At St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Studio City, the good news is that attendance is strong, including among young children. There’s no bad news. But when the kids got a little active during services, the rector of 15 years, the Rev. Dr. Dan Justin, working with the children’s pastor, Diane Ballowe, created a weekly interactive children’s bulletin, with puzzles and word searches featuring Jesus’s teachings.Dan dreamed up one more element. His doctorate is in mystagogical preaching, which, among other things, is teaching that connects the words and concepts in Christian liturgy to scripture and everyday life. Dan’s innovative addition to the children’s bulletin are pages displaying words and actions that occur during the service. The kids are invited to check off what they see and hear.
I was at St. Michael’s this morning for what, by the grace of God, will be my last clergy celebration of life while serving as bishop diocesan. We were giving thanks for the Rev. Philip G. Lewis, a deacon ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia after a career as a naval aviator, and his spouse, Laura, who died this year and last year, respectively. Phil’s ministry was in a Lutheran convalescent care center. They moved to Studio City when they retired, continuing their outreach and service.Among those offering remembrances were one of Laura’s sons, retired United States Marine Mark Simmons. Dan gave a spirited homily. Assisting were the Rev. Patti Sells, the gracious St. Michael’s deacon, and the Rev. Dr. Glenda Smith-Lee, a family friend who co-pastors First Blessings Foursquare Church in Los Angeles. Ron Schwartz, who first came to St. Michael’s when F. Eric Bloy was bishop, served as my chaplain, assisting with Bishop Bloy’s crozier.
