Grace Cathedral
Dear Friends,
Traditional disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving mark the season of Lent, but sometimes those general categories are expressed in very particular ways in our lives. For me, that has been a move. We’ve traded the keys to a rental house in the East Bay, where our sons moved from middle school to high school and are now at the beginning of college, for a flat within walking distance of our San Francisco workplaces. The welcome, if dramatic, change has left me with a clear sense of Lent as homemaking and homecoming, at once unsettling and promising.
Anything we undertake or shed during the season is done under the rubric of making us more the selves and the community that God made us to be. So the journey, while reflecting shared patterns, is personal, particular, and contextual. This week marks a midpoint in the season. How is your Lenten journey unfolding? What themes are emerging for you?
Lent is traditionally a time of preparation for people who wish to be baptized, confirmed, or received. I’m grateful that two leaders in the congregation, Roberta Sautter and Robert Ward, are guiding a 6-week series that will serve as preparation; it is also an excellent opportunity for those who wish to explore or deepen their faith generally. The series will begin this Sunday, March 12, at 12:30 pm.
Finally, Lent prepares us for Easter, for resurrection, and new life. The wisdom of our tradition is that it is most fruitful to walk the whole path through the Lenten desert, the last supper, betrayal, crucifixion, and death, and to sit at the tomb. Then we are most prepared to meet the Risen Christ. We make this pilgrimage together as a community during Holy Week, which begins this year on Palm Sunday, April 2. Mark your calendars with updated information about Holy Week and Easter.
With gratitude for our shared pilgrimage,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement
Dear Friends,
Last week I had the great pleasure of announcing the appointment of the Rev. Joe Williams as Grace Cathedral’s Succentor. I am grateful for your responses. I gathered from them that there was a degree of Episcopalianese in the announcement, and a few clarifying comments would be helpful.
First, on titles: although Anglicans talk about worship in the vernacular, part of our inheritance is Latin, as exemplified by the terms Precentor and Succentor. You’ll see in them the common root “centor,” Latin for cantor. The Precentor was historically the first cantor, who led the assembly in worship. The Succentor was the second cantor. In Grace Cathedral’s context, the Precentor is the director of liturgy and a canon, or adviser to the dean, with responsibility for the department. The Succentor is the deputy, an ordained person with particular areas of oversight in the liturgical life and supportive (but not administrative) responsibilities in others. The Succentor is also equipped to act on the Precentor’s behalf when necessary.
Second, about the Precentor’s department: full staffing of the Precentor’s department is about 3.5 FTE’s, working in concert with a fully staffed and formed Office of Music and Office of the Congregation. As you may know, the last time the Office of the Congregation was fully staffed was in October 2020. For the Precentor’s Office, that was April 2021. The result is that we have a number of critical functions with no redundancy, which is especially vulnerable to predictable variables like getting sick (Murphy’s law!) or taking a couple of days off. The Succentor is not intended to replace me, or to allow me or the department to take on additional responsibilities. Rather, the Succentor is foundational to the continuity of operations in the department and the liturgical life of the cathedral.
If etymology and operations don’t make your soul sing, here is the part that most pertains to you: it is the duty of all Christians to work, pray and give for the kingdom of God — the Beloved Community. While human labor and money make work possible, it is no accident that prayer is at the center of that trifecta. Prayer is what allows us to work wisely, within our capacities, to build upon our strengths and make room for weaknesses. It’s what inspires us to labor on a project, but not grind to exhaustion, or to the exclusion of health, home, or leisure. Prayer is also what allows us to have an honest accounting of our assets and appetites, and to share generously and freely.
We are approaching an inflection point in the liturgical year, when we turn from Epiphany’s themes of light and God’s self-revelation to the Lenten rigor of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The Last Sunday after the Epiphany, this year February 19, resounds with alleluias and the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration, prefiguring the resurrection. We celebrate this year with Circlesongs with Bobby McFerrin and Motion at 10:30 am, a special musical collaboration with composer and author Parris Lane at 11 am, and welcoming the Rev. Joe Williams at all three Eucharists. Then, at 6 pm, our shouts of joy sung in the Eucharist carry us out to the plaza, where we burn last year’s palms from Palm Sunday in a rite of Palms to Ashes. All are encouraged to bring last year’s palms to services on February 19.
