A Journey Toward Hope

On Sunday, February 16th, John Philip Newell and Cami Twilling participated in a service of lament for the California Wildfires as part of their February in-person event schedule. The community experience, called A Journey Toward Hope - From Ashes to a New Relationship with Earth & One Another, was hosted by All Saints Church Pasadena. All Saints Church has been active in serving their community through resource collection and sharing, as well as collecting donations to be distributed directly to affected community members. During the deeply moving service, John Philip spoke on the themes of his new book, The Great Search: Turning to Earth & Soul in the Quest for Healing & Home in the context of the devastating wildfires of Los Angeles - inviting the community through word, music, symbol and song to grieve our losses and reimagine our future.

In-person attendees were invited to bring with them a symbol or photograph representing what has been lost - or a remnant or object from the ashes of their home - and place it by the altar of hope at the front of the church as they lamented the sufferings of Earth and humanity and yearned for the way forward together.

The service was livestreamed and is available to watch below.

Fox11 Los Angeles covered the story of the community coming together to hold this service in the video below.