When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,

               Quickened again in every holt and heath….    

               Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,

               And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,

              To distant shrines well known in sundry lands,

               And specially from every shire’s end

               Of England they to Canterbury wend,

               The holy blessed martyr there to seek,

               Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.

So begins Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.  That Zephyr –- that breath of God –- has been blowing strong this spring against my bedroom window, reminding me, I think, not only that it’s time for that every-ten-year conclave of Anglican bishops called Lambeth, but also of that Baptismal calling to be what I shall be.

It’s time again for pilgrimage, my last, seven years ago, being along the Celtic fringe of Britain and Ireland where I found God in the most god-awful places, those liminal spaces between land and sea, between heaven and earth.

This time I’ve been called –- quite explicitly –- by our Bishop Marc to join him and an LGBT contingent from the Diocese of California to engage –- by speaking -– in the “Listening Process” begun at Lambeth 1998 and, so far, honored mostly in the breech.

The Rev. Richard Shackell, rector emeritus of Grace Church, Glendora (Diocese of Los Angeles), died on July 17 of natural causes. He was 81, and had been in poor health and suffering from dementia for several years.    

Before moving to the Diocese of Los Angeles in 1976 to serve as rector of Grace Church, Shackell's ministry was centered in the Diocese of California, where he was founding vicar and later rector of Church of the Resurrection, Pleasant Hill (1959-1976); rector of St. Francis of Assisi Church, Novato (1956-59); and rector of Holy Trinity Church, Willows (1953-1956).

Bishop Marc Andrus has been reflecting on the decennial gathering of the Anglican Communion’s bishops at Lambeth with lively and insightful reflections on his blog. His most recent dispatch includes a video interview of some of the bishops who participated in Thursday’s MDG March in London.

His entries include:

• Pre-Lambeth hospitality
• The village fete as a paradigm of post-modern refuge (includes video)
• Back to the future in Wales
• Episcopal evolution (photos and special surprise audio link)
  
• I AM
• Love Mercy, Do Justice, Walk Humbly with Your God (includes video)

ENS Photo/ Mary Frances Schjonberg: Bishops Nedi Rivera (Suffragan, Olympia) and Marc Andrus leaving the opening Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference, July 20, 2008.

Britain's Telegraph newspaper has been using this week's lead-up to the Lambeth Conference to publish a list of the 50 most influential Anglicans. The list began listing numbers 41 - 50 on Wednesday, July 9th, and has included such notables as Integrity USA's president the Rev. Susan Russell, Titus 1:9 creator the Rev. Kendall Harmon, and Nigerian human rights activist Davis Mac-Iyalla.

The Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus comes in at number 19 on the list, just ahead of New Zealand's Dr. Jenny Te Paa and just following House of Deputies president Bonny Anderson. The Telegraph said of Andrus:

Bishop Andrus was one of those determined not to attend the Lambeth Conference if Bishop Gene Robinson was not invited, but was persuaded by Robinson to be a ‘voice at the table’.

He has been in the eye of the storm following the Californian Supreme Court decision to open up marriage to gay couples.

He welcomed the decision and urged churchgoers to oppose conservative moves to overturn the verdict. His pastoral guidelines to his clergy call on them to put gay and straight relationships on a par by encouraging all couples to get married first in a secular service and then being blessed in church services.

See the list here.

March 8, 1911 to July 5, 2008

This world will not be the same without our dear father, John Weaver, son of Nora McNelly and Jacob Parker Weaver of Dayton Ohio.  He was a graduate of Otterbein College and attended the Episcopal Divinity School in 1939, and was ordained an Episcopal priest.  He married Miss Jean Sawyer of Glendale, Ohio in 1948.  They had five daughters: Mardie Daul, Liza Brickey, Jean Farmer, Linda Maloney and Sarah Jones.

Weaver was the Rector of Trinity Church, Troy, Ohio, from 1939 to 1947, except for a leave of absence during the war years.   During WW2 he was Chaplain in the United States Army and served in the European Theater of Operations for the duration of the war.  During this time, among other duties, he was Chaplain to the American Forces Network, broadcasting his sermons to the troops each Sunday for three years.  He also broadcasted regularly over the Allied Expeditionary Forces Program of the BBC.  He was the liaison officer between the United States Army and the Church of England and was Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Reverend Geoffrey Fisher, on many momentous occasions, including the enthronement of 1945. On VE Day, John preached at Westminster Abbey in London. He is an Honorary Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and was awarded the Legion of Merit for distinguished service to the United States Government.

Oasis president Tom Jackson is on the ground in London and preparing to participate in the Witness at Lambeth initiative. He will be blogging about his experiences at his personal blog site. His first blog follows:

Greetings from London!

