Statement on Judge Waker's ruling on Prop 8 stay request

August 12, 2010 | 12:45 p.m.

Today Judge Walker paved the way for both freedom and wedding bells to ring in California.

This ruling in favor of dignity and against discrimination for gay and lesbian couples seeking marriage in California has helped us take one more step forward on the journey to making liberty and justice for all a reality in our nation.

It is a blessing to have civil marriage equality restored in the State of California. And it is a great joy that California clergy will once again have the freedom to choose to offer both equal blessing and equal protection to all couples coming to us to celebrate the sanctity of their marriages.

While we celebrate today’s ruling lifting the stay on marriage equality, we continue to work for the day when the 1138 federally protected rights guaranteed opposite sex couples are also available to same sex couples.

Today’s step forward is not just for the gay and lesbian couples getting married. It is also a cause for celebration for all of those preach family values that value ALL families and who believe that protecting marriage means protecting ALL marriages.

Letter to Temecula

The following letter was presented to the All Saints Church community at the Peace & Justice Action Table on Sunday, August 8th and signed by 188 parish members. We hope it will be an example for those looking for ways to reach out in healing and hope across differences as we work together to be a nation committed to liberty and justice for all.

August 8, 2010

To the Members of the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley:

During our service each Sunday, we greet each other, and say, “Peace be with you.” We greet you in peace and say, “As-Alamu Alaykum.”

We are parishioners at All Saints Church, Pasadena, and write to you to express our deep sadness at what your religious community has experienced these past few weeks. We reach out to extend a message of solidarity, friendship and peace.

We grieve at how Islamophobia, especially since 9/11, has so deeply impacted the Muslim community. We know that members of your Muslim community have been targets of prejudice, and that you have experienced gross misrepresentations of your faith. We also grieve for those who are driven by anger and misunderstanding, and whose actions hurt and divide. At All Saints Church, our Rector, Ed Bacon, speaks about the importance of living in the house of love rather than in the house of fear. We write to you from that house of love, to reach out to our brothers and sisters, all of us children of one loving and compassionate God.

We have been heartened by the outpouring of support for you from a range of community and faith groups. We pledge to you that we will work to promote interfaith understanding and respect, and to do all that we can to help transform the human race into the human family.

Round up of the Prop 8 Court Decision "in the news"

The landmark decision by Judge Vaughn Walker declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional generated lots of news coverage ... including some opportunities for All Saints to get our message of God's love, inclusion and justice out into a world longing to hear it.

USA Today , the San Gabriel Valley News and the Episcopal News Service all included All Saints Church in their "round up" of people of faith responding to the ruling.

Channel 4 news aired this segment, focused on the impact of the ruling on one couple hoping to get married ... Scout Masterson & Bill Horn (pictured above) whose daughter Simone was baptized here at All Saints:


And KCAL9/CBS2 aired this report on Sunday, August 8th featuring our Summer Forum speaker, attorney David Codell.

"Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ Jesus" is one of the baptismal promises we make. And getting the news media help us in that work by getting the word out about God's inclusive love and All Saints Church is one way we go about that work -- this week, more than ever!

BREAKING NEWS: All Saints Church Applauds Landmark Prop 8 Decision

All Saints Church applauds today’s ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Walker as a giant step forward for justice.

“The love life of every human being is sacred,” said All Saints rector Ed Bacon. “It is a gift from God. This is true not only for heterosexual couples but for those who have found that the love of their life is a person of the same gender.”

“When a state forbids a couple who has found such love from marrying it is an abusive form of injustice and discrimination to a class of human beings – and All Saints Church rejoices today that Judge Walker has ruled against that injustice.”

“Marriage equality promotes healthy marriage for all people. Here at All Saints Church we are all about turning the human race into the human family. And we rejoice with the gay and lesbian members of that family who today heard from Judge Walker the message we send every day from All Saints Church: that they are equal in every way and entitled not only to equal blessing by the church but to equal protection of the Constitution.”

On Sunday, August 8th All Saints Church will host an informational forum including legal experts and faith leaders speaking in response to today’s ruling. 10:15 a.m. in the All Saints Forum.

For further information or for comment from All Saints staff on today’s ruling contact:

The Reverend Susan Russell
Senior Associate for Communication
srussell@allsaints-pas.org
626.583.2741 – office
714-356-5718 -- mobile

Meet our New Director of Peace & Justice!

Dear Friends,

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Rev. Carissa Baldwin has accepted my invitation to join the All Saints staff as the Director of Peace & Justice, effective September 1, 2010.

Ordained a priest in 2007, Carissa has served for the past three years as Assistant Rector and Outreach Center Director at St. Stephen’s Church in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts and received her Master of Divinity degree at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. She spent a year studying in Spain and is fluent in Spanish. Before attending seminary, Carissa spent 10 years as a community organizer in Brownsville, Texas, organizing with churches and public schools. As a long-time advocate for social justice and human rights, Carissa said when she read the job posting for the position at All Saints, “This is the story of my life.”

I am grateful to the search committee, chaired by Will Watts, for their good and thorough work. And I invite you to introduce yourself to Carissa on her first Sunday, September 5, and welcome her aboard!

Peace,
Ed Bacon, Rector
All Saints Church

PLAY BALL!

GO BLUE!!

Yes, it's annual "DIO DODGER NIGHT" again ... the chance to join Episcopalians from all over the Diocese of Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium for a night of peanuts, crackerjacks and "play ball" -- and maybe even a bishop throwing out the first pitch! (It could happen!)

So don't miss out! Join us in Chavez Ravine on Friday, Sept. 17, 7:00 p.m. Please visit the Welcome Table on Sunday mornings to sign-up for the game between the Blue Crew and the Colorado Rockies. Tickets are only $15 and must be pre-paid.

The final Sunday to sign-up will be August 15. Information = email Linn Vaughan or call 626.583.2744

Worship @ All Saints Church

An All Saints Church parishioner brought to our attention this post ... part of a blog series by religious historian Keith Watkins.

The series sets out (Watkins writes) "to outline characteristics of the church’s definitive liturgy of Word and Sacrament that meet three criteria: shaped by the historic tradition, expressed in the culture of our own time, and performed in a manner suitable to the occasion. In this first column of the series, I give a preview by noting characteristics of worship at All Saints Church, which I believe are consistent with these criteria."

It begins:

First, the celebration conveys the sense that what is going on is important—important enough for the leaders to be well prepared and skilled in the performance of their respective parts of the liturgy. The liturgy is always well staged so that the visual and dramatic character of the event reinforces the meaning of the words and actions. The principal leader was at the top of his form. Although he and other leaders expressed a sense of personal presence, there was nothing trivial or inept about their words or actions.

You'll want to read it all here ... and we'd love to know what YOU think!