A few weeks ago I wandered over to St. Mary's, Mariposa to the Episcopal Asian Ministry (EAM) New Year celebration. Although some who attended had to leave before our group picture was taken, I think you have an idea of how well attended this event was!

Members of our Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Filipino congregations were there, and each congregation was in charge of different parts on the Evensong we celebrated together. We heard readings and music in many different languages, saw beautiful dance demonstrations and yes, at the end, everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner. We missed our Vietnamese brothers and sisters who were unable to join us this evening.

I so enjoy EAM gatherings, and found this evensong spiritually uplifting -- what a wonderful way to start the New Year!

Tonight I'll be with members of the Chinese speaking churches here in the diocese to celebrate Chinese New Year -- the year of the dragon.

Happy New Year everyone!

Episcopal Asian Ministry New Year Celebration

This was my first experience with all the various churches at a joint New Year celebration this past Sunday. Hosted by St. Mary's Mariposa, almost all the congregations involved in Asian ministry in the Diocese were there.

Celebrating the New Year with lessons and carols was wonderful. Each of the congregations presented a representative song or dance for each of the assigned lessons. the lessons were read in the various languages in which the Eucharist is celebrated each Sunday in the diocese. Beautiful costumes and sweet voices filled st. Mary's Sanctuary.

Asian ministry in the Episcopal Church is as varied as the cultures that make it up. In this diocese Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese and Taiwanese), Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese and Japanese congregations comprise our ministry. The languages are different, as are the cuisines and cultures. Yet we come together to celebrate the one thing in coming: Asian heritage.

While there may have been historic cultural divisions between the various Asian groups that make up this ministry, all come together joyfully as followers of Jesus Christ, working and celebrating at times like this jointly and collaboratively to the glory of God. Oh that this world could mirror such love and care.

I wonder what we will be doing next year for this celebration?

For the past 24 hours I had the great joy of spending time in prayer and reflection with men and women in this diocese, lay (but on the ordination track) and ordained who have one thing in common: working in Chinese ministry here in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

We spent time together, not talking about work, not planning programs, not looking at calendars -- but praying, resting, and reflecting. We started out with evening prayer late yesterday afternoon followed by dinner. Then it was laps around the edge of Echo Park Lake. Compline, followed by the Vicar of Dibley was a nice end to our evening together. No no no no no no no no yes! -- if you are a fan of the Vicar of Dibley, you'll understand this reference!

This morning we prayed morning prayer together in the beautiful Lazarus Chapel here at the Cathedral Center in Los Angeles. Breakfast, another walk, and a time of rest rounded out the morning. Noonday prayer, lunch, and yet another few laps around the lake gave us time to talk and to be centered. We ended the day with Evening Prayer and warm goodbyes, including plans for next year's same 24 hour event. I will be repeating this offering with other groups I work with as Multicultural Minister in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

What I realized a long time ago, being an Anglo doing ministry in Spanish for 12 years, is that sometimes this ministry and work can overwhelm you -- the demands are great, and resources are scarce. While all clergy have challenges and work very hard, the work of ethnic clergy is even more stressful (I do not like that way of putting this (ethnic clergy), but I have yet to find a better description - if you can help me I'd appreciate suggestions!).

My goal is to spend time (24 hours) once per year with each group here at the Cathedral Center to do nothing but rest, reflect and pray. A number of those gathered for this 24 hour period spent the bulk of the time in their rooms at the Diocesan Retreat Center resting -- many taking long naps along with time for meditation and reflection. I, too, spent time in prayer -- although I was fielding some phone calls and writing a bit. Yet, just knowing that people were here resting and praying made my heart happy and my soul rejoice!

All I can say regarding this experience is that I can't wait for the next group (those working with ministry in Spanish here in the Diocese of Los Angeles), and for NEXT year with the Chinese clergy!

By the way, I was happily surprised to find that today is the feast day of Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky. I hadn't looked at lesser feasts and fasts when I picked the dates for this gathering -- but I think the Holy Spirit must have been moving fast and furious! (In case you didn't know, Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky was a convert to Christianity and became an Episcopalian, later a priest. He was sent by the the Episcopal Church to China, where he devoted himself from 1862 to 1875 to translating the Bible into Mandarin Chinese. In 1877 he was elected Bishop of Shanghai, where he founded St. John's University, and began his translation of the Bible into Wenli --classical Chinese.)