We begin our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday, this year, February 22, with Morning Prayer at 9 am, and Holy Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes at noon and 6 pm. The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) will be offered from 10 am to 11:45 am and 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances … the one who calls you is faithful.
With love,
Anna
Dear friends,
It is with great joy that we announce the appointment of the Rev. Joe C. Williams as Succentor.
Williams comes to us from the Diocese of Oklahoma. He was ordained to the diaconate in December 2022, anticipating ordination to the priesthood in the summer of 2023. As Succentor, Joe will play an integral role in the preparation of cathedral liturgy, and the care and formation of all who serve our worship life.
A sixth-generation Oklahoman and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, Williams is a recent graduate of the Seminary of the Southwest. Prior to ordination, Joe was a nonprofit professional, working in development and communications for agencies specializing in hospice, HIV/AIDS care, youth development, and adults with developmental disabilities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership from the University of Oklahoma, as well as certification in Nonprofit Management through the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits.
Williams is steeped in the liturgical traditions of the church. He comes to us with a deep life of prayer and commitment to God’s people, as well as the production and management skills necessary to carry out the cathedral liturgy. We will formally welcome Joe to the Grace Cathedral at each celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday, February 19, 2023, ahead of his permanent arrival in mid-March.
Please join us in celebrating our new Succentor!
With gratitude,
Anna
Dear Friends,
From the beginning, the church has fractured in the face of disagreements over doctrine, liturgical practices, and human diversity, sometimes colored by money, power, and politics. And because of this reality, or perhaps in spite of it, the church has continued to pray for unity, even when that unity is amorphous or aspirational. Traditionally, a week-long observance of prayer for Christian unity begins on January 18 (The Confession of St. Peter) and concludes on January 25 (The Conversion of St. Paul).
The World Council of Churches explores a theme for Christian unity each year, and 2023’s is “Do good; seek justice.” The theme recognizes that our care for the human community is both an ethical imperative and a potential source of commonality among the diverse Christian bodies. Like world peace, Christian unity is both worthy of our striving and something that will ultimately be fulfilled at the end of time. It is our work and God’s work. It is more practice and intention than a measurable goal.
Put “do good; seek justice” into practice with this year’s Winter Interfaith Shelter. A collaboration of Episcopal Community Services, the San Francisco Interfaith Council, and local houses of worship, the Winter Interfaith Shelter takes place in the coldest months of the year, and provides our unhoused neighbors with a warm place to sleep indoors, and a nourishing meal. Grace Cathedral will serve on Thursday, February 9. Learn more and register to join the team of volunteers to cook, serve, transport, and clean up.
We recognize the unity of the Body of Christ in many ways, among them the Eucharist, and, more particularly, the common cup. We might think first of the contents of the cup (Wine), but the total witness of scripture is to the fact of a shared cup. Many have expressed enthusiasm about the return to Communion in both kinds (Bread and Wine), and some their concerns. Both have a place and support our preparation for how to proceed. We’ll begin on January 29, and robust participation from the congregation serving in the liturgy is both necessary and desired. Confirmed Christians with reverence for the sacramental life are encouraged to register for Chalice Bearer trainings offered throughout the day on Sunday, January 22.
I want to call your attention to a few important events in cathedral life:
- This Sunday at 12:15 pm, join Inquirers Class to learn more about The Episcopal Church, our traditions, and what it means to belong.
- Next Sunday, January 29, at 9:30 am in the Nave and online, we’ll hold the Annual Meeting of the Congregation. All pledging members are eligible to vote. Your vote matters, so please make your 2023 pledge today.
