Lunar New Year Parade and Festival in Chinatown on February 2

Last year, 2013, Bill de Blasio, center, in Chinatown.

From the New York Times:

Many New Yorkers will gravitate toward Chinatown for the Lunar New Year, when a parade and festival starting at 1 p.m. on Feb. 2 will ring in the Year of the Horse.

On the weekends before and after, the New York Chinese Cultural Center, for the 27th consecutive year, will take the party to cultural institutions across the city, with a program focusing on traditional dance and offering craft workshops for all ages.  (Jan. 25, at 2 p.m., Bronx Museum, 2040 Grand Concourse, at East 165th Street, 718 681-6000, bronxmuseum.org; Jan. 26, at 1 p.m., Queens Museum of Art, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, 718 592-9700, queensmuseum.org; Feb. 8, at 1 p.m., Metropolitan Museum of Art, 212 535-7710, metmuseum.org; Feb. 9, at 2 p.m., Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmohd Terrace, 718 448-2500, snug-harbor.org.)

Bloomingdale's Stores Celebrate Chinese New Year - The Year of the Horse

Retailer rings in the Year of the Horse with unique merchandise, special events, and in-store animation.

NEW YORK, Jan 02, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- To celebrate Chinese New Year, select Bloomingdale's stores will be ringing in the Year of the Horse with unique pop-up shops, merchandise, special events, and cultural presentations from Jan. 10 - Feb. 15, 2014.

"As a company rooted in family and tradition, we look forward to once again celebrating both the Chinese New Year and entire Chinese culture that is deeply rooted in history," says Tony Spring, Bloomingdale's president and COO, and newly appointed chairman and CEO effective Feb. 1, 2014. "We welcome Chinese shoppers and tourists, along with all of our loyal shoppers, to join the festivities as we celebrate the Year of the Horse."

At Bloomingdale's locations nationwide, there are 193 Chinese-speaking associates (both Mandarin-speaking and Cantonese-speaking), available to make your shopping experience like no other in the world.

To join the Chinese New Year festivities at your local Bloomingdale's visit bloomingdales.com/events for a full line up of events. Be sure to follow @bloomingdales on social media where you can join the conversation with #bloomiesyearofthehorse.

Shoppers at Bloomingdale's 59th Street, North Michigan Avenue, San Francisco Centre, and South Coast Plaza are invited to get into the spirit of the holiday and test their luck with the Chinese red envelope tradition from Jan. 30 - Feb. 2, 2014. Select envelopes will be filled with prizes such as a bMoney card in a denomination of $8, $88, or $888 (a traditional lucky number in the culture); a complimentary small Forty Carrots yogurt; a limited-edition Year of the Horse tote bag; special offers at the Clarins, Estee Lauder, and La Prairie counters; savings at select Bloomingdale's dining destinations; complimentary mini cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery (59th Street location only); special savings at Maximilian Fur Salon (59th Street, North Michigan Avenue, South Coast Plaza only).

Bloomingdale's will also be debuting limited-edition pop up shops curated by the retailer's fashion office that are filled with unique pieces for your wardrobe and home celebrating Chinese culture at the following locations: 59th Street, Medinah Home, North Michigan Avenue, Soho, South Coast Plaza, and San Francisco Centre. The shops will be filled with such pieces as a limited-edition reusable "Little Horse Bag" inspired by Bloomingdale's iconic Brown Bag, an exclusive Longchamp Year of the Horse bag, an exclusive Carmen Marc Valvo Couture red chinchilla jacket, as well as other must-haves from Alex & Ani, Anna B., Art Addiction, Asian Loft, Baccarat, Chaser, Clarisonic, Cynthia Steffe, Diane von Furstenberg, Dogeared, Fox, Franz, Furla, Godiva, Happy Socks, John Robshaw, Jonathan Adler, Lalique, MCM, Michael Aram, Michael Wainwright, Natori, Nike, Olivia Riegel, Prouna, Ray-Ban, Riedel, Salvatore Ferragamo, Topo Ranch, Versace, Voluspa, and Wildfox.

Also look for additional merchandise celebrating Chinese culture in the Burberry, Chloe, Dior, Estee Lauder, fine jewelry, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, and Salvatore Ferragamo departments. Other visual statements celebrating the Year of the Horse will also be present throughout the store.

