I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. Genesis 22:17

Lent is a season when we are reminded of our mortality. Many of us started the season at an Ash Wednesday service where someone put ashes on our forehead and said something foreboding like “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (though some happy Christians can’t help but add something like “God can make amazing things out of dust!”).

So perhaps it was fitting that this last week we heard of a few colleagues and friends—members of that large clan God promised to Abraham and Sarah—who have left this mortal plane and gone home to God. One person was Rev. Dr. Burton Mack, long-time and beloved professor at Claremont School of Theology. I regret that we were not aware of his passing until his wife contacted us a year after his death, which was March 9, 2022. His obituary can be found at https://cst.edu/in-memoriam-burton-l- mack/. He was a New Testament scholar whose several published works reflect a forward-thinking and insightful mind all the way to the end.

More recently we heard of the passing of Rev. Dr. Cyris Heesuk Moon, on March 5, 2023. I knew Cyris when I first came back to California, as he was a strong and active leader at SFTS. Cyris was a pioneer among the Korean church in the PC(USA), and was also a published scholar, sharing the Koreans’ faith story and God’s concern for the minjung with the wider church.

Then we heard that our Presbytery attorney Kay Gustafson died on Saturday, March 11, 2023. Kay was very private, so did not let on about the seriousness of her health condition until just last month, but she had been battling colon cancer for almost a year. Kay was an ever-present and committed legal counsel for the Synod of Southern California and Hawai‘i and most of the presbyteries here. She was uniquely gifted for her dedication and diligence, and her love and knowledge of both civil law and Presbyterian polity. I would freely give her contact information to any of our churches who had a legal question, because as a faithful ruling elder, she would give her advice to any church that asked without charge, and even when she did charge for her services, she did so at a discounted rate. Kay was so dependable that I started to worry only after she had to cancel her regular session at our recent WinterFest. Though I didn’t dare ask her, I liked to think Kay and I had a lot in common, and we did quite a bit of work together on any manner of issues on behalf of Christ’s church. Our love and prayers go to Kay’s children and her husband, Rev. Curtis Webster, who is pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Ontario. You may know Curtis, who has been an interim specialist and, as interim pastor of Michillinda Presbyterian here in Pasadena, helped to bring about the merger that resulted in New Hope Church.

Yesterday, we had a baby dedication at Interwoven. (For those who are wondering—there might be a couple of you—I was consulted about this. While today, we Presbyterians would not encourage baby dedications in order to dissuade a family from baptizing their child, I am not aware of forcing a baptism on a family who are not prepared to present their child for the sacrament.) As I watched the joy of the gathered family—family of blood, choice, and faith—I couldn’t help but feel the bittersweet tone of the moment, because the baby’s aunt (the sister of the baby’s mother) died suddenly last year. As we celebrated this new life coming into our very large clan of Christians, I had this glimpse of what God sees in the descendants of Sarah and Abraham: young and old, living on earth and in heaven, a beautiful collection of beloved people of every kind of circumstance, gathered forever by the loving spirit of God. Mortal as we are, in Christ we are forever—forever alive, forever in love, forever one. Thanks be to God.

Wendy

In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed. Psalm 139:16b

We are in the middle of the Lenten season. As I have mentioned, there are many different ways to understand and practice Lent, but personally, I tend to use Lent as a season of reflection on who God is, and how are we to respond. Perhaps this is the greatest proof of my Presbyterian theological roots, as John Calvin began his Institutes of the Christian Religion with the following premise:

Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists in two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.

Psalm 139 (or at least most of it) is a favorite reflection on who we are as creatures of a loving God, known by our Creator beyond any of our attempts to escape or hide the truth of our lives. But I was reminded yesterday that there are opportunities to witness the great tapestry of our lives, and the great love of God in weaving together the strands of that tapestry.

Tiffany Ashworth was ordained a minister of the Word and Sacrament yesterday, in a lovely worship service hosted by Knox Presbyterian Church in Pasadena. Before she gave the benediction, Tiffany shared eloquently how she sees God’s love throughout her life embodied in the people witnessing her ordination, people who have known her at different times of her life, representing a variety of backgrounds and faith traditions. (She said it beautifully, but I didn’t record it so I apologize now for my clumsy paraphrase.) I pray that each of us gets to see the panorama of God’s love in our lives.

