CHRISTMAS 2012 @All Saints Church

Christmas Eve at All Saints

3 p.m. Family Candlelight Service
The rector and friends tell the Christmas story; Our chilrdens' choirs, the Mastersingers and Troubadours, directed by Jenny Price, offer music of Donnelly, Strid & Schram.

5:30 p.m. Festive Eucharist
Our youth choir, the Trouvères offer music of Tierny and Wilhousky, with instrumental ensemble, directed by Jenny Price.
Abel Lopez preaches.
This service will be signed by an American Sign Language interpreter.

8 p.m. Festive Eucharist
Canterbury Choir with chamber orchestra, offer Messe de Minuit pour Noël, by Charpentier, and music of Holst, directed by James Walker.
Ed Bacon preaches.
(Spanish language translation available).

11 p.m. Festive Eucharist
Coventry Choir with chamber orchestra, offer Mass in D Major by Dvorák, and music of Howells and Mathias, directed by James Walker.
Ed Bacon preaches.

Early arrival helps ensure seating. All Christmas Eve services are well attended, plan to arrive at least 30 minutes early.

Parking for 3 p.m. Christmas Eve service will be in the North Lot or underground at the Westin Hotel (enter from Union Street). For the 5:30, 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. services, parking will be available at the Kaiser parking structure or underground at the Westin Hotel (enter from Union Street).

Child care will be provided for all services.

Christmas Day at All Saints

10:30 a.m. Eucharist Susan Russell preaches, and Coventry Choir soloists sing carols arranged by David Willcocks. Child care is provided.
(Spanish language translation available).

New Year’s Eve Service
Monday, Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. in the Church. Canterbury Choir soloists offer music. Ed Bacon preaches. This special service is a wonderful way to prepare for the new year. Child care provided.

We Get Mail

The fact that All Saints Church has been on the receiving end of hate mail in response to our hosting the 12th Annual National Convention of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has been ... to put it mildly ... in the news.

Although the event has been on the calendar for months -- and All Saints Church being actively involved in interfaith activities is hardly "news" -- last Friday, November 30 an article appeared on a conservative blogsite critiquing both All Saints and MPAC. Entitled "California Church to Become Site of Islamist Convention" the article was sponsored by the Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD) and full of mischaracterizations about MPAC as an organization and our friends Dr. Maher Hathout and Salam Al-Marayati as individuals.

Immediately after the article was posted, we began receiving emails protesting All Saints' involvement in the MPAC Convention and containing -- as Ed Bacon aptly named it  -- "some of the most vile, mean-spirited email I’ve ever read in my life."

Because the polemic nature of the correspondence so perfectly made evident the need for exactly the witness MPAC and All Saints are making by having a Muslim convention at a Christian church, we made the considered decision to go public with the challenges we were receiving -- to turn toxic rhetoric into teachable moments.

Ed preached about it in his sermon on Sunday.
Susan blogged about it in the Huffington Post on Monday.
All Saints and MPAC sent out a joint press release about it on Tuesday.
KNBC ran a story about it on Wednesday.
And on Thursday, we held a joint press conference where dozens of faith leaders stood in solidarity while
All Saints and MPAC leaders spoke to a bank of cameras representing every local media outlet and a national live-streaming audience.

Video of the press conference will be available on the All Saints YouTube Channel, and a number of news outlets have already posted stories, including:

The Los Angeles Times
The Washington Post
The Associated Press

"So how bad were the emails, actually?" is a question we've gotten. Some of them were quite honestly so bad that they are not going to see the light of day. But in the interest of transparency, here are a few select quotes:

The subject lines in the emails ranged from: “Don’t be gullible suckers” to “Muslim Public Affairs Council Convention -- a grave mistake”

“Islam is satanic garbage, indistinguishable from Nazism. Do not welcome the muzziescum into your church. They're like Body Snatchers.”