We're on the first stage of my pilgrimage to Canterbury during the Lambeth Conference, and are spending a few days in London with family. Today's headlines present an interesting perspective on the place of women in the church and the nature of those who oppose this apparently radical notion.

Read the rest of Tom Jackson's blog.

On June 22, 2008, the Diocese of California ran a full-page advertisement in the Datebook section of the San Francisco Chronicle proclaiming "Blessings from The Episcopal Church." The ad was created by the diocesan Communications Working Group and was funded by generous donations made by clergy and lay members of the diocese.

This was the first ad in what will be a continued campaign celebrating the recent decision by the California Supreme Court recognizing marriage rights for same-sex couples. "The purpose of the ad is two-fold," said Sean McConnell, communications officer for the diocese. "We are making a public statement that Episcopal Churches in the San Francisco Bay Area respect the dignity of every human being, and we are reaching out to same-sex couples and those who support them, offering them spiritual homes in the churches of our diocese."

An initial gift of $2,500 for the ad campaign came from the Revs. Jonathan and David Abernethy-Deppe. Following that gift, an email went out to clergy in the diocese asking them for their financial support of the campaign. To date, more than $5,000 has been received supporting the campaign. The next placement will be a full-page color ad in the Bay Area Reporter's LGBT Pride special edition. McConnell is in communication with advertising placement companies to see about expanding the campaign to National Public Radio, BART, and other regional transit systems. If you would like to donate to the ad campaign, please contact Sean McConnell This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 415.869.7820. To download a PDF copy of the ad, click on the picture above.

Last summer when the Rev. Steven Strane, of St. Timothy’s, Danville, went on sabbatical leave from his parish, he decided to forego haircuts as a way of marking his time away. After his sabbatical, his hair was noticeably longer. Shortly after his return to active ministry, St. Timothy's was about to host their annual outreach rundraiser and organizers asked Strane if they could put the fate of his hair up for auction.

"On the night of the event," Strane said, "the attendees divided themselves into a "coalition to cut it," and a "coalition to keep it."  The keep it coalition came up with the high bid, and we raised over $5,000 for our three beneficiaries, Options Recovery Services, Operation Second Chance, and GAIA."

On Friday, June 13, six women and men were ordained to the transitional diaconate at Christ Church, Alameda. They ordinands are (from left) Elizabeth Welch, Johnnette Shane, Merry Chan, the Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Michael Barham, Albert Pearson, and Sister Lynne Sharp, CSF.

On Saturday, June 14, the Rev. Beth Foote was ordained to the priesthood, and the Rev. Jonathan Abernethy-Deppe was received as a priest in The Episcopal Church.

Along with some 2,500 other riders and a support crew of 500, Archdeacon Anthony Turney successfully and safely completed the seven-day AIDS LifeCycle 7 Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Inclusive of a few side trips en route to nearby Starbucks’ for necessary sustenance, he traveled a total of almost 550 miles. Anthony says that more importantly, because of the generosity of the family, friends and colleagues who supported him, he raised $8,348.  The total raised by the event was over $11.6 million for HIV/AIDS-related services in San Francisco and Los Angeles..

“The Ride is an extraordinary experience that’s hard to describe,” says Anthony.  “Together, the riders and the “roadies” – all 3,000 of us – demonstrated the power, the resilience, the tenacity and the compassion of the human spirit and what is best about humankind.  We all learned that we were capable of making the seemingly impossible a reality – including climbing hills with names like “Quad Buster,” “The Evil Twins” and “The Wall!” We learned that a group of people, regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation, can live harmoniously, respectfully and joyfully. We learned that a group of individuals, when united toward a common goal, can accomplish far more than any of us alone might have otherwise managed. We learned to live in the company of heroes. I am so very grateful for all the encouragement and support I received. It was a deep honor and a great pleasure to make the journey that was AIDS LifeCycle 7.”

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I welcome the ruling of the California Supreme Court affirming the fundamental right of all people to marry. I am writing to you now to recommend a path to use this decision to strengthen our support of our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered sisters and brothers, and our continued witness to God’s inclusive love.

Clergy and lay leaders in the diocese have been working for the rights of LGBT people and for their full inclusion in our Church for more than forty years. Today, we continue to walk a journey that includes:

• Bringing the witness of our LGBT sisters and brothers to this summer’s Lambeth Conference,

• Combating a ballot initiative this November that will attempt to take away the rights recently recognized by the California Supreme Court,

• Providing leadership at next summer's General Convention to bring our marriage practices and theology in line with our fundamental baptismal theology.