- For two decades, our congregation members and others have followed the star of wonder to experience Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and other places from the life of Jesus. This is the final call for the final Grace Cathedral pilgrimage led by the Rev. Canon Mark Stanger.
- We are delighted to share with you all the new Grace Cathedral Website. Learn more in our blog!
Finally, I am delighted to announce that Interim Director of Music Mr. Chris Keady and his husband Dan have just been given a new foster-to-adopt baby boy after many years of waiting. Chris is taking family leave as of this week. Please join me in wishing Chris and Dan hearty congratulations on the new addition to their family.
With love,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement
Dear Friends,
Blessed Feast of the Epiphany, and Happy New Year!
It’s customary to begin the new year with bold resolutions and relatively firm intentions about how things are to unfold. But sometimes, we find our intentions to be counter to the natural flow of things. Enter plans b, c, and d; enter ideas subject to revision. Life is, shall we say, fluid.
We encountered the fluidity of life in a salient way this week, with meteorologists using terminology at turns militaristic (“bomb cyclone”) and evocative of tropical vacations (“pineapple express.”) For much of the country, a few inches of rain and 40-60-mph winds would be unremarkable. But Bay Area architecture is not built with storm shelters or hurricane-grade shutters; our public transit was not engineered for atmospheric rivers.
Many of us were spared the worst of the storms, but some were not. For them, the fluidity of the situation is not just reshuffling appointments; it’s replacing personal artifacts that are water-damaged or somehow adrift or addressing deeper losses. Whatever the circumstance, we’re not quite set up for this, and it’s clear that more fluidity is on the way. What do we make of the flood?
The imagery of a great flood pervades religious and mythological traditions. The account of Genesis 7-8 ends with a “never again” promise from God, with a dove, an olive branch, and a rainbow. I can’t believe that God controls weather, but I do believe that God reveals God’s self in signs, no matter how overwhelming the deluge. If you were impacted by weather, how did God appear alongside you? In the care and concern of a neighbor, in the synchronicity of a family visit, in the silent reminder to take a deep breath?
God’s presence in the flood is part of what makes it ripe baptismal imagery. The flood is not just a violent force of destruction but the revelation of God in all and through all. Countless generations after Noah, and after Jesus submitted to the baptism of John, people of faith emerge from the torrents as a new creation and a new human family. Join us this Sunday as we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, with child and infant baptisms at 11 am and 6 pm, and renew your own trust in God’s surprising and abiding presence.
From deluge to measured droplets: we can also celebrate the return of the Common Cup. Receiving communion in both kinds, Bread and Wine, will return to cathedral practice on Sunday, January 29. Trainings will take place on Sunday, January 22, adjacent to each service to prepare people to serve as chalice bearers. Anyone who wishes to serve must attend a training, regardless of prior experience. Confirmed Christians with a reverence for the sacramental life are encouraged to take part. To help staff plan for both training and scheduling, please register at gracecathedral.org/commoncup.
May the flood waters recede, the new creation show forth, and the cup of love overflow.
Every good gift,
Anna
Dear friends,
This Sunday, November 20, we observe The Reign of Christ, also called The Feast of Christ the King. We are thrilled to welcome special guest preacher Prof. Angela Davis to the pulpit as we celebrate the feast.
The concept of Christ the King necessarily has some biblical resonance, but the observance dates from 1925, as Pope Pius XI strove to lead a Christian people in a time of rising secularism and nationalism. We would rightly wrestle with the feast’s empirical thrust and presumption of Christian superiority. But if we stop there, we will have missed the greater aspirations of the pontiff and Christ himself: peace.
“My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus says. The rulers of this world erect borders, control stories, and amass fortunes and arsenals in pursuit of power or to prevent its loss. The first goal of the state is its preservation, not the welfare of the planet and its people. Jesus has something completely different in mind: the life of the world. He gives himself up. He empties the coffers of his blood and breath. His body writhing on a crude instrument of torture, he forgives.
