June 22, 2023 | VOLUME 35, ISSUE 23

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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost:

June 25, 2023

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Jeremiah 20:7-13

Psalm 69: 8-11, (12-17), 18-20

Romans 6:1b-11

Matthew 10:24-39



Preacher: The Reverend Jennifer Wagner Pavia

Sunday, June 25, 4:00 PM: Performance of Brahms' A German Requiem with orchestra & singers conducted by Dr. James Vail

In Sanctuary

Sunday, July 16, 1:00 PM: A Time for Sharing & Rememberance to honor Gloria Bando at the home of Kimberly Bouzguenda

Backpack Project: Date to be determined, near the end of July, beginning of August.



Bible and Breakfast

Tuesdays | 9:30 AM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Midweek Eucharist

Wednesdays | 7:00 PM

Sanctuary

Adult Forum

Wednesdays | 7:45 PM

Luther Hall & Zoom

A Concert Not to be Missed !!!

Dear Friends,

You are cordially invited to attend a performance of the Brahms Requiem on Sunday, June 25 at 4 p.m., featuring The Laudamus Te Singers, St. Bede’s Choir, soprano Mariana Ramirez, bass-baritone Chung Uk Lee, Orchestra, and organist Frank Basile. It will be held at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church Sanctuary, 3590 Grand View Blvd., Los Angeles 90066. The suggested donation at the door is $15. Having conducted the Requiem perhaps more than any other major work, it will be my honor to conduct it once again. I would be most pleased if you could attend, and bring family members and friends to enjoy it. A reception in the parish hall will follow the performance.

Sincerely,

James Vail

Please don't forget to support FRIENDs of MUSIC's

2022-2023 season!

Please join us for a time of remembrance and sharing to honor our sister, Gloria Bando. 

HOSTESS: Kimberly Bouzguenda 

DATE: Sunday, July 16 

TIME: 1:00 PM

LOCATION: Kimberly's home

4472 Walnut Avenue 

Long Beach 90807 

Light refreshments will be provided. 

RSVP appreciated: 651-278-7113 

For the last several years, St. Bede’s has partnered with First AME Church on a back-to-school backpack project for children in foster care, and this summer we are doing it again.

We plan to fill 45 backpacks (15 for elementary school-age children, 15 for middle school and 15 for high school), and we’re collecting monetary donations to buy the supplies that will go inside.

If you’re writing a check, please make them payable to St. Bede’s with “Backpack Project” in the memo portion (at the lower left corner of the check.) You can bring the checks (or cash) to church, mail the checks to church, or send your checks to Alice Short (3156 Coolidge Ave. Los Angeles 90066). In addition, you can donate via the St. Bede’s Vanco e-giving and payment process site.

We’d be grateful if you could make your donations by July 16, and we plan to schedule our “assembly dinner” at the end of July or the start of August. 

Questions? Please reach out to members of the Mission Committee.

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."

- Desmond Tutu

Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, nearly 2½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth," and became a federal holiday in the USA on June 17, 2021.

This past weekend St. Bede’s parishioners and friends joined together to celebrate Juneteenth. After explaining and commenting on the meaning of the holiday, Akani Fletcher led participants in an exercise where everyone had the opportunity to share what freedom means to them. Afterwards Akani led the group in creating a joyful, cohesive rhythmic experience using drums, maracas, tambourines, shakers and claves. This was followed by a delicious dinner of soul food that definitely fed all souls to their hearts’ content. Indeed, all souls are all created equal, in the image of God, and deserve to be treated accordingly. We must not rest in our fight for equality and justice until we can deliver this true promise to all.

Thanks also go to Dr. Akani Fletcher for delivering a thoughtful sermon about how love casts out fear on "Juneteenth Sunday". And the Lord said to his people, "I've got your back."

Are you planning to attend worship online and want an easy way to make a pledge payment? Do you want to ditch the checkbook and set up reoccurring payments? Are you looking for a convenient way to make a one-time special gift to St. Bede's?

Did you know you can make donations online to St. Bede's, securely and easily?

Visit the St. Bede's website and at the top of every page, look for the "Donate" button. When you click on the "Donate" button, you will be transported to St. Bede's Vanco eGiving and Payment Process Site.

Vanco is an industry leader in online payments. More than 40,000 churches, faith-based groups, nonprofits, schools, and educational organizations trust Vanco to securely complete transactions every day. Vanco complies with PCI Level 1 standards, the highest security standard in the payment processing industry.

You are invited to set up one-time or recurring gifts using credit, debit, or bank transfer on Vanco's secure payment processing platform. Giving online through the Vanco site saves time and the hassle of remembering to bring your offering. In addition, you decrease the expense incurred by St. Bede’s from handling and processing checks and cash.

