The Eucharist is central to our spiritual life, and we always need lay people willing to help with this blessed sacrament. If you are interested in becoming a Eucharistic Minister or Visitor, the Diocese of California offers the requisite training and licensing.
The Episcopal Chaplaincy to Cal held its annual celebration of Candlemas on the night of February 1, the Eve of the Feast of the Presentation, February 2. We were fortunate to have Bishop Marc join us as the officiant for this choral procession and blessing of candles.
The service began at the west end of St. Mark’s Berkeley with the African-American Christmas Carol “Rise Up Shepherd and Follow” as the introit. This piece set the tone of Candlemas as the conclusion of the journey beginning with the Christmas star.
After a series of collects calling us to recognize those who lived in the Berkeley long before European settlement and to recognize the shifting of seasons and the goodness of the earth, the procession moved to the chancel to hear the story of Jesus’s presentation in the temple as read by students from the campus ministry. Music that included Byzantine chant, Hildegard of Bingen, African harmony, Gustav Holst, and the medieval school of Notre Dame added aural dynamics to the story. The group of singers included the chaplains from Stanford and Cal, as well as a Berkeley staff member and an undergraduate at Cal.
The highlight of the service was the blessing of candles by Bishop Marc and the encouragement of those gathered to take a candle for themselves and another for those who might need a little extra light in their world.
After the service those in attendance took part in a reflection on the idea of the events told in St. Luke’s Gospel and their relevance for the current plight of non-violent action to bring about the Beloved Community in our own time. The conversation included a wide range of questions and reflections including equine therapy and what it means to be baptized into nonviolence. A particularly moving moment was when a first-year grad student reconnected with Bishop Marc having not seen him since a pilgrimage to Haiti when the student was in the eighth grade.
The campus ministry to Cal celebrates Candlemas as the only Feast of the Incarnation that occurs during the school year and in recognition of the motto of the University of California: Fiat Lux/Let There Be Light. Both the campus ministries to Cal and Stanford were represented in this event and both need your support to continue to bring that light. Please consider making a donation to them by clicking on this link. Please email calcanterbury@gmail to learn more about these ministries or this event.
Make sure you follow CalEpiscopal on Facebook to hear some upcoming sound files from the evening, soon to be posted.
You can support the DioCal’s chaplaincy ministries by donating.
Story by the Rev. Cn. Debbie Low-Skinner, Photos by the Rev. Cn. Debbie Low-Skinner and the Rev. Rebekah Hays Estera
Here are photos from the Sunday, Feb. 4 livestream of the Holy Eucharist at Holy Trinity Church in Menlo Park, where the Rev. Deacon Rebekah Hays Estera was officially installed. The celebrant and preacher was the congregation’s rector, the Rev. Jude Harmon. Assisting was special guest Archdeacon Nina Lynette Pickerrell.
As it was the parish’s celebration of the Feast of Candlemas, Rev. Jude’s excellent sermon described the ancient pre-Christian and early Christian observances of this holiday situated midpoint/hinge-point between the winter solstice and vernal equinox and between the Nativity and Resurrection. How the presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple, forty days after his birth by his mother Mary, reminds us of her sacrificial love in giving birth to our Savior. How the candles being blessed on this day remind us of Christ’s light, warmth, and wisdom. How candles can be seen as precious, because they were made of beeswax formed by the sacrificial work of bees that were all children of the queen bee of a hive. In like fashion, deacons such as Rebekah and Nina do sacrificial work among us in serving others and the greater good, thereby showing us how to “bee church”.
I liked that the Gloria concluding the Nunc Dimittis named the Trinity as the Mother, the Son, and the Midwife.
According to The Episcopal Church Glossary, A bishop coadjutor is “assistant bishop with the right of succession upon the resignation of the diocesan bishop.” In other words, Bishop Marc is currently our diocesan bishop and will remain in that role until he retires this summer. In December 2023, the Rev. Austin K. Rios was chosen to succeed Bishop Marc. On Saturday, May 4, 2024, Bishop-elect Rios will be ordained and consecrated as Bishop Coadjutor. That means for a short time, we will have two bishops! Then, following Bishop Marc’s retirement, Bishop Austin will be installed as our diocesan (and one and only) bishop.
Rundown of terms:
Story by The Rev. Cn. Debbie Low-Skinner, photo Cn. by Amy Cook
It was such a rich, informative, positive-energy, spiritually engaging, and relationship-building Executive Council Retreat these past three days (January 17-19) at the Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg. spiritually engaging
Also kudos to the Rev. John Kirkley for leading us an exploration of the Diocese of the Future by breaking us up into six small discussion groups to talk about: The Quality of Our Relationships, The Quality of Our Thinking, Our Willingness to Contribute, The Role of Money, Fear vs. Love, and Crisis Management.
Bishop Marc concluded our discussions by pointing out that for years we have said, because we have had a flat income/budget, we can’t do this or that. But, if we place a high priority on love (and by extension building Beloved Community), then we would/should willingly work to include and fit in what we love and have a passion for.
Also making presentations to the EC were the following Senior Staff members who spoke about:
The Standing Committee (who was also on Retreat at the Bishop’s Ranch) joined with the Executive Council for the concluding Holy Eucharist in St. George’s Chapel. The Celebrants were EC Chair Rev. Kirsten Snow Spalding and SC President Rev. Dr. Mauricio Wilson. The Gospeler was the Ven. Carolyn Bolton. Bishop Marc was the Preacher.
Story and photos by the Rev. Canon Debbie Low-Skinner
At a special Evensong held on January 25 at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, the Diocese of California celebrated the 80th anniversary of the ordination of the Rev. Florence Li Tim-Oi. During World War II in 1944, when there was a shortage of priests, Deaconess Tim-Oi became the first woman priest ordained in the Anglican Communion. Her ordination was performed by the Rt. Rev. Ronald Hall, Bishop of Hong Kong.
At our Evensong, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Marc Andrus served as the Officiant. Canon to the Ordinary, the Rev. Cn. Debbie Low-Skinner, read the first lesson from Galatians.The Rev. Merry Chan Ong, Rector of Church of Our Saviour in Oakland and True Sunshine Church in San Francisco, read the second lesson from Luke in both Mandarin and English. The Rev. Dr. Fran Toy, who was the first Asian American woman priest ordained in the Episcopal Church, led us in the concluding prayers. And the Rev. Dr. Paula Nesbitt, who is adjunct faculty at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, offered the homily which described the life, spiritual journey, and challenges faced by Rev. Li Tim-Oi in exercising her ministry.
Special music selected by the Cathedral’s Canon Director of Music Jared Johnson included pieces by women composers Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, Clara Schumann, Rosanna Panufnik, and Canon Precentor, The Rev. Cn. Anna Rossi, who wrote a special verse added to Hymn 231, “By all your saints still striving.”
Those attending the Evensong included San Francisco Deanery Regional Dean the Very Rev. Rector Eric Metoyer, Cathedral Dean the Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young, Cathedral Vice Dean the Redv. Cn. Dr. Greg Kimura, Canon Pastor Tge Eev, Cn. Mary Carter Greene, Canon Precentor the Rev. Cn. Anna Rossi, and Succentor the Rev. Joe Williams.
Great thanks to Canon Rossi, who designed the liturgy; to Canon Johnson and the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys; Organist and Associate Music Director Christopher Keady; and the awesome Cathedral AV crew, who also showed the “Philadelphia 11” movie afterwards in the nave.
Donations are encouraged to support the ministries of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, and of the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, where the first women Episcopal priests were ordained in 1974.
You can also watch the full recording of the service.