Justice and Outreach Council

Monthly Digest

September 2023

Justice and Outreach Council Newsletter ". . . who is my neighbor?"

Action Circles

A new initiative of the Justice and Outreach Council

Our Justice and Outreach Council serves as a connecting point to the Trinity congregation. Council members discuss and respond to opportunities for support to various community needs on behalf of the Trinity Church. We invite you to join us in a new initiative, the Justice and Outreach Action Circles. Our goal is to engage more of you in the outreach and blessings of this work.

Speak to us about your particular interest for action at the Ministry Fair

on September 17 after the Sunday services. Let us find where your interests may compliment these themes. 

Basic Needs (Housing, Food, Homelessness)

Gun Violence Prevention

Climate Change and the Environment

Education and Harding School

Immigration

Transition House Meal Preparation for September

You can experience a traditional Trinity volunteer activity and serve a meal at Transition House (425 E Cota St) for approximately 60 residents on the 4th Saturday of the month. (September 23.) Contact Teresa Pietsch teresapietsch4@gmail.com for more details or check the online sign-up for how to get involved.

Dinner in Alameda Park 

Trinity will prepare dinner and serve it in the park again on Thursday, September 28. Join us just once, with an indoor or outdoor task, for this community experience. Check the online sign-up for volunteer opportunities or email Sarah Thomas, sthomas@trinitysb.org. Trinity's next dinner will be on October 26.

Gun Violence Prevention Task Force

A PROPOSED STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: In response to the on-going plague of gun violence and the declared intent of the Los Angeles Diocese of the Episcopal Church as articulated in that body's Gun Violence Prevention Toolkit of 2015, Trinity Episcopal Church-Santa Barbara determined in 2022 to establish this Gun Violence Prevention Task Force to enable its own activities aimed at such prevention at the parochial, community, state and federal levels. Such activities would entail working with other faith communities, civic organizations and law enforcement agencies to promote gun safety and to end gun violence.

VISION:

• To ensure by its teaching and action that the already safe community of Santa Barbara be made even safer and freer from gun violence in all its forms;
•  To formulate and submit proposals for legislation aimed at ensuring that the state of California be even safer and freer from gun violence in all its forms;
• To encourage state and federal legislators to continue their work in making California and our nation safer and freer from gun violence in all its forms.



Contact Person: Ken Johnson 41omaha73@gmail.com

When Those with the Greatest Needs Live with Us...

CA Dept. of Aging - In California, the Caregiver Resource Centers (CRCs) offer help throughout the state to serve thousands of families and caregivers of those with Alzheimer's disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and other disorders.

California Caregiver Resource Centers | Caregiver Resources (caregivercalifornia.org)

California was the first state in the nation to establish a statewide network of support organizations for caregivers; every resident has access to a CRC in their area. 

Homelessness and its Impact on the Santa Barbara Community

SAVE THE DATE: November 19, 2023 for the JOC Fall Speaker Series Forum.

Our topic is Homelessness and its impact on the Santa Barbara community. Our special guest who will preach at the 8 and 10am worship services will be local advocate/professor, Jeff Shaffer. He will also be part of a panel featuring Trinity Nurse/Community Care, Jan Fadden and Santa Barbara City Councilmember, Oscar Gutierrez.

Planned Parenthood Annual Book Sale

September 14 - 24

Trinity JOC sponsors the Spiritual Reflections book table at the PPSB Booksale - join us at the Earl Warren Exhibit Hall.

Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy

Hazel Davalos and Lucas Zucker, Co-Executive Directors of CAUSE

invite Trinity members to join them on September 21st for Raising Justice. For those of you who don’t know, Raising Justice is their annual fundraiser and afternoon of community building that brings the CAUSE community together to help advance our movement for economic, environmental, and social justice in our region. 

Click here to learn more and to RSVP.

Spectrum of Sounds: A Concert by the Blind and Low Vision Community

This unique event celebrates the diversity of sounds and the power of music to transcend barriers. On Saturday, October 7 from 2-4pm in Trinity's sanctuary, prepare to be moved by the soulful performances that will touch your heart and ignite your senses. Tickets are $20. All proceeds go to supporting Blind Fitness, a Santa Barbara based 501c3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower people who are blind or have low vision through sports, recreation, and physical activity while educating the public of their abilities.

'New Camino' seminar will present vision for Latino Ministries

The Program Group on Hispanic Ministries of the Diocese of Los Angeles will host "New Camino: A New Vision for Latino/Hispanic Ministries," a two-day seminar presented by the Office of Latino/Hispanic Ministries of The Episcopal Church, October 20-21 at St. Paul's Commons.

New Camino is especially designed for diocesan bishops, staff and congregations open to exploring how they can be more effectively involved in reaching all the various Latino generations. 

New Camino specifically aims to demonstrate that a paradigm shift is emerging in Latino ministry. The shift begins with thinking in terms of evangelistic niches due to the socio-demographic changes in the Latino population.

Accommodations are available at the St. Paul's Commons Retreat Center, located at 840 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles. For information and to register, email delaministeriohispano@gmail.com

Climate Change Summit featuring Seismologist Lucy Jones

September 16

Distinguished seismologist Lucy Jones – a well-known voice for earthquake science and safety – will deliver the morning plenary presentation at the diocesan Climate Change Summit, a hybrid event set for Saturday, Sept. 16, at St. Paul’s Commons, Echo Park.

Registration is here. All are welcome. 10 a.m. Sessions will continue until 2:30 p.m. with a 30-minute break for lunch. 

Jones, who is a lay leader at St. James Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, will be joined by afternoon presenters Kate Varley and Lisa Markus, also Episcopalians and climate specialists from local congregations. 

“The summit is a great opportunity to bring our diocesan community together to do what we can to address this issue which affects our whole world. It’s not easy work but it is necessary work,” said the Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy, diocesan canon to the ordinary, who chairs the 30-member commission on behalf of Bishop John Harvey Taylor.

Look for the blue celebration envelopes in the pews and recognize a birthday, an anniversary, graduation, engagement, a special event of any sort for which you are thankful. Turn your “celebration” into a donation to the Justice and Outreach Council. We will use these funds to provide comfort and safety to those in need—food, education for children, assistance to immigrants—any of our neighbors needing support. . . so they can celebrate. Together, these gifts make possible our community of welcome, reconciliation, and service.

There are two ways you can continue to celebrate and support our justice work in addition to your pledges both now and in the future. Send in a check made out to Trinity and simply note “Justice” in the memo line and provide the names of the persons or occasion you want to celebrate. Or donate via Trinity’s PayPal account, select "Justice Fund" and under “special instructions” provide the names of the persons or occasion you want to celebrate.

Thank you to our celebration donors for August!

Jean Davis, Norma and Glenn Stuck, Jeannie Christensen, Sarah Fenstermaker, Becky and Holly Hoffman, Emily and David Young, Robert Adams and Nancy Caponi.

Land Acknowledgement

We honor and acknowledge the Chumash people, the traditional custodians of this land, and pay our respects to the Chumash elders, past, present, and future, who call this land on which we sit their home. We appreciate their wisdom, their culture, and their presence among us today as the host people of this land. We lament the injustices done to the original inhabitants and the injustices done to this land in the centuries since. We seek the courage and wisdom to heal the wounds of the past and build a better future together, in deep solidarity.

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1500 State St, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101 | 805-965-7419 | office@trinitysb.org