The Abundant Life – June 26, 2025 – Newsletter Archives

For Sunday June 29, 2025

Episcopal Public Policy Advocacy and Awareness Campaign: Summer 2025

THIS WEEK’S ADVOCACY AREA: PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO VOTE

This week, protecting the right to vote is the issue I’m inviting you to act on.

The Office of Government Relations website says it well:

“Safeguards to protect the right to vote are already in place in all States. General Convention calls us to oppose restrictions on voting rights and to advance access to the right to vote. The SAVE Act, [already passed by the House], serves as an unnecessary roadblock designed to disenfranchise voters, upending an electoral process that is already safe and secure. Systemic reviews of election safety and procedures have never found evidence of widespread election fraud, nor of widespread noncitizen voting.”

Here is the link to The Episcopal Church’s website where you may access the Office of Government Relations, find this and otheraction alerts, and join with other Episcopalians in taking actions based on official positions taken by our General Convention and Executive Council.

- - Sign up for Alerts
  - Click on this or any issue to find model letters and other resources
  - Compose your message, adapting the model provided for this subject, if you wish
  - If you have signed up for alerts, your message can be immediately sent to your Congress members

Thanks for helping to make the world and our nation more just.

The Rev. Frank Dunn, D. Min.

A LETTER FROM THE BISHOP: SEEKING PEACE AMIDST LOCAL AND GLOBAL CONFLICT

“Beloved in Christ,

I am departing for a two-month sabbatical on July 4, returning on September 7. World and local events have led me to write to you now, with comments on three situations that have caused deep concern to me and others in our diocese. I will be praying for these situations, and for all of you, during my sabbatical…”

To read Bishop Susan’s Letter, click here.

Summer Prior Choir

Choir rehearsals are on hiatus for the summer. We will have a “Prior Choir” on the first Sundays the month (July 6, August 3, and September 7.) On those Sundays we meet in the choir loft at 10 to learn an easy anthem for that day’s worship. We do not robe or sit up front, and everyone is welcome. Choir rehearsals on Thursday and Sunday will resume in September. Everyone is welcome! Questions? Please contact Chuck Peery musicdirector@stpaulsps.org

Peace, Justice, and Mercy Ministries had a FULL Year!

When asked what God has accomplished through you and your fellow parishioners this past year in your specific ministry area, here are a few things some of the Peace, Justice, and Mercy Ministry Leaders said:

“I really appreciated your remarks about so many people at St. Paul’s being lone wolves in how they do their thing for the church. Where I see the spirit moving is this consistent call to a better future – how can we be a better church, more of a community, more involved and supportive of each other? I think the spirit speaks through this kind of visionary thinking and prophetic call. I have no idea how we move from lone wolves to something more collaborative but I felt hope in just hearing it named. I know we’ll get there – I’m comfortable with uncertainty in the meanwhile.”—Pete Smith, Mercy Ministries

“Mercy Ministries has been busy this year. Following the closing of the Parish Hall for a remodel ,we have re-constructed our Ministry, focusing on Laundry Love and seeking partnerships with other local non-profits to help those of little or no income.”—Ray Tackett, Mercy Ministries

“This year the Latino Ministry has moved our emphasis from educating the parish on Latino customs and spirituality to finding ways to help our Latino siblings in dealing with the federal crackdown on immigrants.”—Chris Butler, Latino Ministry

“On March 30, 2025, I had the honor of being one of the recipients of the Servant Ministry Award from Bishop Susan. I was truly surprised of this honor, but without all the generous donations we received from our parishioners we would not have been able to Give with Love to Those In Need after the Pasadena Fires. You all are the Servants of God and Tony and I were the ‘drivers.’ Thank you for your generosity.”—Lena L. Granet, Mercy Ministries

“Racial Justice offered Sacred Ground Part 1 in the Fall and Spring, as well as Part 2 in the Spring. Our past grant proposal called “Welcome to the Table” was reworked and established the implementation of Antiracism Listening Circles(for Fall 2025). Our local engagement was with Green Room Theater Company to partner with a grant they received to implement in Fall 2025. We assisted a parishioner in obtaining their documentation for the Section 14 settlement. Having successfully completing our 2024 Smart Goals, we will continue for the cause of Racial Justice.”—Dr. Joy Zavarich, Racial Justice Ministry

“For me the opportunity to be purposeful and relevant is extremely important as I walk in my faith. The opportunity to show God’s love and grace for everyone is a must for me.”—Ann Grainger, Racial Justice Ministry

