Grace Cathedral
Dear Friends,
Last Sunday, former president Jimmy Carter ended his earthly pilgrimage, and at the age of 100, returned to God. His death naturally prompted an outpouring of reflections on his public service, deep Christian faith, and extraordinary post-presidential humanitarian activity. From bible study to Habitat for Humanity, from Camp David to the near eradication of the Guinea worm, we reminisced about the stunning breadth of his life, and his sheer determination to impact the planet and its peoples for good.
At the same time, I was noting the death of another southern Christian of great wisdom and compassion, who, weeks shy of his 100th birthday, also made an indelible mark on the world, and also shared the initials JC: John Cobb. John was a theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist. His prolific work spanned and integrated disciplines, genres and audiences, and had at its core a deeply relational view of the divine and the cosmos. He was responsible for ground breaking work in Interreligious dialogue and religious pluralism. More immediately, anyone who connects the environmental movement to the Christian faith owes some debt of gratitude to his work.
On Monday afternoon, I found myself at an online remembrance of the life and work of John Cobb. I had met and spoken with John while I was a student at the Claremont School of Theology. My advisor, Philip Clayton, fostered an environment where those conversations could occur naturally. So, the stream brought back a few personal memories in addition to John Cobb’s broader impact. The two JCs (Jimmy Carter and John Cobb), in their extraordinary lives and contemporaneous deaths, occupied parallel strains of my consciousness.
The stream progressed to discussing John Cobb’s influential environmental work in China, with Clayton narrating the intricate structure of a meeting with the president of a Chinese university, describing John Cobb’s flawless performance as complex diplomacy. Suddenly, my synapses were firing, and some parallels between these great figures came to the fore. More important than these special shared initials, is this commitment to complex diplomacy, the sense that to meaningfully impact the world, a nuanced understanding of people and culture is primary; other subject matter expertise is secondary. I believe that is how Carter dramatically reduced the incidence of the Guinea worm, and Cobb guided Chinese officials toward the ecological restoration of villages. They weren’t the first feats of medicine or engineering.
As we begin a new year, many fear a turn from peacemaking, environmental stewardship, human rights, and authentic Christian faith. I understand the fear. But I look to those who have had an outsize positive impact on the world, and know they were not held captive by fear. They had other capacities, and lives of deep faith. If there is one for us to emulate now, it’s faithful and complex diplomacy. In every arena of our public lives, and in the personal ones too, we must hew toward negotiation. Not compromise of core values, but the belief that we can build better, more sustainable solutions in conversation together. We can listen closely, find narrow ways through, each of us in a bit of statecraft — the state of better possibilities.
In gratitude for Jimmy Carter, John Cobb, and their inspiration in Jesus Christ — and in hope for the dream of God to blossom on earth, all good things,
Anna
Dear Friends,
I imagine we are all bombarded with text messages from various candidates for office and lobbying groups about how to vote. I don’t even know how they all secured my phone number! It is a challenging season, and we need discernment and wisdom to form our thoughts and deeds.
I was privileged on Wednesday evening to join a group of faith leaders who prayed for that very thing. The interfaith service, hosted by St. Agnes Church, a Jesuit parish in the Haight, stirred me with hope. I encourage you to listen to it here, and also to save the date for a special Choral Evensong with Multifaith Prayers for the Nation, on Thursday, November 7. My inspiration for my own message came from reflection on the commemoration of St. James of Jerusalem, which is adapted below:
“Therefore,” James said, “I conclude that we shouldn’t create problems for [those] who turn to God.” (Acts 15:22, CEB)
On October 23, the Orthodox and Anglican communions commemorate St. James of Jerusalem, also known as James the Just. The brother of Jesus, he was a convert to the faith after the resurrection, known for his piety as a Jewish Christian, and as a reconciling presence among the fractious communities of his own day. James went on to become Bishop of Jerusalem and, in 62 CE, was martyred for his faith. His life and witness have particular relevance in prayer for our fractious nation, for discernment and integrity in the electoral process.
The principal issue of James’ day was the question of who belonged to the community. Jewish Christians continued to observe the customs of their Hebrew elders, which were utterly foreign to Gentile converts. Some of the leaders of the church refused to eat with the Gentiles — a separate and unequal community — while others wanted adults to become Jewish through circumcision. Drawing on the wisdom of the prophets, James concludes that we don’t need to create problems for those who turn to God; it’s a both/and solution, a synthesis. James’ discernment guides the church forward in a pivotal moment.
