Reflection from a Parishioner

Whatever Awaits Me There

As spring turns into summer and the end of the school year has come and gone, the shift in seasons may mark a shift in daily rhythms for many of us. Some may have family vacations or reunions planned, others are embarking on service or immersion trips, and some All Soulsians may stay in the Bay Area for most of the summer. As a graduate student, I am very intentional about how I spend my summers, and I try to prioritize activities that will refill my cup after the demanding school year. Usually this involves rest (lots), time in nature, and not overly-scheduled days. I also try to ground my summer plans in response to the questions, “What do I need now? What does my body need? What does my heart need? What does my spirit need?” This summer, I think I need a pilgrimage. 

Around this time last year, I had a conversation with Annie Rovzar about her experiences as a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. While I knew folks who had undertaken that pilgrimage experience in the past, hearing Annie’s description of the transformation that occurred in her while en route to Santiago lit a spark in me. I had always told myself that I’d know when “the time is right” to head to Spain for the Camino, and this summer it feels like that moment has arrived. 

In their introduction to the 2021 Advent Weekly Prayer Booklet, Annie and Rev. Maggie wrote about how an artist “knows that something is being born, even before she can see it materialize before her, and her task is to trust in this unfolding.” This description of an artist – and her task – resonates deeply with my intentions for this pilgrimage. After days and days and days of walking, I imagine that a spaciousness will quietly begin to take shape around my heart… a spaciousness that invites my critical, analyzing mind to lay fallow for a bit as I tend to my deeper, feeling-centered gut where seeds of trust are sown. And yet, I know that trust cannot grow without intimacy – intimacy with God and with myself – because whatever the “something” is that’s being born, it will only be life-giving if it is born from co-laboring with God. I hope that as the miles go by and my pack gets lighter as I empty it of things I once thought I needed for the journey, I will come to entrust my own unfolding into God’s hands and have the courage to step into whatever awaits me there.

So although I’ll be traveling to Spain to embark on this inner journey, as Rev. Phil said in a Pathfinder article two years ago, “While there is beauty and splendor in far-off locations, the essence of pilgrimage can be practiced wherever one is.” What intentions do you want to bring into your life during this new season? How might you move through this summer as a pilgrim, with palms open, ready to receive what God wants to show you?

-Annie Hayes

From the Stephen Ministry Leaders

Compassionate, Full of Faith, Skilled, and Trustworthy

These are the core qualities of a Stephen Minister. We learned about and practiced these qualities in this year’s Stephen Ministry training class meeting weekly in the Common Room from mid-February through June.  Our brand new Stephen Ministers are now ready to be commissioned on Sunday June 11 at the 10:30 service.

Stephen Ministers are lay members of All Souls trained to provide one-to-one care to those experiencing a difficult time in life, such as grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, or relocation.  Some of the skills taught and practiced in Stephen Ministry training include listening closely, talking about feelings, holding confidentiality, and maintaining boundaries.  Our Stephen Ministry trainees worked hard over two-hour sessions on Thursday nights, as well as two full-day Saturday sessions, to learn and practice these skills – especially practice, as Stephen Ministry training involves role playing, and more role playing, and more..

It has been deeply rewarding to see our Stephen Ministry trainees grow in confidence, knowledge and skill over time, practicing patience, vulnerability and adaptability during our training. 

As All Souls commissions Beth Christensen, Julie Holcomb and Kaki Logan during the 10:30 service on Sunday, June 11, please join us in welcoming them to the team of active Stephen Ministers. It has been our joy to journey with them as they embrace their call to be Christ to one another in this way.

If you are interested in learning more about Stephen Ministry and/or wish to work with a Stephen Minister please see Rev. Maggie Foote or Madeline Feeley

-Stephen Leaders Madeline Feeley, Nancy Pryer, Christina Robinson, and Raymond Yee

In Memoriam

The Rev. Ann Coburn

The following is Ann’s obituary from Episcopal News Service. All Souls will remember Ann as a faithful and compassionate member of our community, an advocate for justice, and a friend. Ann’s memorial service will be at All Souls at 10:00am on Saturday, June 24th, 2023.

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Ann Coburn, who opened doors for women clergy in The Episcopal Church, a lifelong advocate for social justice, and beloved mother, grandmother, pastor and friend, passed away June 7 in Oakland, California.

Coburn was ordained at St. James’ Episcopal Church in Danbury, Connecticut, in December 1977, just a year after the church formally began recognizing women priests.  She was the first woman priest in Connecticut and one-half of the first married couple ever ordained together.  Coburn confronted sexism in the church with a forceful grace, including working with ecumenical groups in Danbury to encourage churches to open their altars to women, spending time as the only woman priest in the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, and serving as a part of the Task Force authorized under resolution A045, passed by the Denver General Convention in 2000, to visit dioceses not ordaining women to “monitor progress toward full access of women to the ordination process, as required by the canons.”