“The Latino Ministry Committee has investigated needs of Latino neighbors especially migrants. In Coachella, the TODEC office gives legal advice and funds to people seeking help and wanting to become citizens. St Paul in the Desert gave TODEC some funds and also some supplies were delivered to the Galilee Center. Some of our members are signing up as volunteers at the Center and they will find out more about it. Since March, over 200 ‘red cards’ have been distributed by the committee to church members to give to people who are afraid of being picked up by ICE. We also gave another 200 cards to St. John’s Episcopal Church, Indio. These cards state people’s rights both in Spanish and English. Thank you for helping us show concern for Latinos who live in fear of being deported. The committee offered a Cinco de Mayo coffee hour at church. Our June meeting had over 20 people attend so more congregants are interested in the migrant situation.”—Bonnie Stroock, Latino Ministry

“This past year’s involvement with Peace, Justice and Mercy Ministries has led me into a deeper dive into the needs of the community around St. Paul’s through observing and listening. I have visited the TODEC Center (Training Occupational Development Educating Communities) in Coachella, the Galilee Center in Mecca, Desert Aids Project in Palm Springs, Transgender Community events, and been involved with the Read with Me volunteer program. As we live out the Gospel in the upcoming year, I have a renewed sense of determined hope that St. Paul’s will plant and nurture the Kingdom of God’s peace in our Beloved Community.”—Andrew Trofka, LGBTQ+ Ministry

Sisters In Spirit (SIS) Lunch Gathering!

Sisters In Spirit (SIS) had a great time grabbing lunch together last week and getting to know each other. Please mark your calendars as SIS will meet again on Thursday, July 24 at 11:30AM at the Denny’s on the corner of Vista Chino Road and Landeau Blvd. (ALL women are invited to come and bring a baby pic and we’ll try to guess who is who!). Questions? Reach out to Kitty at kitty@earthlink.net

July Book Club

The next Book Club meeting will be held on July 1, 2025, at 2:00 PM. The meeting will be held in the Music Cottage on the church campus. For July, Book Club has selected Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips. In 1874, in the wake of the Civil War, erasure, trauma, and namelessness haunt civilians and veterans, renegades and wanderers, freedmen and runaways. This story is about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia. It is a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds.

New members are always welcome. For more information, please contact Alan Zimmerman at alanzimmerman@icloud.com

St. Paul’s Hiking Group – Historic Redlands Walking Tour

Saturday August 9, 2025 at 8:30 AM

Hiking Group Special Summer Event!! A morning walking tour of beautiful and historic Redlands! Join us for an informative and easy 2.5 mile stroll through the quaint Victorian neighborhoods and lovely tree-lined streets of one of Southern California’s most important and best-preserved citrus boomtowns. Bring good walking shoes, a hat and some sunscreen and plenty of water. Walk starts at 8:30 sharp, takes about two hours. Stay to shop or lunch with friends, or follow special directions the scenic “back way” to the desert through rolling hills and orange groves. Detailed info and updates will follow as date approaches.

Section 14 The Untold Story on display at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum Changing Gallery

Exhibition Title: Section 14 The Untold Story
Exhibition Dates: June 14, 2025 – May 31, 2026

Since time immemorial, the Agua Caliente people have called this land home. Many voices have commented and argued over the history and legacy of Section 14. Now, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians share our perspectives on this land and the Tribe’s continuing efforts to assert rightful sovereignty over it.

Section 14 The Untold Story unfolds around a central theater in the Museum’s Changing Gallery. In the newly-released 16-minute film at the center of the exhibition, Tribal Elders recall life on Section 14 and the struggles their families and their community endured. Around this powerful record, the exhibition presents documentary evidence, the facts of the matter drawn from local, state, and national archives: How private interests worked to take our land and deny our rights. How we fought to regain those rights and hold firmly onto our land and our culture.

INTERESTED IN JOINING THE REVS TO SEE THE SECTION 14 GALLERY IN THE FALL? STAY TUNED FOR A DATE.

St. Luke’s Former Refugees Needing Cars

Several refugees recently resettled through RefugeeNet and St. Luke’s have just obtained their driver’s licenses and are hoping for help in acquiring cars. Might there be someone at St. Paul’s who has a car they would be willing to donate or sell at a discounted price to our former refugees? Please be in touch with Rev. Colin Mathewson with questions: colin@stlukesnorthpark.org, 619-977-8173.

Episcopal Church Immigration Updates

Join us every Tuesday at 1 pm ET for a 30-minute call on the changing landscape of U.S. immigration, refugee, and migration policy. Episcopal Migration Ministries will share updates and resources and will be joined by the Office of Government Relations and the Chief Legal Officer. Spanish interpretation will be available.