“I am dismayed that you would allow your church facilities to be used for the annual convention of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. When Dr. Maher Hathout of MPAC spoke at your sister church, St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Los Angeles his address was filled with lies and misleading statements. Dr. Hathout cannot tell you the truth about Islam because you would be offended and revolted.”

“You are Consorting with the Enemy that is Killing Christians Worldwide”

"It is not my purpose to call you names. It IS my purpose to recognize you for true stereotypes of the "useful idiot," first recognized and exploited by Lenin. The problem is that by providing cover and legitimacy to an organization dedicated to overthrowing the Constitution you endanger my country and my grandsons' future. And for that I cannot forgive you."

"You are contributing to the demise of all of Western (Christian based)civilization. You are making a grievous error."

As noted -- these are the printable ones. For more information on the MPAC Convention visit their website. And do keep our human race in your prayers. Clearly it has a ways to go until it becomes a human family.

Tree Lighting & Carol Sing @All Saints Church, Pasadena

The annual All Saints Tree Lighting and Carol Sing is a wonderful opportunity to “ring in” the Christmas season.

Invite your friends, neighbors and family and join us for an informal 5:00 p.m. service upstairs in the Learning Center followed by carols, cocoa and a beautiful new tree to decorate and light together.

David Zink and Michelle Bloom will lead our music.

For more information contact Isabel Leus at 626.583.2733 or ileus@allsaints-pas.org

Or RSVP to the Facebook event here.

“Lincoln, Leadership and the State of the Nation.”

Thursday, November 29 | 7:00 p.m.

All Saints Church in Pasadena will host a special evening of reflection on “Lincoln, Leadership and the State of the Nation.”

Inspired by the Steven Spielberg film “Lincoln,” Ed Bacon will lead a conversation about the film, about lessons on leadership and the workings of our democracy.

Ed will be joined by Jennifer Watts, Curator of Photographs at the Huntington Library and curator of the current exhibit “A Strange and Fearful Interest: Death, Mourning, and Memory in the American Civil War” [running through Jan. 14, 2013] Jennifer will speak about the exhibit and show photos from the collection.

Participants are encouraged to see the film and come prepared for an evening of information and inspiration.

The event will be live-streamed on the All Saints website
All Saints Church is located at 132 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena 91101
Parking and driving info here.

A Post-Election Day Message from Ed Bacon:

I am relieved that the arduous and polarizing 2012 presidential campaign has come to a decisive end with no challenge to the Electoral College victory and a notable margin in the popular-vote. Governor Romney delivered a dignified concession speech and President Obama offered a generous olive branch to his former opponent. I take hope from the president's words on Tuesday night, “We are not as divided as our politics suggest.” The electorate seems to be more unified in support of peace, public education, care and jobs for veterans, and health care in general, as well as equal rights for women, racial minorities, immigrants, and the LGBT community than many sensational media outlets would have us believe.

So this Sunday, November 11th,  I feel moved to preach about the relationship people of faith must have with the Oval Office, whoever sits there. I want to share some thoughts about our need to embody the transformed consciousness of universal compassion and justice to which Jesus calls us and how we might exercise our responsibility to do so.

I hope you will be present to join in a Eucharist of thanksgiving and challenge for this moment in our nation’s history. I will preach on People of Faith and Their President at the 7:30, 9:00 and 11:15 a.m. services.

For more information, visit the All Saints website.
To live-stream the 11:15 service, click here.

Episcopal Church Statement on Hurricane Sandy

Note particularly that this statement by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and House of Deputies President Gay Jennings contextualizes the disaster of Hurricane Sandy within our global family and incorporates the challenge of our call to be stewards of the planet. If you would like to donate to the good work of Episcopal Relief and Development you can do that online here or at the Action Table on the All Saints lawn on Sunday.

