"ERASING HATE" featured in the Pasadena Weekly

by Carl Kozlowski

When Bryon Widner started getting tattoos as a teenager in Albuquerque, he never imagined that he would someday be portrayed on national television as a notorious example of racial hatred. At the time, he was just a high school dropout living on the streets who had fallen in with local skinhead gangs because they offered him a sense of family and a place to live.

But as he grew out of his teens and drifted through his 20s, with only rage and fellow gang members to guide him, Widner became disenchanted with the hate that surrounded him. By the time he decided to make a real break out of the white supremacist underground culture at age 30, he’d wasted 16 years of his life on a cause he now despised.

With his arms, legs, chest and face covered in swastikas and other flashy symbols of hate — including the actual word “hate” tattooed across one set of knuckles in capital letters, and a giant arrow splashed across his face as a symbol that he would be ready to kill or die for white supremacy — it was impossible to find work. So when the Southern Poverty Law Center offered to help Widner remove his most visible tattoos, he jumped at what he saw as a chance to start his life over.

The journey he underwent as he removed dozens of tattoos and escaped the white supremacy movement along with his wife and kids has been depicted in a new documentary, “Erasing Hate,” by Burbank filmmaker Bill Brummel. While the hour-long version is airing on MSNBC, the feature-length version — currently making the rounds of film festivals in search of a theatrical distribution deal — will be released on DVD this fall.

The film will also be screened at 5 p.m. Saturday at All Saints Church in Pasadena, with a post-screening discussion led by Brummel. The local screening will give the film a chance to resonate with area residents eager to prevent similar groups from spreading into Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley.

Read the rest here. And do plan to join us on Saturday for the screening of this important and moving film. 5pm in the Forum. $5 donation requested. For more information call 626.796.1172

Episcopal 101 on Sunday, August 7th

with Susan Russell
Come find out more about how the Episcopal Church came to be and where it’s going next. Bring your questions and your curiosity and plan to have some fun with Susan Russell as we explore our Big Fat Episcopal Family together.

In the All Saints Forum during the 10:15 education hour

"Freedom Riders" comes to All Saints on Sunday, July 31

An extremely realistic portrayal of this most significant chapter in our nation's history the film movingly illustrates the power of moral authority in the hands and hearts of ordinary people to prevail against the KKK and racist elected officials. Freedom Riders dispels the prevailing myth that northern (white) students went on a mission to the south to combat segregation and instead makes clear that the leadership lay with the local African American residents who risked their lives to help bring justice to our land.

Please join us for an inspiring afternoon as we watch this important documentary, have lunch together and discuss the film and its implications for our anti-racism work.

Sunday, July 31
12:45 - 4:00 p.m. in the All Saints Forum

Sponsored by COLORS (Christians Offering Love to Overcome Racism in Society)

RSVP by July 26 to Mary Torregrosa (flakita@aol.com or 626-271-3056) for your lunch reservation and to arrange childcare.

The Face of Marriage Equality at All Saints Church

On Sunday, July 24th we celebrated the advent of marriage equality in New York with wedding cake on the lawn and a "photo op" for members of All Saints to show their support for equality.

With thanks to all who stepped up to show their support... and to Laura Aguilar for being our photographer du jour ... get ready for a "glory attack" as you check out this great cloud of witnesses!

Alert the Media! All Saints Pasadena Celebrates New York Marriage Equality

Here's the press release the All Saints Communication Office sent out yesterday:

On Sunday, July 24, All Saints Church, Pasadena, will celebrate the advent of marriage equality in New York with prayers of thanksgiving and wedding cake on the lawn.

“At All Saints Church we have a long history of setting audacious goals and celebrating incremental victories,” said the Reverend Susan Russell, Senior Associate for Communication & Inclusion. “And while we have not yet reached the audacious goal of marriage equality for all, we have an important and incremental victory to celebrate in Sunday’s dawn of marriage equality in New York."

“What we’ll be saying at All Saints Church on Sunday is that WE DO support marriage equality – and members of the parish will be making their voices heard not only through their prayers in church but through a 'Congratulations, New York!' photo project on the lawn after church. And our adult education hour will include an offering called “Marriage Equality 101” – updating parishioners on where we are in the journey toward equality both in our church and in our country."

Rev. Russell continued, “At All Saints Church we believe in a Protect Marriage movement that protects all marriages and in Family Values that value all families. So we are delighted to join with our brothers and sisters in New York state who are embracing equality for same-sex couples even as we recommit ourselves to the struggle for the return of marriage equality here in California and for the end of federal marriage discrimination.”

"The Good Use of Leisure" -- A Summer Adult Education offering at All Saints Church

with Scott Richardson

Join the Very Rev. Scott Richardson, Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in San Diego and our former Associate Rector, as he engages us in conversation around “The Good Use of Leisure.”

Scott will share the prayer that inspired him to reflect on the Sabbath commandment as a justice imperative as well as break down variations in the different types of leisure (vacation, family visit, sabbatical, pilgrimage, etc.), and check in around our resistance to this fundamental aspect of self-care and help us ask the question "What gets in the way of rest and recreation?"

10:15 a.m. on Sunday July 24 in Sweetland Hall

At All Saints Church WE DO Support Marriage Equality!

At All Saints Church our commitment to equality has called us to challenge the Episcopal Church to move "beyond inclusion" to the celebration of the blessing of same-sex relationships. It has likewise placed us in the forefront of the struggle for civil marriage equality both locally and nationally.

Many years ago our rector emeritus George Regas challenged us to "set audacious goals and to celebrate incremental victories" ... and last month's vote for marriage equality in New York is one of those incremental victories that we're going to celebrate this Sunday!

So please join us on Sunday, July 24 as we rejoice in the dawn of marriage equality in New York and recommit ourselves to working to restore equality here in California and to ending federal marriage discrimination.

● MARRIAGE EQUALITY 101: An update from Susan Russell on where we are in the journey toward equality in both the civil and the church arenas -- including the status of the Prop 8 case, the impact of the New York legislation and plans for next summer's General Convention of the Episcopal Church. [in the Guild Room at 10:15]
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● WEDDING CAKE ON THE LAWN: The celebration continues after the 11:15 service with wedding cake and a "We Support" photo op on the lawn. Come, join the party as we celebrate this victory on the road to the audacious goal of liberty and justice for all!