PAGEANT 2008!

Written & Directed by Suzanne Holder

with assistance from:

Richard Seymour

Cassandra Kirby

Ron Harrington

Ruth Shankwiler

Michael Smith

November 1st, 2008 Mamas Pasadena, a new initiative of Episcopal Economic Development, hosted an Awards Ceremony for those instrumental in the establishment of this new Pasadena institution.

Presiding at the ceremony were Diocesan Bishop J. Jon Bruno, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard, and the Director of Episcopal Economic Development.

Honored were Howard, Nan and Melanie Schow who have given quite significant impetus to this endeavor, and St. Edmund's Episcopal Church and Mission & Outreach Committee.

The facility is located on San Gabriel Boulevard just North of Colorado on the West side of the street and will soon be serving lunch.

A training facility, it will provide business education and culinary arts education to aspiring entrepreneurs in need of mentors, training, and a monitored health approved facility. 

Stewardship Witness November 2008 – Pamela Payne

          The Church is the body of Christ, and we at St. Edmund’s are its members.  I came to St. Edmund’s almost 15 years ago, looking for a spiritual home.  I found a group of people who were warm and accepting, and who embodied the spirit of Christ in the world through their daily lives and their giving to the community and the world.  I found a theological home in the Episcopal Church, which honors Scripture and takes it seriously, which honors tradition in worship and order, yet acknowledges that human reason, a gift from God, allows each of us to interact with Scripture and tradition in a search for truth as God continues to unfold it for us.  I found a community here that has become my family.

            Throughout the gospels, Jesus speaks of the duties we owe to our neighbors.  “Love your God with all your heart and mind and soul, and love your neighbors as yourselves…on these 2 commandments hang all the laws and prophets.”  Through my connection with St. Edmund’s, I have been introduced to the many ways I can act in this world for love of my neighbor:  through my prayers, my donations and my presence.  My neighbors are the homeless men and women in Pasadena, who come to the Bad Weather Shelter for food and a warm, safe place to sleep.  My neighbors are the men, women and children in our diocese living with HIV/AIDS, facing illness and despair, rejection and misunderstanding, who find homes and livelihoods through Project New Hope.   My neighbors are the children and families living in the Tijuana dump, who are given medical care and Christmas gifts by the dedicated volunteers of Healing Hearts Across Borders.  My neighbors are the women and children living with HIV/AIDS whom I met in Namibia and South Africa, who find support and love and medical care and education through the tireless efforts of parishes of the Anglican Church.  My neighbors are all those persons devastated by floods and earthquakes, tsunamis and fires, who are aided by Episcopal Relief and Development.  My neighbors are the people in El Salvador who have shelter and clean water to drink, thanks to the efforts of the youth of St. Edmund’s.  My neighbors are the children at Hillsides, who are getting a second chance at a life with love and support through the ongoing commitment of members of my parish and my Episcopal Church.

          I am proud that my parish is involved in so many projects that help my neighbors, here and abroad.  I am proud that the Episcopal Church is a staunch supporter of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.  These 8 goals are a 21^st century version of Jesus’ call to feed the hungry, comfort the sick, clothe the naked, assist the poor to rise beyond their poverty.  I ask each of you to read this year’s Stewardship booklet carefully, and see where you feel called to commit to one or more of the Goals.  We cannot, as individuals, eliminate poverty and hunger and disease, empower women and children, provide education that will lift persons out of the depths of despair and into an active, vibrant contribution to the well being of their families and their societies.  But we can each, as an individual or as a family, make a contribution of our time, talent and treasure to aid in bringing about the realization of these Goals.

          While you consider your plans to help us work for the Millennium Development Goals here at St. Edmund’s, please remember that it is because of what you receive here that you have the strength and courage and treasure from which to offer your gifts.  Give what you can to keep this place active and vital in doing God’s work, and equipping the Saints for ministry.

          As Edmund Burke once said, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  Well, all it takes for poverty and hunger and disease to triumph is for good people to do nothing.  As you ponder your stewardship decisions for the coming year, I ask that you search your hearts to find that one step that will help to make our world the place that Jesus sought to make, through the work of the Saints here gathered in this place.

“Then the king will say to those who are at his right hand, ‘Come, you are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’  And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” (Matt. 25:34-40)

Thank you.

STEWARDSHIP & HOSPITALITY

by Josh Keaney

Fr. George asked if I would be willing to offer a Stewardship Witness this Fall, and as I reflected on this subject my thoughts kept returning to the connection between Stewardship and Hospitality…which might not be an immediately clear connection.  As Youth Pastor at St. Edmund’s, I’m especially interested in how hospitality pertains to our younger members, and how our hospitality toward our youth is an essential part of our shared stewardship.

I like a passage from the book of James which says: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above.” The usual application of this message is to be grateful for our material possessions, but our greatest gifts really come in the form of other people.  The greatest gifts we have at St. Edmund’s are our children and our youth.  They aren’t our possessions, but gifts which God has entrusted for a time to our care and nurture.  In some sense they are “guests” to whom we offer Christian hospitality as we strive to form them in the Christian Way.

The well known author and Roman Catholic priest Henry Nouwen once said “the concept of hospitality might bring a unifying dimension to all interpersonal relationships,” and he goes on to say that all personal relationships fall under Christ’s rubric: “you must love your neighbor as yourself”.  

In our Faith, hospitality began with God, who came as an infant guest in the town of Bethlehem..  The human life of God began in one receiving hospitality, and then as Christ grew He revealed to us God’s limitless love and hospitality toward all of humankind. 