Click here to Register

6 Ts Survey

Our survey tracking system shows that many parishioners started to fill out the survey but just didn’t have a chance to complete it (by typing in their name and email address and clicking the “Done” button at the end). If you had to stop mid-way, please try again. If you started the survey from an email link, you might find that you can pick up where you left off; others would just start anew, reminding yourself that it only takes 13-15 minutes to do at one sitting! Thank you so much for your time — it will make a big difference!

As you heard about at the Annual Meeting we have a new tool to help connect parishioners to their passions and needs in the church and the wider community. Under the parish’s Strategic Plan Objectives One and Four, the 6 Ts Task force has developed a survey for all parishioners that we hope can bring us together to do more and for each other. The “Six Ts” refer to parishioners’ talents, testimony, time, temperament, treasure, and ties (relational networks).

It takes only 13-15 minutes (it’s been timed!) and you can do it easily on your computer, smartphone, or tablet (all connected to WiFi).

Here are the simple instructions to complete the survey:

Simply click on the banner at the top of this email and you will be able to fill out the survey.
Almost all the questions just ask you to check the boxes that apply to you, except for those at the end that ask you to fill in your contact information.
When you reach the end of the survey, be sure to click the “Done” button. If you do, you will receive a confirmation email that you have completed the survey.
Do NOT click any button asking you to complete another, different survey. It’s probably a marketing survey from Survey Monkey.
If you run into any issues, there will be a team of folks next to the Welcome Table on Sunday morning at both services to offer assistance.

The 6Ts survey is designed to benefit each parishioner and the church, too. By asking you about your interests, the survey can offer you more opportunities to connect with other like-minded parishioners in spiritual formation, ministry work, volunteer possibilities within the church and the community at large, and even recreational activities. By asking about your skills, the survey can help the Revs and our lay leaders identify ways that you might like to contribute to the church’s vitality and that are suited to your particular strengths and interests.

All of the information collected in the survey will be confidential; it will only be available to the clergy and laity authorized to review that information specific to their duties as employees or supervised volunteers.

Thank you for helping us connect more regularly and more meaningfully with one another!

Add a Name to the Prayer List at St. Paul

Want to add someone’s name to the prayer list? Please call the Church Office or email our Registrar, Orin Ellingson, at registrar@stpaulsps.org with names. Prayers remain on the list for one month unless otherwise noted.

Altar Flowers

“The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom . . .” Isaiah 35:1-2

Altar flowers, also known as chancel flowers, are a Christian tradition of placing flowers in the chancel of a church to beautify the space and honor loved ones. In the Episcopal Church, altar flowers are often used to celebrate special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, or the birth of a child. They can also be given in memory of a loved one or to honor a person.

If you would like to sponsor altar flowers for a future Sunday to commemorate a special person or event, you’ll find the sign-up book in the Narthex, or you can call the Parish Office at 760.320.7488 to reserve your sponsorship dates(s). A donation of $95 for each altar flower sponsorship (or $65 for narthex flower sponsorships) covers the flower shops fees.

Prayers of the Church

For the Anglican Communion, and for the Archbishop of York, The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Stephen Cottrell, who is currently the acting Archbishop of Canterbury. Pray for The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma), The Most Reverend Stephen Than Myint Oo, Archbishop.

For the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana, The Right Reverend Dr. Douglas E. Sparks, Bishop.

For the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, The Right Reverend Dr. Susan Brown Snook, Bishop; for the clergy and people of St. Francis, Pauma Valley.

For those commended to our prayers: Jami Jo, Jackie, Sally, Arlene & Phil, Susie, Jeff, Michael & Nancy Zoric, Mike Brunetti, Shirley Patton, Kimie Mackey, Lucy Youngren, Lori Miller, Kristina Clark, Matthew Hempeck, Bob and Steven, Roger Parker, Lee Castillo, Roger Allen, Franklin Updike, Robby Robinson, Ramon Gueits, Ted Guice, Barb Steeves, Louise Betzler, Donald Hamilton, Mary Hamilton, Wanda Carnes, Nicholas Ropac, Mary Stevenson, Marie Benjamin, Bonnie Ong, Kathryn Briski, RC Eckert, Gaile Eckert, Cheryl Kelley, Tish & Eliott Kahn, Hap Blaisdell, Terry Fabian, Pat, David Valenzuela, Amelia Grinstead, Chloe Grace Wilson Barton, Marilyn De Silva Currie, Tom Lutgen; pray for all those for whom no prayers have been said.

For those who have died: Joseph Phelan, Linda Boyle Butler, Mary Crawford, Dorothy Walton, Patricia Armstrong, Calvin Moore, Princeton Vaughans. Rest eternal grant to these, your servants, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen

For those celebrating anniversaries: June 29: Rev. Jessie Thompson & Rev. Dan Kline, Tempe & John Essell; July 2: Natasha & Navin Hemrajani; July 3: Mark Berry & Daniel Schmidt; July 5: Alexis & Benton Clark.

