It seems an eternity ago that we sent an update to churches on living in the age of Coronavirus (it was Friday).  If you missed it, you can read it HERE, as most of the information is still relevant.

But we receive news just about every hour, with increasingly more stringent guidelines.  Apparently there will be even more guidelines issued today, but as of last night, the latest message came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which “recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.”  Additional comments from health officials include recommendations that people of all ages avoid physical contact and cancel elective air travel as much as possible; the city of Los Angeles is ordering all restaurants be closed except for takeout or delivery, as well as bars, gyms, and theatres.

This all seems extreme, especially as Southern California has seen relatively few cases—69 as of yesterday, though every day the number of cases is increasing exponentially.  Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti addressed this well, though.  He said that of the tests taken in LA, 75% of the public tests were negative, and 96% of those who got tests through private medical facilities were found to be negative—evidence of the “worried well” among us.  But even so, the time to take action is now, even if it feels early.  If we wait until there’s a problem, he said, that’s too late, since the disease can be transmitted before people even realize they are sick.

So we are all in a fast of sorts—fasting from going out to eat, fasting from visits to our beloved senior citizens, even fasting from gathering in worship.  As I contemplated this sudden interruption in our very busy lives, it occurred to me that this is an opportunity for us to take a sabbath mentality, relying on God’s providence rather than trying to do everything ourselves.  It is also an opportunity to sacrifice our own activities in order to protect the most vulnerable among us, and to find new (old) ways to reach out to loved ones, such as using the phone or snail mail to send a card or two.

Many of our churches decided to curtail in-person worship services for the rest of March.  But since the recent CDC guidelines go to at least MAY 15^th, I would recommend all sessions consider how you will bear witness to the Resurrection without gathering in person.  We are trying to be helpful by offering tips on livestreaming your worship service; there are several platforms but perhaps the simplest and most accessible is Facebook’s livestreaming feature.  To get started with live-streaming click here for a helpful article. For some help thinking through how to plan worship services like this read this Sojourner’s article here.

I have to say, it was kind of fun surfing on-line worship services yesterday!  I managed to attend three services, roughly simultaneously—all in my nightgown.  Not only was it an opportunity to touch base with folks far away (it was Josey Saez Acevedo who invited me to Claremont’s service—from the Dominican Republic!) or folks I haven’t seen for a long time (from Immanuel in Los Angeles, my internship church from 23 years ago).  It also showed me a bit of what God hears on Sunday mornings—I’ve often wondered what that’s like, having all sorts of people praising and singing at the same time.  What surprised me was how lovely it was—one church seemed to sing a lot, so they often were the musical backdrop for the prayers and preaching of the other churches!

Based on my limited experiences, here are a few observations on livestreaming:

1. Make it easy for folks to find you. The best was an email that included a link to their Facebook page, and the time when they went “live.”  Of course, it’s also great to have the link on your church website.
2. Have good humor about it—one church somehow put their phone at an angle so the picture was sideways! And monitor the comments, which can be poignant and hilarious.  Knox Pasadena did great as always, with many folks and families on-line, including Bryce Little and Tod Bolsinger, and I was able to relay a prayer request for retired pastor Dan Newhall to Immanuel’s prayer time.
3. People don’t need Facebook to view the livestream, but if they do have FB, they can add to the comments—which means if you account for the lag time, people can send in prayer requests! You will need Facebook and access to the internet (wonder if using the phone as a hotspot would work?), as well as a smart phone and tripod.
4. Claremont did a “hybrid” service, which means there was a congregation on-site in addition to the Facebook participants—it felt nice to hear the responses of other worshipers (especially the kid who squealed with delight hearing Karen Sapio say “toilet paper” in church!). That might defeat the purpose of social distancing, but since most churches have at least a few people on-site to lead worship, perhaps at least they can be near the microphone.
5. The sound—even when just using an iPhone—is surprisingly good, especially for your first time, but there are ways to improve it, either with an added mic (one church got a good price and advice from Samy’s Camera, and even a church discount), or by tapping into your sound system.
6. If you haven’t signed up for online giving yet (or even if you have), you might consider registering as a non-profit with Paypal—they don’t charge a service fee, donors can use credit cards and even Paypal credit (for $100 or more), and they even issue tax-exemption letters on your behalf (you will get information on the donors unless they ask to be anonymous).

MARCH 17^th CONFERENCE CALL

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17 at 10:00 am, you are invited to join a conference call to share questions, concerns, ideas, and best practices with sister churches.  If you have questions, you can call Ally Lee at 626.614.5964.

• Click here for the details on joining the ZOOM call.
• Click here for a video on how to join a ZOOM call.

MARCH 28^th PRESBYTERY MEETING

Over the weekend, the Presbytery Executive Commission voted to cancel the stated Presbytery meeting scheduled for March 28^th at Korean Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church.  We will have to enjoy their hospitality—and great Korean food—at a later date.  In the meantime, the PEC will schedule a special meeting to take any needed actions.  The only substantive, time-sensitive actions anticipated are to concur with two General Assembly overtures:

• On Promoting Human Rights in the Philippines
• Worship Resources for Ministering to Veterans

Last week I referenced the overture on the Philippines, and if time allows, I will speak to the overture for ministry with veterans next week.

