a team assembled by the Silver Cloud cruise ship during its visit on April 15, 2018.

[According to Joan:]

"I also sent [this video] to the soccer club in Sierra Leone and they wrote back to say they liked it very much and will be using it in their local fundraising. That sure makes me feel good.😄 — j"

-Joan Roughgarden

To view this remarkable video, click on the link below.
To learn more about the Flying Stars, visit their website here. To learn more about football in Sierra Leone, visit the website of Football Sierra Leone here. Visit Wikipedia here to learn more about the civil war in Sierra Leone.
Christ the King Sunday
Christ the King Sunday is a feast celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It celebrates Christ's messianic kingship and sovereign rule over all creation. The feast is unofficially celebrated in some Episcopal parishes, but it is not mentioned in the Episcopal calendar of the church year. Marion Hatchett notes that the Prayer Book collect for Proper 29, the last Sunday of the church year, is a "somewhat free" translation of the collect of the Feast of Christ the King in the Roman Missal. This collect prays that God, "whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords," will "Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule" (BCP, p. 236). The feast was originally instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and celebrated on the last Sunday in Oct. It has been observed on the last Sunday before Advent since 1970.

FROM THE EPISCOPAL CAFÉ

The Beggar King

November 19, 2020

Leslie Scoopmire
In 1925, the fires of World War I still smoldered in the memory of those who had lived through it. And yet, even with the memory of the suffering and destruction still vivid in the minds of millions if people on three continents, nationalism and fascism began to rise in Europe, political movements who sought to gain power by dividing people into victors and vanquished, that sought to claim the right to empire and oppression as the natural order for humanity.

Movements that sought to enslave or eliminate entire races of people based on hatred and fear. Movements that sought to co-opt the church, as in Italy and Germany, and blaspheme God by aligning God with national interests, serving human purposes. It was the continuation of the struggle between good and evil, fueled by technologies of death and worship of might over right unimaginable yet in human history.

This is the context in which the Feast of Christ the King was first proclaimed, and  has continued to be observed annually. It is a feast that calls us to remember whose, exactly, we are, and the real power to which we owe our allegiance. It also reminds us how easy it is to be coopted into serving our own desires dressed up as true belief, to deify ourselves and our conception of power or human hierarchies. This feast was also established to remind us to identify and resist any attempt to divide us from God and from each other in pursuit of human political agendas.

The image of a king here in America is inevitably tainted by our last brush as being subject to one, an image that fills many of us with a mixture of repugnance and mockery, especially after we have watched Jonathan Groff strut around in heels singing “You’ll be back” as the delusional King George III in Hamilton. We treasure our autonomy and independence above all things. We don’t want someone telling us that, “when push comes to shove, I will send a fully-armed battalion to remind you of my love.”

But Christ’s reign in our hearts is founded upon entreaty rather than command. Proclaiming Christ as our King is a jubilant, grateful response to God’s plea to allow see ourselves as God’s own beloveds, as Psalm 100 reminds us, and to give thanks for God’s gifts of the good things in creation to bring us joy and a deep abiding sense of well-being.  

But where and what is this kingdom? Throughout the gospels Jesus makes it clear that the kingdom of God is within us, and bringing it into fruition is our responsibility. And indeed, the gospel reading for this Sunday of Christ the King tells us the same thing: we created the kingdom when we fed the hungry and gave a drink to the thirsty, when we clothed those who were cold and naked, when we comforted the sick or the imprisoned. When we acted as if we saw Jesus in the exact people too many of claim to be “broken” or unworthy of dignity or compassion. Rather we are called to serve our king the convict, our king the refugee, our beggar king huddling for shelter.

It is also clear: the geography of this kingdom lies upon and within our hearts. The kingdom over which Jesus reigns is not in a place or in a time just as God does not exist within the boundaries of space or time. Jesus is God’s physical presence within space and time, within our understanding of the universe. Jesus’ power as king does not come from compulsion, or force, or power as earthly kings wield, but through the power of love and through example. Jesus’ power as king over our lives is not the power of demand but the power of love. We follow Christ and obey Christ through the choice of our will, which is what the root of the word, “voluntarily,” means.

