Ugandan Bishop to visit All Saints Church

On Sunday, May 16th the All Saints Rector’s Forum will welcome Bishop Christopher Senyonjo.

Bishop Christopher has been an outspoken advocate for human rights in Uganda. He has taken great personal and vocational risks in defense of LGBT people in his country -- a nation where lawmakers recently considered imposing a death penalty on homosexuals.

He will address the homophobic and draconian anti-gay movement and legislation pending in Uganda as well as how we can be agents of hope and change.

You won’t want to miss the chance to be inspired by this genuine Giant of Justice.

For more informationon Bishop Christopher and his U.S. speaking tour, visit Walking With Integrity -- the Integrity USA blog.

Bishop Barbara Harris @ All Saints Church: May 8 & 9

Bishop Barbara Clementine Harris -- the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion -- will make her first-ever visit to All Saints Church in Pasadena the weekend of May 8-9, 2010.

Bishop Harris is a long time friend of All Saints and an historic trailblazer for justice, compassion and equality. Ordained as Bishop Suffragan of Massachusetts in 1989, Bishop Harris’s prophetic ministry and her unique, powerful preaching style continue to challenge and inspire.

She rocked the house last summer as the preacher at the Integrity Eucharist in Anaheim at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church and you’ll want to mark your calendars now to be here when she rocks All Saints Church.

Bishop Harris will:

■ Preside at Confirmation services on Saturday, May 8 at 10am
■ Preach at both the 9 & 11:15am services on Sunday, May 9.
■ During the Rector's Forum (10:15-11:00 am on Sunday) Bishop Harris will join All Saints Rector Ed Bacon for a conversation about her historic episcopate and hopes for the church's future.

From the "This Week at All Saints" Rector's Forum announcement:

If one had canvassed all the women on earth to find the best candidate for the role of first-ever female bishop in the Anglican Communion, one could have found no finer candidate than Barbara Clementine Harris. Smart, savvy, witty and courageous, with experience presiding over a national public relations firm, Harris was raised up by Episcopalians in Massachusetts, who nominated her for bishop in 1989. Her election caused the church to rethink expectations for what a bishop might be, as she was neither white nor male.

Following her historic election, she resisted the expectations that she become a poster child who would purge the church of sexism and reverse Boston’s painful history of racial tension. On a national level she focused on social issues, opposing the death penalty, funding public education, and urging the full inclusion of gay and lesbian individuals in the church. A great storyteller, Harris will address some challenges that have been met and overcome, and point the way to opportunities for further change. Come and find a front-row seat for conversation with a living icon.

And this BREAKING NEWS: We are VERY excited to make Bishop Harris's inaugural visit to All Saints Church our inaugural live-streaming Rector's Forum. Visit the All Saints Pasadena U-Stream page on Sunday, May 9th at 10:15 a.m. PDT to be part of this breakthrough moment!

It was a beautiful "Earth Day" in the neighborhood ...

... and so here are some photos from our celebration this morning in Pasadena at All Saints Church on this Sunday-closest-to-Earth Day.

There's always a lot of activity on the lawn but today -- in addition to our regularly scheduled ministries (which you'll see represented here) -- there were a fabulous assortment of tables focused on sustainability and our stewardship of creation.

In the Rector's Forum was Connie Domino ... bringing her "Law of Forgiveness" message to a packed house inside and to gathered crowds on the lawn watching via video feed. In the pulpit was Ed Bacon -- you can watch his 3rd Sunday of Easter sermon here.

And now ... without further ado ... sit back and enjoy another beautiful day in the All Saints neighborhood ...

The Power of Forgiveness: April 17 & 18:

A weekend featuring the inspiration of dynamic author and speaker Connie Domino and a screening of Karen Hayes' documentary-in-progress on Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Plan now to be with us on Saturday, April 17th from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. to learn from Connie Domino (pictured left) – who will teach you how to change your life, change the world and meet your goals and dreams through unleashing the amazing power of personal forgiveness in a workshop based on her book The Law of Forgiveness.

"We should forgive the ones who have hurt or angered us, which then allows us to unblock our energy, feel more peaceful and fulfill our desires. Forgiveness is done more to benefit the individual rather than the one being forgiven.” -- Connie Domino

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Saturday’s workshop also features scenes "The Foolishness of God: Desmond Tutu and Forgiveness." The film explores difficult moral and ethical territory by examining Desmond Tutu’s willingness to promote leniency for perpetrators in the aftermath of the most violent human conflicts. Q&A with filmmaker Karen Hayes (pictured right) will follow the screening.

Cost for Saturday’s workshop is $20. Register on the lawn on Sunday or register online here.

