Bishop Marc

#Charlottesville

“With malice toward none, with charity for all...,” so President Lincoln wrote in his Second Inaugural Address, in 1865, with the devastating American Civil War not yet formally concluded. Mr. Lincoln’s ringing words fit with the commitment of Mahatma Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as their leadership is properly, but too narrowly understood — a fundamental commitment to not making any person into an enemy. But the Mahatma and the Rev. Dr. King would have never stopped with the partial quotation, above, that we know so well; they would have also have gone on to say, with President Lincoln, “...with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right...”
 
That is, at this moment we are clear that hatred of and violence toward people of color, of women, of the LGBTQ community, of the poor, of immigrants must be named as unequivocally wrong. The truth, as God gives us to see the truth, is that God is love, and all that is not love needs to be held up in the light of love, and opposed.
 
For my part, I will, to the best of my abilities hold to the dual practices of not demonizing or making enemies of people, of holding to non-violence and the way of love, and at the same time of resolutely naming evil for what it is, and for resisting the wrong wherever it shows itself. Sadly, evil and wrong have, in these latest manifestations, wrapped themselves in the clothing of faith. The perversity of white supremacists appropriating the cross, a symbol of a very real instrument of torture and death used against a member of a subjugated people, a person of color, is beyond ironic — it is deeply distorted.
 
Finally, let me say that all you who would walk the path of love and resist evil, please hear the admonition of Jesus of Nazareth — “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Too often those who choose the path of love are models of innocence but lacking in the prepared wisdom of the serpent.  In the coming days we will work with faith-based and civil society partners to offer training in non-violent resistance. Remember, Rosa Parks was not just a hard-working Black woman who was so tired that she determined, in the moment, to not move to the back of the bus. Rosa Parks was a woman who had prepared through months of training and was part of a close community of activists.
 
Take hope — God does give us the light to see what is right. We see the right through the light cast by the lamp of history, through the wisdom of sacred writings, through the living examples of veterans of past struggles, such as Representative John Lewis, by the prompting of God in our midst, in our hearts. Let us heed the light and follow the right.
 
+MHA

#ParisAccord "We're still in!"

“We’re still in!”

This full-throated chant was the response of hundreds of climate activists in Marrakech attending the United Nations climate change summit — the “action summit” — the day after the U.S. presidential election last November.

Presiding Bishop Curry quoted our chant from Marrakech in his stirring call to action yesterday (June 1), responding to President Trump’s decision to annul the U.S. commitment to the Paris Agreement.

“We’re still in” means that, despite negative actions by the President, we — cities, states, faith bodies, business partners — we can keep the U.S. commitment ourselves, and it is imperative that we do so.

What would be the impact if more than two million Episcopalians each reduced their carbon footprint and supported carbon sequestration? What strength can be brought to bear when Episcopalians resolutely stand with people on the front lines of climate change, as in Pacific Island countries? What would happen when our faith partners, like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Moravians, and the United Methodists also activate their faith bodies for climate action?

The alliances I’ve just named are only the beginning — Roman Catholics, Unitarians, United Church of Christ members, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Quakers were all at both the Paris and Marrakech climate summits. From the interfaith world, I have witnessed strong leadership from Buddhism. Many of you may have seen the moving prayers about climate change written by young Muslims in Marrakech as part of our public witness of faith each day.

Civil society sub-national bodies are already stepping forward to meet the challenge. Last evening, Governor Brown of my state, California, said that California will continue along the path of decarbonization. Governor Brown has already entered into alliances with other states in our country and made contacts internationally for concerted climate action.

There is widespread support for climate action in the Episcopal Church. Environment is one of the three pillars of our missional focus, and we have superb leadership in our presiding officers. More than twenty Episcopal bishops signed a letter voicing their opposition to President Trump’s earlier executive order that cleared away vital environmental protections. The Advisory Council on the Care of Creation is bearing witness to the deep commitment of Episcopalians across the Church who are already working creatively to heal our planet — more than sixty grant proposals for projects in climate action have been received by the Advisory Council in less than a year of our work.

President Trump’s announcement yesterday is no surprise. Our response in Marrakech was based on his campaign promise of pulling out of the Paris Agreement, a promise he has followed through on despite the urgings of many prominent business, political, policy and science leaders. The surprise will be the response by millions of ordinary people in this country, not least by the many millions of faithful people who see

#MLKforum

Resources for getting involved in structural change through environmental activism

MLK Series, Grace Cathedral 2017

Bishop Marc Andrus

 

Interfaith Power and Light

Interfaith Power and Light was founded by Episcopal priest and Canon for the Environment at Grace Cathedral, the Rev. Sally Bingham. IPL began as an Episcopal Church initiative, and is now across the country and is indeed interfaith. The other, really significant transformation in the organization that is relevant for environmental activists is that IPL has evolved from being a “greening the Church” organization, focused on such things as getting energy assessments on church physical plants, replacing inefficient light blubs, getting solar on church roofs, to being an advocacy organization, too. Most recently IPL was a key member of a coalition of activists in Oakland to prevent massive coal transport through the city to the Port of Oakland.