During not only the Chinese New Year celebration, but all year long, exclusive Tourism Programs for international and domestic visitors to Bloomingdale's locations in New York, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco are available. In these cities, out-of-town visitors can receive a special Bloomingdale's visitor savings pass and gift with purchase. Additional visitor services include a multi-lingual Visitors Center staff and directories (including but not limited to - German, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, simplified Chinese, Spanish), along with concierge services, hotel package delivery, personal shopper appointments, and more. A Bloomingdale's welcome guidebook in simplified Chinese is also available at locations in New York, Chicago, Costa Mesa, and San Francisco.

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About Bloomingdale's

Bloomingdale's is America's only nationwide, full-line, upscale department store and a division of Macy's, Inc. It was founded in 1872 and currently operates 37 Bloomingdale's stores and 13 Bloomingdale's, The Outlet Stores in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, New Hampshire, California, and Texas. In addition, Bloomingdale's has an international presence with a location in Dubai. Be sure to follow Bloomingdale's on social media, become a Loyallist, and for more information, or to shop any time, visit www.bloomingdales.com .

After deadly typhoon, Episcopal ministry rescues Filipino seafarers

From the Episcopal Journal
January 2014 edition, Vol. IV, No. 1
By Jerry Hames

Chaplain James Kollin, center, with seafarers

Loggan, a Filipino seafarer on a Bahamas-registered cargo ship, had been at sea for four weeks, desperately anxious to get news about his family. After finally speaking with them and watching videos on his phone, posted by friends, that showed that they had survived, he asked for a few moments of quiet and then prayers for his family.

That scene played out in major ports across the world in November and December as anxious seafarers sought to learn about conditions at home after Typhoon Haiyan roared through the Philippines with sustaining winds of 190 miles per hour, making it stronger than all but three tropical cyclones in recorded history.

More than 5,000 deaths were caused by the devastating storm that affected an estimated 160,000 Filipino seafarers and their families. Maritime welfare agencies, many associated with Anglican and Episcopal churches, immediately sprang into action.

The U.K.–based Mission to Seafarers (formerly Mission to Seamen), which operates in many British Commonwealth countries, and the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), founded in 1847 by the Episcopal Church and supporting chaplaincies in the major ports of New York, New Jersey, and Oakland, Calif., responded instantly.

“The destructive typhoon that laid waste to the Philippines impacted millions of lives,” said the Rev. David Rider, president and executive director of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) from his New York office. He said each seafarer from the Philippines received a free phone card from chaplains or ship visitors. “Both our coastal centers provided free Wi-Fi, which seafarers used to send messages or make calls via webcams where possible.”

The task of one SCI intern at the Newark, N.J. port — Ryan Bruns, 22 — is to pick up seafarers who have visas and are allowed to leave their ship and drive them to and from a local shopping mall. One day he noticed a Filipino seafarer had returned empty handed.

“When I asked him why, he told me that he was saving money because his house was devastated by the typhoon, and he didn’t have money to buy anything,” Bruns, a college graduate from Cleveland, recalled.

On another occasion, Bruns and fellow intern Michelle McWilliams learned from a chief cook on a cargo vessel that his house in the Philippines had been destroyed. “The cook explained that he had put in a request to leave ship before his contract was finished, which the ship’s agent had approved,” Bruns said. “Anxious to get home to his family, he wanted to make sure they were really okay and to begin rebuilding their life together.”

One of the most inspiring stories, according to an account from Oliver Brewer, SCI’s director of information, came from Port Newark chaplain James Kollin who met a seafarer named Edito. The typhoon destroyed Edito’s house, the product of ten years of saving, and forced his wife and two-year-old son to flee. Five days after the storm hit, Edito finally reached his wife by phone.

“When I went to the ship, Edito told me about his property being devastated by the typhoon,” Kollin recounted to Episcopal Journal. “He came from ground zero of the typhoon. His family was safe, they moved to a relative’s house in a safer area, but his house and property was destroyed,” he said.

Kollin, 50, who was ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of the North Central Philippines, came to the United States 13 years ago and began as an intern with SCI in 1997-98. Because he is proficient in Tagalog, one of the two major languages in the Philippines (the other is English), he is a valuable resource for the Port Newark maritime ministry.