Our Lenten reflections tend to focus on our broken, sinful, mortal nature (as, of course, Calvin did). But the full story of Christ’s sacrifice tells us that depraved as we are, God yet loves us so much as to die for our sake. After all, we are the very product of God’s intricate creative craft. As the Psalmist sings,

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.                                                  Psalm 139:13-14

Indeed, in spite of our failings and the tragedy that surrounds us in this old world, we are reminded that there is no sin, no brokenness, that is greater than the power of God’s grace to save us. This, I believe, is another clumsy paraphrase, this time of Karl Barth. A quote that is often ascribed to Barth is “Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.” Which reminds me of the author John Updike, grandson of a Presbyterian minister, who described his happy childhood of faith: “My parents were inclined to laugh a lot and to examine everything for the fingerprints of God.”

While we would surely deceive ourselves if we say we have no sin (1 John 1:8), we discount the glory of God’s grace if we surrender to despair. We also miss the point of our lives if we simply revel in the saving grace of God and fail to share God’s love with others. Let me share one more quote, from Irenaeus of Lyons: “The glory of God is a living person, and the life of each living person is the vision of God.”

As we look honestly at our need for redemption, may we do so with the confidence in a saving God. And may we heed God’s call to join in the band of the redeemed to share the good news with others.

Peace,

Wendy

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:4-5

I am so happy to be back home, and WinterFest and our first Presbytery meeting of the year offered a nice way to re-enter from my sabbatical. Thank you for your prayers for my rest and renewal. I am still adjusting to the time change from Israel-Palestine (they are 10 hours ahead), but it was such an incredible blessing to be able to participate in this study program at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. I am grateful to God and to you for enabling me to do this.

I am still processing my experience, which impacted me on many levels. And there is much to share from WinterFest and Presbytery, so I will hold off on sharing too much right now. But I will say that amidst all the ancient and holy shrines and basilicas in and around Jerusalem, I was much more moved by the efforts of God’s living stones, people of faith who continue to work for peace and compassion amidst very difficult and complex conflicts.

Of course, we have our own crises here in the USA, especially the multiple mass shootings from a couple of weeks ago, starting with the tragedy in Monterey Park. I was able to touch base with Rev. Ming Hsu, pastor of our Good Shepherd Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Monterey Park, and he said that the people are doing well and their faith remains strong. I urge you to pray for God’s guidance as we face an almost insurmountable problem with the number of guns in this country.

The first evening of WinterFest was led by two outstanding speakers, Elder Mona Morales Recalde, tribal member of and community educator for the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians Gabrieleno/ Tongva and elected Commissioner with the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission (and clerk of session of La Verne Heights Presbyterian Church!), and Dr. Elaine Enns, co- author of Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization with partner Dr. Ched Myers. This session was the most impactful event I’ve experienced in the PC(USA) in my memory, especially as Mona shared her faith and expertise in confronting the near genocide of her people with her faith-based hope for the future. Elaine’s work with Ched at Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries is well-known, and she shared a model for examining our own migration stories to uncover the intergenerational traumas that are impacting us and those we encounter. She highlighted the different ways by which we became settlers in lands that have already been stewarded over the millennia by Indigenous peoples—those who, as Mona emphasized, are still here! The book Healing Haunted Histories has been transformative for me, and Elaine was generous to share a way to purchase copies at a discounted price. If you are interested, go to the Wipf and Stock website and when checking out, type in HHHFEB23 in the “Coupon Code” field. Mona lifted up the recent return of an acre of land in Altadena to the Gabrieleno/Tongva tribe, and suggested some volunteer options that we will most likely take on in future months. More on that later.

Thursday’s sessions were led by Rev. Dr. Daniel Lee, reflecting his work as Academic Dean for the Center for Asian American Theology and Ministry at Fuller Seminary and author of the recently- published book Doing Asian American Theology: A Contextual Framework for Faith and Practice, and I led a training for new elders and deacons. Both sessions included opportunities for sharing from their participants

On Friday evening, Kay Gustafson was unable to lead her annual workshop on legal issues for churches, but if you want to receive a copy of her presentation, please contact Ally Lee at ally@sangabpres.org and she will send it to you, and pass on questions you may have to Kay for response. But we had two other sessions on Friday, one co-led by our Stated Clerks Ally Lee and Steve Salyards, on the amendments to the PC(USA) Constitution that came out of last summer’s General Assembly, and a leadership training session in Spanish led by Revs. Amy Mendez and Margarita Reyes.

