intersections

Off to Metropolitan Columbus!

This morning I'm leaving for Columbus where I will be participating in the Conference on Innovation from Sunday through Tuesday, followed by re-church on  Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. You can read more about the Innovation Conference here, and the re-church conference here.

I you're planning to be in Columbus, I'll see you there. I hope to make a post or two while I'm there.

An Inconvenient Truth screening at Hollywood Church

On Sunday, October 8th at 7:00 pm, the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church, in partnership with Progressive Christians Uniting, will show the documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore.

There will be refreshments and a short discussion after the film, led by a scientist and a theologian. To learn more about our moderators, continue reading the post by clicking the link below. I'd also encourage you to watch the trailer for this film just below.

Conquering Mt. Whitney

On Sunday and Monday I climbed Mt. Whitney for the first time. What an amazing experience. Pictured here at the top of Mt. Whitney, from left to right, is Robbie Wertz (my step brother), my brother Rob, my dad, Rick and myself.

We did the trip in two days. The first day we hiked from Whitney Portal to Trail Camp (6.3 miles and nearly 4,000 feet up). We camped at Trail Camp (12,600 ft elevation). That night the temperature dropped to at least 20 degrees or colder. Our tents were not quite up to the challenge and we froze our butts off. Not too much sleep that night. The next day we hiked the remaining 4.7 miles (and almost 2,000 ft) to the summit, descended back to Trail Camp, packed up and descended the rest of the way to Whitney Portal. That was a very long day and the final hour of the hike was done in the dark.

It was an incredibly rewarding experience for all of us. My dad is 62 years old and wasn't sure he was up to the challenge but he did remarkable. Really inspiring! The picture below is the view from our campsite as the sun was rising on Monday morning. Mt. Whitney itself is actually not visible in this picture. It's further to the right. There are hundreds more pictures which you can see by clicking here.

Believe it or not, there are many people who do the trip in a single day. We met dozens of people who started from Whitney Portal at 3:30 or 4:00 am and went the entire day. We also met a couple of different groups who were just finishing the entire John Muir Trail, which starts in Yosemite Valley and ends at Mt. Whitney - approx. 210 miles in all.

I hope to do this trip again in the future and take some friends along. Anyone want to go???

All Saints stands up to the powers

Some of you will remember that at the end of 2005 the IRS initiated an investigation into the tax-exempt status of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena. I wrote about this issue on this blog (click here). Well, here's the rest of the story...

Last week the IRS serve two summons to the All Saints Church: one for all documents (emails, newsletters, notes, letters, etc) produced around the time of the sermon in question and one for the Rector, Rev. Ed Bacon, to appear before the IRS. Yesterday All Saints held a press conference to announce their course of action. Their decision: resist these two summons and take the issue to court. You can read the details of their decision as well as many other things relating to this investigation and the press release from yesterday's press conference by clicking here.

All Saints circulated by email an invitation for faith leaders from around the region to join them on the chancel steps for the press conference (see photo above). I was able to rearrange my schedule for the day and stand on the steps with them. It was a momentous occasion! We eagerly await the outcome of this case.

Progressive Christians Uniting had an excellent write up on their blog today as well. And I'm sure by Googling this issue you can find enough reading to keep you busy for a while. I wonder what the Religious Liberty Department of the General Conference has to say about this issue.

Unto the Least of These

The press conference about Proposition 86 today went off beautifully. You can watch the video of the entire conference here  (to save to your hard drive, right click and "Save Target As..."). The file is 97 MB, so be patient.

 

I had the amazing privilege to speak immediately following Jim Wallis and if you wish, you can download my remarks. It was nerve wracking to speak after such a famous person, but I held it together. He thanked me for my remarks and we had a chance to chat a bit afterwards (see photo).

Other amazing organizations that came together for this event:
Sojourners
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE)
The Children's Partnership
PICO California
LA Voice (the Los Angeles PICO affiliate)

YES on Prop 86

Tomorrow I have a rare privilege and I really need your prayers! I am going to be speaking at a press conference with Jim Wallis to speak out in favor of Proposition 86, which will be on the November ballot. Jim will speak first and I will go on after him. I only have three minutes and will speak on behalf of LA Voice and why the faith community in Los Angeles has supported this initiative, not only in principle, but by gathering signatures throughout our communities. I will post a video of the event after it is over.

If you are local and can get away, please come and support me and the initiative. The event will be held tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 7) at 9:00 am at the Bresee Foundation (184 S. Bimini Place, LA 90004). Click here for a map.

For more information:
Yes on Prop 86 website

Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts Grand Opening

For about a year now, my family and I have been a part of an exciting adventure that has reached a climax today. The Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts had it's Grand Opening today with the first day of school. Zoe is in the very first class of 1st graders. This first year we only have Kindergarten and 1st grade, so Zoe will be the first graduating class of 6th graders six years from now.

The school is a genuine innovation in education. You can read more about the school, it's founders and philosphy at the school website. I first learned about the school about a year ago when the founders came to our church as a possible location for the church. I was immediately excited about the prospects, not only of the school being on our church property, but also of our children being a part of the school. The school didn't end up at our church, but Zoe did end up in the school.