San Francisco Baykeeper

“Since 1989, Baykeeper has advocated for the health of San Francisco Bay. We use science and clean water laws to improve habitats and communities reliant on a thriving Bay ecosystem” – that’s the tagline on the Baykeeper webpage. Baykeeper has played a major role in cleaning up our beautiful Bay, a Bay that serves an important function in the web of life that is our ecological home. The work of Baykeeper is advocacy work, but also supporting the work of dedicated lawyers who hold Bay Area communities to the best standards regarding clean water. The work of Baykeeper is not at all in the past; there are new threats emerging to the sustainability of the San Francisco Bay, and your involvement in and support of Baykeeper can make a difference.

Environmental Defense Fund

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is a smart, well-organized body that is action and result oriented. Their work falls under these categories: Climate and Energy, Oceans, Ecosystems, and Health. EDF projects are well-designed, and include evaluative measurements, so you have assurance that your participation and contributions are effective.

Episcopal Impact Fund

Episcopal Impact Fund used to be called Episcopal Charities. The sound thinking behind the grant-making activity of the Episcopal Impact is two-fold: the three areas of work (environment, public health, public education) are conceived of as interlocking and mutually supportive; and the grants are given to organizations working on eliminating poverty at the root. You can both give to support the work of EIF and you can volunteer to be part of one of their regionally-based action networks.

Bayview Mission

Bayview Mission is a Specialized Ministry of the Diocese of California with strong support from Grace Cathedral. You could sum Bayview Mission’s work up under the heading of food security, with food bank and sustainable urban gardening activities. The Rev. Deacon Nina Pickerrell is the founder and director of Bayview Mission.

The Climate Reality Project

I got connected with this exciting organization at the United Nations climate summits in both Paris and Marrakech. Getting involved in Climate Reality will amplify your voice in advocacy. For example, here is an innovative offering from Climate Reality:

SOME PEOPLE WAIT FOR THE FUTURE. LEADERS CREATE IT.

Ordinary people face challenges. Climate Reality Leaders embrace them. The Climate Reality Leadership Corps is a global network of activists committed to spreading awareness of the climate crisis and working for solutions to the greatest challenge of our time.

The program takes great leaders and makes them exceptional, providing training in climate science, communications and organizing in order to better tell the story of climate change and inspire communities everywhere to take action. The result is a dynamic group of world-changers shaping the conversation on climate in forums from family dinners to international summits and building a twenty-first century movement for solutions.

To find out about the next Climate Reality Leader Training visit: http://www.climaterealityproject.org/training

The Bishop’s Ranch

The Bishop’s Ranch is one of two camp and conference centers of the Diocese of California. I encourage you to take a personal retreat there, or to take part in one of their seasonal programs. Through being on retreat at the Ranch you can nurture your inner resources for the perseverance and courage needed for climate action and eco-justice work.

A Christmas message

But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1

The Gospel lesson for the Fourth Sunday in Advent tells us about the courage of Joseph and the protection he gave to a pregnant young woman and the child she would soon bring into the world: Jesus, the Messiah. In other Gospel lessons that relate the birth of the Messiah we learn more about Mary, also a person of great coura­ge and compassion, who cared for the plight of her people under Roman domination.

Both Joseph and Mary listened to God’s message to them, a message asking them to be agents of God’s succor to poor and vulnerable people by bringing Jesus into the world and nurturing him physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Mary said “Yes” to God’s messenger angel, and Joseph heard an angel speak to him in a dream and changed his course of action. The birth of Jesus came about because Joseph and Mary responded to God’s call.