The kingdom of heaven is not centered upon our own personal salvation. Making Christ our king means letting love and caritas rule our hearts. Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and king, we are not done. Making a choice to save ourselves is easy. That is why true salvation lies in what we do for others rather than what we do for ourselves by clinging to Jesus like a lifeline. As we are reminded, if we want to save our lives, we must be willing to look beyond ourselves. Proclaiming Jesus’ name will not bring about the kingdom of heaven—living out Jesus’ love among our fellow beings will bring about the kingdom of heaven and show that Jesus is our king. We acknowledge our king not by words but through deeds.
The Rev. Leslie Scoopmire is a writer, musician, and 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.
#AdventWord
A Resource for Advent
For the seventh year, #AdventWord will gather prayers via a global, online Advent calendar. Virginia Theological Seminary is offering 27 daily meditations and images during this holy season, beginning Sunday, November 29. During a year of disparate worship and communities of prayer, AdventWord offers a way to reflect and pause for the Advent season and await the birth of Christ.

Gathering a worldwide community, #AdventWord provides a daily meditation, visual image, and invites your personal reflections via social media to share your own Advent journey. Thousands have participated each year, responding to the words with photos, written responses, crafts, drawings, poems, found art, and Holy Spirit-filled posts.

“It is amazing to witness the prayers from around the world appearing on social media when Advent begins,” says AdventWord program director, Sarah Stonesifer Boylan. “I am really pleased to see that VTS has been able to continue to provide this offering consistently for four years, each time building on its success.”

Also new this year to #AdventWord offerings include a podcast for each day, voiced by Virginia Theological Seminary community members. The short daily podcasts provide another access point to absorb the lectionary-inspired writings by 27 different authors. Find it by searching AdventWord on your preferred podcast platform.

The prompts for 2020 #AdventWord are:
November 29 - Tender
November 30 - Deliver
December 1 - Strengthen
December 2 - Earth
December 3 - Rebuild
December 4 - Fellowship
December 5 - Glory
December 6 - Speak
December 7 - Comfort
December 8 - Patient
December 9 - Mercy
December 10 - Baptize
December 11 - Word
December 12 - Honey
December 13 - Go
December 14 - Rest
December 15 - Worship
December 16 - Pray
December 17 - Learn
December 18 - Bless
December 19 - Turn
December 20 - Rejoice
December 21 - Mystery
December 22 - Wisdom
December 23 - Holy
December 24 - Proclaim
The #AdventWord Images and meditations can be experienced through AdventWord.org, direct daily emails, as well as on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and ASL videos via YouTube. Meditations will also be available in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole via email and on www.adventword.org. Listen and subscribe to the AdventWord daily podcast on most major podcast hosting sites.

Published by the Office of Formation of The Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
© 2020 The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. All rights reserved.
Episcopal Relief & Development Supports Response to Hurricane Eta in Central America

Posted Nov 19, 2020
Residents recover a mattress from the debris of their house, which was damaged by Hurricane Iota, in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, on Nov. 18, 2020. Photo: Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters

Episcopal Relief & Development is supporting partners in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua as they respond to the devastation caused by Hurricane Eta. They are providing food, shelter, bedding and other emergency supplies to communities that have been impacted.

Hurricane Eta struck Central America on November 2, moving through Nicaragua to Guatemala and Honduras. This week, many of the same areas were then also hit by Hurricane Iota. Even before Iota, approximately 3.6 million people across Central America had been affected by Eta, a slow-moving storm with heavy rains, flooding and landslides that wiped out entire communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated relief efforts while also exacerbating the effects of the hurricanes.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Eta, Episcopal Relief & Development staff have been in close contact with the Episcopal dioceses of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicargaua to offer technical and financial support as the dioceses respond to the needs of vulnerable communities. Partners are also assessing the effects of Hurricane Iota which struck many of the same communities. Additionally, Episcopal Relief & Development staff is coordinating with the Episcopal Diocese of Cuba as church leaders determine a potential response.

The Diocese of Nicaragua is equipping farmers in the coastal village of Kisalaya by helping them recover and rebuild. Many of these farmers lost crops in the storm such as cabbage, cucumber, sweet pepper, tomato and squash seeds. The diocese is also providing farmers with rice, beans, corn and other food to meet immediate needs.

In Guatemala, Eta washed away roads and led to the evacuation of approximately 9,000 people. Over 1,800 homes were destroyed. The Diocese of Guatemala, with Episcopal Relief & Development’s support, is procuring food and bedding for shelters that have been set up in local churches. The diocese is also distributing food packages to families with children who lost their homes.