In the words of Willie James Jennings, James is “groping to conceive the new possibilities of relationship,” ones that ensure the possibility of a shared table and, therefore, a shared life together. Like James, whom the church commemorates, we are groping for a new possibility for our nation and its diverse communities, a possibility marked by relationships, the commons, and a life shared together.
Our work is to decide there is a future with those with whom we think we cannot share a cup of coffee, let alone a table or a conversation. Ours is to discern the tent that is wide enough, the grace that is high enough, to enfold the needs and perspectives and hopes and dreams of all who call this country home, and to build up the process that leads to its just and wise exercise.
We don’t need to create problems or erect barriers for one another. Our call, our invitation at this moment, is to commit to a ministry of reconciliation, one that knows that even a sharp exchange of words is far more powerful than the clamor of weapons or the wielding of fists. It’s to trust that the divine working in us can triumph over our lesser natures, and give us the courage to extend an open hand first. It is not to gloss over real differences or hasten to superficial agreement but to become more agreeable and honest in the ways we disagree.
Grant, O God, that, following the example of your servant James the Just, brother of Jesus, your peoples may give themselves continually to prayer and to the reconciliation of all who are at variance and enmity; through the power of your great spirit we pray. Amen.
All good things,
Anna
Dear Friends,
Greetings from bucolic Healdsburg, CA, where I’m gathered with clergy colleagues from throughout the diocese at The Bishop’s Ranch. Here, we’re taking part in a listening and visioning process that will lead to a strategic vision to be presented at Diocesan Convention 2025. And I find myself thinking about how we make decisions in the church.
While liturgical decisions can be complex, the resources for and pathway to decisions are quite clear: the body of texts authorized by General Convention (“Common Prayer”), the principal liturgist of the diocese (the Bishop), the principal authority of the congregation (the Dean), the people to whom that work and authority is entrusted, in whole or in part, (liturgists and musicians), and the strong indicators of time, space, history and the people at present assembled.
In the realm of cathedral liturgy, many of the parameters are given. So if someone in the community urges me to swap a hard gospel text for a relatable Mary Oliver poem, I can cite common sources that require a gospel for the celebration of the Eucharist, explain why that particular text will be read on a given day, and point to the preacher’s role in connecting scripture to daily life. It’s no dismissal of Mary Oliver, and the proclamation of the gospel is not open for debate.
Moving from Sunday Eucharist to the other 160-odd hours of the week, we need practices of welcome and formation, compassion and justice. We have two millennia of wisdom, trial, and error, not to mention extensive church resources, to shape those areas of our lives. Contrary to the “must” rubrics of the prayer book, this body of work may seem less authoritative, less defining of our Christian identity, and more varied in emphasis. Decisions may be less clear. But whether to do it is not really open for debate.
This week, Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe met with the Executive Council’s Joint Budget Committee to present his plan for a structural realignment of The Episcopal Church, which includes a 5% reduction in staff costs over 3 years. However, the church-wide priorities are unchanged: racial healing, creation care, and evangelism. (Learn more from Episcopal New Service). Even in lean times, justice is an authoritative and defining emphasis for the church.
The same is true at Grace Cathedral. As Dean Malcolm Young announced at the August 25 Town Hall Meeting, one of the priorities in our forthcoming strategic plan is social justice, and specifically the funding and hiring of a priest to direct our justice efforts. Just as we provide an example for the church of liturgical practices that are faithful to our sources of authority and God’s call among us, I believe Grace Cathedral can do that with social justice, too. Just as our liturgy is conducted within the arches and architecture of a neo-gothic basilica, justice will have specific contours: programmatic pillars that are faithful to our own charisms, the overall direction of the church, in partnership with our bishop and the diocese. The foundation is laid; the cornerstone is rock solid. Let the whole structure be joined together.
All good things,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement
Dear Friends,
As I write to you I can hear the clanging of a cable car bell, the splashing of streams of water in the plaza fountain, and recorded traditional Chinese music accompanying tai chi practitioners. The organ has fallen silent like a midsummer Maundy Thursday observance and each colleagues’ step seems a little more pronounced against this backdrop.
