News

March 8, 2023

Residents move into new affordable apartments at St. Michael’s, Riverside: More housing projects on church properties are in progress

[The Episcopal News] Since Anthony Rothstein moved into St. Michael’s Apartments a few days ago he’s been busily helping other residents settle into one- and two-bedroom units at the affordable housing complex at St. Michael’s Episcopal Ministry Center in Riverside. “It’s exciting. We’ve got a bunch of move-ins going on right now. I’m trying to […]

March 8, 2023

First-ever Discernment Information Gathering explores paths for ministry

[The Episcopal News] If you think discernment merely involves a call to ordination in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, think again, Cameron Johnson, co-chair of the Commission on Ministry, told the first-ever Discernment Information Gathering, or “DIG,” on March 4 at St. Paul’s Commons. “Most of you here today are probably asking for God’s […]

March 1, 2023

‘We’ve got work to do’ toward racial justice, Deacon Margaret McCauley preaches at Absalom Jones service

[The Episcopal News] The Rev. Margaret McCauley invited worshippers at the Feb. 26 annual diocesan Absalom Jones celebration to join the H. Belfield Hannibal chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians, the NAACP,  the Urban League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Black Lives Matter, because “we’ve got work to do.” McCauley, deacon at St. […]

March 1, 2023

Senior housing project at St. Joseph’s, Buena Park, moves closer to breaking ground

[The Episcopal News] The Orchard View Gardens development at St. Joseph’s Church, Buena Park, has moved a step closer to providing much-needed affordable housing for at-risk seniors in north Orange County, according to the Rev. Cindy Voien, rector. “People are excited and a little relieved,” Voien says, now that funding has been secured and permits […]

February 22, 2023

The Rev. Anne Sawyer named interim dean and priest-in-charge of L.A.’s St. John’s Cathedral

[The Episcopal News] The Rev. Anne Sawyer — a former rector of New York City’s St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery and co-founder of Imago Dei Middle School in Tucson, Ariz. — will serve as interim dean and priest-in-charge of St. John’s Cathedral, Los Angeles, by appointment of Bishop John Harvey Taylor and under a […]

February 22, 2023

Service in Beaumont remembers Absalom Jones, challenges worshippers to be ‘prophets of resistance’

[The Episcopal News] The Rev. Stacey Forte-Dupré challenged worshippers at the Feb. 19 first annual Absalom Jones service at St. Stephen’s Church in Beaumont to be “prophets of resistance” amid an appreciative chorus of “Amens” and “Hallelujahs.” Prayer, prophecy, and praise are ways to honor God while offering nonviolent resistance to disrupt the domination, power, […]

February 22, 2023

RIP: The Reverend Paul Robert Elder

June 17, 1937 – February 16, 2023 The Rev. Paul Elder, deacon at St. Aidan’s Church, Malibu, and passionate advocate for the poor and homeless, died Feb. 16. He was 86 and had been suffering from cancer. He was active at St. Aidan’s until mid-December of 2022. Survivors include his wife, Barbara Ann Elder, to […]

February 22, 2023

RIP: Mimi Alexander Simson

October 20, 1925 – January 5, 2023 Mimi Simson, retired college professor and widow of the Rev. Canon Everett Simson, former dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Los Angeles, and rector of St. Luke’s Church, Monrovia, died Jan. 5 in Medford, Oregon. She was 97. Survivors include her four children, Michael, Alexander Craig, Shelley and John); […]

February 15, 2023

Venerable food pantry breaks ground for new facility at Woodland Hills church

[The Episcopal News] For several decades the West Valley Food Pantry has been feeding and aiding the San Fernando Valley’s food insecure from the Prince of Peace Episcopal Church’s parking lot, and now “we are finally going to have our own home,” rejoices executive director Debbie Decker. Decker hosted Bishop John Harvey Taylor, along with […]

February 15, 2023

Council remembers earthquake victims, considers new program groups at February meeting

[The Episcopal News] Bishop John Harvey Taylor began the Feb. 9, 2023, meeting of Diocesan Council with prayers and a moment of silence for the people of Turkey and Syria, where 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes had struck three days earlier, killing more than 35,000 with the death toll expected to continue to climb. Taylor […]

February 11, 2023

Groundbreaking at West Valley Food Pantry, Woodland Hills

One day in 1975, a hungry family knocked on the door of the office of Prince of Peace Church, Woodland Hills, California and asked church administrator Margaret Shively if they had any groceries to share. They didn’t. Margaret told the then rector, the Rev. Jess Taylor, “We need to keep a little food around here […]

February 8, 2023

Chinese congregations celebrate Lunar New Year in a ‘place between laughter and tears’

[The Episcopal News] Members of the diocesan community gathered Feb. 5 at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Monterey Park in a “place between laughter and tears” for a joint Lunar New Year celebration. “This is the first time in three years that we have held this celebration in person” since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Rev. […]