Coburn served at St. James’ first as a curate 1977-79 and later rector 1982-98, where she mobilized ecumenical groups in Danbury around a variety of causes, including the founding of the Daily Bread Food pantry that continues to serve residents of Danbury to this day. In addition to her time at St James’, Coburn served as a canon at Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, Connecticut, as rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Providence, Rhode Island, and as interim rector of Grace Church, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Coburn also served six terms in the Episcopal House of Deputies and from 2000-2005 on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, where she advocated particularly for initiatives supporting women in the priesthood and a variety of other social justice issues. Coburn believed that the church needed to be more inclusive and lead congregations in thoughtful discussions about the use of gender pronouns during the liturgy.  Also, as a member of the Planning, Budget and Finance Committee for many years, she worked to address the ways in which the church supported a greater range of voices in the church structurally. In these roles, Coburn became a mentor to and an advocate for women in the priesthood.  Over the course of her career, women went from being completely unrepresented in the priesthood to now making up 40% of all Episcopal priests (though as Coburn would point out there is still much to be done and a 13.5 percent wage gap between men and women in the church persists).

As Rev. Marilyn Anderson recalled: “I will always be grateful to Ann and others who were our trailblazers. Ushering in huge changes within an institution is really difficult. There’s a lot of resistance to change and a lot of adapting to do. These first women priests absorbed a lot of pushback, and they made the way a lot easier for those of us ordained in the next generation.”

Coburn was also a fierce advocate for Palestinian rights. Coburn spent several years attending and organizing Sabeel Conferences, which strive “towards theological liberation through instilling the Christian faith in the daily lives of those who suffer under occupation, violence, injustice, and discrimination.” Later she fought for ‘responsible travel’ to the Holy Land including leading four trips to Palestine to bear witness to and build awareness of the oppressive conditions there.

She was director of fundraising and financial oversight for the Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network and was the 2023 Cotton Fite Award recipient, in recognition of her work for the Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network.

Harry Gunkel of the Palestine Israel Network said, “In four visits to the West Bank and Gaza with Ann leading our small groups, I witnessed over and over again not only her wisdom, experience and fierce devotion to doing justice. Ann has a rare gift of kindness and gentleness, determination and steadfastness all together in perfect balance.”

Coburn was a graduate of the Ethel Walker School, Pine Manor College, and Georgian Court College in Lakewood, New Jersey. She later went to seminary at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, where she later returned to work as Alumni Relations Director in 2005, calling the Bay Area home for almost the next 20 years.

At the same time, Coburn remained firmly connected to the East Coast, and Wellfleet, Massachusetts, in particular, where she listened to the Red Sox on the radio, did jigsaw puzzles and swam in the ponds with her grandchildren every summer.

Coburn is survived by her son Noah (Elizabeth Ruane-Coburn), daughter Abigail (Harris Epstein) and five grandchildren Nathaniel, Ruthie, William, Atticus and Azariah.

A funeral service will be held for Coburn at 10:00am on June 24 at All Souls Parish in Berkeley, with a memorial service and burial of her ashes scheduled tentatively for September 9 at St. James the Fisherman, Wellfleet.

The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has established the Rev. Ann Coburn Fund for Women in the Ministry, and donations can be made to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, 138 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02111 or by going to www.diomass.org/give-now. In lieu of flowers, Coburn requested that friends consider supporting this fund or the Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network.

From the Associate for Ministry Development

New Joys, New Possibilities

“New joys, new possibilities.” This line from the New Zealand Night Prayer popped into my head as I have considered some of the possibilities available to us because of our new worship schedule time. One of these new joys and new possibilities is this new unstructured time after the 10:30a service. I have found it exciting and fun to have this time, without hurry, to just hang out and be present to each other.

But this new time to hang out has also highlighted the fact that we don’t currently have any food available to gather around during this time! Because of Covid, our Hospitality team sort of dissolved, and for just lots of reasons, it has not yet been revived. Our extremely faithful sexton, Scott Garriott, has been purchasing snacks when he is able, and while that has been so appreciated, it seems like it’s time, with all this new energy at the service, to revive this Hospitality team.

At this point, I’d like to just start by asking folks to simply sign-up to bring some baked goods or snacks on Sundays to share, and then we’ll see where things go from there. It seems like there are enough of you out there who love to bake and are always looking for reasons to try a new recipe or to give away what you already baked so that you don’t eat it all yourself! If this seems to work over the summer, then we’ll see if we can keep it up during the year as well. See you at coffee hour! 

Sign-up to bring food to share on Sundays after the 10:30a service by clicking here.