This relative quiet comes as some of my nearest collaborators have decamped to The Bishop’s Ranch with 38 young choristers. Pastoral scenery, yes, but a far cry from monastic silence. And yet: in my avocational relationship to singing, I’ve learned that before anyone can sing, they must listen — to both anticipate the sound that will be produced, as well as take in the auditory environment. They also need to hear within themselves. So I wonder: what will those boys learn to listen to, what do they learn to hear?
Also, before anyone can sing, they must also breathe. Our voices, part of human bodies consisting of as much as 60% water, are nevertheless wind instruments. To produce a beautiful sound, the breath has to support the voice, and move freely through the body. I imagine that as they learn to sing, they become more sensitive to what is moving through them, but also more versed in letting it pass. I imagine they know at a visceral level that the biggest source of strength is also invisible to the naked eye.
We can sing and experience this for ourselves. But even if we don’t sing — at least not in public! — these are good operating principles for our life together, and at work in the church around us.
In the cathedral context, we offer an annual survey, so that the Dean, Chapter and Clergy have a regular time to hear back from the congregation, about how you engage, what you value most, and what you hope for the future. It’s a fascinating exercise, and always yields helpful feedback. We’ll hear the results of that survey in the annual Town Hall Meeting, this year on Sunday, August 25, 9:30 am in the Nave.
In the diocesan context, in his first pastoral letter, Bishop Rios has asked us to participate in a time of listening to one another as part of a strategic visioning process. This process will inform strategic and practical decisions, but it is also a pathway to trust, healing, and all of the intangibles that make for a rich common life. We are all invited to take part in one of these four sessions.
As you give feedback, and as you listen and hear, I invite you to let it move through you like the brush of the Holy Spirit, like wind and breath, meant to support us, propel us forward, refresh and animate our lives… and also sweep us up in a song not of our own making.
See you in church,
Anna
SERVICE OVERVIEW
The Installation of our Ninth Bishop is a service of Choral Evensong, with a large incoming procession, a brief rite of welcome coming in, and a formal seating toward the end. Most processing participants will only process in, go to their seats, and pray through the service.
VESTING AND PROCESSING
There is an incoming procession only. If you are planning to vest and process, report to your staging/vesting area on the plaza level by 2:30 pm, vest as needed, note where you will be seated, and be prepared to get into procession.
All clergy of the diocese are warmly invited to vest (cassock and surplice preferred, alternately an alb) with academic hoods and tippets optional. Vowed religious may vest according to the custom of their order. Ecumenical and interfaith representatives are welcome to wear the liturgical vestments of their traditions.
In all processions, people will walk in pairs. People seated on the S side turn left at top of the aisle; people seated on the N side turn right at the top of the aisle. Clergy pairs will split at the top of the aisle, with those on the right of the procession turning right, and those on the left of the procession turning left. Banner bearers will receive specific instruction.
VALUABLES
The doors to the vesting rooms will be locked immediately. We do our best to secure your possessions. The doors will be unlocked immediately after the service. Please do not leave valuables unattended. Grace Cathedral and the Diocese of California are not liable for any lost or stolen belongings.
Dear Friends,
We’re on the home stretch of a transition process that began with Bishop Marc’s July 2022 announcement of his intention to retire this July. Mark your calendars: On Sunday, August 11 at 3 pm at Grace Cathedral, in a service of Choral Evensong, we’ll install the Rt. Rev. Austin Keith Rios as Ninth Bishop of the Diocese of California. “Hmmm … but I was at Grace on May 4. Didn’t we already do that?” you might wonder.
On May 4, we gathered together with a bishop presiding, bishops from around The Episcopal Church, as well as our local Lutheran bishop, and ordained and consecrated Austin Keith Rios a bishop. He began that event as a priest, and emerged as a bishop — a change in orders. In addition to being ordained to a new order, Bishop Rios became our Bishop Coadjutor. In this role, he has served alongside our Eighth Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Marc Handley Andrus, in a well-planned period of transition.