This is where the church year ends. It is meant to be arrested, to disrupt the status quo. It is meant to inject a divine truth into the human tendency to interpret a curated subset of facts in support of our own limited aims. What is truth? This is where the church year leaves us — this is the question posed by Christ the Crucified King in the Gospel, according to John. What is truth? “Truly, this man was God’s son.”
The church’s response to the question is Advent, a season of preparation and anticipation of what is to come. The end gives way to the beginning. We pray for the dawning of grace and truth, light and peace. It is in every way as vulnerable as the cross. We begin seeking the poverty of the manger; an infant barely covered from the elements, the stench of manure, and the harshness of the hay. If we receive him there, follow him from the manger to cross and back again, a sword will pierce our own heart, too.
The life and reign of Christ, and membership in his body, the Church, is inherently vulnerable. It asks us to set aside this world’s calculations and make the Christian body and mission our common denominator. It asks us to give thanks for all that we have received without harboring resentment for the things we’ve had to release along the way. It asks us to give ourselves up, to loosen the ego’s hold on our thoughts and feelings, and develop a deep reverence for life and for one another.
Please join me in a gesture of reverence and thanksgiving for our shared life and mission, and make your pledge to the 2023 Stewardship campaign today. Then, join the celebration on the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, at 11 am, also Ingathering. Our money, our selves, and substance gathered together, become the symbol and sign of Christ’s self-offering for the world. It’s other-worldly and yet in this world. It’s sometimes messy and vulnerable. It’s where grace and truth are found.
With love,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement
Sing!
Dear Friends,
In case you missed it, “Anyone Can Sing” is the title of a 2022 British TV series featuring our former Vice Dean and Canon for Social Justice, Ellen Clark-King. Produced by SkyTV, the compelling series invited six vowed non-singers to work for three months with three celebrated singers and voice coaches to literally change their tune. The soul-bearing journey and the beautiful results uphold the claim: really, anyone can sing. (You can read about the project on The Guardian and view the official trailer on YouTube.)
Building on the theme: anyone can sing, and anyone can make music. Not just sing but sing an entirely new song. Take it from Bobby McFerrin, the 10-time Grammy-winner and genre-defying virtuoso vocalist. Over decades, he has innovated a new form of music called Circlesongs, “spontaneously composed choral pieces,” where “every voice has a place in the circle.” Even yours.
We are thrilled to announce a collaboration with Bobby McFerrin and Motion, a 4-voice ensemble that will allow the Grace Cathedral community to hear and join the circle monthly beginning Sunday, November 20, and extending into Spring 2023.
In the last months, I’ve had the opportunity to hear Circlesongs in action and remarked to Mr. McFerrin: “I think this is sort of how you pray.” “Sort of?” he chuckled and gently corrected me with a spontaneous 5-part litany of thanksgiving. Although Circlesongs has a performative dimension, it is pure prayer, the sighing too deep for words meets soaring melody and eclectic rhythm. Hear for yourself.
When Bobby McFerrin and Motion join us, they will lead Circlesongs at 10:30 am, and we’ll encourage everyone to arrive early and settle in for their vocal exploration. Bring your spirit of adventure, curiosity, trust, and joy. Let it free your voice. Let it deepen your prayer. Find your place in the circle.
With love,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor and Director of Interfaith Engagement
Dear Friends,
Labor Day marked the official end of summer and the beginning of the program year. The cathedral moved from a summer season of catch-up and staff vacations to the beginning of something that (at least liturgically) never ended, all the while refining space use, personnel, and communications necessary for Christmas. Although at Grace Cathedral we have our own peculiarities, this swirl is less particular to Grace and more a function of being an urban cathedral. It’s largely structural.
In the midst of this busyness, each year I am caught by a pleasant surprise in the celebration of the Jewish New Year. The 8-day festival is begun on Rosh Hashanah and concludes with Yom Kippur, and at minimum, I take those two days off and go with my family to our synagogue in Berkeley. It’s a beginning and the furthest thing from an Advent Procession or Baptisms or Times Square. Celebrations start with blessings for a sweet new year, marked by apples, honey, and round challah, and travel solemnly through the line of sweeping moral inventory.