-Emily

Save the Dates

Weekly Worship

Join us for worship this week:

You can access the live stream through our website or by tuning into our All Souls Episcopal Parish Youtube page. Click here to watch on Sunday morning. 

If you miss a Sunday, you can always catch the sermon on our homepage or as a podcast, anywhere you listen to podcasts! 

Wednesday 9am Service

Join the Zoom call here, or join us in person in the Nave at 9a. Password: 520218.

Formation

Adult Formation Classes

  • Reading Between the Lines Bible Study @ 7:00a. Click here to join by Zoom, or join them in-person in the Common Room.
  • Reading Between the Lines Bible Study @ 9:15a. On break for the summer.
  • Thomas Merton Book Group @ 9:15a in the Parish Hall or on Zoom (click here). Thomas Merton was perhaps the most original and influential Christian writer of the last century. From his desk at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, Merton’s Trappist vocation and cloistered refuge provided him with the space and time to write more than fifty books. This year we will begin at the beginning, reading together his first book, his spiritual autobiography, The Seven Story Mountain. Please join us as we explore our own spiritual autobiographies alongside this wonderful book.

Children, Youth, and Family News

Nursery The downstairs nursery is open and available to you for your use whenever you’re at All Souls. This is not a staffed nursery, so an adult must be there with your child, but if you need a quiet place to take a time out, change a diaper, let your child play or take a rest, the nursery is open for you to do all of those things. If there is a service going on that’s being livestreamed, you will be able to watch the livestream on the computer in the nursery as well.

Side Chapel There is a special seating area located in the side chapel that is meant for children and families, giving children a clear view of the altar, and full of materials with which they can immerse themselves in the actions of the liturgy. All are welcome and encouraged to check it out!

Sunday School This week, join us for Children’s Chapel during the 10:30am service. Children are invited to follow the Children’s Chapel leaders down the center aisle after the gospel reading, and rejoin their families before communion!

Faithful Families the final Faithful Families of this year will be Thursday, June 29th from 5:30-7:15pm! Join us for dinner, intergenerational formation, and a short evening prayer service. Click Here to RSVP!

Youth Youth Group is on hiatus for the summer.

High School Immersion Trip This year’s High School immersion trip will be to Mexico City, led by Toni Martinez-Borgfeldt, seminarian Michael Drell, Maggie Foote, and parishioner Teresa Muñoz. Eight youth are signed up to go, and are looking forward to a meaningful immersion experience widening their perspective on the Episcopal Church by connecting with youth from Anglican churches in Mexico, experiencing a day of pilgrimage, eating lots of good food and immersing ourselves in the local culture. If you would like to financially support the youth attending this trip, you can send a check to All Souls with High School Immersion Trip in the memo line. Thank you!

Email Maggie for more information about Children, Youth and Family Ministries at All Souls.

Episcopal Summer Camp Registrations are Now Open!

Episcopal Camps across the country are starting to open for registration, including the Diocese of California’s not one, but TWO summer camps: St. Dorothy’s Rest, and The Bishop’s Ranch. You can find more information about the dates, age ranges, and cost for each camp at the links below:

St. Dorothy’s Rest

The Bishop’s Ranch

Other News & Notes

Big Sur Camping Trip, July 14-16

The Santa Lucia Chapel and Campground, a mission of All Saints Parish in Carmel, is a private and secluded campground in the gorgeous Big Sur area. It’s a sweet spot that sits right on the Big Sur River, and is right next door to the Big Sur River Inn and restaurant. There’s a spot to float down the river and a little swimming hole and family friendly beach, complete with a rock to jump from. 

Cost: $45 per person for the weekend (children under 5 stay for free; $180 max per family) Note: Santa Lucia has substantially raised their rates, but we are hoping to keep this weekend affordable for all who are interested. Scholarships are available. Talk to Emily Hansen Curran for more information. To reserve your spot you must sign up and pay in full no later than July 1st! 

Confirmation at Grace Cathedral

This Saturday (6/10) at Grace Cathedral some of our Catechumens (Kerri Holland, Sarah Kern, and Kaki Logan) are being Confirmed! Anyone is welcome to the service, at 10a, to support these folks in this confirmation of their faith.

Summer Book Groups!

The Adult Formation Committee is pleased to announce the summer book groups for the summer. All book groups will meet at 9:15am prior to the 10:30am service.  

  • June 4, 11, 18, 25 Thomas Merton Seven Story Mountain. Led by Jack Shoemaker 
  • July 9, 16, 23 The Meal That Reconnects: Eucharistic Eating and the Global Food Crisis by Mary E. McGann. Led by Ruth Meyers
  • July 30, August 6, 13 The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Led by Emily McDonald

Summer Book Group #1 – The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton 

Led by Jack Shoemaker. Starts June 4th.