Ordinary Seaman Edito, who has the lowest among ranks, expressed to SCI his appreciation for his job as a seafarer—work that enables him to sustain his family, to help his neighbors and to someday build another house, the chaplain said.

According to maritime records, Filipinos serving in the global shipping fleet (close to 364,000 seafarers) make up 28 percent of the crews of all ocean-going vessels.

In California, Adrienne Yee, who herself served for eight years as an officer on an ocean-going vessel, is now director of SCI’s International Maritime Center in Oakland. Like the SCI centers on the East Coast, the Oakland facility is an agent for a money-transfer system that enables seafarers to send money home.

“They have been coming in from the very beginning when the typhoon hit,” Yee said in December. “Some were unable to connect because of communications being down. On one occasion guys huddled around one seafarer who had not heard from [his family] … and on Facebook he saw a posting of them.

“That brought on a lot of cheers and smiles … we see the anticipation, we see the anxiety.”

The inability to connect with loved ones at home often leads to a call for a chaplain. “We are very sensitive to their issues,” Yee said. “We talk to them, ask questions, ask whether they want counselling or pastoral care. I have spoken with many over the past several days,” she said in an interview on Dec. 5, “and things are just beginning to settle down.”

The West Coast maritime ministry has three full-time chaplains supplemented by lay Eucharistic ministers. The team also includes an intern from the Episcopal Young Adult Service Corps, Charles Ledbetter from Southern California.

“We are ecumenical,” said Yee. “We have many different denominations under one roof, including a Roman Catholic priest, a Korean Presbyterian and a retired Lutheran pastor. But for all of us, we have one goal—and that is to service the seafarers.”

Adrienne Yee, director of the SCI's International Marine Center in Oakland, Calif., at the Port of Oakland with seafarers from the container ship William Shakespeare.

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Jerry Hames is a senior correspondent for Episcopal Journal.
Top photo courtesy of James Kollin/SCI Newark.
Bottom photo courtesy of Adrienne Yee/SCI Oakland.


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Utah Bishop on Court’s Lifting the Ban on Same-Sex Marriage

December 21, 2013

[Episcopal Diocese of Utah]  As the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, I rejoice that U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby has struck down Utah’s Amendment 3.  All people should have the right to due process and equal protection enshrined in the 14th Amendment. Gay and lesbian people are human beings with hopes, dreams, and the need for love. I celebrate that now they will have access to the same fulfillment enjoyed by heterosexual people. They are people made in the image of God.

Many people will find this ruling difficult. The change that this represents will cause them heartache, frustration, and a feeling that our country is going in the wrong direction. Understanding, compassion and prayer for people who deplore this decision is important. They are people made in the image of God. I will be offering my prayers for them.

We are one people. We are one state. We can and must work to make Utah into the place where all people are treated with respect and dignity, and where God is seen in the face of each and every person. As the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, I will continue to welcome all people into The Episcopal Church.

Bishop Scott B. Hayashi

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About Bishop Hayashi

Nov. 6, 2010 Photo

The Right Reverend Scott B. Hayashi was consecrated as the Eleventh Bishop of Utah on November 6, 2010, following his election in May, 2010.

Bishop Hayashi served as Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of Chicago, for five years, prior to his Utah election. In his Chicago position, he acted as the Bishop’s confidante, Chief of Staff to 20 employees, deployment officer, consultant on congregational development, as leader of Diocesan Council, and as general troubleshooter for the diocese. Prior to holding that position, Scott was a parish priest from 1984-2005, serving in parishes in Washington, Ogden, Utah, and California.

Bishop Hayashi was the youngest of 3 children from an unchurched family from Tacoma, Washington, and he is the only active Christian from this nuclear family. His desire to know and to understand spirituality in general led him to a longing to know Christ when he was 15-years old. He has been engaged in critical Bible study since his conversion.

Hayashi attended Harvard Divinity School where he met his wife, Amy, who was then a student at Episcopal Divinity School. They have been married for 29 years and have three daughters ages 27, 23, and 15. His undergraduate work was at the University of Washington where he received a Bachelor of Social Work degree. He also obtained a Certificate of Theology from CDSP in 1984.

