THE ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS MARKET IS BACK!!

Instead of buying “things” for folks this Christmas, your dollars will be going to help kids visit their parents who are in jail; to help gang members get back on track; to help homeless and abused women; to help kids in foster care; and the list goes on.

Join us in Sweetland Hall on Sunday, December 5th for our BEST EVER Alternative Christmas Market!

For a sneak peek at what will be offered this year see our fabulous Alternative Christmas Market Catalog -- and the equally fabulous ACM Shopping List.

For more information contact Norma Sigmund in the Peace & Justice Office.

Rick Nahmias' "Golden States of Grace" in the Rector's Forum December 5th

from "Golden States of Grace" by Rick Nahmias

Award winning photographer Rick Nahmias brings his extraordinary witness to what the Los Angeles Times calls “grace in even the most difficult circumstances” in his book “Golden States of Grace.” The book contains photographs, prayers and commentary about and by marginalized spiritual communities which Nahmias calls “stories of dignity and stories of people going against the grain.” Come be in inspired by the common well-spring of the search for the sacred in these diverse words and images and by the artist who archived them.

• Visit the Golden States of Grace website.
• Rick Nahmias describes his project on The Huffington Post

Arianna Huffington in the Rector's Forum THIS Sunday ... November 28th

The U.S. is in crisis.

“What were thought by many to be the ingredients of the good life — a job, a home, a secure retirement, a college education for your kids, and prospects for a brighter future for them — are no longer attainable simply by hard work and playing by the rules.”

Those are the words of All Saints’ friend, Arianna Huffington, who will be our guest in the Rector’s Forum Sunday, November 28.

Huffington is focusing her formidable intelligence, influence, and charisma on the hard truths and big ideas necessary for us to redefine "the good life." She is brutally honest about the as yet unfed hunger that propelled Barack Obama into the White House two years ago. She assesses it as a still unaddressed need for a public life of large purpose and a politics of moral and spiritual aspiration. In fact, she argues that our politicians are destroying the American Dream.

Huffington visits us this Sunday not only with her own criticism of the Obama Administration and the dysfunctional U.S. Congress, but also with six innovative solutions which start with combating the isolation generated by economic disorder, and end with holding our leaders accountable — asking them to seize the policy reins and stop waiting for the economy to magically "turn the corner" on its own.

Put your Thanksgiving into action by coming to learn from and be inspired by the founder of Huffington Post and author of the new book, Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Destroying the American Dream. Come and bring friends at 10:15 a.m. this Sunday. Copies of Arianna’s new book will be available for purchase.

If you cannot be in church on Sunday, please join us for the live stream of the Rector's Forum at 10:15 a.m.

Anglican Covenant 101

Anglican Covenant 101 -- Tuesday evening November 23rd in the Guild Room from 7-8:30p.m. A session designed for our Diocesan Convention delegates and open to anyone interested in the latest on the proposed Anglican Covenant process.

To find out more:
Print out a copy of the proposed Covenant here.
Visit Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity

"Come, ye thankful people, come!"

There's no place like home for the holidays ... and no place like All Saints Church for Thanksgiving Eve!
.

Prepare for your holiday weekend with family and friends with a centering Eucharist on Thanksgiving Eve. Carissa Baldwin will preside and Wilma Jakobsen offers a meditation. Members of Canterbury and Coventry Choirs offer music. Child care provided. All are welcome to attend this beautiful, reflective service.

Join us Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m.

THE FAMILY DINNER with Laurie David

JUST in time for Thanksgiving, Laurie David -- writer, activist and producer (of An Inconvenient Truth with Al Gore) and a contributing blogger to The Huffington Post -- turns her attention to the family dinner table.

With kids and families busier than ever, some may not understand the charming custom David is calling us back to in her new book The Family Dinner: A Great Way to Connect with Your Kids One Meal at a Time.

The opportunity to sit together in meaningful conversation about one another’s lives and the news of the day is a way to invest in one another, to get to know one another in a new way.

“Dinner,” David says, “is as much about digestible conversation as it is about food.” David spoke previously at the Rector’s Forum about her book The Downto-Earth Guide to Global Warming. Come find ways to warm your family and your friends with this animating speaker.

Sunday, November 21st at 10:15 a.m. in the Rector's Forum ... or streaming live on the All Saints website.

Let the Holidays Begin!

Time to mark your calendars for the coming-soon holiday season services at All Saints Church! For more complete information on any of these upcoming events visit our website or call 626-796-1172.

