St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church

13091 Galway Street

Garden Grove, CA. 92844

(714) 537-0604

4/25/08

Dear Parish Family:

Happy Easter!  No it’s not a mistake, although we celebrated Easter 5 weeks ago we remain in the Season of Easter.  Pentecost Sunday will be celebrated this year on May 11^th.   Easter brings with it the hope of new life, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for us here at St. Anselm’s for we are at a critical point in the life of our parish.  These are uncertain times where the power of life over death is a hope we all need to hold onto.  As you know, after thirty-one years of residence at St. Anselm’s, the Cross Cultural Community Center has left us for a bigger more comfortable facility.  We now have a dozen empty office spaces available to rent.  This amounts to a loss of monthly income of at least $4000.00.   It is a staggering amount for a small congregation such as ours.  What happens next?  That is not clear, but now is the time to dream new dreams, and make them happen.

31 years ago when refugees began to arrive in Orange County, St. Anselm’s stepped up to the plate.  That’s how the Cross Cultural Community Center was born and since then over 100,000 refugees have passed through our gates.  St. Anselm’s became the lead agency in refugee resettlement in the whole of the United States.  Those days are now gone, not because the Center left us, but because the refugees are no longer arriving here in droves.  The number of refugees allowed into the U.S. has been cut back drastically by the government (although there are five million displaced refugees in Iraq alone) and those coming to the U.S. no longer come to Orange County.  The astronomical cost of living in the county has deflected would-be arrivals.  As a consequence of this, the work of the Center has changed and the new focus is primarily on senior transportation programs funded by the County of Orange. Sadly, the historical mission of the Center is shifting; it is moving away from what it was when our parish under the leadership of Fr. Samir Habbiby, birthed it.  We wish them all the best.

So where do we go from here?  What do we do with this unusually large church campus? 

How do we juggle buildings, finances, and ministry?  By the time you receive this letter we will have had our: “St. Anselm’s at the Crossroads Gathering” where we will address this question as a congregation, dream-up new ideas, and plan for the future.  I trust that the Spirit will lead us in our efforts as we seek to remain a sign of new life in the community that surrounds us, and we continue to distinguish ourselves as a genuine community of faith grounded in the gospel of liberation, and all its ramifications.  It is time to turn a new page in our history.  We are a church historically committed to serving not only our members, but also the broader community that surrounds us.   Will we simply rent out our space? Develop new programs for it?  Turn it into a conference center? At this point the answer is not clear but with your help, your ideas, and the guidance of the Spirit, there are no limits to what we can dream-up and create.

St. Anselm’s over the last two years has been gaining a reputation as a community committed to justice.  There is so much that happens here at so many levels.   I am really proud of this.  So much happens on a week-to-week basis.  As clergy both Mother Minh Hanh and I have become very visible in the broader community.  For example, two weeks ago I visited the office of Loretta Sanchez with Orange County for Darfur to encourage the support of our local congresswoman in ending the genocide.  Yesterday, Mother Minh Hanh and I took part in the first negotiating meeting of the Disney Land hotel workers with Disney and union representatives as they began negotiating a contract for the workers that guarantees living wages, and healthcare benefits that mean something.  Along with other clergy, I addressed the workers, and later we lead prayers.  When we arrived at the Sheraton Hotel where this meeting took place, and the workers, mostly Latinos and Latinas saw us; the energy in the room swelled to a crescendo, the excitement was palpable.  It was a moment of grace where the workers understood that the faith communities were with them, God was present in their midst.  When the Disney officials arrived (24 of them) they did not want the clergy present, but we prevailed, we said our prayers and called on them to act in good faith as people of God morally responsible for their employees.  Disney made over four billion in profits last year, yet the working conditions of their hotel workers remains dismal in comparison to other area union hotels.  Many Disney hotel workers remain below the poverty line.  Not too long ago, it used to be that the average Joe could avoid poverty in this country by simply working.  I grew up in a low-income household.  My father had a union factory job, and my mother had a union job in the garment industry.  There was no wealth, but there was enough to provide for the family, we had a great family life.  My mother was always home in time to cook dinner.  Now laborers can work a full time job, hold a second job, and still remain below the poverty line.  Where is God in the midst of all this?  That’s where we step in.  St. Anselm’s name is out there, and I have faith that in the long run, this too will add to our membership as a parish.  We are doing God’s work!

Moving on to some pastoral concerns, please remember Marilyn and Jerry Aten in your prayers.  Marilyn’s cancer has returned and she has been placed in hospice care.  Jerry has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and his decline is rapid.  The Atens have been members of this congregation since it was founded; they have been married for over 65 years!  Please call them or visit if you can.  Mo. Minh Hanh and I visit them on a weekly basis, along with other shut-ins.   This is an important ministry and we are actually in need of new volunteers to be licensed as Eucharistic Ministers to help with this ministry.  I also ask your prayers for Ricardo Cardona from our Latino congregation who was hospitalized this week at Anaheim Memorial with liver problems.  He and his wife Sandra have been faithful members of our church for over five years now.

As we move ahead, please keep the faith and keep your parish family in your prayers.  Remember that your clergy need your prayers too!  We are at a Crossroads and only the Spirit can tell us which we to go.  Pray for discernment and guidance for all of us, as we turn a new page and live-out our baptismal covenant in a way that honors our past, as we look to the future.

Blessings and Peace,

Wilfredo Benitez +

The Rec. Wilfredo Benitez,

Rector