Connie Domino will also be featured in the Rector's Forum on Sunday, April 18th at 10:15 a.m..

For more information contact Norma Sigmund via email or at 626.583.2734.

GRACE TRUMPS!

All Saints Church has been captivated this weekend by the witness of Dr. Serene Jones -- President of Union Seminary and nationally known preacher, teacher and feminist theologian. "Grace Trumps" is the theme of the series of presentations which began on Sunday, March 21st with the sermon, Rector's Forum and an evening teaching. The program concludes Monday, March 22nd with a final presentation at 6:30 p.m. in the Forum on Dr. Jones' central thesis:

God loves this world and desires that suffering be met by words of hope, that love and grace overwhelm, and that something new happens. Serene offers presents an investigation of the myriad ways both individual and collective violence affect one's capacity to remember, to act, and to love, and how those various circumstances potentially challenge theological understanding of how grace is experienced, and even how the traumatic experience of Jesus' death is remembered.

Don't miss the chance to experience for yourself the profoundly moving and grace-filled witness of this important and powerful voice!

• "Grace Trumps: A Sermon for the 5th Sunday in Lent" -- sermon on March 21, 2010
• "Rising Up from the depths" -- presentation in the March 21st Rector's Forum
• Sunday evening presentation in the All Saints Forum

WE HAVE AN ELECTION! Mary Glasspool receives necessary consents to election as Bishop Suffragan

Just received via email from the Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs:

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop’s office notifies
Diocese of Los Angeles of successful canonical consent process

Bishop-Elect Glasspool ordination and consecration on May 15

[March 17, 2010] The Office of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has notified the Diocese of Los Angeles that the canonical consent process for Bishop-Elect Mary Douglas Glasspool has been successfully completed.

As outlined under Canon III.11.4 (a), the Presiding Bishop confirmed the receipt of consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction, and has also reviewed the evidence of consents from a majority of standing committees of the Church sent to her by the diocesan standing committee.

In Canon III.11.4 (b), Standing Committees, in consenting to the ordination and consecration, attest they are "fully sensible of how important it is that the Sacred Order and Office of a Bishop should not be unworthily conferred, and firmly persuaded that it is our duty to bear testimony on this solemn occasion without partiality, do, in the presence of Almighty God, testify that we know of no impediment on account of which the Reverend A.B. ought not to be ordained to that Holy Office. We do, moreover, jointly and severally declare that we believe the Reverend A.B. to have been duly and lawfully elected and to be of such sufficiency in learning, of such soundness in the Faith, and of such godly character as to be able to exercise the Office of a Bishop to the honor of God and the edifying of the Church, and to be a wholesome example to the flock of Christ."

Glasspool was elected Bishop Suffragan on December 5, 2009. Her ordination and consecration is slated for May 15; Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori will officiate.

A recap of the process

Upon election, the successful candidate is a bishop-elect. Following some procedural matters including physical and psychological examinations, formal notices are then sent by the Presiding Bishop’s office to bishops with jurisdiction (diocesan bishops only) with separate notices from the electing diocese to the standing committees of each of the dioceses in The Episcopal Church. These notices require their own actions and signatures.

In order for a bishop-elect to become a bishop, Canon III.11.4 (a) of The Episcopal Church mandates that a majority of diocesan bishops AND a majority of diocesan standing committees must consent to the bishop-elect’s ordination and consecration as bishop. These actions – done separately - must be completed within 120 days from the day notice of the election was sent to the proper parties.

If the bishop-elect receives a majority (at least 50% plus 1) of consents from the diocesan bishops as well as a majority from the standing committees, the bishop-elect is one step closer.

Following a successful consent process, ordination and celebration are in order.

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Therefore: LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN!

Ed Bacon on Glenn Beck, The Prodigal Son and why "Our Destiny is a Party"

From the sermon preached March 14, 2010 @ All Saints Church, Pasadena

Albert Einstein famously said, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."

Fox News commentator -- Glen Beck -- famously said that if your preacher mentions the terms “social action" or “economic justice” in sermons or teaching, flee from that church or synagogue and boycott that congregation – these are really code words for communism and socialism. And then he advised you should report that congregation to the authorities ...

The authorities already know about us here at All Saints Church. The IRS knows that we preach the good news that citizens have the responsibility to transform their institutions and governmental policies when those policies dehumanize, degrade and kill those who are the least of these. The central mandate of our scriptures involves making peace and transforming economic structures that actually are manufacturing this morning poverty, hunger, sickness, homelessness and discrimination.

Watch the sermon video here ... and may God bless all who preach peace, work for justice and strive to live lives of compassion.
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