ADVENT SERVICES

Saturday, December 11, 5 p.m. -- Second Saturday Celebration Tree Lighting and Carol Sing: Carols, cocoa and festive fun for all ages!

Sunday, December 12, 1 p.m. -- Our Lady of Guadalupe Service: Bilingual worship and celebration with music by Dan Cole.

Sunday, December 12, 5 p.m. -- Advent Evening Service: Troveres and Troubadours offer music of Chilcott, Thomas and How. Abel Lopez offers a meditation.

Sunday, December 19, 5 p.m. -- Advent Evensong: Canterbury Choir and Chamber Ensemble offer selections from Messiah by George Frideric Handel. Anne Peterson offers a meditation.

CHRISTMAS SERVICES

Friday, December 24 -- Christmas Eve

Family Service at 3p.m. -- The Rector and friends tell the Christmas story; Mastersingers and Troubadours offer music.

Festive Eucharist at 5:30 p.m. -- Trouveres with brass ensemble offer music of Jungst and Joubert. Susan Russell preaches.

Festive Eucharist at 8:00 p.m. -- Canterbury Choir and chamber orchestra offer Mass in G Major by Franz Schubert and music of Gonzalez and Handel. The Rector preaches.

Festive Eucharist at 11:00 p.m. -- Coventry Choir and chamber orchestra offer Mass in B-flat Major by Frans Schubert and music of Poulenc and Wilcocks. The Rector preaches.

Saturday, December 25 -- Christmas Day
Christmas Day Eucharist at 10:30 a.m. -- Zelda Kennedy preaches

Sunday, December 26 -- First Sunday of Christmas
Healing Services at 9 & 11:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. -- Abel Lopez preaches at 9 & 11:15 / Zelda Kennedy preaches at 1 p.m.

November 21st JAZZ VESPERS: Walter Smith III

We are delighted to welcome saxophonist Walter Smith III on Sunday evening, November 21st at 5:00  p.m. for the second in our 2010-2011 series of Jazz Vespers. Lori Kizzia will offer the meditation.

Walter Smith III began playing the saxophone at the age of 7 in his hometown of Houston, TX. At Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in 1998, Smith received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from IAJE and NFAA; the NFAA Young Talent Award; a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music; and a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal. Walter Graduated from Berklee in 2003 with a degree in Music Education.

While in Boston, Walter was selected by the Boston Jazz Society to receive its annual award whose past winners have included Branford Marsalis and Donald Harrison. In July of 2002, Walter walked away from the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland with third place in the 1st annual International Saxophone Competition, as well as winning the Audience’s Favorite Award. In 2003, Walter moved to New York and began studying at Manhattan School of Music on a full tuition scholarship to receive a master’s in jazz performance.

While in New York, Smith kept himself busy touring and performing with such artists as Roy Haynes and Ralph Peterson, as well as Bilal, Destiny’s Child and Lauryn Hill. Walter has performed all over the world participating in numerous national and international festivals as well as famed stages in the U.S. such as
Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Smith has shared the stage and/or appeared on recordings with many jazz notables including Terence Blanchard, Darren Barrett, Herbie Hancock, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Joe Sample, Bob Hurst, Donald Harrison, Wayne Shorter, Joe Lovano, Bill Pierce, Myron Walden, Walter Beasley, Lewis Nash, Terri Lynne-Carrington, and a host of others. To date, Walter has appeared on over 50 recordings that are released worldwide.

Over the past few years, besides leading a quintet, Walter is/has been a member of several amazing groups (recording and touring) including the Terence Blanchard group, Eric Harland’s quintet, Ambrose Akinmusire’s band, Christian Scott’s group, the Sean Jones sextet, Jason Moran’s Big Bandwagon (In My Mind:Monk at Town Hall), and the Christian McBride situation band.

For more information on this amazing musician, vist his website. For more infomation about All Saints Jazz Vespers conact Melissa Hayes in the music office.

Entering Stillness: An Advent Opportunity @ All Saints Church

The Advent season easily can become a time of anxiety rather than hopeful expectation. We invite you to rest in the stillness of God in this series of Saturday morning retreats.

Nourish your spirit as we explore different ways -- through movement, music, silence, and imagination -- of gently entering into stillness and experiencing the presence of God within us.

The series will be offered from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. during the four Saturdays in Advent: November 27 and December 4, 11 and 18.

This is the first in a series of offerings by the Spiritual Growth Ministries program. For more information contact Susan Ortmeyer or call the Pastoral Care & Spiritual Growth office at 626.583.2737. Childcare is provided upon request.

