Christ Episcopal Church Sei Ko Kai

"For those unfamiliar with the plight of Japanese Americans, these gardens (such as SF's Japanese Tea Garden) appear whimsical, refined, leisurely. But for first- and second-generation Japanese immigrants, many of whom went into business doing generic yard maintenance after the war, the reality was less glamorous." Many got pushed into working on landscapes, notes Pitsenbarger. It wasn’t a highly respected or well-paid job. But it was all they could get. https://www.sfgate.com//The-Japanese-Garden-in-SF-s-Golden

Happy Girls' Day from us at the Center! Do you recognize the little girl in the kimono? Girls' Day, or Hinamatsuri (), is held every year on March 3rd in c...elebration of the health and happiness of young girls! Families in Japan display their hina doll sets, dress in kimono, and eat Girls' Day treats such as hishi-mochi and sakura-mochi. Check-in this evening at 5:00 for pictures of the Center's hina doll collection, which includes a Disney-themed set!

At the Sat., 3/13, 2pm (not 5pm) Special Evensong for the late Bishop Barbara Harris, I forgot to mention that Bishop Marc Andrus will officiate and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will share reminiscences of Bishop Barbara. Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/91305945725 Meeting ID: 913 0594 5725

Seven counties, including Santa Clara and San Francisco, advanced into the red reopening tier with adjusted case rates below 7 per 100,000 and positivity rates well below the 8% threshold, meaning restaurants, museums and other indoor activities can reopen at limited capacities. Statewide, about 13% of Californians have now come out from under the purple-tier restrictions. In the Bay Area, close to 4 million of the region’s some 8 million total residents almost half can now enjoy the limited pleasures of the red tier. Bay Area residents make up about three in every four Californians who have exited the purple tier.

God bless these five courageous and spunky JA women.

RIP Alex Trebek. You fought a good, long fight against cancer. You brought inspiration, class, impeccable pronunciation of untold number of foreign words, and a wealth of knowledge to generations of Jeopardy fans. God bless you and God's peace and sincere condolences to your family.

Science and God

John Wesley was an Anglican priest who is best remembered as an inspiring preacher and as the founder of the English Methodist Societies. Even though we are now four days past election day, much of the advice he offers here is still relevant.

It is midday on Saturday, November 7. The major news networks have announced that former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris are now the Presiden...t-elect and Vice President-elect. There are tremendous celebrations erupting all over the country; there is also great consternation, confusion, and anger, also widespread. I am not writing to join a partisan moment. I write as the Bishop of the Diocese of California to affirm that the democracy in which the Episcopal Church lives in its majority (one country among the seventeen that make up our province of the Anglican Communion) has worked and worked well. Democracy is fragile. There have not been, relatively speaking, many democracies across time, and they individually have not long endured. Thus, this democracy is all the more precious with each time it successfully works. Americans voted in great numbers, and they voted in historic numbers by mail, largely, I have to believe, to protect themselves during Covid-19, and to protect others. How beautiful it is to me that 160 million citizens voted in a way that respected the science around this deadly pandemic, but were insistent that they would vote. This manifestation of a successful democratic exercise also sees the election of the first woman to be our Vice President, and she is a woman of color, born to immigrant parents. This is a moment of which we should all be proud and grateful. And finally, you know me and it wouldn’t be a message from this bishop if I didn’t say how crucial it is that this exercise of democracy in action will restore the United States to the essential work of turning back the planetary threat of climate change. We will rejoin the vast majority of the countries of the world who are parties to the Paris Accord, and, I pray we will lead in the area of climate change action again. In the days ahead we commit ourselves in the Diocese of California to work night and day for reconciliation and the repair of the Beloved Community. Much work is needed; we are deeply divided country. The challenge of the work of reconciliation however is small in light of the power of the Holy Spirit, who is always with us. Let us pray together: God of justice and God of peace, we join in prayer today to thank you for the life you give us, as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, calling us to be Christians in this great country. We are called to be bearers of your ever-fresh message of prophecy - to care for the weak and vulnerable, to defend them against all powers. You call us to pray for our leaders, and we so pray. We pray for Donald, our President, and for Joe our President-elect. We pray for this time of transition in our democracy; may peace, forbearance and overflowing love prevail. All this we ask and pray in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. +Marc Handley Andrus

YOU did this. Thank you.

Let's show more love, apprehend with more compassion, and act with more kindness. Let's do the hard work of empathy and reconciliation.Let's show more love, apprehend with more compassion, and act with more kindness. Let's do the hard work of empathy and reconciliation.

"Breed said she thinks a near-certain Biden administration will improve the country’s coronavirus response and send more financial help to San Francisco as it recovers economically. She said she’d been texting encouragement and positive vibes to Sen. Kamala Harris, a friend of hers, and said it will be powerful to have an advocate for the city as vice president. Support and resources will come our way, Breed said.

"The (Glide) foundation agreed to surrender a $4.5 million investment fund as well as a onetime payment of $1.5 million to the United Methodist Church in exchange for complete autonomy. The foundation will keep its its home of 88 years in the Tenderloin."

Our annual parish group photo taken in 2019 before Easter brunch.

"We are a blue state because we’ve had a growing share of Latinos and Asian-Americans since the mid ’90s and after Proposition 187 they became more Democratic, said Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California. And the state is only getting bluer, with the number of Democrats increasing this year to 46 percent compared with 45 percent in 2016."

As in 2016, white evangelical voters, by and large, voted for DJT. "Biden’s Catholic faith did little to sway Catholic voters (which splits down the middle). Ever since Kennedy, Catholics have been no more likely to vote for a Catholic candidate than a non-Catholic candidate, said Gray. The VoteCast exit poll found that 68% of Jews favored Biden and 64% of Muslims did so roughly in line with past elections. (GBAO Strategies, which often polls American Jews, found that 77% of Jews voted for Biden.)"