From the Rector

Two Years In

Against the backdrop of the unrelenting suffering of the war in Ukraine it was easy to miss a milestone from this week. It’s now been two years since the Shelter-in-Place orders began due to the novel coronavirus. For some, it may be just fine to overlook this commemoration, as it brings into focus the loss, pain, and struggle of these past two years.

One of the experiences that I’ve observed as we’ve come out of various restrictions is that it’s when we are coming out of the restriction that many of the deeper feelings emerge. Grief. Sadness. Melancholy. Anger. Fear. And that’s been when tempers have flared, whether in traffic, at the grocery store, or around the dinner table. This is totally understandable. For the past two years we’ve been living through a series of traumatic events and as we emerge from them it is hard to know what to do with these feelings.

If you find yourself with big feelings and no easy place to put them please reach out. Maggie and I would be glad to talk. And in fact, there are scores of All Soulsians who are ready to talk as well, our Stephen Ministers. So please send us a text, drop an email, take us aside on a Sunday. But let us know how you’re feeling so that we can walk this with you.

And, I write this message today with more hope on the COViD front than we’ve had in awhile. Because in the past two years our life with this virus has changed dramatically. Since March of 2018 we now have developed and widely distributed several highly effective vaccines, at-home tests are prevalent, and there are effective antiviral treatments. As a result, as you may know, case rates have come down precipitously once again.

With those changes, the State of California has released new guidance about masking in indoor spaces. After conversations with our Staff and Vestry, All Souls will presently be following the state, county, and city guidelines which allow people to be unmasked regardless of vaccination status. I realize that many will choose to remain masked, for their own safety and/or for the safety of others, and I support that. One-way masking remains effective, and if that is something that you would like to continue, please do so.

If the last two years they have taught us anything, they’ve taught us that certainty is hard to come by. So, if public health authorities issue new guidance about a change in communal practice, we will follow that as well. In all, we will continue to do our faithful best––to love and serve God and one another, making church one week at a time.

Peace,

Phil+

From the Living Waters Campaign

Living Waters Coffee Conversations

These mostly weekend afternoon gatherings are your opportunity (if you’re not participating in Soup and Story this year) to exchange perspectives, ask your “I’m wondering…” questions, and get information about this season of preparation for future All Souls ministry.

Hosted by parishioners who have opened their homes, these conversations will not include requests for financial commitment. Currently scheduled offerings are open to vaccinated/boosted persons. A masked/ventilated/distanced in-person or Zoom option will be listed shortly.

From the Associate for Music

Those who have been connected to this community since before the pandemic may remember that we were blessed for a number of years to have Tripp Hudgins with us. Among the hats that Tripp wore was that of professional singer, anchoring the bass section of our choir and soloing when asked. Our group benefitted from his work in innumerable ways.

Shortly into the pandemic, he and his family moved away from Berkeley. At the time, it did not make sense to me to try to find another professional singer. The liturgy itself was a bit pared down for the livestream, which pointed towards a somewhat streamlined, simplified musical repertoire; we were only allowed four singers on the livestream crew, and I didn’t want to take one of those precious few spots away from someone already deeply invested in the life and work of the parish; and we wanted to keep our Angel Band repertoire as integrated into worship as it had been. Under these conditions, it made sense to ask Ed Hofmann to effectively double as Angel Band leader and the lone bass in our quartet. Not that this was a small ask, mind you—in addition to the technical work he did with Jim to offer quality sound on our stream, Ed took time to learn what choral music our small ensemble was able to offer (and he plays drums, and creates Angel Band videos, and more).

Over the last year, mitigation strategies, vaccines, and treatments have helped us get to a better place, and late in 2021 I decided that the time had come to finally find our next professional singer. As I announced in church last month, the search was successful: Liam Daley has joined us as our Bass Section Leader. He wrote a brief introduction so that we can continue welcoming and getting to know him!