In the midst of the rite of ordination and consecration on May 4, Bishop Rios was presented with gifts, or symbols of the order of bishops. These include a Bible, a stole and mitre (the hat!), Anglican bishops’ office vestments — rochet and chimere — and the diocesan ring. Historically, the ring could have been used as an official seal. These are ancient symbols, and common to bishops across the Anglican Communion, and, allowing for variations in vestments, to other churches that share episcopal structure.
Now, upon Bishop Andrus’ retirement, Bishop Rios is conferred the role of Bishop Diocesan. As Diocesan, Bishop Rios is the Ecclesiastical Authority and Chief Pastor of the Diocese. He works through and with the structures of the Diocese, including the Standing Committee, Executive Council, and Diocesan Convention, to ensure the health of our congregations and institutions, the vitality of lay and ordained ministers and ministries, and our faithfulness to God’s mission as well as the governance structures of the whole church. He is also the President of the Board of Grace Cathedral, and other episcopal institutions, The Bishop is the principal ambassador of the diocese to The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, as well as ecumenical and interfaith bodies. His office expresses and engenders the unity of the Body — the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.”
We gather on August 11, then, to mark and celebrate Bishop Rios’ role as Bishop of the diocese. The Rite of Welcoming and Seating of a Bishop in the cathedral (The Book of Occasional Services 2022) is adapted to the context of Choral Evensong. The rite includes the cathedral Dean, Chapter, and staff Clergy formally welcoming the Bishop to his cathedral, and the Bishop, in turn, praying for our shared ministry for the good of the Diocese and church. The outward signs of the rite are the diocesan crozier and the Cathedra. The crozier, or pastoral staff, will be presented by the Rev. Dr. Mauricio Wilson, President of the Standing Committee, the body which shares authority with the Bishop, and is vested with ecclesiastical authority in the absence of a bishop. And Bishop Rios will be formally seated in the Cathedra, or chair of the Bishop, symbolizing the center of his pastoral, liturgical, and teaching ministry in the Diocese.
For these festivities, we have the joy of welcoming the choir boys back from summer break, and Canon Director Music Jared Johnson has prepared choral music befitting the full choir and occasion. Don’t miss it!
See you in church,
Anna
Dear Friends,
On July 29, 1974, eleven women were ordained at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, PA, slowly unleashing a new and more inclusive era in the ordained leadership of The Episcopal Church. The march to this day had spanned more than a century, with the work of deaconesses being established in 1855, and by canon of the General Convention in 1889. They were “‘set apart’ to care for ‘the sick, the afflicted, and the poor.'” In 1922, the convention permitted women to be licensed as preachers. Only in 1970 did the General Convention authorize women to be ordained as deacons; the same year, a resolution to ordain women as priests and bishops failed. Women also failed to secure Convention’s support for ordination to the priesthood in 1973. So when the Philadelphia 11 were ordained in 1974, the ordinations were “irregular,” that is, without authorization.
At the outset, the Most Rev. John Allin, Presiding Bishop, condemned the ordinations as, invalid and the bishops involved as having “exceeded their authority.” Only in 1976 did the Convention affirm women’s ordination and regularize the ordinations of the Philadelphia 11, and four women who had also been irregularly ordained at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Church, Washington DC, in 1975, known as the Washington 4. It would still take months for the first Eucharist to be celebrated by a woman — the Rev. Allison Cheek, on November 10, 1974, at St. Stephen’s and the Incarnation Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.
The path to recognition is slow, and the recognition of the authorities of the church is critical. Our recognition, our celebration, is critical to continuing to advance other causes of justice in the church, and broader considerations of gender justice around the world. Can you see it? Join us in a weeklong celebration of the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination, with topical sermons, prayers, and music by women composers. Our celebrations will culminate in a festal evening liturgy on Sunday, July 28, at 6 pm, with the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers preaching, and a mixed-voice choir singing.
I’m grateful for the partnership of our music department and Canon Jared Johnson in companion repertoire. The Mass for Three Voices to be sung at 11 am on July 21 and July 28 was composed by the prolific Canadian composer Stephanie Martin. At Choral Evensong on Thursday, July 25, the Preces and Responses are taken from a setting by June Nixon, a fellow of the Royal College of Organists, and the first woman to receive the John Brooke prize for the Choirtraining Diploma. The canticles are from Sarah MacDonald’s Third Service. MacDonald is a Canadian-born conductor, organist, pianist, and composer, living in the UK, and she holds the positions of Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge and Director of the Girl Choristers at Ely Cathedral. She was the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel. Congregational music is taken from Voices Found, a collection of hymns and spiritual songs by, for, and about women, published by Church Publishing.