Dancers and a drummer from the Africa in America dance troupe add swirls of color and sound to the “Libation to the Ancestors” rite during the Juneteenth service on June 17. Photos: Janet Kawamoto

Black Americans must ‘tell their own story,’ Stacey Forte-Dupré tells Juneteenth service congregation

By Janet Kawamoto

 “We gather today to remember so that we can tell our story to the generations that come after us. This narrative is ours. … and if we don’t take ownership of it, others will do so for us,” the Rev. Stacey Forte-Dupré told Episcopalians and friends gathered June 17 at St. John’s Cathedral for the Diocese of Los Angeles’ second annual Juneteenth celebration, sponsored by the Program Group for Black Ministries and the H. Belfield Hannibal chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians.

After the Civil War, enslaved people in Galvaston, Texas, received word on June 19, 1865, from victorious Union forces that the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years earlier, had declared them free. (Chattel slavery was abolished in the United States by the 13th amendment to the Constitution, adopted by the U.S. Congress in January 1865 and ratified by the required 27 states by the end of that year.) Juneteenth, long celebrated in various parts of the nation and recognized in all 50 states, was established by Congress in 2021 as a national holiday.

The Rev. Lester Mackenzie, rector of St. Mary’s Church, Laguna Beach, was celebrant at the Evensong-inspired service, also leading a Tanzanian call-and-response song of praise. The Adrian Dunn Singers, a nine-member ensemble, provided gospel music, singing favorites such as “We’ve Come This Far by Faith” as well as compositions by Dunn. The group led the congregation in “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” informally known as the Black national anthem, to close the service.

The Rev. Guy Leemhuis, president of the L.A. UBE chapter, assisted by Rose West, national UBE Treasurer, offered a “libation to the ancestors,” invoking Americans of African ancestry whose names are known to history and requesting additional names from the congregation. Dancers and a drummer from Africa in America added swirls of color and sound.

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Migrants who were flown from Texas to Sacramento share a moment of prayer in one of the local faith communities that provided housing after they arrived in early June. Photo: Sacramento ACT

The parish hall at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, was the site of a shooting that killed three longtime parishioners during a potluck event on June 16, 2022. It is still used as a gathering space for congregants today. Photo: Shireen Korkzan/ENS

Sacramento Episcopal cathedral, area churches provide aid to migrants flown to California

BY Melodie Woerman

When a chartered plane brought a total of 36 migrants to Sacramento, California, on flights June 2 and again on June 5, members of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral joined other faith communities in providing immediate food and shelter, as well as the promise of ongoing support.

The cathedral is a founding member of Sacramento Area Congregations Together, or Sacramento ACT, the agency through which aid has been provided. Trinity’s dean, the Very Rev. Mathew Woodward, is a member of the board.

The Episcopal Church is committed to advocating for humane immigration policies that respect the dignity and worth of every human being and for comprehensive immigration reform. For more information click here.

The migrants, all adults ages 20 to 40 and mostly from Venezuela, Colombia and Guatemala, were approached in El Paso, Texas, where some had been working, with the promise of housing and jobs if they agreed to go to California. From there they were bused to Deming, New Mexico, and put on a plane chartered by the same Florida-based entity that flew migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in September 2022, where St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, provided them with temporary housing and meals.

On June 6, an official with the Florida Division of Emergency Management admitted the agency was responsible for the two California flights. In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation appropriating $12 million to fund the state’s migrant relocation program. El Paso Roman Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz on June 14 told the Associated Press that recruiters for DeSantis had sought out asylum-seekers at the migrant center at El Paso’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church in order to fly them to California.

Alabama Episcopal church observed first anniversary of shooting with worship, unveiled labyrinth memorial garden

BY Shireen Korkzan

June 16 marked one year since three Episcopalians were killed in a shooting at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.

The three victims — Jane Pounds, 84, Bart Rainey, 84, and Sharon Yeager, 75, longtime parishioners of St. Stephen’s — were participating in a potluck inside the church’s parish hall when an occasional churchgoer opened fire. Two died at the scene and one died later in the hospital. In May, the shooter pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“By now, most of the story has been told and forgotten by others in the world who have moved on with their lives, and that is okay with me,” Jim Musgrove, a parishioner of St. Stephens, wrote in an essay. “For those of us at Saint Stephens, however, our memories and pain will never end.”

Musgrove was awarded the Carnegie Medal by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism, for subduing the shooter until police arrived. His essay was published in “The Light Shines in the Darkness: Choosing Hope after a Mass Shooting,” a compilation of essays written by 42 parishioners of St. Stephen’s reflecting on the tragedy and the lifelong healing process.

The essay collection was edited by parishioner Melinda Rainey Thompson, a local author and Bart Rainey’s daughter. She’s also an English professor at Birmingham-Southern College.

To honor Pounds, Rainey and Yeager, St. Stephen’s observed the one-year anniversary of the shooting with a special evening worship service attended by hundreds of people, followed by a reception. Earlier in the day, a labyrinth memorial garden, which includes a plaque and three sheet-water fountains symbolizing Pounds, Rainey and Yeager, was unveiled to the public. The current plaque is temporary and will be replaced by a permanent one later.

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