BILL CUNLIFFE returns to Jazz Vespers Sunday, June 19th!

All Saints Jazz Vespers welcomes back Grammy award winner and All Saints composer in residence Bill Cunliffe for an evening of amazing musicianship and holy inspiration in a service of prayer, meditation and music.

We gather in the intimacy of the chancel for an extraordinary experience of jazz in-the-round. If you need assistance to get up into the chancel, please arrive at least five minutes early; an elevator is available. No charge (free will offering taken) and no reservations required. Childcare provided.

• Sunday, June 19th beginning at 5pm on the All Saints chancel.
• (PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE!) 
  
  For more information email Melissa Hayes or call 626.583.2725
  
  More about Bill Cunliffe: A jazz pianist, composer and arranger he is widely known for his swinging and lyrical pianism and his creativity and invention as a composer and arranger of jazz.  He graduated from Duke University and the Eastman School of Music, where he won several Down Beat Awards.  After graduation, he taught at Central State University, in Wilberforce, Ohio. His first major jazz gig was pianist and arranger with Buddy Rich, touring Europe with Frank Sinatra. He later  performed  with Ray Brown, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, Woody Shaw and James Moody.
  
  Last year, Bill received a Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement for his West Side Story Medley, released on the CD, “The Resonance Big Band Pays Tribute to Oscar Peterson.” He has also been nominated for three Grammys and two Emmys as a composer and arranger. His latest film project is "On the Shoulders of Giants," a documentary about jazz and basketball in Harlem in the 30's, produced by basketball great, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
  
  He teaches at the Vail Jazz Institute, and the Skidmore Jazz Institute, and is Associate Professor of Music at Cal State Fullerton. He is also composer-in-residence at All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, CA.
  Visit his website
  

Making God's love tangible in Washington DC

by Susan Russell

Last week I had the privilege of once again being part of the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) “Clergy Call for Justice” event in Washington DC. We spent our time getting updates on opinion polls and legislative strategy, networking with other clergy and faith leaders and being inspired by speakers, prayer and worship. On Tuesday we all trekked up to Capitol Hill for a press conference and then lobby visits with our representatives and senators urging their support for pending LGBT equality legislation.

Some highlights for me from this year’s Clergy Call:

One was getting to spend some time with long-time friend and newly elected Integrity President Caro Hall. Caro is stepping in to fill the unexpired term of David Norgard and I know that she’s going to do a great job, bringing her years of commitment to equality to her work with Integrity. I appreciated the chances in-between the meetings and events to hear about her ideas and vision for “what nexts” for Integrity’s work within the Episcopal Church and our witness to the wider Communion and culture.

Another was encountering in a whole variety of ways connections with folks and All Saints Church.

• From the clergy at the HRC Clergy Call who follow us on the website and in the news and wish their congregations were as bold about LGBT issues to
• Dr. Welton Gaddy who sent love and blessings for our June 26 “Faith Shared” event to
• Broderick Greer, the young man from West Tennessee who recognized me in the lobby at the Senate office building from our podcasts (he never misses a sermon!) and who was on the Hill lobbying for peace in the Middle East before starting seminary this fall to
• Washington Bishop John Chane who was out on the corner outside the Capitol demonstrating for the release of the Bishop of Jerusalem while the Israeli Prime Minister spoke to congress.

It was such a delight to see the Episcopal Church putting faith into action in so many different ways – and to see what a strong, influential voices All Saints has in speaking out and up for love, justice and compassion.

Finally, on Wednesday morning I had the opportunity to meet with our congressman Adam Schiff and other constituents who were in Washington for a variety of reasons. We had breakfast on Wednesday morning in the congressman’s office with folks there to lobby for health care, for special education funding and for air traffic controllers … along with a Pasadena family with three daughters on vacation.

We had the chance to talk about this issues that brought us to the nation’s capital … to connect some of the dots between funding priorities and our hopes for the country. I was able to thank Congressman Schiff for being a co-sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act and he had some good questions about the Safe Schools/Anti-Bullying legislation we hope to see come to the House this session. And by the time we finished, I ran out of cards giving them to people who wanted to know more about All Saints Church.

It was a pretty intense couple of days but what a privilege to get to do this work with a boatload of amazing people as we work together to make God’s love tangible and give witness to the power of voices of faith united in commitment to love, justice and compassion.

A Special Musical Rector's Forum: "Twist: An American Musical" on Sunday, May 29

Twist is a new American musical, inspired by the Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist, set in New Orleans in 1928. Reviewers said the creators of Twist “beat the odds and have created a magical tapestry of music, story and life that, even with a classic tale at its heart, feels like a something completely new.”