As we honor the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination in the Episcopal Church, we are delighted to announce that noted composer Tawnie Olson has been commissioned to write a Missa Brevis to be premiered at Grace Cathedral in 2024, funded in part by a generous grant from the Diocese of California.
See you in church,
Anna
On July 29, 1974, eleven women were ordained at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, PA, slowly unleashing a new and more inclusive era in the ordained leadership of The Episcopal Church. In honor of the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination, Grace Cathedral is celebrating with topical sermons, prayers, and music by women composers. Our celebrations will culminate in a festal evening liturgy on Sunday, July 28 at 6 pm, with the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers preaching, and a mixed-voice choir singing.
The Mass for Three Voices to be sung at 11 am on July 21 and July 28 was composed by the prolific Canadian composer Stephanie Martin.
At Choral Evensong on Thursday, July 25, the Preces and Responses are taken from a setting by June Nixon, a fellow of the Royal College of Organists, the first woman to receive the John Brooke prize for the Choirtraining Diploma. The canticles are from Sarah MacDonald’s Third Service. MacDonald is a Canadian-born conductor, organist, pianist, and composer, living in the UK, and she holds the positions of Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge and Director of the Girl Choristers at Ely Cathedral. She was the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel. Congregational music is taken from Voices Found, a collection of hymns and spiritual songs by, for, and about women, published by Church Publishing.
Join us for any and all of these occasions:
Sunday, July 21, 11 am. Choral Eucharist (in person and livestream)
The Rev. Canon Mary Carter Greene, Canon Pastor, preaching
Thursday, July 25, 5:30 pm Choral Eucharist (in person)
The Feast of St. James
The Rev. Erin Wiens St. John, preaching
Priested on Wednesday, July 17, Erin is the newest female priest in the Diocese of California, and was sponsored by Grace Cathedral for ordination. She now serves as a Curate at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, San Rafael.
Sunday, July 28, 8:30 am. Holy Eucharist (in person)
The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (transferred)
The Rev. Canon Sally Bingham, Canon for the Environment, Diocese of California.
Sunday, July 28, 11 am. Choral Eucharist (in person and livestream)
The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (transferred)
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi, Canon Precentor and Director of Interfaith Engagement, preaching.
Sunday, July 28, 6 pm Choral Eucharist (in person and livestream)
The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (transferred)
The Rev. Dr. Ruth A. Meyers, Hodges-Haynes Professor of Liturgics, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, preaching.
Dear Friends,
Just around the corner from Fourth Street Live, with restaurants featuring smoked meats and Kentucky’s most celebrated beverage at every turn, some 5000 Episcopalians converged on Louisville in our 81st General Convention. The triennial convening of Bishops, clergy, and lay deputies from dioceses as far-flung as Taiwan, Europe, and Latin America, as well as the United States, serves as the principal governing body of The Episcopal Church. There were more than 200 pieces of legislation considered in five days of proceedings. For a comprehensive overview, see Episcopal News Service’s General Convention coverage or the official website of the General Convention. Here are my key takeaways for our local context.
- The church is still split about same-sex marriage. Although same-sex marriage has been enshrined, and the rites developed and approved, a small but vocal minority of the church is still unsettled about it. This shows itself in legislation to preserve The 1979 Book of Common Prayer as doctrine and practice ad infinitum. In the debates about “communion across difference” the proponents of traditional marriage hope to preserve freedom to not allow or perform same-sex marriages specifically — clergy always have discretion with any couple — and to do so without perceived or actual repercussions. In my view, this situation is not an immediate cause for alarm; rather, it reminds us that our local context is not representative of the whole.
