Story by the Rev. Canon Debbie-Low Skinner, Canon to the Ordinary
Photos: Cn. Debbie and Cn. Stephanie Martin Taylor, Canon for Communications
Sunday, May 5 was a two Bishop double-header of visitations. In the morning, our newly consecrated Bishop Coadjutor, the Rt. Rev Austin Rios, and our beloved Diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Marc Andrus, made their official visit to Christ Church Sei Ko Kai in San Francisco, the church where I served as Vicar from 2016 to 2021 before becoming Canon to the Ordinary.
Despite Saturday’s rains, it was a beautiful sunny Sunday, as many Sei Ko Kai members—along with their adult children and grandchildren—enjoyed gathering in person (instead of their usual Zoom service) to worship and greet our two bishops as well as their long-term supply priest, my friend and seminary classmate, the Rev. Michael Dresbach. Also in attendance were spouses Maleah Rios and Mona Dresbach; assisting clergy Archdeacon Gary Wm England and Chaplain to Bishop Austin, the Rev. Will Bryant (from Diocese of Western North Carolina); and Canon for DiocesanCommunications, Canon Stephanie Martin Taylor.
Bishop Marc’s homily highlighted the spiritual gift of abiding. Abiding in faith and hope and constancy of presence as was shown by Jesus Christ’s disciples through the millennia and shown over the past 130 years by beloved members of Sei Ko Kai. (Fun fact: this was the home church of the Rev. David Ota, former rector of St. Ambrose, Foster City, and it was the former field ed site for now-Bishop Diana Akiyama of the Diocese of Oregon.)
During the announcements, I (as Chair of the DioCal Asian/Pacific Islander Commission) and parishioner Dr. Gayle Kawahara (Secretary of the Episcopal Asiamerican Ministry’s Executive Council) presented Bishop Marc with APIC’s farewell gift of $13,000 in donations towards the Andrus Youth Camp Scholarship Fund for the Bishop’s Ranch and St. Dorothy’s Rest, DioCal’s two camp and conference centers located in Sonoma County. The APIC is comprised of our four AAPI congregations: Sei Ko Kai, San Francisco: True Sunshine, San Francisco; Our Saviour, Oakland; and Sa Paula Tonga, Burlingame. It also includes AAPI clergy and laity throughout the diocese.
After worship, there was a group photo of the Bishops and the Bishop’s Committee. Then it was onwards to a sumptuous sushi and dim sum reception offered in the Social Hall. It was a beautiful celebration of abiding in fellowship and food and the warm welcome of our bishops and other honored guests. (Fun fact: a KQED reporter came during the reception to interview Bishop Austin. Click here to hear the story that aired in their newscasts Sunday evening and Monday morning.
A DioCal mission since the 1910s, Sei Ko Kai was founded in 1895 as a mission of Nippon Sei Ko Kai (i.e., the Anglican Church in Japan) to minister to Japanese immigrants who sought work in San Francisco during the Chinese Exclusion Act. Since then, the congregation has grown and flourished and been the spiritual home to generations of Japanese Americans and other ethnicities (though attendance was interrupted during WWII because many members were imprisoned in Topaz UT and other internment camps).
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