Nets for Life 4 Lent!

A Message from Ed Bacon about the Building Project

I want to share with you some very good news about our Building Project. Last night the Pasadena Planning Commission concurred with the Planning Staff in recommending to the City Council certification of our EIR (Environmental Impact Report) and adoption of our Master Plan. This is a significant step forward, toward final approval of our much needed expansion project.

We now look toward the April 16 meeting of the City Council grateful for all the community input that has strengthened our Master Plan, and excited about the opportunities for mission and ministry these long-dreamed-of buildings will bring to All Saints Church and to the City of Pasadena.

For more information on the Building Project, visit the All Saints website.

Making God's love tangible one mosquito net at a time!

Join with Episcopalians around the diocese and Anglicans around the world by making God's love tangible one mosquito net at a time!

There are an estimated 250 mission cases of malaria each year, resulting in nearly 800,000 deaths. The majority of these deaths are children younger than five years old. Join us in the fight against malaria in Africa by supporting the Nets for Life project!

One simple $12 net can save up to three lives in Sub-Saharan Africa -- and the Diocese of Los Angeles has set a goal of 40,000 nets in the 40 Days of Lent.

The All Saints Goal is 2000 ... and as of this very moment (2:34 pm on Wednesday, March 14) we have 426.

To give now, click here to visit the InspirationFund Nets for Life website where you can donate on line. (Remember to put All Saints | Pasadena | California in the Church/Parish information field to make your donation count toward our goal.)

To give on Sunday stop by the table on the lawn.

For more information or to volunteer contact Elizabeth Lashley-Haynes

Give a net. Save a life. Go. Do it. Now!!

Contemplative Eucharist: Sunday, March 11 | 9:00 & 11:15 a.m.

An All Saints first – a contemplative liturgy without a spoken word.

Meeting God in the Still and Silent Places

Take a Soul Break, a time of prayers without words,

to open yourself to the blessings of joy, healing and peace.

Immerse yourself in music, silence,

and the beauty of our church’s architecture.

The printed liturgy will contain

poetry and other devotional readings for us to consider.

We will sing the congregational hymns as usual.

The Holy Eucharist will be celebrated through music,

offered by Coventry Choir with cello, flute, piano and organ.

The choir with organ and instrumentalists will offer anthems

and music in place of the spoken words

of the sermon, the prayers, the announcements.

The service will include music of Fauré, Vivaldi, Franck, Debussy,

MacMillan, Kodaly, Alain, Clara Schumann and Mendelssohn.

The prayers of the people will be an opportunity for usto move to votive candle stands

to light a candle and pause for a moment.

The children will have an extended Children’s Chapel and

Eucharist where they will experience similar music,

prayers and meditation in as much silence as possible.

Come! Join us for an oasis of contemplation

Sunday, March 11 | 9 & 11:15 a.m.

Ending the War on Women: Lent & Liberation [Dr. Jay Johnson]

Last Sunday we had the extraordinary privilege of having the Reverend Dr. Jay Emerson Johnson with us for a Rector’s Forum entitled “Ending the War on Women: Lent & Liberation” where he challenged us to think "both historically and theologically about the recent flare-up in this war on women.”

“I want to be really clear and explicit right up front that I'm offering these observations as a white gay man,” he began. “I say this because I am perplexed by the near deafening silence from so many white gay men concerning the twin poisons of sexism and racism in North Atlantic societies today. This is deeply troubling to me, especially since homophobia is but a symptom of a much deeper confluence of male privilege and white supremacy in our history and in our world. If we fail to link male privilege with white supremacy we do so, I believe, at our grave peril.”

“We should note, for example that the latest fiascoes over access to contraception are not just brief regurgitations of the so-called culture war. They are instead of instances of a much longer and deeper struggle for control over women's bodies -- and therefore, also a struggle for the liberation of all bodies. It is also a struggle for the liberation of all bodies: women's bodies, men's bodies, children's bodies, the bodies of all other animals ... the body of this planet itself, Mother Earth. Indeed there is a direct link between the kind of male privilege that lays claim to women's bodies and rapes this planet for resources. I truly believe if we ended the war on women we would save the planet."

Trust me when I tell you NOT to miss this one:

Ending the War on Women: Lent and Liberation

with Dr. Jay Johnson & Juliana Serra

We are currently in the midst of a cultural and political war on women and women’s bodies. Theologian Jay Johnson writes:

Religion (including Christianity) has contributed significantly to the subjugation of women and women’s bodies, both historically and today. In that regard, my obligation and responsibility deepen as I am not only a white man, but also a Christian and a priest in the Episcopal Church.

If Lent can be retrieved as a practice for liberating humanity from the chains of oppression, then ending this war on women must take priority. This will involve attending carefully to the propaganda machine (both secular and religious), mobilizing people to vote when appropriate, repenting where necessary, and recommitting ourselves to the hard work of creating a different world, a world where all can thrive and flourish.

I believe the peculiar character of Christianity, for all its severe faults and foibles, can still help us achieve a better world where all can thrive and flourish. ... Let’s create a great toolbox for planetary thriving! At the very least, let us commit ourselves to ensuring that no one ever again has to see a panel of all men making decisions about women’s bodies. That would be a small but nonetheless significant step on the Lenten road toward new life.

This Sunday, Dr. Johnson will return to the Rector’s Forum to team up with our own Juliana Serrano, a member of the local Planned Parenthood Board of Directors, to equip us to both theologize and organize to end the war on women.

Sunday, March 4th | In the Rector's Forum at 10:15 a.m.| live streaming here

Jay Emerson Johnson is a theologian and Episcopal priest, a faculty member of the Pacific School of Religion. His current research and writing interests involve the intersections of critical social theory and Christian traditions. Jay is a popular retreat leader and facilitator of adult education programs, both in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the country. Jay also maintains a blogging site: Peculiar Faith.

O God,

you have made us for yourself,
and against your longing there is no defense.
Mark us with your love,
and release in us a passion for your justice
in our disfigured world;
that we may turn from our guilt and face you,
our heart's desire,

Amen.

[Collect for Ash Wednesday: Janet Morley]

Services at All Saints on Ash Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. | 12:10 p.m. | 7:30 p.m.