Hurricane Eta downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit Honduras, however the storm caused severe flooding in coastal areas. With Episcopal Relief & Development’s support, the Diocese of Honduras is providing food, clothing and other emergency supplies to shelters, individuals and families. The diocese is purchasing bedding and pillows, propane tanks, food such as meats, vegetables and grains, and clothing items. All of these items will be used by shelters to ensure that people have a safe and warm place to sleep and food to eat. Staff and volunteers are also distributing packages of supplies to help people as they return to their homes.

“The 2020 Hurricane Season has been unprecedented and many of the impacted communities continue to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Nagulan Nesiah, Senior Program Officer, Disaster Risk and Reduction, Episcopal Relief & Development. “Our partners in Central America are responding to assist women, children, farmers and other groups that have been disproportionately affected by the multiple disasters of COVID-19, Eta and Iota.”

Donations to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Hurricane Relief fund will support continued response to storms such as Eta and Iota. To learn more about Episcopal Relief & Development’s COVID-19 response, visit episcopalrelief.org/pandemicresponse.
International Black Clergy Conference Brings People Together Across the African Diaspora

By Pat McCaughan 

Posted Nov 13, 2020
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry speaks to clergy and laity during the virtual International Black Clergy Conference on Nov. 12, 2020.

[Episcopal News Service] Against a backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic and social, economic, political and racial upheaval – including conflicts over policing in the United States – Episcopalians and Anglicans from across the African diaspora gathered virtually to proclaim: “We are woke and ready to go.”

Several hundred viewers joined the Nov. 10-12 International Black Clergy Conference, themed “The African Diaspora United: Woke and Ready to Go,” organized by The Episcopal Church Office of Black Ministries. The conference included multilingual worship and provocative conversations and sermons that addressed Scriptural themes such as “pray and watch, rise and go,” taken from Mark 14:38-42. Laity were invited to join the conference on the final day.

“We know we have challenges out there that we have to face,” said the Rev. Ron Byrd Sr., The Episcopal Church’s missioner for Black ministries. The conference, he said, was intended to strengthen congregations and relationships across the African diaspora and to highlight a new direction, new programs, resources and even a name change for his office.

Bishops from Latin American and Caribbean dioceses, including Cuba, Colombia, Honduras, Central Ecuador and the Virgin Islands, as well as the Most Rev. Julio Murray, primate of the Anglican Church in Central America, sent prerecorded blessings to conference attendees. Similarly, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, Haitian, Sudanese, East African, West African, Liberian and South African clergy shared prerecorded stories of their ministries.

The Rt. Rev. Carl Wright, bishop suffragan for the armed forces and federal ministries, sent prerecorded prayers and blessings commemorating Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

Keynote speakers, including Presiding Bishop Michael Curry; Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright; the Rt. Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the first Black female bishop in the Church of England; and Elizabeth Henry, the Church of England’s former national adviser for minority-ethnic Anglican concerns, celebrated a common heritage of resilient faith in spite of challenging times.
A diverse group of clergy and laity from around the world joined the conference.

Being ‘woke’

Curry said the international gathering felt like a family reunion. Being woke, he said, is what the first chapter of John’s Gospel describes when it says, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” From his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, the presiding bishop told the gathering, “We need to be a seven-day-a-week church.”

“Like Jesus, we can refuse to internalize oppression,” Curry said. “We know what it means to be oppressed. We know what it means to have the gospel used as a weapon against us.”

The real gospel “will show us the way for us to be free and for us to be agents of setting other folks free. That’s the joyful liberty of the children of God,” Curry said.

Or, in the words of Wright, who recalled the image of the prophetess Miriam dancing for joy after the escape from Egypt in Exodus 15:20-21, “Did you bring your tambourine?”

Click HERE to read more.

All conference presentations will be available for on-demand viewing on the Office of Black Ministries page.

– The Rev. Pat McCaughan is a correspondent for Episcopal News Service. She is based in Los Angeles, California.
Hale Ho`omalu Accepts Donations
All Saints' Restarts Donation Collection
COVID-19 changed our ability to collect donations since on-site church services were canceled. Now that we are open for on-site worship, our Hale Ho`omalu donations will be collected again for delivery to this worthy program. We are grateful to our wonderful Monday Crew that takes the donations to Hale Ho`omalu each week.

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.
canned goods
All Saints’ has had a long relationship with Hale Ho`omalu, a Child and Family Service program that provides families with the tools and resources they need to create meaningful and lasting change in their lives. Over the years, our `Ohana has collected donations specific to requests provided by Hale Ho`omalu.
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 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.