God continues to speak, and in this season of Advent and as we approach nearer and nearer to the Feast of the Incarnation, it is by listening to these great Gospel stories of faith that we may hear God speak to us now. This year I’d like to ask you to join me in following the lead of Joseph and Mary by offering protection and care to the children and all the vulnerable people of Aleppo, Syria, and to Syrian refugees. Here are some ways you and I can help the children of Aleppo and the children who are refugees, and their parents:

You can advocate with our United States lawmakers and the President. Call and deliver a message that urges a resolution to the crisis and an end to the bloodshed. Let them know you want our government to do more than “condemn the violence.” I suggest you urge robust negotiations and not military intervention. Below are some key telephone numbers:

White House (202) 456-1111
Speaker Ryan (202) 225-3031
House Minority Leader Pelosi (202) 225-4965
Senate Majority Leader McConnell (606) 864-2026
Senate Minority Leader Schumer (202) 224-6542

For advocacy for Syrian refugees I suggest you use the resources of our own Episcopal Public Policy Network. This link will take you to their webpage on advocacy for refugees.

Please also join me in donating to help Syrian children. I’m donating through UNICEF this Christmas. UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, has been helping children worldwide for seventy years. UNICEF has 200 people working on the ground in Syria. Click here to go to the UNICEF donate page to help children in Syria.

Finally, here is a Channel 4 BBC video, forwarded in a column by Roger Cohen about the last florist who was working in Aleppo and his young son who helped him. 

Let us be like those courageous young parents so many years ago who brought the Christ child into the world, whose grace and power continue to transform the world God made and loves.

Loving God, you continue to speak to us through the myriad elements of the beautiful world you have made. May we heed your call to care for the vulnerable in the world and the vulnerabilities in our own hearts. May we find the birth of hope within us and among us once again, by your Grace. Through Him who came among us in great humility and comes again to bring justice and truth. Amen.

+MHA

The Oakland Fire tragedy

Yesterday, at Grace Cathedral as we joyfully ordained five priests in the Episcopal Church we also prayed quietly and deeply for those who died late Saturday night in the disastrous Oakland fire. This morning I preached and celebrated the Eucharist with Santiago (St. James’) Episcopal Church, Oakland, the closest Episcopal congregation to the site of the fire. Again, we prayed for those who had died and those who loved them.

At this point the death toll is at thirty and may well be higher. The warehouse was used as a home for artists, for artist studios and as an event space for music and art installations. Most of those who died were young-adult artists and people in the Bay Area art world.

Artists, like public school teachers, nurses, social workers, and clergy are people who are essential to our Bay Area communities, but who increasingly find it impossible to live where they work, or to find spaces where they can afford to have offices or studios in these same communities. Income inequality played a factor in this tragedy.

Please join me in praying for those who died in the December 3 Oakland fire, one of the greatest losses of life in the recent history of the Bay Area, and for their families and loved ones. Please also join me in our Diocese of California efforts to provide affordable housing in the Bay Area, including what we call “essential housing,” housing for people essential to our community life who must commute long distances to work. All deserve affordable, safe housing; it is within our power in one of the world centers of creativity to remake our Bay Community into a more Beloved Community.

+MHA

Standing With Standing Rock

Ten years ago, very shortly after Sheila and I had moved to California, I was talking with the great theologian, activist and educator Ruby Sales about the second Pilgrimage for Peace and a forum appearance for Ruby at Grace Cathedral. As we talked on the telephone, Ruby in Georgia and I in San Francisco, we both came to a place in the conversation where we spoke similar words at the same moment – “The people remembered last in all justice conversations are indigenous people.” Indigenous people are often an afterthought.

This week, responding to a call from the Rev. John Floberg, Episcopal Missioner at the Standing Rock Reservation of the Sioux People, hundreds of Episcopalians from all over the Church are gathering at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline protest in North Dakota, in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (and all the Sioux, who have come together over this protest).

All over the world, indigenous people live in daily peril. For instance, many of the undocumented immigrants we call ‘Latinos’ have a first language that is not Spanish or English, but is a tribal language, and they are often environmental and political refugees. The reason indigenous people are the objects of persecution all over the world is because they have maintained both a wisdom and an integral connection to the Earth.

The dominant culture of the world – characterized by over-consumption and living off extractive industrial processes that depend on the objectification of people, other species and the planet itself – is imperiling the health of the Earth. May this pilgrimage to Standing Rock be not a one-off event, but a turning. Instead of marginalizing indigenous people let us learn to turn to them as sisters and brothers who have maintained family wisdom for us all.

At this moment some dozen of us from the Diocese of California are going to Standing Rock in the week of All Saints’ Day. I’m proud of and grateful to this amazing diocese that over and over again stands with the vulnerable. As bishop of this diocese, it will be my intent in the days that follow our journey to tending and honoring all our relations.

+MHA

Water, wealth, and Standing Rock

Turn the tap in Birmingham, Alabama, where I became a bishop in The Episcopal Church and you get grade-A water. In 2006 I was elected Bishop of the Diocese of California, and we moved from Birmingham to San Francisco. There’s a lot different between these two great American cities, but at least one thing stayed the same: when we turn the tap in San Francisco we get abundant, pure water – grade-A.