All of us are also variously guest and host during the course of our lives.  Sometimes we play those roles simultaneously. 

Nouwen suggests that sometimes it is helpful to see those we are familiar with as strangers, so we can learn how to offer them Christ’s own welcome once more.  We must, “recognize the stranger in our own familiar circle. When we are able to be good hosts for the strangers in our midst we may find ways to expand our hospitality to broader horizons.” pg. 80.  Nouwen speaks especially about young people, saying: “Our children are our most important guests, who enter into our home, ask for careful attention, stay for a while and then leave to follow their own way.” pg. 81

True hospitality is concerned about the guest and creates a free and friendly space where the guest can reveal his or her gifts and become our friend.  “Hospitality does not try to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.”

This is the kind of space we try to create for our youth at St. Edmund’s.

In the church in which I grew up there was a small community of families that helped me to stretch and grow and find my way.  They welcomed me into their homes, and we had a sense of “family” not bound by blood, but by spirit.  I cannot count the number of people and families my parents have housed for weeks, let borrow their cars, or offered assistance.  These simple demonstrations of God’s grace through acts of Hospitality impacted me more than the hundreds of sermons I heard. 

At Saint Edmund's we are doing a good job of opening our homes to our youth, and I hope in 2009 we can seek together for ways to deepen our hospitality.  When we  look in the familiar faces of our young people we can’t squint enough to see the strangers Christ summoned us to care for.  I hope we can increasingly become a larger family defined not by blood, but by shared spiritual commitment, and that our youth would more and more sense their valued place in our family. 

When I was in Jr. High the men in my church wanted to attend a conference for fathers and sons.  At the time my dad was often absent because of work.  It was the fathers in that community of close knit families who took me to the conference.  Later in the turbulent years of High School I was mentored by another man in my church.  He invested in me and attended my track meets and soccer matches.  When I had questions or problems I was too terrified to go to my parents with, he was there to turn to.

During our youth Confirmation program that will take place the next few months I’m looking for adult Mentors to come along side a few of our high schoolers…people who can model the safe relationships which allow our youth to question and press forward knowing they have support in the larger Faith community.  Christ brought us God with skin on, and we want to work to offer the same to our youth in a culture that is often fragmented and isolating for adolescents.  I’ve spent enough time in the Middle East and in Latin America to be impressed by the support for young people found in these cultures.  American life seems, in contrast, awfully lonely.  The journey is perhaps too individualistic.  Parents must work hard to find a community with similar priorities and values.  As adults in this community of faith we face new and challenging questions.  For example at what age do we allow youth to have mobile phones, date, or have uncontrolled access to the internet? 

 “The church is perhaps one of the few places left where we can meet people who are different than we are but with whom we can form a larger family” says Henry Nouwen.  I believe him, and want to work with you to bring to our Church a deeper sense of spiritual family for our young people.  Our youth are our most precious gift and our guests.  That is why for me Hospitality is at the heart of Stewardship, and Stewardship is at the heart of youth ministry. 

Thanks for giving your Youth Pastor an ear today!  I want you all to know what a joy it is to labor with you for the cause of Christ in this place.

Richard Dawkins, the naive professor

It's not a simple choice between God and evolution: none of us can know that there is nothing out there

FACTS AND FIGURES
Los Angeles has a population of nearly 4 million people in the city limits; 10.2 million in Los Angeles county, and 18 million in "Greater L.A." (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties).

In a city of 4 million Los Angeles is:
44% Latino
31% White
12% Asian
9% African American
0.4% Native American
As of the 2000 census more than 30% of the population of Los Angeles was foreign born. This does not include the thousands of the immigrants that stream through, using Los Angeles as a point of entry before moving to another city. The native lands of Los Angeles residents represent more than 140 different countries throughout the world.

For the 4 million residents of Los Angeles there are less than 10,000 police officers. Los Angeles also has over 63,000 gang members and gang members outnumber police 7 to 1. The LAPD handles over 3.3 million phone calls each year. 1.9 million of those calls are 9-1-1 emergency calls.

DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Greater Los Angeles is:
The largest Mexican metropolitan area outside of Mexico
The largest Japanese metropolitan area outside of Japan
The largest Taiwanese metropolitan area outside of Taiwan
The largest Korean metropolitan area outside of Korea
The largest Filipino metropolitan area outside of the Philippines
The largest Armenian metropolitan area outside of Armenia
The largest Thai metropolitan area out side of Thailand
The largest Vietnamese metropolitan area outside of Vietnam

Los Angeles is known both as America's First Third World City and the world's future financial capital.

Children in the L.A. unified school district speak over 90 different languages. Belmont High School in Los Angeles is California's largest high school with 4,200 students. Its teenage students from around the world speak more than 30 different languages.

People, Problems, Issues
There are at least 91,000 homeless people each night in Los Angeles County. About 15-20,000 homeless people live on "Skid Row". This is a ten square block area at the center of downtown Los Angeles. At any given time at least half the homeless population literally sleeps on the streets. The average age of homeless person is around 40 years old. One third to one half of the homeless population is women and girls.

Causes of homelessness shown in research tend to include the following:
- Lack of affordable housing
- Poverty
- Low-paying jobs and labor market changes
- Unemployment
- Mental illness
- Substance abuse
- Changes and cuts in public assistance
- Domestic violence
- Changes in family structure
- Prison release
- Chronic health problems
- Lack of access to affordable health care

PHOTOS COMPLIMENTS OF PILGRIM PHILIP TYLER!