The corporate and communal nature of Judaism helps me hear that inventory in a slightly different accent than some portions of The Great Litany. Our sins may be less the inordinate and sinful affections (although they are that), and more our passive participation in systems that degrade or impoverish, our impatience or negligence with those entrusted to us, and apathy before the world in need. It is a failure to structure our lives in ways that express the right relationship and the inestimable value of all life. And these relationships, with people or systems, can’t be righted quickly. Year after year, I am humbled.
The humbling does not permit me to be overwrought or overwhelmed, just to choose again. To say no to the most compelling options and yes to the relationships that matter most. To make peace with the irreparable brokenness of this world, and decide what I can do today to inch us toward greater wholeness. Hopefully, and without the illusion of “fixing” anything, I can do my part. All human labor is incremental. Finishing it is divine.
And it is exactly that outlook that led an interfaith coalition, including many Episcopal clergies, to support San Francisco’s Proposition M. The November ballot measure would “impose a tax on owners of vacant residential units in buildings with three or more units if those owners have kept those units vacant for more than 182 days in a tax year and where no exception applies.” The tax would be used to fund housing for seniors and low-income persons. As the interfaith coalition noted in their moral statement, this is an “incremental but necessary step” to address an issue of structural inequality. I’m honored to stand with these faith leaders.
Wherever you are, consider initiatives, however incremental, that will inch this or your city toward a more just reality, a place of shelter and sustenance for many. Do it out of moral conviction or shared destiny or both? Sign a petition, attend a rally, express your support online, and calendar your time to vote. Yes, we’re all too busy, often doing important things. No, we won’t see the finish line. But we are not neutral in the local economy, or in the economy of God. So hit pause on the swirl and resolve to move forward on the local challenge you can say yes to. Even, just an inch.
Every good gift,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement
Dear Friends,
As I write, one of the largest groups of incoming choristers is at choir camp at The Bishop’s Ranch, getting acquainted with one another, new music, and some new music staff. They are finding ways to stay cool as daytime temperatures soar into the nineties and settling onto the grassy hilltop outside the chapel for compline prayers beneath a blanket of stars. Back at the cathedral, we eagerly await their voices, the start of the school year, and the liturgical occasions that welcome and recognize the choristers.
Among the new music staff is Peter Meredith, Voice and Music Theory Instructor. Peter first came to Grace Cathedral as a musician at the 6 pm Eucharist and took up varied and increasing roles in the liturgy department, becoming Senior Associate for Worship and Music. I’m delighted by his appointment and know we’ll continue to be enriched by his considerable talent and presence.
In light of this staff transition and others, we’ve posted a clergy opening for a Succentor to work closely with me in the visioning and preparation of the cathedral liturgy. Your prayers for the search process are much appreciated! During the interim time, we’ll experiment with ways to streamline while striving to ensure the distinct character of each service.
This Sunday, we’ll introduce a combined leaflet for 8:30 am, and 11 am Eucharists. Much of the combination is achieved graphically. There will also be a few minor changes to the liturgy. For the liturgically curious, you can preview the leaflet on the leaflets page of our website. We assume that there will be a process of fine-tuning based on the experience of praying together.
Last Sunday, we blessed a few representative backpacks at 11 am Eucharist. Through the extraordinary efforts of our Congregation Council, Phoebe Campbell, the youth group, and others, we collected and filled 175 backpacks for students in Bayview Hunters-Point to start this academic year with the supplies they need. Hats off to everyone who organized, donated, packed, and promoted Backpacks for Bayview — all while simultaneously feting our beloved Jude Harmon on his last Sunday as Canon for Innovative Ministries!