Our Presbytery meeting on Saturday morning was the first fully in-person meeting in three years, and we thank Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena for being gracious hosts. The main highlights from this meeting were the approval of 17 of the 33 amendments being proposed by the General Assembly, an update on Board of Pensions benefits and assistance programs from Senior Church Consultant Rev. Kristin Leucht (kleucht@pensions.org), the commissioning of Sam Bang as Co-Pastor for Congregational Life at Northminster Presbyterian Church, and the approval of the call and ordination of Tiffany Ashworth. Tiffany has just begun her ministry with Occidental Presbyterian Church in Eagle Rock, and she will be ordained on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at 4:00 pm at Tiffany’s home church, Knox Presbyterian. Let’s show our support for Tiffany and celebrate new ministries in our midst by attending her ordination service.

WinterFest ended on Saturday with a plenary session on “Reimagining Church Building Use,” with a panel of friends and experts on church property transformation: Rev. Carlton Rhoden (Westminster Presbyterian, Los Angeles), Rev. Victor Cyrus-Franklin (First Methodist, Inglewood), Phil Burns (elder at Pasadena Presbyterian but here speaking as Principal of the Arroyo Group and lead for the Congregational Land Committee of Making Housing and Community Happen), and Rev. Bert Newton, organizer for Making Housing and Community Happen. The panel spoke of ways that our churches can work with knowledgeable partners to repurpose underutilized property for community use and a new income stream for the church’s mission. If interested in exploring possibilities, you can contact myself or Wendy Gist (gist.wendy@gmail.com), or Phil Burns at (phil@arroyogroup.com).

I had to notice that both Mona Morales Recalde and Phil Burns are active elders in our churches, yet their “day job” expertise was made known to us only as we consulted community organizations. What incredible gifts we have among our own church members! And even as we look at making best use of the property God has entrusted to us, may we always remember our goal of bringing more of God’s children to Christ—knowing that the church is made not of concrete and plaster, but of us living stones.

Giving thanks for a good start for 2023,

Wendy

“Teach the wise, and they will become wiser;
inform the righteous, and their learning will increase.”

Proverbs 9:9 (CEB)

According to USC Annenberg’s Center for Third Space Thinking, intellectual curiosity is one of five core attributes – along with adaptability, cultural competency, empathy, and 360-degree thinking – that they identify as “critical for success in today’s complex world.” Intellectual curiosity is defined, in part, as a “hunger for new knowledge, information, and understanding that fuels ever-higher levels of learning.” Of course, this concept is neither new nor novel. The Presbyterian church, in line with many reformed traditions, have valued and promoted education and learning for centuries.

The Presbytery of San Gabriel (PSG), accordingly, is committed to providing opportunities for continued learning for its members and is excited for Winterfest this week (February 1-4), an annual educational conference planned by the Education, Equipping, and
Empowerment Committee (aka “the triple E committee”). You can find information about the sessions and speakers on the Winterfest 2023 flyer located in the Monday Update or on the Presbytery website. And you can register for the event here.

This year’s theme is “Conversations for Church Leaders to Begin 2023” and there are sessions planned to cover a variety of topics. New Elder and Deacon Training (Thursday) led by Executive Presbyter Rev. Wendy Tajima is a great resource for newly ordained elders and deacons. With new rules and regulations enacted every year that can impact your ministry, Legal and HR Issues in Congregations (Friday) by Kay Gustafson, Esq, is highly recommend for anyone serving in church administration or property, personnel, or financial leadership. Stated Clerk for Administration, Rev. Ally Lee and Stated Clerk for Judicial Process, Elder Steve Salyard, will lead General Assembly Amendments Q&A (Friday) to address any questions you may have about the proposed amendments from the 225th General Assembly.

For those planning to attend Dr. Daniel Lee’s session Understanding Asian America for Ministry and Justice (Thursday) and who want to learn more about Asian-American theology, you can check out his new book Doing Asian-American Theology. We are delighted that Dr. Lee joined PSG last year and he is a member of the EEE helping plan this year’s Winterfest. We are also thrilled to have Dr. Elaine Enns, author of Healing Haunting Histories, and Elder Mona Morales Recalde, recently elected commissioner to the Native American Indian Commission, to co-lead the session Healing Stories (Wed).

