THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2010
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 15, Number 29
Passion in the Village: Christians mark their faith BY ADRIANE TILLMAN | VILLAGE NEWS Churches in La Jolla are preparing to celebrate the most important weekend in the Christian faith. Each denomination will venerate Jesus’ sacrifice in its own way, but ministers from four local churches shared the same sentiment: Easter is a time to celebrate new life and renewed hope in Christ. The following is a peek into the hearts and doors of four churches in the Village as they commemorate Holy Week. The crosses and statues are shrouded in purple cloth at St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church on Prospect Street in sacred remembrance of Holy Week. The priests are preparing themselves and the church for the most important liturgies of the year. “All of it is a sacred remembering,” said The Rev. Eleanor Ellsworth at St. James. “Holy Week is not supposed to be business-as-usual. We restrict regular business to a minimum so we can spiritually prepare for each of the great liturgies that we put together and participate in.” Tonight, the congregation will share a simple Middle Eastern meal at 6 p.m. to honor Christ’s last meal when he broke bread and blessed the wine to share with his disciples. The Eucharist — the bread and wine symbolizing the body and blood of Christ — will be placed in a lit chapel and will not be taken again until Easter morning. The priests will then strip the altar bare. The Episcopal Church believes a mysterious transformation occurs after the Eucharist, where the bread and wine becomes “the Real Presence of Christ.” “That does not say … that it literally is the body and blood [of Christ] as it was 2,000 years ago,” Ellsworth said. “… But when you bless that bread and do it in the context of worship, something changes. The ordinary becomes sacred.” On Good Friday, beginning at 10 a.m., the priests will carry a heavy, wooden cross into the sanctuary for people to kneel before to pray for the world and to remember those who have departed. The church remains open until 3 p.m. for people to pray and meditate upon Jesus’ suffering on the cross. Stations of the Cross follows at 4 p.m. This is when the congregation proceeds past 14 carvings and pictures depicting the events from Jesus’ condemnation to his crucifixion. This year, the devotion is geared toward children; the ceremony will be abbreviated and lively. St. James concludes Good Friday with a reenactment of the Gospel of John at 7 p.m. Saturday will be a quiet day until dusk when the Easter vigil begins and the church moves from solemnity into joy. St. James will not host a vigil this year, and encourages people to head to St. Paul’s Cathedral downtown or to St. Peter’s in Del Mar. The vigil begins at dusk with the lighting of the “the primordial fire,” symbolizing the beginning of creation, and read-
Clockwise, from top left: St. James Rev. Eleanor Ellsworth inside the church with Christus Rex statue covered in traditional royal purple cloth for seasonal ceremonies. A statue of Jesus presides inside Mary Star of the Sea Church. Presbyterian Church Pastor Paul Cunningham stands outside the church. St. James Church stained glass portrays Jesus in the garden of Gesthsemane. A close-up of the face of Jesus from the “Veronica wipes the face of Jesus” statues outside Mary Star of the Sea Church. A view of the altar inside Mary Star of the Sea DON BALCH | Village News Church.
ings from Exodus when, Christians believe, God freed the Israelites from their oppressors in Egypt. A sudden switch is made from the Old Testament to the New when the priests flip on the lights and proclaim, “Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Christ is risen!” The congregation will share the Eucharist and new Christians will be baptized into the faith. On Easter morning, St. James will hold services at 7 a.m., 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. with a children’s egg hunt at 10 a.m. Ellsworth described the Episcopal Church as both Catholic and Protestant in that it shares a similar order of worship as the Catholic Church, but reformed itself in the Protestant tradition to ordain women, permit priests to marry and established a less hierarchical structure than the Catholic Church. SEE PASSION, Page 6
Law regulating medical pot shops emerges BY ADRIANE TILLMAN | VILLAGE NEWS A law to control medical marijuana shops in San Diego is beginning to take shape without a cap on the number of cooperatives allowed to operate in the city. City Council members instructed the City Attorney’s Office to draft a regulatory ordinance during a March 24 meeting of the city’s Land Use & Housing (LU&H) Committee. The item is not yet ready for a City Council vote. District 4 City Councilman Tony Young dissented because he said he wanted the ordinance to limit the number of dispensaries in the city. San Diego currently has about 80
medical marijuana cooperatives, according to San Diego police Capt. Guy Swanger. Los Angeles recently capped the number of medical marijuana cooperatives at 70, but exempted those that registered with the city in 2007, according to published accounts by the Los Angeles Times. City officials estimated between 800 and 1,000 dispensaries are currently operating in Los Angeles, according to the Times. Meanwhile, the floodgates may open to legalize marijuana since Californians will now vote on a ballot proposal in November to legalize marijuana for personal use, cultivation and transportation.
The draft ordinance: District 1 Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, who represents La Jolla, made a motion to impose stricter requirements than proposed by the Medical Marijuana Task Force set up by the city. Under the draft ordinance, dispensaries would be banned from areas designated as commercial neighborhoods and commercial visitor zones, as well as from residential areas. In La Jolla, dispensaries would likely only be permitted to open along Girard Avenue because of zoning restrictions in the planned district ordinance. Lightner also called for a more onerSEE DISPENSARIES, Page 4