One of those creators is All Saints’ own Tena Clark … long-time parishioner and Twist's composer and lyricist. What attracted her to the project, she says, is “the triumph through hope of love and perseverance.”
Come be inspired on by hope, love, perseverance and the story of the making of Twist as Tena gives us a behind the scenes look at the musical (opening at the Pasadena Playhouse on June 14) in the Rector's Forum on Sunday, May 29.

Watch a YouTube interview with Tena about the production.
Visit the Twist website for more information and some great video clips of the show.
And then come to the All Saints Rector's Forum --Sunday, May 29th at 10:15 a.m.

All Saints Church, 132 North Euclid Avenue, Pasadena CA 91101.
For more information contact Christina Honchell at 626.583.2742 or chonchell@allsaints-pas.org

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar @ All Saints Church, Saturday May 28th

Screening Saturday, May 28th @ 5:00 p.m.

All Saints Church | 132 North Euclid Ave | Pasadena

Q&A with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Cunliffe
immediately following

All Saints Church is proud to host a screening of "On the Shoulders of Giants: The Story of the Greatest Basketball Team You Never Heard Of." Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball legend and best-selling author, invites us to witness the Harlem Renaissance as he shares hi life long passion for the legends that inspired him to greatness. Go back with Kareem to a time when jazz was Harlem's soul and basketball was its heartbeat. And while you're there, let him introduce you to the greatest basketball team you never heard of.

Original score by Grammy-winning composer Bill Cunliffe.

Hear Kareem's great interview with Larry Mantle on KPCC, Wed., May 25.

$10.00 Donation at the door | More information here ... or email Christina Honchell

Margaret Sedenquist Named "Woman of the Year"

[Pasadena] On May 2, the Women's Civic League honored Margaret H. Sedenquist as Woman of the Year at its 14th annual awards luncheon, which was held at Pasadena's Women's City Club. A veteran community activist, Sedenquist has served on the boards of Five Acres, Pasadena Playhouse, Zonta Club, All Saints Church, Pasadena Chamber Orchestra, and Pasadena POPS. She has also been president of the Rotary, Y.W.C.A., University Club, and the Pasadena Board of Realtors.

"Margaret has truly made a difference in Pasadena," said her longtime friend, Mayor Bill Bogaard, in presenting the award. "She is the model for others to follow."

Read more

"A Space for Grace" -- Continue the conversation tonight with Michael Lapsley and Amy Brenneman

Actress and activist Amy Brenneman joins the Reverend Michael Lapsley tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the All Saints Forum for "A Space for Grace: Community as Sacrament of Hope." Details on the event here ...

Tonght the conversation continues on how faith communities provide a safe space to experience grace -- where the reality of tragedy and trauma can engage the imagination and re-establish a sense of meaning, survival and hope.


Join us for an evening of inspiration!

"Faith in Action" in action @ All Saints Church today!

Today's "putting faith into action" action was signing letters to legislators in support of the upcoming HRC (Human Rights Campaign) "Clergy Call" Lobby Day on Capitol Hill. On May 23 & 24, All Saintser Susan Russell will join with clergy from all around the country who will be lobbying legislators to support pending LGBT equality legislation. Here's a draft of the text of the letter folks were signing today:

On Tuesday May 24 when hundreds of clergy from around the country gather on Capitol Hill as part of the Human Rights Campaign’s “Clergy Call” I want you to know that they speak for me when they talk to you about issues of LGBT equality.

• They speak for me when they urge your support for The Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) repealing DOMA and restoring the rights of all lawfully married couples—including same-sex couples -- to receive the benefits of marriage under federal law.

• They speak for me when they advocate for a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) providing basic protections against workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

• They speak for me when they speak for The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) allowing U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for family-based immigration, ending the injustice of many same-sex, bi-national couples being kept or torn apart.

• They speak for me when they ask you to support the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) prohibiting any school program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from discriminating against any public school student on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

• They speak for me when they call for The Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) amending the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to requiring schools and districts receiving federal funds to adopt codes of conduct specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

They speak for me as a person of faith who believes that the all in “liberty and justice for all” applies equally to LGBT Americans. And they speak for me as your constituent as I ask you to embody those traditional American values for me on Capitol Hill and to support LGBT equality.

To find out more about Clergy Call, watch this video with footage from Clergy Call 2009 ... it's called "Changing the Conversation" and that's exactly what the letters signed today at All Saints will help make happen on Capitol Hill later this month!