- Grace Cathedral’s social justice initiatives are well-aligned with those of the wider church.
a. A leading issue is the epidemic of gun violence. The House of Deputies declared gun violence a mental health crisis, and Bishops United Against Gun Violence held a march and rally with Youth Working to End Gun Violence in the midst of the Convention. In the spirit of Grace Cathedral’s initiative Beyond Thoughts and Prayers, the Office of Government Relations recommends three ways to advocate on the issue: Urge Congress to End Gun Violence, to Pass Safe Storage Laws, and to Regulate Ghost Guns.
b. Second on the social justice front is the specter of slavery in its many insidious forms. The House of Deputies repudiated its own 19th-century president’s support of slavery. Simultaneously, back at home we came one step closer to ending slavery for good with the passage of the pivotal CA state assembly bill ACA-8 in the house. Learn more with Alma Robinson Moses’ blog post.
- The way to a new prayer book is to redefine rather than revise and reissue. The momentum toward prayer book reform began almost immediately upon the publication of The Book of Common Prayer (1979). In the intervening 45 years, the General Convention has authorized a suite of resources for use throughout the church, including gender-inclusive versions of three Rite II Eucharistic prayers published in the 1979 BCP. The 2024 convention redefined The Book of Common Prayer to mean all the authorized resources of the church. As the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers pointed out, this doesn’t diminish the revision process, it just adapts the publication medium to the 21st century.
- The church is ripe for administrative — perhaps structural — reform. The House of Bishops elected the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe to succeed the Most Rev. Michael Curry as Presiding Bishop — in one ballot. This clear consensus signals a readiness to, in Rowe’s words, “think differently about how [we] should work.” Presiding Bishop-elect Rowe’s first decision was to be installed in the chapel of the church’s headquarters rather than a grand (and expensive) affair at National Cathedral; his first sermon prompts us to examine “our attachment to the old ways that no longer serve us.”
Dear Friends,
I write to you on the solstice, the day of sun-standing, an inflection point in the calendar and cosmos. The brilliance of the sun begins to diminish, at first imperceptibly, and if we’re not alert, it will be mid-September before we realize that the days are actually shorter.
On June 6, I joined two ecumenical colleagues on a Zoom forum of the San Francisco Interfaith Council, where we talked about post-COVID worship and community life. In preparation for that presentation, I charted how our weekday life had changed. Morning Prayer is no longer a cue to open the building, but its Zoom successor is much better attended. We no longer have a chaplaincy program attached to a weekday 12:10 Eucharist. Still, the midweek noon Eucharist has a stable community gathered around it and is a welcoming place for neighbors and visitors. That inflection point was somewhere in 2021 or 2022 when we knew that there was no mechanism to just return to pre-pandemic life.
That same inflection point set in motion many of the items to be considered as the church convenes in Louisville, KY, next week for the 81st General Convention. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church is a primary organ of governance for the church, and consists of the House of Bishops, and the House of Deputies (half lay, half ordained), convened every 3 years. COVID caused the 2021 meeting to be deferred to 2022. Appropriately, resolution D036, if passed, will direct an interim body to research healing services in use, and cites as example contexts the opioid crisis, Blue Christmas, and creation care.
We know that COVID accelerated the rate of clergy retirement and ministry transition, especially in rural areas; it was also the context for some racial reckoning in the US. These crises, individually and collectively, are also opportunities for re-visioned ministry. This is expressed clearly in resolution A042, which would foster deeper relations between the Presbyterian Church (USA) and The Episcopal Church, including limited exchange of ministers. This momentum in the relationship with a body that does not have Episcopal oversight — there are no bishops in the Presbyterian church — is at once hopeful, and also presents notable challenges in ecclesiological vision.
The Convention will also deliberate aspects of our common life that are less connected to the pandemic and recovery. In that vein, I will pay particular attention to the resolutions about the development of alternative and expansive language hymn texts, the revision of our calendar to include fast days and guidance, and the revision of the Good Friday liturgy to address Christian anti-Semitism.
Please pray for the church, especially for DioCal’s representatives to the convention (“the deputation”), as they work on our behalf, and participate in the election of the next Presiding Bishop. You can follow the proceedings at TEC’s Media Hub, at Episcopal News Service’s General Convention coverage, or with DioCal on Facebook.
With love,
Anna
Dear Friends,
Last Sunday, the Feast of Pentecost ushered us through a threshold, from the great 50 days of Easter to the long, green season of the church. With the descent of the Holy Spirit, the apostles – and we – are sanctified in our dazzling diversity and sent with an array of gifts for the church and for the world. This Holy Spirit, and the ongoing presence and activity of the Spirit, defies categorization in the mystery of the Triune God. But scanning for that combination of diversity and gifts, I’ll share some examples of the Spirit at work.