"Being Church in Difficult Times: Our Youth & Our Future"

The Reverend Carissa Baldwin -- Director of Peace & Justice at All Saints Church -- makes her Pasadena preaching debut this Sunday, November 14th at 7:30, 9:00 and 11:15.


"Being Church in Difficult Times: Our Youth & Our Future" is the title of Sunday's sermon. Don't miss the chance to come hear this dynamic, young leader inspire and challenge!

"Sweeter than honey from the honeycomb"

PSALM 19

The decrees of the LORD are firm,
       and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold, 
       than much pure gold;
They are sweeter than honey, 
        than honey from the honeycomb.

It was a "Psalm 19 moment" this week at All Saints Church when honey was literally dripping down the walls in the chapel:

To the rescue came smart people with tall ladders who knew what to do about bees-in-the-walls:


 And VOILA! ... honey AND honeycomb -- fresh from the All Saints Chapel!  



So it is still as true as ever that whoever you are and wherever you find yourself, there is a place for you here at All Saints Church. But if you happen to be a honeybee, you'll be needing to find a new place to make your honey!

Random thoughts on the occasion of the annoucement of the retirement of a bishoop

by Susan Russell

Our friend Bishop Gene Robinson announced last week that after 9 years as Bishop of New Hampshire he will be retiring in January 2013. Here are a few thoughts:

The very first hymn I ever memorized (all five verses!) was "The Church's One Foundation." I could still sing them all for you this very minute (since I can evidently remember things I memorized in 3rd grade but can't remember where I put my car keys) but here's the "bottom line" ... which is also the first line:

The church's one foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord ...

There's a lot more after that but that's the point. Of the hymn and of the church. Founded on Jesus Christ our Lord to FOLLOW Jesus Christ our Lord ... to be the Body of Christ in the World. To make the Year of the Lord's Favor a reality. To bring that kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

And to make all that happen we've been given an abundance of historic tools that include doctrines and disciplines; prayer books and prie dieus; bibles and bishops.

If one of the most formative hymns in my journey was "The Church's One Foundation" then one of the most formative teachers was Jim Sanders ... who was my OT professor in seminary. He was the one who taught me -- over and over -- that what gets us in trouble over and over and OVER again is "worshipping the gift rather than the giver."

It got the Israelites in trouble in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land when they decided to drag the golden calf out. It got the people of Israel in trouble once they BECAME the people of Israel when they kept forgetting that the point of the Temple was to worship God ... not to worship their Temple worship. And it's gotten the Church in trouble over and over and OVER again because instead of remembering that JESUS is the church's one foundation it gets all caught up in the other bits and pieces.

Like bishops.

I love bishops. Some of my best friends are bishops. I'm pleased, proud and thankful to be part of the church that has bishops ... a whole order of ministry specifically called and chosen to "guard the faith, unity and discipline of the church." And I'm particularly grateful to be part of the church that elects our bishops.

And here's the breaking news: bishops come and bishops go. We elect them. They serve. They retire. Some of them retire to some Dick Cheneyesque "undisclosed location" -- never to be heard from again -- and others retire to exercise vibrant ministries for years and years beyond their tenure as Diocesan. Or Suffragan. +Paul Moore comes to mind. So does +Barbara Harris. And (love him or hate him!) +Jack Spong.

So with all the hoopla around last Saturday's announcement of the impending retirement of the Bishop of New Hampshire, let's keep a few things in mind:

When +Gene retires in January 2013 he:

[a] will be 65 years old
[b] will have been Diocesan Bishop for 9 years and
[c] will have been ordained for 40 years ... and if that's not a nice biblical number, I don't know what is!

He's not being "run off." He's not going to disappear. And as fabulous a bishop as he has been for the great Diocese of New Hampshire I do not have a shadow of a doubt that the Holy Spirit has somebody else fabulous in mind to be the 10th Bishop of New Hampshire.

So let's review. Don't worship the gift, worship the giver. Remember that the church's ONE foundation is Jesus. And everybody sing:

Though with a scornful wonder
we see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping;
their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.

So here's to bishops -- who come and go. And to Jesus -- who is with us always. And most of all to the Giver -- who is NOT to be confused with any of the abundant gifts we have been given by the one who loved us enough to become one of us in order to teach us how to walk in love with each other.

Human Rights Hero in Sunday's Rector's Forum

Steave Nemande

Cameroon is one of the large majority of African countries who still consider homosexuality an offence punishable by lengthy jail sentences and, in some cases, the death penalty. Steave Nemande, a medical doctor, is a fearlessly outspoken critic of laws criminalizing homosexuality.