This Sunday, the liturgy will also include the blessing of a mission we hope will similarly multiply in impact. On Wednesday, August 24, Vice Dean Greg Kimura is leading a group of us on a day pilgrimage to Tijuana, where we’ll visit the programs established by PILA global, bringing quality and emotionally-appropriate education to children who live in refugee shelters. Through our visits on the ground, conversations with local leaders, and prayerful reflection, we hope to discern ways that the cathedral impacts the lives of these children and the root causes of their displacement. If you missed the opportunity to join in August, watch for news about another trip in early October with Episcopalians from Southern California.
One of my best teachers is the Ven. Canon Nina Pickerrell. She loved choir camp, founded Bayview Mission, and has an unusual repertoire of profound one-liners to life’s most pressing challenges. Among those phrases: “it’s how you are with it.” Our lives, individually and collectively as a congregation, can be fast-changing. The mercury can rise outside our windows as well as inside us. Finding ways to cool off, sing under the stars, and give back, especially to children, can help us be with one another (and ourselves) peaceably and playfully. It’s how you are with it.
With love,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement
Dear Friends,
I had the gift of spending part of my evening at an interfaith gathering in the South Bay. The occasion was to say goodbye to Fatih Ates, Director of the Pacifica Institute, as he takes up the leadership of a similar organization in Raleigh-Durham, NC. Somehow we, along with a Jewish leader, fell into a conversation about the significance of white garments at pivotal life events and death. Despite very different life occasions — baptism, Jewish marriage, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca or “hajj” — there is a shared garment that ultimately drapes itself on an urn or grave.
We shared this discovery with warmth and enthusiasm. While our differences are meaningful, the culture has exploited differences to the point of dehumanizing those who hold divergent perspectives. The deterioration of human rights and the expulsion of its advocates from Turkey provide a salient example. But the Hizmet movement, of which the Pacifica Institute is a part, finds in its Turkish Muslim roots an experience of common humanity, from which blossoms commitments to learning, dialogue, service, and peace. These values have led the cathedral community to share the Ramadan fast-breaking meal, the Iftar, with the Pacifica Institute and other interfaith partners. It also meant that in the frequent occasions of crisis, we have stood and prayed beside one another.
Pilgrimage, service, and friendship are always timely. Each of us can find ways to journey toward the shared garment and table of our most elemental humanity. To that end, you’re invited to be part of a cathedral Mission to the Border. We’ll go to witness, learn, pray, and be in solidarity with migrant and asylum-seeking families. The first one-day trip to Tijuana and its environs will be on Wednesday, August 24. It will include visits to two family shelters and early learning centers operated by PILA Global. Attend an information session next Wednesday, August 3, at 5:30 pm, or contact Vice Dean Greg Kimura at gregk@gracecathedral.org.
Lastly, summer has moved swiftly toward the school year, when inequality is felt acutely. You can help bridge the gap by ensuring that kids in Bayview-Hunter’s Point start with a sturdy backpack and all the requisite supplies. Follow the instructions to buy and ship from Amazon. With beloved Archdeacon Nina and Bayview Mission, we can make a difference in the lives of our city’s youth.
Whatever our circumstances, we can be pilgrims, and we can be friends, moving toward God and one another.
Every good gift,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement
Dear Friends,
This Sunday, we celebrate Juneteenth.
Made a local observance by Diocesan Convention 2020, Juneteenth commemorates the good news of the Emancipation Proclamation, brought to the people of Galveston, TX, in 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln’s address. While the news is good, we lament the delay in sharing it and how its promise of freedom remains unfulfilled.
In October 2021, Grace Cathedral joined our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Diocese of California Bishop Marc Andrus in endorsing the movement to end slavery for good. We know that people convicted of crimes continue to work for the benefit of prisons and private companies while incarcerated. To correct this injustice, we must change the law and remove the clauses from the California Constitution and the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that allow involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime.
We need to end slavery for good. “For good” has two meanings — first, the end, goodbye, and good riddance. The second is good in mind: good values, practices, reasons, and outcomes. What is good about the movement to end slavery?
