The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has two venerable churches in San Bernardino, St. John’s Episcopal Church, which is downtown, and St. Francis Episcopal Church, in a suburban neighborhood right across from Aquinas High School, part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino.
With the Rev. Michael S. Bell of Episcopal Communities and Services, our affordable housing partner, I spent the day exploring possibilities for synergies among these institutions, all, in their way, dedicated to the glory of God and the care of God’s people.
The Rev. John C. Forney, priest in charge at St. Francis and an eloquent social justice advocate, has a vision of ministry to folks battling addiction, especially those recently freed from incarceration and most in danger of relapsing. John flew to West Virginia early this morning to see to Forney Charities projects in his ancestral state, so Michael and I sat down at St. Francis with members of his brain trust.
The Rev. Canon Linda Pederson and Canon Dennis Pederson have been the backbone of St. John’s for years. At 85, Dennis organizes a food outreach ministry each Wednesday morning that typically serves 125 people — more, he said, while SNAP benefits were suspended. Over Mongolian BBQ on Highland Ave., Michael and I felt renewed and uplifted by the canons’ example of patient faith in daily action.
We also spent a delightful hour with the good folks at Aquinas High and the Roman Catholic diocese. As their educational program grows, at some point they will need to lease or buy more real estate. They share Fr. John’s social justice vision and have an ecumenical impulse that opens their hearts to the possibility of them and us sharing worship and program space. Students have been volunteering in the year-old St. John’s vegetable garden.
All these institutions have resources and needs which, woven together in a spirit of collaboration, will, one trusts, make amazing things happen for young people and our neighbors in need while keeping the Episcopal footprint deep in the soil of the California heartland.
