From California-
The heavens opened, the skies poured torrential rain but it didn’t dampen spirits as more than 600 people packed St. James Episcopal Church for a March 25 live-streamed Solemn Festival Eucharist joyously celebrating the congregation’s century of ministry in downtown Los Angeles.
The Rev. Dr. Paul Kowalewski, St. James’ rector, said he had joked with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori , who was preacher and celebrant, that “we all know it never rains in Southern California, so she assured me it was holy water, indeed.
“So we are blessed with God’s holy water for the next hundred years,” he said amid laughter.
“Today’s celebration is about a century long conversation between God and God’s people in this place,” the presiding bishop told the congregation during her sermon (full text here). “God planted an invitation in the heart of Bishop [Joseph Horsfall] Johnson (the diocese’s first bishop), a newly minted priest named Noel Porter (the first rector), and a small band of disciples in this city of angels.
“It is just possible that the diversity of St. James today has some roots in Porter’s history, for he was born in India to an English father and a mother from the West Indies. He did go to USC, which was enough to make this immigrant an honorary Californian and an Angeleno – and the tradition of welcome into this community continues!”
More here-
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/03/28/los-angeles-presiding-bishop-helps-celebrate-st-james-centennial/
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