It’s good ethics. Christian ethics are discerned by weighing scripture and tradition, the whole of human knowledge and experience, and balancing ends and means. In our public commitment to end slavery for good, we join the Presiding Bishop and General Convention of The Episcopal Church. We proclaim the values of our scripture and tradition to say justice should also be humane and that slavery has no place in our national life.
It’s good bipartisanship. Our church has a tradition of finding a middle way, a mean between extremes. While we sometimes mirror the political leanings of our liberal to the progressive milieu, this is not a partisan position. The movement to end slavery for good crosses the political divide, with states like Utah taking the lead. Our advocacy creates conditions for healing both in our criminal justice system and our fractious political environment.
It’s good rehabilitation. Throughout federal prisons, work is required unless there is a medical exception. Prisoners who do not work are punished, including the denial of family visits. This model has not prepared and cannot prepare prisoners for successful re-entry into society. This unjust justice system contributes to recidivism. But real and just work inside prisons equips people for real and just work outside the criminal justice system.
There’s no question that ending slavery for goodwill upends the status quo in prisons and presents immediate operational challenges. But operations are derivative of values, and questions of implementation are best resolved when there is a commitment to foundational principles. They are how questions, not if or whether. It’s right, and it’s time to end slavery for good.
In the coming days, we have a chance to make state history and move a constitutional amendment (ACA3) from its deliberation in the Senate to the popular vote in the November 2022 ballot. The Senate must do this by June 30, 2022, or the good news will be delayed yet again.
Let’s help deliver good news. Here’s what to do:
- Size up the issue with this new infographic.
- Then contact your state senator, let them know that you care about ending slavery for good, and urge them to advance ACA3.
See you in church,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement
Dear Friends,
As I look around, I see some part of the world awash in a blue and gold filter. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, I’ve seen masks, and potholders, and, prayer shawls, all intending to signal solidarity with a country whose peoples, sovereignty and welfare has been irrevocably violated.
I pray daily for the peoples of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The Ukrainian people did nothing to bring this calamity upon themselves, and they are my first concern.
But I haven’t picked up any flag. I fear that the widespread adoption of colors starts to look like a team affiliation — complete with merch, scorekeeping and rivals. I’m concerned that once the breaking news goes to the next host spot, the groundswell of outrage will follow. Or that after pumping weapons to a traumatized population, we’ll look into the human rights and corruption records of this nascent democracy, struggling to free itself from Russian interference, and decide to trade in the blue and gold.
As the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement in this country, we enjoy both the freedom of being a non-established church, and the responsibility of our baptismal vows to seek and serve Christ in all people. That includes the more than two million Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, who are fleeing tanks and bombs. It includes the many men (and women) who have been conscripted into military service in Ukraine, and will die fighting for their freedom. It includes the sexual and gender minorities who struggled to find a place in Ukrainian society.
And our care and concern must also extend to the countless Russian soldiers who were misled about their deployment, and to their families whose news sources may be limited to official propaganda. Our solidarity must extend to the Russian protestors who have been imprisoned by the thousands, and may be tortured or killed for their defiance and demonstrations of courage. And it should also extend to the victims and perpetrators of state-sponsored violence elsewhere around the world, much of it hidden from the public eye.
Our care and concern are not limited to prayers, and may be best expressed in some act of generosity toward the people most impacted by the war. One recommendation is Episcopal Relief and Development, and you can learn more about ERD’s partners on the ground.
Our Episcopal-Anglican tradition has carried the mantle of being the via media, the middle way, historically between Catholicism and Protestantism. I think that could extend more broadly to a mean between other extremes, and to a commitment to wrestling with history, including our own country’s complicated involvement in it. In the end, we have to be a church in the way of Jesus, a people seeking the Risen Christ, who promises life abundantly. That life knows no borders, and carries no flag, but follows the way of the cross as the way of peace.
All good things,
Anna
The Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi
Canon Precentor
Director of Interfaith Engagement