For those with birthdays: June 29: Bruce McLean; July 1: Lydia Ealy-Zingg, Raffaele Alberto, Rick Reed, Joseph Casazza; July 2: John Murren, Erik Palmer; July 3: Alex Cherkas, Alex Finlay-Christensen, Shelia Brubaker, Richard Wordeman; July 4: Carolyn Etheridge, Joel Cutler; July 5: Anne Pichette, Curtis Goehring.

For those for whom flowers have been donated: Today’s Altar Flowers are sponsored by Jane Thomas and siblings, in loving memory of their parents, Philip and Mary Martha Thomas.

Send us your Prayer Requests via email — You may request prayers, “For those commended to our prayers” or “For those who have died,” by sending requests to registrar@stpaulsps.org. The weekly print deadline is Wednesday noon.

For next Sunday’s Lectionary readings, go to www.lectionarypage.net and click on July 6, The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost.

Upcoming Meetings & Events at St Paul’s

Sunday, June 29 – 8:00 AM and 10:30 AM services – Pentecost III
Monday, June 30 – 9:00 AM-12:00 PM – Retired Clergy meeting – Library
Monday, June 30 – 6:00-8:00 PM – Parables of Jesus class – Online via Zoom
Tuesday, July 1 – 2:00 PM – Book Club – Music Cottage
Wednesday, July 2 – 6:00 PM – Mid-week Eucharist – Come and rest
Tuesday, July 8 – 1:00 PM – Stewardship Committee meeting – Library

Want to help make St. Paul’s Campus & Buildings Better?

Have you have had a moment where you were at church and you saw the same lightbulb has been out for weeks and no one has changed it? Or maybe you go to grab a railing to steady yourself and find that it’s really loose and wonder why it hasn’t been fixed? Or perhaps you’ve noticed that your pew rack is missing cards or envelopes or pens and you are reminded that no one can fill them unless someone knows they are empty?

We have a BRAND-NEW tool that anyone can use to help us make sure the campus is safe, stocked, and ready for worship and other campus activities! Welcome to the NEW St. Paul’s Maintenance/Repair Request Form found online. If YOU see something that needs repairing, cleaning, sprucing-up, etc. on St. Paul’s campus, this is THE way to ensure that we know about it. Scan the QR code below OR click on the Building & Grounds Maintenance/Repair Request Form. You will be able to fill out the form in real time, which will allow our sexton to address those issues and/or the Campus Care Committee to address any major campus issues. Help us stay organized and prioritized!

If you see something that needs repairing, cleaning, sprucing-up, etc. St. Paul’s campus, this is THE way to ensure that we know about it. Scan below to reach our Building & Grounds Maintenance/Repair Request Form.

Annual Meeting Recap & Impact Report

Stay Connected

Sunday Service LiveStreaming

We are livestreaming our 10:30 AM Sunday Eucharist every week. You can view the livestream on our Home Page, YouTube Channel, and Facebook Page.

Missed a service? Or want to rewatch a liturgy? All our past services are available to watch either on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/StPaulintheDesert or on our Facebook timeline: https://www.facebook.com/stpaulinthedesert

Join our E-Mail List

You’ll find this invitation on the front page and many pages throughout our website. It’s intended for anyone who wants to receive communications from St. Paul’s via email. This includes The Abundant Life weekly, online newsletter. If you haven’t already, sign up today!

Get “Social” with St. Paul’s!

Want to see daily pics about what’s happening at St. Paul’s? Be sure to like/follow us on Facebook and Instagram. And, subscribe to our YouTube channel to view our livestream and past services.

The Episcopal Church’s Immigration Toolkit

Shifting federal policy on immigration is already impacting people in all four of our counties. With this in mind, the Episcopal Church’s church-wide office routinely collects up-to-date immigration resources for congregations. Visit the Immigration Action Toolkit to find ways your congregation can help migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers.

Click here for more information:

Red Cards

Click to enlarge the images.

The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego’s Info on Reporting Misconduct

Intake Officers:

Ms. Megan Callan, megan@mecallan.com

The Rev. Willy Crespo, frcrespo@gmail.com

Ms. Meredith Hardy, mlh8180@gmail.com

The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego considers the reporting and investigation of misconduct to be of critical importance. Reporting enables the diocese to protect the complainant, the respondent, and the larger community. It also allows the diocese to assist with the spiritual, psychological, and emotional needs of all concerned during and after the report of misconduct. Please visit edsd.org/safe-church-safe-communities/reporting-misconduct/