Grace Cathedral
Article | January 14, 2025
Congregation Update: Alan Jones and the Wildfires
Blog|The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young
Dear Friends,
Exactly one year ago today, our Dean Emeritus Alan Jones died in San Francisco. He served as Dean of Grace Cathedral from 1985 to 2009. I learned a tremendous amount from him over the years. I have especially fond memories of being in my twenties and talking to Alan about preaching or theological topics.
Now, every time I walk down the Chapter House stairway past the stained glass window of purple-robed Noah on his ark, I think of Alan. He used to describe Grace Cathedral as a kind of ark, a place of safety and community in the midst of a stormy and dangerous world. There are many tributes to him around the cathedral campus. The dean’s office is dedicated to his memory. There is also the beautiful stained glass window of the Madonna from Chartres Cathedral that we have in the north aisle just outside the Interfaith Memorial AIDS chapel.
For years I would carry a pen and paper whenever I would meet with Alan so that I could write down ideas and stories. After dutifully in my sermons describing Alan as their source, he would always say, “Don’t mention me. I got those stories from somewhere else too!”
We miss Alan very much, but the clarity of his vision for what Grace Cathedral could be is still with us. We will always be a house of prayer for all peoples, a place that reminds us that God loves everyone without exception.
Every day, we are praying for those fighting the fires that are still raging in Southern California, for those in danger, and for those who have lost homes and businesses. If you or your family is deeply affected, our pastoral care team would like to know. You can reach us at: pastoralcare@gracecathedral.org.
Next Thursday, January 23, we’ll dedicate Choral Evensong to prayers for fire relief. Join us in-person or via livestream as we ask God’s healing for the human community and the earth.
The first Southern California home I lived in is now in the evacuation area, and my cousins’ old neighborhood has been reduced to ash. It will be hard to go back and see the destruction.
I’m just grateful that God has given us each other. In good times and disasters we help each other to make it through. Let us bless the Lord!
Love,
Malcolm
The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young
Dean
PS. Episcopal Relief & Development is working with local diocesan partners to assess the needs of evacuees and provide support in the coming days. Please make an urgent gift to the Wildfire Response Fund now.
A Prayer During California Fires
Lifegiving God we thank you for the Santa Monica mountains, the San Gabriel mountains, the San Bernadino mountains and all the beauty of the California Southland. As fires consume the chaparral in the parched hills, as so many neighborhoods across Los Angeles erupt into flame, we pray for the safety of all first responders and for residents who live in the path of danger and destruction.
We pray for those who have lost their lives. We pray for those who seem to have lost everything and for all those who have been evacuated. Bless them with calm minds, wise decisions, ready helpers and the physical and spiritual resources that will bring them safely through these days of fire.
We pray for their families, friends and all those who worry about them. We pray that when they feel hopeless and exhausted this experience will be accompanied by a sense of your life-giving presence.
Bless the City of Angels and all leaders, government officials, workers and experts who give assistance. Help us to provide for all those who have no homes, for those who live in poverty, who suffer from illness and addiction. Let us build a society where every person is cared for and belongs.
Finally, transform our minds so that we learn to put the well-being of the earth and all of its inhabitants first. Show us how to heal our world. We pray this in the name of the one who comes again and again in your name, Jesus. Amen.