The Spirit calls new people into ministry. At this time, Grace Cathedral has more people in formal discernment for Holy Orders than at any other time in my lived memory or research, at least 25 years. Last weekend, three of those in discernment graduated from seminary. They include the Rev. Erin Wiens St. John and John McLean Wolff, both at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, in Berkeley, and the Rev. Brendan Nee, at Episcopal Divinity School at Union, in New York City. Their academic achievements, as well as searching personal, spiritual and community work, commend our accolades. But they also invite our hope for the present and the future.
The Spirit witnesses in new ways. The BCP Lectionary, and beginning in 1992, the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), has provided a foundation for preaching and liturgical patterns that are shared by many mainline churches, often including the Roman Catholic Church. But the RCL excludes significant parts of the Scriptures and, therefore, of God’s story. (Curious? Check out the citations included in the RCL.) To that end, I’m delighted that the Wednesday evening Vine congregation has begun experimenting with an alternate lectionary, compiled by Hebrew Bible scholar and Episcopal priest, the Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney. This selection of readings and pairings brings fresh perspective to festivals and ordinary time, and provides rich resources for sermon dialogues.
The Spirit gathers and celebrates a diverse body. We hold to fast to the conviction that God loves everyone, without exception. That universal divine love and justice is so important to celebrate because we fall short of reflecting it both in the world and in the church. Here’s the Spirit’s nudge toward the values of the Upper Room: join us for Pride Mass on Sunday, June 2, at 6 pm, in the cathedral online, and hear from our beloved Rev. Miguel Bustos in the pulpit, and sing new hymns from the queer hymnal. Then, join the diocese in celebrating Juneteenth on Saturday, June 15, at 11 am at St. Paul’s, Oakland. There, the Right Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop Diocesan, will preside, and the Right Rev. Austin Rios, Bishop Coadjutor, will preach.
Finally, the Spirit calls us to rest and refreshment. As part of the congregation decamps to The Bishop’s Ranch for our annual congregation retreat, they go with our prayers and blessing, and for our shared life and common good.
Every good gift,
Anna
Dear Friends,
The hour is coming! In just over a week, we’ll ordain and consecrate the Rev. Austin Keith Rios as the Bishop Coadjutor of our diocese. (Curious about coadjutorship? Read this post.)
What will the big day look like? If you’ve been present for the ordination of a deacon or priest, you’ll note some parallels. You may observe some of the grandeur and ceremonial patterns of Christmas Eve Midnight Mass or Easter Sunday at 11 am. The liturgy for the ordination of a bishop also symbolizes the distinct charisms of the episcopal order: participation in the leadership of the whole church; principal baptizer; sign of fidelity and unity; and primary ambassador to civic, ecumenical and interfaith bodies.
Episcopal ordination services gather representatives from across the country and around the world, and feature multiple processions. The color of the day is red, a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In the spirit of Pentecost, you’ll hear many languages of the Diocese spoken or sung, and see the English-language portions of the liturgy interpreted in American Sign Language. We expect the service to be 2 or so hours in length. A reception will follow.
If you have registered to attend in person, please plan to be seated no later than 10:25 am. The next opportunity to be seated in the cathedral will be after all the processions have made their way to the front of the nave, approximately 11:20 am. If you did not register, you can still take part. Come to the cathedral and see if there are seats available at 11:20 am, or gather on the plaza at 11:20 am, where the liturgy will be livestreamed and communion shared. The liturgy will also be livestreamed.
As the cathedral hosts our diocese and beyond, each of you who comes in person has the opportunity to extend that hospitality and welcome. Take a moment to greet those around you in the pews, and introduce yourself to someone you don’t know at the reception. Be ready to guide someone to the restroom, or offer to switch seats so a family can sit together. It takes a cathedral to be the cathedral for the diocese.
Finally, our principal job as Christians is to pray. It is always right and good, and it is especially important in preparation for these momentous events. Do it privately and in public. Join us for Choral Evensong on Thursday, May 2, at 5:30 pm as we gather in Vigil for the Ordination of a Bishop, and center ourselves on the one who is the foundation, pioneer and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ.
With Love,
Anna