Facebook Page Salutes 40Th Year of Women Priests
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THE Episcopal News Weekly Scan to subscribe to The Episcopal News WWW.EPISCOPALNEWS.COM SERVING THE SIX-COUNTY DIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES JULY 6, 2014 Facebook page salutes 40th year of women priests orty ordained women “firsts” — first Fpriests, first bishops, first deacons — are being honored on “Episcopal Commons,” a Facebook page dedicated to notable people, events and history that are the legacy of the Episcopal Church. Robert Williams, canon for community relations for the Diocese of Los Angeles, is coordinating the series and the page. He is writing and posting 40 stories of women clergy, counting down the days to July 29, the 40th anniversary of the day that 11 women were “irregularly” ordained to the Episco- pal priesthood at a service in Philadelphia in 1974. General Convention authorized the or- A vigil against the use of torture dination of women to the priesthood in 1976. Members from several faith communities on the Westside Williams has already profiled two of the gathered at St. Augustine-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Philadelphia 11; Jeannette Piccard of Min- Santa Monica on June 26 for an interfaith vigil in honor of nesota, a scientist and high-altitude balloon- the United Nations Day in support of Victims of Torture. ist considered the first woman in space, and Organized by Judith F. Lyons, the event featured interfaith community organizer and social worker Su- readings and prayers, many of them delivered by young zanne Radley Hiatt of Pennsylvania. people. Guest speaker was Mia Yamamoto (pictured in But the story of women’s ordination didn’t inset above), a prominent defense attorney and board start there, and Williams has reached further member of International Bridges to Justice, an organization back into history to write about the very first that fights torture by training lawyers and improving legal woman to be ordained in the Anglican Com- systems. Music was provided by members of St. munion, the Rev. Li Tim-Oi, made a priest in Augustine’s, including middle school students Akira 1944 by Bishop Ronald Hall of Hong Kong Shelton, Niko Muntz and Phoebe Muntz (pictured at right), to serve Christians in Macau who were cut off who sang "On the Willows," from the musical Godspell. from all other clergy during the Sino-Japanese The Rev. Nathan Rugh, rector of St. Augustine’s, presided War. Li suffered “re-education” and forced la- at the event, which ended with a candlelit recessional and bor under Chinese communists and rejection individual lighting of candles in the church’s patio in from the worldwide Anglican church for de- memory of victims of torture. PHOTOS / COLLEEN DODSON BAKER cades after her service in Macau. Williams’ series also includes Phyllis Ed- wards, the first woman ordained as a dea- Episcopal Night at Dodger Stadium is Friday, Sept. 5 con; Pauli Murray, the first African Ameri- can woman ordained an Episcopal priest; he 21st annual Episcopal Night at Dodger Stadium will be and Mary Michael Simpson, first nun to be TFriday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. The Dodgers will play against the ordained a priest. Others entries will profile Arizona Diamondbacks. If enough Episcopalians buy tickets, one Barbara Harris, the first woman bishop in the of the bishops of the diocese will throw out the first pitch; last Anglican Communion; Katharine Jefferts Sch- year Bishop Griselda Delgado Del Carpio of Cuba (center right) ori, first woman presiding bishop; and Diane did the honors, with Bishops Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce and Jardine Bruce and Mary D. Glasspool, first Mary Glasspool calling and catching the strike. Tickets are $21 women bishops in the Diocese of Los Angeles. each, and are available from the Dodger coordinator at each con- To read their stories, search “Episcopal gregation. A fireworks display will follow the game. ? JANET KAWAMOTO Commons” on Facebook. ? AROUND THE DIOCESE FROM THE BISHOPS SUNDAY, JULY 6, 6 p.m. Theatre Dybbuk: Tefillah/Prayer: A Translation Rest for the weary The Church of Our Saviour 535 West Roses Road, San Gabriel By Mary D. Glasspool Information: 626.282.5147 t the University of Notre Dame in South the artificial bur- MONDAY, JULY 7, 7 p.m. Centering Prayer ABend, Indiana, there is at the very center dens of human St. James’ Episcopal Church of the main campus a statue of Jesus Christ religion — which 1325 Monterey Road, South Pasadena with outstretched arms. No plaque is needed the Gospel writer Information: 626.799.9194 to read the meaning: Come to me, all you Matthew sees as that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, a barrier to true THURSDAY, JULY 10, 7:30 p.m. and I will give you rest. The statue faces the fellowship with Centering Prayer administration building with its glistening, God. It’s not pas- St. Augustine by-the-Sea Episcopal Church 1227 Fourth Street, Santa Monica golden dome. On top of the dome is a statue sivity. It means we have company — none Information: 310.395.0977 of the Blessed Virgin Mary. If you ask the stu- other than Jesus himself, helping us with our dents at Notre Dame, they will tell you that burdens. It is a shared yoke — one that is FRIDAY, JULY 11, 7:30 p.m. what Jesus is really saying is Jump Mom! I’ll easier and lighter precisely because we’re not Contemplative Taizé Experience catch you! alone in the carrying. Church of Our Saviour Wherever you are in your life — physically, Even when we do respond to Christ’s in- 535 W. Roses Road, San Gabriel mentally, spiritually, emotionally — when vitation, we seem to continue to labor under Information: 626.282.5147, ext. 13 you hear Jesus’ invitation Come to me, all the illusion that our yokes are single ones, SATURDAY, JULY 12, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. you that are weary and carrying heavy bur- that we have to go it alone, that the only The Pathway to Peace: dens, it is not a summons to a perilous jump, way to please God is to load ourselves down Labyrinth Walking for Dummies nor is it restricted to close family members. 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SATURDAY, JULY 12, 3 p.m. In fact, this particular verse from Mat- And all the while, Jesus is standing right Concert: String Quartet and Organ thew’s Gospel is so lovely and familiar to us, there in front of us, half a shared yoke across Cathedral Center of St. Paul so appealing, that we in the Episcopal Church his own shoulders, the other half wide open 840 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles have called it the Comfortable Words, to be and waiting for us, a yoke that requires no Information: 213.482.2040 said after the General Confession and Abso- more than that we step into it and become SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2:30 p.m. lution in a Rite One Eucharist. We may even part of a team. Four-Hand Piano Concert be lulled into a belief that when life gets re- No wonder Christ’s invitation is still music Church of the Messiah ally difficult, all we need to do is “come to to our ears! The words assure us that those 614 N. 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The easy yoke me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and Art Director: Molly Ruttan-Moffat, www.mollyruttan.com of Jesus is not an invitation to a life of ease. you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke Advertising: Bob Williams, [email protected] Rather, it is an invitation to deliverance from is easy and my burden light. ? Did you know? FEATURED ITEM: The Diocese of Los Angeles has a full-service Credit Union. THE 1979 BCP AND The Episcopal Community Federal Credit Union has been in NRSV BIBLE existence since 1994, and any Episcopalian in the diocese can join. 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