“Liam D. N. Daley is a classically trained singer and composer hailing from SLO county. He has just recently graduated from Sonoma State University with a bachelor’s in vocal performance and a minor in composition. Liam had worked as a musician for St. Barnabas Episcopal church in Arroyo Grande, as well as the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa for a few years prior to moving up to the Bay Area. He is thrilled to be part of this vibrant church community and hopes to share much more music with the parishioners at All Souls!”

I’m particularly grateful for his smooth tone, interest in early music, and overall warmth, and I think we are fortunate to have him making music with us! If you come to the 11:15 service, please don’t hesitate to say hi and welcome!

—Jamie Apgar, Associate for Music

Save the Dates

April 10, Palm Sunday

Holy Week: April 14, Maundy Thursday; April 15, Good Friday; April 16, Easter Vigil

April 17, Easter Sunday

Weekly Worship

Join us at 9am, in-person, outdoor service in the courtyard. This service will move indoors if the weather is below 40 degrees at 8:15a, if the AQI is over 150, or if there is rain.

Or (and!) join us indoors for the 11:15 service or on the live stream at 11:15a, which can be accessed through our website or by tuning into our All Souls Episcopal Parish Facebook page. Click here to watch on Sunday morning. At our 11:15 service, masks are optional.

Then join us outdoors at 5p Sunday Night Service for a Eucharistic Service.

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. Masks are required for this service as it is indoors.

Living Waters: Renewal for our Second Century Capital Campaign

The Living Waters team invites you to visit (and bookmark) the new module of the All Souls website to keep track of our campaign efforts, https://allsoulsparishorg.dreamhosters.com/capital-campaign/. There you’ll find an overview, FAQs, campaign calendar, resources, and general announcements about our effort. We also invite you to read our first newsletter, if you didn’t already see it in your inbox. We look forward to communicating with you through the website, email, print, and social media in the weeks ahead.

Adult Formation Classes

This Sunday

We have three classes being offered this Sunday:

Reading Between the Lines Bible Study @ 7:30a. Contact Kate Murphy, kmurphy2209@gmail.com to join that Zoom call, or join them in the Common Room!
Reading Between the Lines Bible Study @ 10:10a. This Bible Study meets in the Chapel downstairs or on Zoom. Contact Daniel Prechtel, dprechtel1@gmail.com to join that Zoom call.
Reconsidering Sin and Salvation taught by Dr. Scott MacDougall. Contemporary Christianity in the United States often thinks of sin and salvation in one of two ways: it makes them the absolute center of theology and practice, or it downplays them almost to the point of being invisible. What would happen, though, if we reconsidered sin and salvation? That is, what difference might it make if we thought about them more robustly again in places where they have slipped from view, on the one hand, and if we thought about them differently in places where they are almost the sole focus of attention, on the other?
- March 20th – “Salvation” – we will clarify what it means to say that God overcomes sin, and this will allow us to think together about how this happens. Throughout the series, these reconsiderations will be based on scripture, theology, and the Anglican tradition, in conversation with our own lives and experiences. Scott will be presenting in person (in the Common Room) and we will also be sharing this via zoom (click here to enter the Zoom call).

Children, Youth, and Family News

Join us this Sunday at 10:00am, for Sunday School! Children Pre-K-Grade 3 will meet out in the courtyard. Grades 4-5 will meet upstairs in the Sunday school classroom.

Youth Group and Office Hours continue this Sunday for youth in grades 6-12. Meet in Maggie’s old(!) office at 10:00am for a donut and check-in, then join us for youth group from 7:00-8:30pm in the Parish Hall!

Join us for a family Hike at 3:00pm this Sunday, March 20, at the Huckleberry Preserve! Read about more upcoming family events in the Children & Family Bulletin.

Other News & Notes

Online Giving

There is a super easy way to give to All Souls––for either a one-time donation or for your ongoing pledge––that is through an app called Vanco Mobile (what used to be called GivePlus). You can find this app through the app store on your phone. Once downloaded, search for All Souls Episcopal Parish and you’re in! If you’d prefer not to download the app, you can just as easily give online through our personalized online donation page by clicking here.