With climate change, we in California have been living with drought for the last five years. As of last week, nearly 60% of the state is experiencing severe, extreme, or exceptional drought. It is no accident, however, that in our suffering state, we in San Francisco can live day-to-day without worry about either how much water we have or how clean it is.

There is a contentious, tangled history behind the water status of San Francisco, tied up with race, environmentalism, entrepreneurship, and frontier mentality — among other factors. But the stunning fact that California has more billionaires than any country in the world besides the United States itself, and China, and that half of those California billionaires live in the Bay Area is a salient fact related to our abundant, clean water – we can afford clean water, which is arguably a basic human right. (Natia Shavik, Forbes, March 2015)

According to water.org, a water-rights advocacy group, 1 in 10 people on the Earth do not have access to clean water: 663 million people. One group of people. You can be sure that the vast majority of these people who suffer from lack of access to clean water are poor people.

One group of people, here in the United States is acting to seek to preserve their access to clean water – the Sioux People of North and South Dakota on the Standing Rock Reservation. I first visited the Standing Rock Reservation back in the 1990s. I remember looking out from St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, located about a mile from where Sitting Bull was born, over the silver shine of the dammed headwaters of the Missouri River, the very area where the planned Dakota Access Pipeline would go under the river.

The many tribes of the Sioux Nation have banded together with the people of Standing Rock to block the construction of the pipeline — which would transport over 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day — under the Missouri. The solidarity of the entire Sioux People around this issue is inspiring. With the intervention of the Obama Administration the Sioux have achieved a temporary victory in their struggle to maintain their access to clean, abundant water – in other words, to have eco-justice.

It is a little-known fact in The Episcopal Church that the only diocese of our Church where a minority population is the majority of the diocesan membership is South Dakota. As with the on-going struggle to keep oil drilling out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a struggle led by many Episcopalians from the Gwich’in People (including my friend, Princess Daazrhaii Johnson, who was part of the Presiding Bishop’s delegation to COP21 in Paris in 2015), Episcopalians from around our Church are standing in solidarity with the people of Standing Rock.

This weekend, our Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, will join the Bishop of North Dakota and the Rev. Canon John Floberg among many others to continue the protest of presence over the pipeline construction. Here in our own diocese, California, the people of All Souls’, Berkeley, (which has been in a relationship of shared mission with the Episcopal Church on Standing Rock) are organizing to donate money, offer their prayers, and work on policy advocacy.

Causes of eco-justice are moments when we are given the opportunity to manifest the Beloved Community, the Body of Christ created by our shared faith. As St. Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body...and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” Let us all act together for the justice our sisters and brothers are praying for at Standing Rock.

+MHA

Statement on shooting of police in Dallas, Missouri, and Georgia

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; … You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

During a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas last night, snipers killed five police officers and wounded seven more. Last night was the most police causalities the United States has seen since September 11, 2001. I have just learned of police being shot outside St. Louis and in Georgia, as well. I weep for the additional loss of life as a result of gun violence. While some voices were saying that those advocating for police demilitarization and accountability wanted the murders of police officers, leaders within the Black Lives Matter movement were calling the shootings horrific, and insisting that Black Lives Matter does not stand for killing police officers. According to the Dallas Police Chief, one suspect in the shootings said that he was not with Black Lives Matter and was working alone. 

Justice is not a zero-sum game; it is possible to curb abuses by police without calling for their executions. No one — let alone Black Lives Matters organizers — is calling for police execution. At the same time we must not let go of our work of advocating for reform of our policing in our country, including here in the Bay Area. Let me say that equally on my heart today is the enormity of violence in the Middle East, the hundreds who have died in the span of very few days, and the miasma of fear that must enwrap the living in places of such uncertainty and pervasive threat. While it may feel to us that our ability to work constructively for peace in the wider world is beyond our reach, we must resist the sense of helplessness and hopelessness — for those of us who trust in the power of God's love we know that the world is never beyond hope or help.

I am asking the deacons of our diocese — those who have a special ministry under their bishop, and who are called to work on the margins — to begin organizing lobbying efforts at the city, county, state, and federal levels of government to impact both police use of force and overall gun violence. Our newsletters and social media presences will update those interested. We will also be sharing information about marches and vigils as we have it, and may be hosting one ourselves. Vigils and prayer must move us to act for legislating changes to behavior and policy. Campaign Zero’s Take Action page offers easy-to-use tools for contacting elected officials with specific policy requests — including in great detail on the Solutions page. 

Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” No one is calling for an eye for an eye. We grieve the loss of lives of the police officers in Dallas, and we grieve the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. It was their extrajudicial deaths that spurred this most recent round of demonstrations which will continue as long as people of color are more likely to be killed by police than white people and until there are changes in policy. Black lives matter. Blue lives matter, too — but not more.

We cannot ignore the problems of systemic racism that plague our society and are more clearly visible in police brutality as a result of ubiquitous video cameras and social media. We must not, as the prophet Jeremiah warns against, treat the wounds of our people carelessly and cry “peace, peace” when there is no peace. We must work for justice, even in our grief.

+MHA

This post was edited 10:10 p.m. PDT on July 8. References to Catholic theologian Tobias Winright and the book Rise of the warrior cop were removed. The sentences in bold were added. All edits were completed at the request of Bishop Andrus.

Statement on deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

“I commend the following statement by a member of our diocesan staff, the Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews who has, in my own observation, an abiding commitment to justice related to race and poverty. He has been especially concerned with the institutionalized, legalized violence that pervades our society, embodied in our prison and police systems.” — +MHA

In a span of less than twenty-four hours, two more Black men have been killed by the police. These two both had guns — one in his pocket, the other with a concealed carry permit. They were both shot more than once, at point blank range. Video has already been released for what occurred immediately before one shooting and immediately after the other. The racial injustices core to our country’s founding continue to bear fruit as a variety of systems collude to oppress people of color.

While these two shootings took place in Baton Rouge and a Minneapolis suburb, police in the San Francisco Bay Area have been in the spotlight lately as well. The Oakland Police Department — currently under investigation — transitioned between three chiefs in nine days. The Rev. Richard Smith at St. John the Evangelist, San Francisco, has continually drawn light to disparities in how the San Francisco Police Department treats Black and brown citizens of San Francisco.

According to the Washington Post 509 people have been killed by the police in 2016. 509 people have been denied the right to due process and the right to a trial by jury. 40% of those have been Black or Latinx people. A report by the Guardian noted that Black men were nine times more likely than other Americans to killed by police in 2015. 

Through our shared humanity we are killed each time one of our human siblings — created in God’s image — is killed. Every time that someone is killed by an agent of the state outside the judicial process, our brother Jesus is executed by the state again and again. As citizens in a representative democracy and as Christians who have vowed to “strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being and the earth” we are challenged and called to speak to our elected leaders about police violence, police militarization, and the impacts of racism by those who represent we the people, those whose salaries are paid by our tax dollars.

We must pray daily for peace and change. We must pray that God intervene in our hearts and motivate us to act, as well. Campaign Zero offers a variety of proposals at all levels of government to combat racist police practices. Identities.Mic has offered 15 things that our cities can do right now to end police brutality.

Bishop Andrus commended to our reading last year and I again refer us to The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander for a look at how our unjust justice system deeply and systemically impacts Black men and women. Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me offers a first-hand view of growing up Black in America — which may be eye-opening and uncomfortable for those who did not share that experience.

Paul writes to us and to the Galatians, “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.” As Christians and humans we must bear the burden of systemic racism and police brutality, which in killing Black and brown people among us kills us all.

The Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews
Working Group Head for Communications
Diocese of California

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

#Sacrifice holds the story together in today’s #Gospel – Luke 9:51-62. When I went to my first Opera in the Ballpark in San Francisco the opera being simulcast onto the Jumbotron, flanked by huge stacks of speakers was Lucia di Lammermoor. The inherent over-the-top drama of opera and the intense emotional presence of the art form were pushed to the limits by this technological ramping up. So, when Lucia sang, Renounce all passions but love, I was transported by the power of the idea.

Jesus has set his face towards Jerusalem in this Gospel story. That is, he has resolved to make a planned confrontation with the political powers of his world, and he has prepared himself spiritually to do so – he is sacrificing safety, comfort, and mortal life for this goal – he is renouncing all passions but love.

Thus, when his impetuous and very recognizable disciples ask for permission to take vengeance on inhospitable towns through which they are traveling, he urges them to let go of that passion for the sake of the greater goal. Similarly he encounters individuals along the way who either ask to follow him, but only after taking care of some responsibilities in the normal rounds of human life, or whom he asks to join them in their cause, and is met with the same prevarication.

The Gospel ends with this earthy proverb that Jesus gives us to be clear about what following him entails, No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. For those of us who physically walk in #SFPride2016 today, and for those who are joined with us in the #BelovedCommunity may we keep our eyes fixed on the goal ahead - #love.

+MHA