The Holy Spirit did her healing, rousing work all over the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles today, and especially in Beverly Hills and Placentia.
All Saints’ Beverly Hills bid au revoir to its beloved friend Jonathan Roberts, who died last month in the midst of a life filled with family, friends, faith and church (he was the devoted All Saints head verger), brilliant conversation, and joy. Eulogies by his spouse Dayna Lynn Roberts and friends for life Nate Hicks and Bryan Freud (Dayna’s brother, who introduced the couple) and a spirited homily from his former rector, the Rev. Stephen Huber, framed his life beautifully. Canon Craig Phillips and the All Saints Choir were magnificent as always. Graciously supported by the interim priest in charge, the Very Rev. Canon Gary Hall, I presided and took a moment to reflect on the ministry Jonathan and Nate shared as ministers of ceremonies at scores of deacons’ and priests’ ordinations at St. John’s Cathedral. At the reception, a former vestry member named Kathy told me she taught Humphrey Bogart’s two children in the All Saints Sunday school. His All Saints celebration of life in 1958 couldn’t have been more spectacular than Jonathan’s.
I got to the Episcopal Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Placentia just after the annual meeting of our diocesan Cursillo community had gotten underway midafternoon. Cursillo, meaning little course, is a three-day crash course in Christian discipleship, fellowship, and spirituality developed in the 1940s by lay Roman Catholics in Spain. The fourth day is the rest of the disciple’s life. Spanish is the movement’s first language. President Iván Gutiérrez Acosta of Iglesia Episcopal de La Magdalena in Glendale presided over the commission of the coming year’s lay leaders and joined a quartet of lay witnesses in lifting up their Cursillo experiences. The Rev. Jose Luis Garcia, who serves as my liaison to the movement, and the Rev. Barrett Van Buren, the Blessed Sacrament rector, were co-celebrants at Holy Eucharist. De colores!