The storm called Sandy has wrought havoc northward hundreds of miles from its first Caribbean landfall, killing and injuring dozens of people in Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas, United States, and Canada. The destruction left in its path has deepened the misery of those still recovering from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti as well as hurricanes earlier this season. It is always the poorest who are most affected, although the news media have shown only a little of that reality. The impact in a principal metropolitan area of the United States has brought an unimagined level of destruction, and suffering that will long continue in the mid-Atlantic region. It has also brought home the reality of changing global weather and the kind of extreme climate events that are increasingly likely to confront us all. The effects of this storm are being felt far beyond the lands over which it has passed. May this remind of us of our shared community and tenancy on this fragile earth, our island home.

This is a time for reaching out to neighbors next door as well as farther abroad with solidarity and offers of basic human hospitality – food, water, electrical connections, showers and shelter – as well as money to assist the lengthy recovery that will be required everywhere this storm has moved. Episcopal Relief and Development began preparations with dioceses before the storm made landfall, and will continue to respond in the days and months ahead. Please be generous in prayer, and with funds and neighborly hospitality. Our Anglican neighbors gathered in New Zealand for the Anglican Consultative Council have been profligate with their prayers and expressions of concern. We know that God is with us in the midst of this suffering; you can help others to discover that reality through your own response. May the light of Christ shine through you, and may his light shatter the darkness.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings
President of the House of Deputies

All Saints Welcomes New Director of Peace & Justice

by Ed Bacon, Rector of All Saints Church

I am delighted to announce that Francisco Garcia is our new Director of Peace and Justice. After a national search to fill the position vacated by Carissa Baldwin-McGinnis, during which the search committee received more than 30 applications and conducted six interviews, Francisco was on the “short list” of those the search committee recommended to me. After further discernment, which included an interview with my staff colleagues and a homily preached at one of our noon-day eucharists, it became clear to me that Francisco was the perfect person to lead our varied peace and justice ministries at All Saints.

Francisco is no stranger to All Saints. He and his wife, Rebekah, found All Saints almost nine years ago through the internet. The Garcias immediately involved themselves in a variety of All Saints ministries reflecting their interests in Children, Youth & Families, Spiritual Growth, the 1 p.m. Sunday liturgy, as well as Peace & Justice. He and Rebekah have been married since 2001 and have two daughters.

In 2008, Francisco entered our discernment program for those interested in being ordained to the priesthood. His discernment committee enthusiastically recommended him to the Vestry and me. Francisco will be ordained to the diaconate this coming June and, God willing, to the priesthood in January, 2014.

Our search process explicitly focused on applicants who were bilingual, had a community organizing background and a pastoral presence, and who could communicate persuasively about peace and justice issues. The intention was that this individual would be a clergyperson, preferably an Episcopal priest. Francisco embodies all of our highest desires.

Born in the San Gabriel Valley to Mexican immigrant parents and raised in the working-class community of Baldwin Park, Francisco attended UCLA where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies and Public Policy, and concurrent Masters degrees in Urban Planning and Latin American Studies. Since 2004 Francisco has worked with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as a labor organizer, negotiator and division director. He has over a dozen years experience in faith and community organizing, advocacy, and leadership development.

In his application letter, Francisco wrote:

“Early on at All Saints, I was struck by a quote by Frederick Buechner that I read in my Covenant I folder, and later heard throughout the church: ‘The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.’ I have been able to make full sense of this statement at All Saints. While my organizing and activism had always been spiritually motivated, I was able to find theological grounding and explore this feeling with greater intention. I found an expansive vocabulary and an affirmation of this work at All Saints.

This led me to explore a call to ordained ministry to continue this pursuit of God’s call to liberating love, justice and compassion for all people and all faiths. All Saints has fed my spirit as I continue to engage in activism and organizing work. I am excited at the prospect of continuing this work at All Saints in a staff leadership capacity.”

Francisco’s first Sunday will be November 4, All Saints Sunday. For his first few months with us, until he completes his course requirements for the Master of Divinity degree, he will be on campus on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Upon graduation in June he will work full-time.

I could not be happier about this amazing human being stepping into this important position at All Saints. I am eager for you to get to know him.