Neamande is president of the human rights organization Alternatives-Cameroun, the first non-governmental organization fighting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to be granted observer status by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. He also directs the Access Centre health care facility founded by Alternatives-Cameroun to care for HIV and AIDS victims within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

Through Nemande’s efforts, the Centre has gathered nearly 2,000 signatures to petition the Cameroonian National Assembly to decriminalize same-sex relations. Human Rights Watch honors Nemande this year for his tireless work to promote and defend the rights of people in Africa.

Come to encourage him on his brave journey! Hear his amazing story in the All Saints Rector's Forum on Sunday, November 14th at 10:15 ... or watch it on our live stream here.

Jackie Knowles and The Women's Room Receive National Recognition!

Congratulations to Jackie Knowles and The Women's Room on receiving the Daily Point of Light Award!

The Daily Point of Light Award is a national program honoring individuals and volunteer groups that have found innovative ways to meet community needs, leading efforts which often result in long-term solutions and impact social problems in their local community.

Established to mobilize individuals and organizations in America to solve community problems, one volunteer or volunteer effort is recognized with a Daily Point of Light Award each weekday. And TODAY is "Jackie Knowles Day"!!

From the Points of Light Institute website:

Jackie Knowles
Organization: ECPAC
Pasadena, California
Awarded: A Retreat from Homelessness

For the founders of the Women’s Room 1,200 was the magic number. They had to do something for the 1,200 people sleeping on the streets each night in Pasadena, California.

After a survey revealed a gap in available services for homeless women with no drug, alcohol or mental issues, the Women’s Issues Committee (WIC) of All Saints established The Women’s Room, a daytime refuge for women who are alone and homeless.

Jackie Knowles and a group of dedicated women became the force behind the development of The Women’s Room, a day program of Friends in Deed, the social service arm of the Ecumenical Council Pasadena Area Churches. Jackie located donors to repaint and decorate a large storage area, converting it into an inviting room for the women to gather.

The Women’s Room, founded in 2007, is an entirely volunteer-operated day center that provides a retreat where women stressed from living on the street can reclaim their identity as something other than just a homeless person. They come for showers, to do laundry, to use computers and telephones, to take a quiet nap, to have a bowl of freshly made soup and to get their hair styled. They laugh. They talk. They feel like women. They are safe emotionally and physically. The Women’s Room assists them in finding additional services they may need.

Jackie continues to manage the program and aid in developing the vision. Jackie recruits, trains and coordinates the volunteers for the program. Over the past two years the number of clients visiting the Women’s Room has grown from 2 or 3 to 35 per week. The Women’s Room has helped seven homeless women find housing, directed 50 women to services through other organizations and assisted one woman to become regularly employed.

Jackie’s vision for The Women’s Room has proven to be a transformational experience for both the clients and the volunteers. “Surely the impact on our lives makes an impact wherever our steps lead outside the corner of Los Robles and Washington Streets," confirms a volunteer at the Women’s Room.

Congratulations to Jackie and all those who made the Women's Room a reality -- helping make God's Love Tangible for women in need in Pasadena!

LIVING THE VISION: Spirituality, Community, Peace & Justice!

Three minutes of celebrating All Saints Church on All Saints Sunday. ENJOY!!

All Saints Sunday @ All Saints Church

A Celebration of Life in the

Presence of Death

Sunday, November 7

7:30 a.m. (Chapel)

9 &; 11:15 a.m. Requiem Eucharist

1:00 p.m. Bilingual (Spanish-English) service

NOTE: Incense will be used at 9, 11:15am & 1pm

an “Incense-Free” zone will be available in the Guild Room at 9 & 11:15am

We celebrate the truth that this community, what we call the communion of saints stronger than death.

All Saints Sunday, is our parish feast day when we traditionally honor all who have died — those great martyrs of history who gave their lives to defend their faith in the risen Christ, as well as those we have personally known and loved, whom we hold close to our hearts and minds, especially those who are victims of cruelty, war and violence.

At all services our memorial book, containing the names of loved ones will be placed on the altar. You are invited to look in the memorial book for the name of the person you love.

At 9 & 11:15 a.n. Coventry Choir will offer Requiem by Herbert Howells, an intensely beautiful and moving six-movement a cappella work, poignant in its consolation of grief and simple in its message of hope. The retiring procession will be John Tavener’s Song for Athene an exquisite work imbued with deep spirituality and mysticism.

For more information visit our website our call 626.583.2710.

Happy All Saints Day from All Saints Church

"Turning the Human Race Into the Human Family"