What an amazing moment in our communal life this week has been. Last Sunday, about 160 folks from St Michael’s/San Miguel gathered for Eucharist and a picnic in Wilshire Park. It was like church on steroids: the service included a dramatization of the gospel of the day, Fr. Beto officiated at a wedding, and the Profile Committee handed off the Parish Profile to the Search Committee. That means that interested parties can now express an interest in being considered for Rector. Kudos to the Profile team!

After a bumpy start, the gathering of Anglican bishops for the Lambeth Conference seems to have hit its stride, and uplifting stories are emerging. I found the words of Bishop Mark Strange, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, encouraging: “Tonight I feel a burden lifted of what might happen at this conference and determined that we continue to be an example of diversity, and an example of enabling people with differing opinions to remain part of the same Church.”

Finding a “middle way” has long been one of the chief selling points of Anglicanism. It was such a key concept that we dignified it with Latin nomenclature: the Via Media. In a fractious country like ours right now, finding a middle path through almost anything has a degree of difficulty of 8.9; but as Episcopalians, we are mandated to try.

By the time Gloria sends this to you, I will be on the other side of my second cataract surgery and grateful for another miracle of modern medicine. Praise God!

Fr. Sherman

Interim Rector for Worship & Pastoral Care