WHERE’S THE PRESBYTERY STAFF?

Finally, I was scheduled to be on vacation this week.  Though I have decided not to travel, I will be trying to take the time to rest and do some housework.  And I suggested to Ally that she work from home, which she will be doing—but you can always call or email her, and if you need to see her or go by the office, just check in with her and she’ll arrange for it.  For the time being, we will hold future meetings via Zoom, and will plan to have this capability for our May 30^th Presbytery meeting if needed.

As we consider life at home, may this be a time when we can be gentle with each other—and care for those who are most vulnerable, in body or in shelter.

Peace,
Wendy

Last week I asked that you mark your calendars for July 21^st, when we will spend the evening in conversation and service with our younger generation.  As much as we church types talk about the importance of youth, it’s always ironic to me how little time we spend actually talking with, and listening to, the youth around us.  So this will be a great opportunity to learn and connect.

Today I ask that you mark your calendars again.  Not only do we have a Presbytery meeting coming up on March 28, but we will have a special Pentecost Presbytery meeting on May 30.  General Assembly Co-Moderator Rev. Cindy Kohlmann will be in Southern California that week, and she will be with us for that meeting.  The Presbytery meeting will be at Iglesia de la Comunidad in Highland Park, and the Presbytery planning team just talked about some fun ways to celebrate Pentecost together in worship and fellowship.  Two ways have to do with food, so of course I’m excited!

For that day’s communion service, we are hoping to put together a holy feast reflecting the cultures of our presbytery, so at some point I will be asking folks to suggest various “breads” from your cultural tradition.  We have done this before, but I need your help to make sure I’m being more inclusive—for instance, the last time I wanted to include puto, but the Filipino market I went to didn’t have it!

And we are talking about having a grand potluck, and to make it even a little more special, there might be a little competition involved.  We are hoping to have a gathering of everyone in San Gabriel Presbytery, not just the commissioners to the meeting.  So think about some great food you can bring, and we’ll share details later. 

Now when you read Mark 14:9 above, what did you think of?  Though I mention Rev. Kohlmann, and she is certainly memorable, I wasn’t remembering her.  Of course it’s important to remember, especially during this season of Lent, the woman who came and showed love for Jesus as he was looking ahead to the cross.  But the woman who inspired me to remember this text was named Hazel Scott.

Who is Hazel Scott?

The name does not get mentioned much.  The only time her name has been uttered in public in my memory was by Alicia Keys at the 2019 Grammys—and in that celebration of all things music, by the music industry itself, no one clapped in recognition.  It’s only due to the magic of the Internet that I happened upon an article on this person, and found an incredible video of Ms. Scott at two pianos.  Sadly, she is NOT remembered widely.

Born in Trinidad in 1920 but raised in New York City, Scott was a child prodigy in piano, and was trained at the Juilliard School from age 8.  She began performing in her teens and was known for classical expertise, but also doing jazz improvizations of the classics.  She also sang and did some acting, and she was the first person of African descent to have their own television show in America, “The Hazel Scott Show,” which debuted on July 3, 1950.

In the 1940s she appeared in several movies, some patriotic.  Throughout her life she stood up for civil rights.  She refused to perform for segregated audiences.  She wrote into her film contracts control of her image, and went on strike when a film was about to dress the black woman extras along negative stereotyped lines.  She sued a restaurant in Pasco, Washington, for refusing to serve her due to her race. 

In 1950, a pamphlet was published that listed Hazel Scott, along with 150 other artists and performers such as Orson Welles, Lillian Hellman, and Leonard Bernstein, as involved in pro-Communist causes.  These individuals were denied employment and many were called to testify before Congress during the anti-Soviet scare of the McCarthy era.  “The Hazel Scott Show” was cancelled.  And when she was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, she spoke eloquently that “the entertainment profession has done its part for America, in war and peace, and it must not be dragged through the mud of hysterical name-calling at a moment when we need to enrich and project the American way of life to the world. There is no better, more effective, more easily understood medium for telling and selling the American way of life than our entertainers, creative artists, and performers, for they are the real voice of America.”  Soon after this, Hazel Scott relocated to Paris, and then returned to New York in 1967, but never regained her fame and died in 1981.

I believe that the season of Lent is a time to reflect on our state as humans, mortal and imperfect yet loved so much that Jesus would come to be one of us, and to die for our sake.  As we give thanks for Jesus and for our many gifts, may we also confess to the brokenness that leads us to discount the gifts of others.  Just as the people of Jerusalem failed to see Jesus for his divinity, we fail to see Jesus in each other, and in the stranger, especially those the world would count as “the least.”  When we give thanks that Jesus died for us, let us remember that Jesus died for ALL of us, all whom Jesus loved.