For our Spanish language leaders, Rev. Amy Mendez and Rev. Margarita Reyes will be leading a session on Friday night entitled Influencer y Colaboradores Para El Reino De Dios/ Influences and Collaborators for the Kingdom of God. We a blessed by the depth of wisdom and experience both Rev. Mendez and Rev. Reyes bring to our Presbytery.

This year’s Winterfest will conclude on Saturday, February 4, with an in-person plenary session immediately following the scheduled Presbytery meeting at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena. The plenary session will be a panel-discussion on the topic of Reimaging Church Building Use, aimed to inspire all of us to reimagine and reconsider how we can best steward the properties entrusted to us for the good of our neighbors. We will welcome Rev. Victor Cyrus-Franklin, Lead Pastor of Grace UMC of Los Angeles and Inglewood First UMC; Rev. Carlton A. Rhoden, Head of Staff/Pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles; Rev. Bert Newton, Making Housing and Community Happen Pasadena; and Philip Burns, Chair of Congregational Land Committee of MHCH and Principle Planner at the Arroyo Group.

A quick shout-out to the EEE Committee for their hard work in planning Winterfest. I hope to see many of you this week on Zoom and in Pasadena!

Peace,

Sam Bang
Associate Executive Presbyter

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.

Eccl. 3:1

I’ve been working with San Gabriel Presbytery (SGP) for over 17 years as the Mission Advocate for Hunger, Poverty, and Peacemaking Issues, so you might ask why I titled this column New Beginnings. As it turns out, last Monday (1/16) I began a new job for you all. I am now, in addition to being the Mission Advocate, the Immigrant Accompaniment Organizer (IAO) for SGP. I am looking forward to this addition as I see it meshing very nicely with what I am already doing. Immigration and immigrant/refugee ministries have been part of my very broad job description as the Mission Advocate, but now I will have the opportunity to go more in depth in these areas. It also means I will have the opportunity to more closely work alongside and support our churches that are directly supporting immigrants and refugees in various ways.

I want to hear your stories, learn how your church and church members are caring for/advocating for/supporting immigrants and refugees, and work together with you to form a plan of how I can support your church and its unique situation. I want to stress this point. I believe that each of our churches is living out a unique call of how to care for its community, which often includes immigrants and refugees, so I need to hear from you and learn from you. I hope your church will reach out to me to set up a meeting in the coming months or invite me to a mission committee or immigration team meeting. My contact information is below. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll be calling.

The IAO position has several facets. Besides working directly with SGP churches, I will also be collaborating with other presbyteries and community organizations. Some of what we will be doing together is education and capacity building. The SoCal Region Presbyterian Immigrant and Refugee Task Force (IRTF) meetings offer quarterly updates on immigration policies, the immigration situation in our region, and advocacy opportunities. Our Living Waters for the World team is exploring opportunities for water purification system work in the Tijuana area through Via Migrante. Via Migrante is a sister organization to Via International, which hosted our virtual border trips in 2021. I also continue to support the Baldwin Park Administrative Commission as it works with San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity to build affordable and immigrant housing on the Baldwin Park church property.

I’ve already met with my colleagues in Pacific Presbytery, Heidi Worthen Gamble and Anita Chombeng, and there is a lot of excitement about what we can accomplish together. We plan to offer at least one study trip to the U.S./Mexico border this year. We are also talking to Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) about the possibility of opening an immigrant/refugee welcome center in Los Angeles. This would be done utilizing a broad coalition of faith groups and immigrant support organizations.

If immigrant accompaniment and immigration justice are ministry areas that you want to learn more about or are already passionate about, I recommend you to get yourself on the email list for updates from the IRTF by emailing Heidi at heidi@pacificpresbytery.org and telling her you’d like to get the IRTF emails. Also, look for updates periodically in the SGP Monday Morning Update. And please reach out to me directly.

Email: gist.wendy@gmail.com
Cell phone: 626-376-6912

There is a lot of exciting, faith-led immigration justice work going on in our Presbytery and throughout Southern California. I hope you will join me in some of our future efforts and I look forward to serving alongside you in this new role!

In peace,

Wendy