A Great Way You Can Help a Hurting Friend

Do you have a friend, neighbor, coworker, or relative who is going through a difficult time? Here’s a great way you can help them—tell them about our Stephen Ministry! Stephen Ministers are members of All Souls who have received special training to provide high-quality, confidential, one-to-one, Christian care to people who are grieving the loss of a loved one, coping with a cancer diagnosis, going through a divorce or separation, battling a chronic illness (or caring for a spouse or parent who is chronically ill), experiencing a great deal of stress, facing the loss of a job—or encountering any of countless other life challenges.

Stephen Ministers meet weekly with their care receivers to listen, care, encourage, and provide emotional and spiritual support. The caring relationship lasts for as long as the person needs care. It’s free, and it’s a powerful way you can help a hurting friend.

To learn how to connect someone you know with a Stephen Minister, talk with Rev. Maggie Foote (maggie@allsoulsparish.org) or Stephen Ministry Leader Madeline Feeley (madelinefeeley@gmail.com). Our Stephen Ministers are there to care!

Soulcast

Check out Season 5, Episode 12 and our new series on pilgrimage, with special guest, Michael Drell!

A Request from our Friends at Jordan Court

Do you have a hobby or interest that you’d like to share? Are you interested in sharing it with the residents of Jordan Court? If you are, please contact Maggie and let us know what it is! Maybe it’s knitting, maybe it’s gardening, maybe you’re just really good at origami, maybe you like to play music or play cards? If you’d like to share it, we want to know about it!

Meal Train

If you are able to help provide some meals for parishioners in need, please contact Cathy Goshorn to help out! We are in great need at this time to help care for each other––please consider helping other All Soulsians in need by providing meals or gift cards for meals. You can reach Cathy at ogoshca@yahoo.com.

Lenten Pilgrim’s Path Journey

It’s not too late to pick-up your journey through Lent. This year we’re using the image of a labyrinth on which to journey into Holy Week and Easter Sunday (the center of the labyrinth), and then out back into the world through the season of Easter, ending in Pentecost. You can journey with us using our 2022 Lenten Booklet, which provides daily prompts for reflection on this journey (click here to access the booklet).

Catechumenate

What is the Catechumenate? The Catechumenate is a class where we teach about the Episcopal Church in an attempt to give an idea of what this Episcopal church and faith tradition are about. Folks who take this class (called Catechumens) will learn from a number of thoughtful people in this community and hopefully get a glimpse of Episcopal theology, history, and structure, as well as how to use the Book of Common Prayer and some ideas on how to read the Bible. The class will meet on the six Sunday evenings of Lent (March 6-April 10) at 7p in person and on Zoom. All are welcome, even if you’ve been an Episcopalian for a long while. But, if you are looking for an introduction to this tradition or are hoping to be baptized (whenever that can happen), Confirmed, Received, or Reaffirmed into this tradition, this is most certainly the class you’ll want to take. I hope that many of you will join this year’s class as we attempt, together, to wrestle with what it means to be an Episcopal sort of Christian in our world. If you have any questions or would like to sign-up, you can write to Emily at emily@allsoulsparish.org.

Episcopal Summer Camps––Save the date!

Interested in Episcopal summer camps for your kids? While registration has not yet begun, the dates have been dropped. Check out the latest with all the dates and descriptions of camps!

The Bishop’s Ranch: click here

St. Dorothy’s Rest: click here

The Sunday Night Service is on a podcast!

One of the new attenders at our Sunday Night Service is the creator and host of a podcast! Over the last few months she has interviewed some of the core team for the Sunday Night Service and created a podcast series that ended up being about the new service here at All Souls! It’s quite an honor and it’s a well-done podcast, too. If you’re interested in hearing the life stories (or some of them) of Emily Hansen Curran, the Rev. Maggie Foote, and the genesis and impetus behind the new service, check out the whole podcast series! It’s called the Abbey Normal podcast (click here).