You Say Failure, I Say Not So Much

Hello again, it’s time to catch you up on the work of your Vestry, specifically last night’s regular monthly meeting. Did you know our practice of starting with spiritual reflection offered by a named Vestry Chaplain was proposed by the Rev. Jim Richardson, interim rector, ten years ago? It has been of great benefit in centering us, shifting our focus away from the day we had, and working the spiritual muscles we cannot always exercise in the secular parts of our lives. Chaplain Laura Eberly offered Mark 14:26-42, in which the followers of Jesus could not stay awake on the most important night of their lives. Major fail? Perhaps on the surface of things, but consider how we respond when we feel we’ve failed. How do we respond when we meet failure or betrayal in others? Many offered the idea that failure becomes transformative when we name it, own up to it, confess it. Doing the best we can with the resources available, thinking inside and around an issue, failure can transform to something that just didn’t work out as desired or expected. Chances are good that the personal relationships involved don’t end, but continue transformed by both naming the screw-up (owning up to it), naming the impact (“here’s how what you did hurt me”), and reaching for reconciliation (“what can we do here?”). It’s uncomfortable but liberating, and we frequently find forgiveness immediately. Consider Peter, adamant that he will not deny Jesus once, let alone three times. Well, jump to the next day, Peter’s done what he said he wouldn’t, and Peter is still the rock upon which the church is built. Embracing failure will be a saving grace. Once we learn from failure, it isn’t failure anymore, there is such a thing as failing well.

Moving on to business, February meeting minutes and Financial Reports from January and February were approved, and Andy Willis was formally welcomed and elected as our new Vestry Clerk. We then approved the Parochial Report, the annual report to the Diocese listing who we are and what we do; ALL the numbers – how many of us were where, when, doing what, and how many people were cared for by outreach. Entries on this report change over time as issues of importance are viewed differently through the years.

I hope you have read, or will look back to read, about our relationship with ICAC, Interfaith Council of Alameda County. It was unanimously approved that All Souls become a voting member. Lewis Maldonado, Janet Chisholm, and Stacey Alexeef, on behalf of the Justice and Peace Committee, are the parishioners most knowledgeable about ICAC.

When Bishop Marc visited on Martin Luther King weekend, he had a preaching engagement that afternoon and could not meet with the Vestry over lunch as is the custom. He offered instead to attend last night’s Vestry meeting. We were distressed to hear that Bishop Marc’s mother in Tennessee had fallen ill, but relieved that he could fly immediately to be with her. In his stead, the Rev. Cn. Abbott Bailey (Executive Officer of the Diocese of California) joined us. She serves as Canon to the Ordinary, meaning (I really didn’t know) a Deputy to the Bishop. The Vestry had identified three issues for conversation: 1) Hopes – ours for the Diocese and vice-versa, 2) Collaboration – how to have fruitful relationships among congregations, and 3) The Next Three Years.

Hopes – What brought us here? What kept us here? The answers to both were as wide ranging as the personalities in the room; what brought me and what kept me are very different things. But a common thread emerged, many remarking on how soon we felt involved, not coerced but needed, welcomed and steered to what suited our hunger. Canon Bailey offered the following as hopes for us: The Church is in an intriguing and interesting time, it’s exciting to move away from church as establishment, to learning what it is to engage. God’s work is not inside the church; that is to say we are not the dispenser of grace and reconciliation. Where is God calling us to participate? Will congregations live into that as fully as possible. Are we called to create churchgoers or are we called to participate? It is utterly important to care deeply for our members, but the locus is changing outward.

Collaboration: how have we experienced fruitful relationships among congregations? The Vestries of St. John’s Oakland and the All Souls interacted socially and intentionally at the last two retreats. St. Elizabeth’s Wakpala on the Standing Rock Reservation has hosted our youth on many immersion trips over the years, stemming from the bond forged decades earlier between St. Elizabeth’s and Fr. Bill and Margie Fay’s young family. In fact, the youth of our parish have actively engaged many other parishes through their immersion trips, confirmation programs, and night watches at the Cathedral. As Episcopalians, we have a denominational identity, there is fertile ground and a willingness to be connected with one another. Remember the

interfaith coalition when white supremacists rallied? We (joined by Bishop Marc) marched and picked up folks along the way at CDSP, St. Mark’s, and First Congregational. Canon Bailey pointed out that the smallest unit of the church is the diocese, not the congregations. The relationship is collaboration, we are all in this for the same reasons. We have been changed because God is in our lives, we are in each other’s lives, and we are in relationship with people we would not necessarily choose to be in relationship with. All of us in this work, this life together, are part of the body of Christ. From the standpoint of the Diocese, they support the churches (at the front lines, out in the world) in doing the work. Bishop Marc sees Diocesan staff as extensions of the work we are doing, bringing resources and expertise to bear in the work we are doing in the world.

The expectation from the Diocese is that churches are meaningfully engaged; governance is not the most exciting, but aspects of what the Diocese does enable us to have impact, recognizing the symbolic nature of the Bishop in being our link to people, Christians, Episcoplians, Anglicans, through time and space for millennia.

Our expectations of the Diocese? Hold presence for us in the issues, and policies, represent Bay Area congregations doing the work, be willing to listen, slow down, and acknowledge different perspectives being brought to bear.

The Next Three Years – Pressing issues mentioned included immigration sanctuary, finances (transparency and understanding of assessments and insurance changes), reclaiming Christian voice (wo gets to speak for “Christians?”), Christian humanism. The College for Congregational Development has been generative – what came out of it, how is it becoming part of the DNA, collaboration, bridge building, and how can the Diocese help?

After this very lively conversation, Fr. Phil presented his monthly Rector’s Report starting with an update on the Parish House Project. The officially formed LLC with SAHA and All Souls have submitted plans to the City of Berkeley, requiring the immediate posting of the Proposed Development signs, which neighbors have noticed and remarked on. SAHA will meet several times with all eight City Council members; meetings to date with the three City Council members of the areas adjacent to the project have been going well. There have been soil studies, trees permitted for removal (one due to “potential hazard to life and limb,” no pun intended, but there it is), and an updated appraisal is in the works; we have yet to experience any costs for these steps.

The Rector’s Report continued with an update on our guest in the Parish House Accompaniment Program, and then addressed collaboration as recently seen in meetings with priests from the five Berkeley parishes, All Souls, St. Mark’s, St. Clement’s, St. Alban’s, and Good Shepherd. A very meaningful conversation occurred with Rabbi Rebekah Stern of Congregation Beth El about what it means to be a neighbor, who is a neighbor, and the striking similarities in purpose and action of our two congregations.

Further collaborative efforts are seen in regional Godly Play training, the First Congregational Church of Berkeley’s and our mutual Christian Wiman events, and the upcoming March for Our Lives in downtown Oakland.

In closing, Fr. Phil reminded all that Holy Week is upon us, three services on Palm Sunday and then The Great Triduum: Maundy Thursday (noon, 7:30p, and overnight vigil in the chapel), Good Friday (9a, noon, 4p, 7:30p), and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday (8:30p). Friends, there will three adult baptisms at the Vigil and we’re talking immersion. You don’t want to miss this!

After collective prayers of thanksgiving, petition and guidance, our meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Maggie Cooke, From the Jr. Warden

Holy Week at All Souls

Holy Week begins this Sunday! Below are the service times; you can read full descriptions of the different services here.