“O Beauty, Ever Ancient, Ever New” Premieres in Europe

Last month, the ZêzereArts Festival in Portugal chose our own Canon Jim Buonemani’s exquisite composition, “O Beauty, Ever Ancient, Ever New,” as the cornerstone piece for their choral festival. My daughter Allie and I traveled to Portugal to attend the premiere and cheer on our beloved director of music. Festival singers from all over Europe gathered to perform Jim’s composition in two breathtaking locations, the Convento de Cristo, Tomár, and at the Mosteiro de Batalha. An ancient convent and ancient monastery, both with stunning acoustics! I felt so proud to see the fantastic response to Jim’s beautiful composition. The lyrics come straight out of the Confessions of St. Augustine (link), and to me represent a powerful expression of the faith journey. Congratulations Maestro Buonemani!

Live Stream Restored

Our apologies for the live stream troubles last week, a perfect storm of tricky technical issues now rectified. We missed being able to share services with all of you tuning in remotely. See you Sunday!

Bishop search committee narrows field of candidates; slate to be announced in mid-September

Search Committee members moved one step closer to the formation of a slate of candidates for the eighth bishop diocesan Aug. 2 when they narrowed the field of candidates to those who will be invited to a discernment retreat later this month.

Announcement of the slate of candidates – nominated for election by Diocesan Convention Nov. 7 – 8 to succeed retiring Bishop John Harvey Taylor – is expected in mid-September.

“We did this in a day wrapped in prayer,” said the Rev. KC Robertson of St. Matthew’s, Pacific Palisades, one of the co-chairs. The Rev. Shane Scott-Hamblen created a discernment exercise that invited committee members to envision each candidate “bathed in God’s light, praying only ‘Your will be done.’”

Every hour on the hour, the group stopped for prayer led by members of the Prayer and Spiritual Life Subcommittee, and the Rev. Carlos Ruvalcaba repeatedly invoked each candidate by name. “It was important to hear those names and to remember that we are dealing with people whose priestly vocations and futures are in our hands,” Robertson said.

The committee brainstormed questions to be asked at the retreat — some that every candidate will be asked, and some unique to each of the candidates. In addition to those of a religious or theological nature, or questions about the candidates’ experience with congregational vitality and diocesan finance and leadership, committee members wanted to know “Angels or Dodgers?” and whether the candidates find pineapple on their pizza acceptable.

“It was a truly fruitful and Spirit-filled time together,” said co-chair Thomas Diaz of All Saints, Pasadena. “There were hard and honest conversations, and we were able to have those because of the great trust that has built up among the committee over these many months.” They were balanced with laughter, chocolate-chip cookies, much-needed stretch breaks, and fun with the committee’s mascot, Thomas’s dog Ziggy.

In the next few weeks candidates will undergo background checks by agencies that routinely perform this work for The Episcopal Church. Members of the Search Committee will conduct reference checks, calling the candidates’ co-workers, friends, clergy, and others. The committee has already heard reports of interviews with their bishops.

Then there will be the four-day retreat, a time for in-depth interviews; presentations by the candidates and by the Search Committee; worship led by each of the candidates including brief meditations so the committee can experience their preaching; and time for the candidates to ask questions of the committee.

The committee meets in early September to name a slate, which must be approved by the Standing Committee before candidates are announced.

Even More Episcopal News

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I love hearing about everything that’s going on at St. James’, but how do I learn about everything that’s going on throughout the diocese?” If so, your prayers have been answered. Click below to subscribe to the Diocesan newsletter.

​​​​