The Bishop was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Spokane in 1984. In addition to his work in the Diocese of Chicago, he has acted as a Conference Leader for CREDO since 1999 and has worked with nearly 600 clergy of The Episcopal Church in the area of wellness and development. He has served in rural, urban and suburban parishes, thus drawing on a variety of experience in a broad spectrum of the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Hayashi has fought for the dignity of all humans in our immigration laws, health care for all, rights for all who are made in God’s image, and respect for those of other faith traditions.

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Statement by General Seminary's President on Bishop Suffragan-Elect Allen Shin

On Saturday, December 7, the Rev. Allen K. Shin (General Theological Seminary Class of 1996, STM 2001) was declared the bishop suffragan-elect of the Episcopal Diocese of New York at a special election held at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. 

Shin, who is currently rector of St. John's Church, Huntington, New York, was elected by a majority of the active clergy and by a majority of the lay delegates who participated in the election.

"Alan is a great leader of the Church," praised the Very Rev. Kurt H. Dunkle, Dean and President of The General Theological Seminary. "Many recognized him as such this past Saturday. General is proud to send forth its beloved son into the wider Church, well prepared 17 years ago on this very Close."

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Bp. Provenzano: "Blessings on the Diocese of New York at the Election of a Bishop Suffragan"

The clergy and people of the Diocese of Long Island extend to all our sisters and brother in the Diocese of New York our sincere congratulations on the election of one of our beloved priests, Fr. Allen K.  Shin, as the bishop suffragan-elect of New York.  

May the love, grace, mercy and joy of Jesus Christ continue to bless the Diocese of New York as it moves forward in mission. 

The Right Reverend Lawrence C. Provenzano 

Bishop of Long Island

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The Rev. Allen K. Shin Elected Bishop Suffragan on 4th Ballot

Bishop Suffragan-Elect

At 2:40 p.m. on Saturday, December 7, at the special election convention held at Manhattan’s Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, the Rev. Allen K. Shin was declared the bishop suffragan-elect of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

The new bishop suffragan will work alongside and under the direction of the 16th Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. Andrew M.L. Dietsche. Shin, who is currently rector of St. John’s Church, Huntington, LI, NY was elected on the 4th round of balloting by a majority of the active clergy of the diocese in attendance at convention and of the lay delegates in attendance from congregations of the diocese.

Shin was one of five candidates nominated in early October by the Committee to Elect a Bishop, which began work following the call for the election of a suffragan by Bishop Dietsche’s predecessor as diocesan, Bishop Mark S. Sisk, at the diocese’s annual convention in November 2012. Bishop Sisk retired, and Bishop Dietsche was installed as XVI Bishop of New York, on February 2, 2013.

The bishop suffragan-elect must now receive the consent of a majority both of the other diocesan bishops of the Episcopal Church and of the standing committees of the Church’s dioceses, before being consecrated in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Saturday, May 17, 2014.

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Current Position:

2010 – Present
Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Huntington, LI, NY

Previous Ministries and Positions:

2005 – 2010
Fellow and Chaplain, Keble College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

2002 – 2005
Honorary Assistant, All Saints Church, Margaret Street, London

1996 – 2001
Curate/Assistant, Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, 
New York, NY

1996 – 1999
Assistant Officer, Episcopal Asian American Ministry, Episcopal Church Center, New York, NY

Education:

2001 – 2005
Post-Graduate Research in Patristic Studies, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

2001
Master of Sacred Theology, General Theological Seminary, New York, NY

1996
Master of Divinity, General Theological Seminary, New York, NY

1983
Bachelor of Art, Music/Vocal Performance, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

Ordination:

12/07/1996
Ordination to Priesthood, Diocese of New York

06/15/1996
Ordination to Diaconate, Diocese of Chicago

Highlights of Diocesan, National Offices and Community Leadership:

• Faculty Member, School for Deacons at Mercer School of Theology, Diocese of Long Island

• Board Member, Protestant Campus Ministry at Hofstra University, Long Island Council of Churches

• Huntington Inter-faith Clergy Association

• Episcopal Asian America Ministry Commission, Diocese of Long Island

• National Episcopal Korean Ministries Convocation

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