For far too long the onus has fallen on marginalized people to bear the burden of inequalities that exist within the Church, and the decision by our state’s Supreme Court has given us the opportunity to level the playing field.

To that end, the Diocese of California seeks to provide, by advocacy and example, a way forward for The Episcopal Church so that the marriage of same-sex couples will be a part of our official marriage rites, without distinction. Although The Episcopal Church does not have canonical rites for same-sex marriage, it is our goal that all couples be treated equally by the Church, as they are equally loved by God.

I therefore provide you with the following pastoral guidelines:

Qom, Iran, is a world apart from the rest of the country. The world center for Shi’a education, Qom is populated by seminarians and clerics; devotion to study of Qur’an is the way of life. The fundamentalist clerics who have ruled Iran since the revolution were all educated in Qom and Ayatollah Khomeini based his opposition to the Pahlavi dynasty from there.

The women of Qom do not openly challenge the covering that is a mark of the Islamic Revolution as they do in Tehran and Isfahan where most women wear their hijab on the back half of their head. In fact, the women of Qom almost all wear the more conservative chador that covers from head to toe.

I was worried that we would not make it to Qom, and I don’t think that many of my traveling companions shared my desire to go to the world’s most important center for Shi’a study. It was the last full day that we would spend in Iran and there was hope that we might have an opportunity to meet with former president Mohammad Khatami. But as we had already learned all too well, simply because our hosts told us it might happen, there wasn’t that great of a chance that it would actually happen. So, I and a few others lobbied for the opportunity to go to Qom. It was not too far from the Imam Khomeini International Airport, and there were religious studies professors there waiting to meet with us.

Charleston Named Ethnic and Multicultural Missioner and Assistant Bishop

On May 10, 2008, the Diocese of California met at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in special convention to consider the results of the Beloved Community Visioning Process and to discuss and vote on proposed changes to the canons. The special convention voted on three resolutions and three amendments to the proposed canon changes. At the end of the meeting, the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus introduced the Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, current president and dean of Episcopal Divinity School, as the new ethnic and multicultural missioner and assistant bishop for the diocese.

After opening the meeting with prayer and a hymn, Andrus delivered an address reporting on the outcomes of the Beloved Community visioning process. The process began with a diocesan-wide meeting at Grace Cathedral on May 5, 2007, and continued with four regional meetings. These five events enabled the diocese to come together as a community and envision what the future of the diocese might look like. More than 800 people participated in the process, both in person and online.

Andrus began his address by describing a number of actions taken by the diocese in the past year toward becoming the Beloved Community, including a comprehensive governance review and entering into a companion diocese relationship with the Diocese of Curitiba in the Province of Brazil. The bishop then identified five areas for the diocese to focus on over the next five years: embodied justice, church vitality, rooted spirituality, organizational development, and inclusive community.

On March 31, 2008, Bishop Marc and Sheila Andrus arrived in Curitiba, Brazil, as guests of the Anglican Diocese of Curitiba – companion to the Diocese of California – and their bishop the Rt. Rev. Naudal Alves Gomes. It was a brief visit, a portion of which Bishop Marc spent at the meeting of the House of Bishops of the Province of Brazil, but the impressions made by the people and sites of Curitiba on the Andruses were deep and lasting.

At California’s annual convention in October of 2007, the diocese overwhelmingly approved a resolution to enter into a companion relationship with the Diocese of Curitiba. The two dioceses will enter a mission partnership, and Andrus has recommended that this partnership be viewed through the lens of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Both Curitiba and California are forming diocesan committees to coordinate and deepen the relationship and to begin to tell their stories, one to the other, within the framework of the MDGs.

On Friday, December 7, 2007, a mouse click launched a new website for the Diocese of California. Reclaiming the old diocesan web address – diocal.org – the new website provides ministry and administrative resources for congregations and lay and clergy leaders inside the diocese and beyond. Because of its dual service to administrative and ministry resources, some at Diocesan House have begun to call the new diocal.org the "Administry Site."

Constructed with the help of church website provider Elexio, diocal.org is a resource to all the working groups and ministries of the diocese. Ministry groups, congregations and organizations will be invited to have a presence on the site, and there are modules that will be added in the near future that will allow for a fully functional online directory, group calendars, HTML newsletters, podcasts, streaming video and other multimedia.

"This is the first of a number of new infrastructure developments that the Communications Working Group is rolling out for the Diocese of California in an attempt to better target the emerging ministry needs that our congregations face," said Communications Officer Sean McConnell of the new diocal.org. Improved data management and targeted communications are slotted for rollout in the near future, and the Communications Working Group is developing a network of congregational communicators to improve information flow between the diocese and its constituent organizations, congregations, schools and ministries.