Thomas Merton was perhaps the most original and influential Christian writer of the last century. From his desk at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, Merton’s Trappist vocation and cloistered refuge provided him with the space and time to write more than fifty books. This year we will begin at the beginning, reading together his first book, his spiritual autobiography, The Seven Story Mountain. Published in 1948, it became a national bestseller and is thought by many to be among the finest nonfiction books published in the 20 th century. Merton anticipates the broad curiosity of contemporary Christians and prepares himself for a life of devotion. His work raises questions many of us have had and many of us have struggled to answer. Please join us as we explore our own spiritual autobiographies alongside this wonderful book. This book richly repays rereading, so even if you’ve read it years ago, refresh yourself and join our group.  (I am warned that the audio version of this book is significantly abridged.)

June 4th – Part I: Chapters 1, 2, and 3

June 11th – Part I: Chapter 4 and Part II: Chapters 1 and 2

June 18th – Part III: Chapters 1, 2 and 3

June 25th : Part III: Chapter 4 and “Meditatio Pauperis in Solitudine”

Racial Justice Movie Night, June 16th 

Come out to the new Jordan Court Community Room to watch the film “Mississippi Masala”. Bring some food and drinks to share. 6:30p for dinner. Movie starts at 7p. 

The vibrant cultures of India, Uganda, and the American South come together in Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala, a luminous look at the complexities of love in the modern melting pot. Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda by the dictatorship of Idi Amin, twentysomething Mina (Sarita Choudhury) spends her days cleaning rooms in an Indian-run motel in Mississippi. When she falls for the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius (Denzel Washington), their passionate romance challenges the prejudices of both of their families and exposes the rifts between the region’s Indian and African American communities. Tackling thorny issues of racism, colorism, culture clash, and displacement with bighearted humor and and a deeply satisfying celebration of love’s power.

Contact Paul Mathew, pmathew1000@gmail.com or Emily McDonald, emilykmcdonald5@gmail.com for any questions.

Need a parking spot?

We’ve got a parking lot under the Jordan Court apartment building that is available to anyone with challenges with mobility or anyone who regularly drives someone with challenges with mobility. If that is you, and you would like access to the parking garage on Sundays or other times when you are at the church, please reach out to Annie Rovzar, annie@allsoulsparish.org.

Sacred Earth: Growing Beloved Community through the Universe Story in Sacred Ritual, with Mary Evelyn Tucker

When: Thursday, June 8, 2023 7:00 PM pacific

Where: Zoom, Register here

On this webcast, Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker, Co-Director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale and global visionary, hosted by Bishop Marc Andrus and Dr. Paloma Pavel, will explore the Universe Story, the Cosmic Walk and Eco-Confirmation. They will be joined by Caren Miles who

coordinates Eco-Confirmation within the diocese incorporating the Cosmic Walk.

Professor Tucker has joint appointments at Yale’s School of the Environment and the Yale Divinity School. She convened ten Harvard conferences on world religions and the environment and recently authored a definitive biography of her mentor, Fr. Thomas Berry (Thomas Berry: A Biography). She co-authored Journey of the Universe, a book and film that offers an outline of “the universe story”—a moving narrative of cosmic evolution from the origins of the cosmos until our present moment. This project, drawing inspiration from the vision of Teilhard de Chardin and Fr. Thomas Berry, awakens a sense of wonder and awe in the face of cosmic processes, and evokes an ecological consciousness that inspires our commitment to the flourishing of a vibrant Earth community. Thomas Berry called this “the Great Work” of our times. 

Albany Thrives Together

Albany Thrives Together is a local all volunteer nonprofit organization made up of mostly retired people from Albany including many members of St Alban’s. We have been active in Albany for almost 10 years first as the Diverse Housing Working Group then reborn as Albany Thrives Together. Our former minister Julie Wakelee Lynch
was a founding member of the group.

We focus on our three weekly free services: the shower program at the Albany Aquatic Center, the laundry program for low income and unhoused people, and the brown bag lunch program outreach to the encampments. We also lobby the Albany City Council, most recently about the Housing Element. Every city on California is required to submit a Housing Element that indicates how they are promoting housing, especially low income housing, and protecting tenants from unfair evictions. In Albany 53% of the residents are renters and many of them are cost burdened barely getting by so this is important.

By having weekly outreach through our programs, we have been able form relationships with those people we serve. We have been able to connect our guests to housing services and deliver needed equipment such as tents, tarps, and sleeping bags that were donated or that we purchased, and delivered narc-an and fentanyl test strips. Thank you my church sisters and brothers for your contributions. To learn more go to our website AlbanyTT.org and to find out where to donate click HERE.
-Beth Beller