intersections

Memorial Day peace service

On Memorial Day (May 26th) I'll be participating on the chancel in a prayer service at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, convened by the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative. If you're in the LA area I hope you can join us. All the details are in the press release below...

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Franci Levine-Grater, Coordinator
Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative
francilg@myway.com
(626) 683-9400

Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative To Convene Memorial Day Interfaith Prayer Service
To Be Filmed and Broadcast Throughout the Middle East

Los Angeles, CA – April 29, 2008 – The Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative (AFPI) will convene an interfaith prayer service on Monday, May 26, 2008 at 11:00 a.m., Memorial Day, at All Saints Church located at 132 Euclid Avenue in Pasadena, California.  The prayer service, which will be filmed and repeatedly broadcast via satellite throughout the Middle East thanks to the generous donation of a supporter, is intended to illustrate to the people of the Middle East that Christian, Jewish and Muslim Americans are working for peace and understanding between nations and faiths.  The event also provides an opportunity for people from throughout Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley to join together with like-minded worshippers in the pursuit of peace on a day that commemorates the tragic losses of war.

“Not all Americans support the current war in Iraq; not all Americans support war in general.  We want the people living in the Middle East to be exposed to an alternate point of view – Christian, Jewish and Muslim-Americans of faith are working hard for peace.  Many of us believe that our faith demands we seek peace and justice for one another, and we are striving, together, to make our voices heard and to assert that peacemaking – as a concept and an action – is absolutely central to Islam, Judaism and Christianity,” says Rev. Dr. George Regas, long-time peace activist and co-founder of AFPI, Rector Emeritus of All Saints Church and Executive Director of the Regas Institute.

Reclaiming Outrage

Part 2 of a sermon given by Rabbi Ron Stern of Stephen S. Wise Temple on a recent Shabbat.

I've really been enjoying getting more involved in interfaith work here in Los Angeles. One of my new friends is Rabbi Ron Stern from Stephen S. Wise Temple (the largest Jewish synagogue in the Western US). Their congregation is one of the newest members in our LA Voice family. Here is a Rabbi who is a true inspiration to me.

Listen to a short sermon that he gave recently, Reclaiming Outrage (Part 1 & Part 2)

Really involving the church in the community

For two years the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church has been working alongside an amazing community organization called LA Voice. LA Voice is one local affiliate of the PICO National Network.

PICO is a national network of faith-based community organizations working to create innovative solutions to problems facing urban, suburban and rural communities.
With more than 1,000 member institutions representing one million families in 150 cities and 17 states, PICO is one of the largest community-based efforts in the United States. Together we are lifting up a new vision for America that unites people across region, race, class, and religion
From The PICO Network about page.

Our affiliate works very hard on the issues that affect our members. In Hollywood we are particularly focused on the issues of homelessness and affordable housing but around the city our work includes youth violence, citizenship, public safety, health care and education. Our organization is comprised of 25 members congregations across the city. And we are growing. Recent additions to our organizing work includes the largest synagogue in the Western US - Stephen S. Wise Temple.

The video above was created by our church media team to help explain to our own members what LA Voice is and how this work is the work of the gospel in our community. LA Voice is now using this video to help explain their work to other congregations, foundations, and others in the community.

We have been very blessed, as a congregation, to participate in God's work in our community. I would encourage any Adventist congregation to get involved in this vital work by visiting the PICO website and see if there is an affiliate in your town or city.

Cross posted at the Spectrum Blog.

UPDATE: Mireya Pena, the Hollywood Church's leader of our community organizing work, has written a really good post about her perspective on this work. You can read it at our church's community blog - We Are Hollywood.

Congrats, Rabbi Sharon Brous!

My friend Rabbi Sharon Brous was recently selected (again) as one of the most influential rabbis in America. She is the leader of the IKAR community. We met a year or so ago at an interfaith event at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena. She is a young, emerging rabbi - part of the Synagogue 3000 movement that has many similarities to "Emergent" in Christianity.

In the recent Newsweek list of top rabbis in America, Rabbi Brous is listed...

9th of the Top 25 Pulpit Rabbis in America, AND...

30th of the Top 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America.

Mazel Tov, Rabbi Brous!

Hat tip: Bill Cork's Oak Leaves for drawing my attention to this. Rabbi Brous would never have told me herself!