Peace,
Wendy

It is helpful to stop and reflect once in a while—as individuals, as congregations, and as the Presbytery of San Gabriel.  This week is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season.  Lent is traditionally the season of preparation for people who seek to join the Christian church, with Easter as the time for receiving them.  If nothing else, this is what I suggest for a Lenten practice:  to be more intentional in reflecting on who we are as humans, as Christians, as individuals in need of grace.  Sometimes people abstain from something that is appealing or regular in their lives, which might be seen as some kind of cleansing ritual, but it can also simply be a way of noticing how we fall into patterns of dependency on things that distract us from God.

As a presbytery, we might reflect on who we are and what God is calling us to do.  Five years ago, ten churches and the presbytery used the “New Beginnings” process to look at who we are, who is in our community, and what God is saying to us now.  This culminated in several serious decisions made by some of the participating churches, and a very large and active feedback session on the part of the Presbytery in January 2016. 

The feedback we received was a little different than what I expected.  There was gratitude for Living Waters for the World as an opportunity for churches to join together in mission.  But the priority named by the members was relationship—building relationship between local church and presbytery and building relationships between churches.  There were also comments common to just about every mainline church in America:  a desire for revitalization and help in building youth ministries.  Last year we surveyed the commissioners at one presbytery meeting, and the response affirmed the desire for revitalization and building relationships between churches.

This feedback has guided presbytery leadership over the years, to varying degrees of success.  But we do what we can!

A few years ago we focused on youth ministry at the 2018 Winterfest, with the leadership of the Fuller Seminary Youth Institute.  Their “Growing Young” approach suggests that all kinds of churches can be a welcoming spiritual home for young people, and they offer six core commitments to adopt:

• Unlock keychain leadership by empowering all, especially young people
• Empathize with today’s young people instead of judging or criticizing them
• Take Jesus’ message seriously, welcoming young people into a Jesus-centered way of life
• Fuel a warm community of peer and intergenerational friendships instead of focusing on “cool” worship or programs
• Prioritize young people (and families) everywhere, not just with lip service but by supporting, resourcing, and involving young people in all facets of the congregation
• Be the best neighbors by enabling (and I would say joining with) young people to connect and be good neighbors locally and globally.

In San Gabriel Presbytery, we established our annual Day of Service as a way to foster relationships between churches, as individuals work together for a few hours.  We coordinate this day with our Tapestry Youth Collective’s summer mission week, and it has been a joy to see presbytery folk of all generations working together each summer.

This year we have the privilege to welcome General Assembly Co-Moderator Rev. Cindy Kohlmann to our presbytery for Pentecost weekend, so be sure to mark your calendars for Saturday morning, May 30, at Iglesia de la Comunidad.  Cindy is a dynamic speaker, and a good friend, and it will be great for her to see that you are all that I brag about, and more.  However, this impacts the Day of Service (too much on the agenda, and too early for the youth to come), so leaders from Tapestry and Justice Peacemaking and Mission (the committee that organizes the Day of Service) recommended, and the Executive Commission approved, that we hold the following:

Evening of Advocacy, Education, and Service
an intergenerational event
Tuesday, July 21^st, 2020
6-9 pm, including dinner, place TBD.

So mark your calendars!  The details have not been worked out yet, but this will be a great opportunity to connect with our younger members and listen to their perspective and wisdom.  At last year’s Day of Service, we had a brief but sweet time of sharing across generations.  This year it is my hope that we have deeper mutual learning as we dialog together on issues important to us as followers of Christ in this world.

I just heard that public health workers are teaching children as young as 6 years of age how to administer Narcan, which reverses the lethal impact of opioid overdose, as too often they are present when parents or others overdose.  We have heard young people speak out on gun violence and creation care.  Certainly their experience of and perspective on the world is radically different than mine, and I need to understand this better if I, for one, can relate to them better, and see more fully what is happening in this world.

Churches are the one institution outside the family where we are able to walk with each other over the course of years and generations.  We are blessed by this kind of long view of life, and my hope is that we can learn more from each other as we celebrate the ways God lives through us in all stages of life.  In this respect, I give thanks for the Presbyterian Church, where we see God working through all people, in all circumstances.

Along these lines, we give thanks for the life of Katherine Johnson, who went home to the Lord after 101 years on this earth—including 33 years helping astronauts fly beyond the earth.  You may know something of Ms. Johnson through the book and film “Hidden Figures,” about several African-American women mathematicians who did complex mathematical computations for NASA.  I confess to great Presbyterian pride when I saw one scene in the film, with Katherine Johnson speaking with astronaut John Glenn, because I knew that these two history-making, intellectually brilliant, honorable and diligent leaders had one other thing in common—they were both Presbyterian elders!

Please mark your calendars for July 21^st, and consider utilizing this Lenten season for reflection on who we are as children of God, and as fallen humans yet saved and called forward by Christ’s life-giving love.

Peace of Christ be with you this Lent,
Wendy