wfn.org | [ENS] Tutu, endowed parishes exchange gratitude for widening justice,

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@mail.epicom.org>]

Tutu, endowed parishes exchange gratitude for widening justice, freedom

by Daphne Mack

ENS 030405-1

Friday, March 04, 2005

[Episcopal News Service] A sustained round of applause greeted
Archbishop
Desmond Tutu of South Africa as he thanked the Consortium of Endowed
Episcopal Parishes (CEEP) February 23 for their role in replacing
oppression
with Christ's abundance.

"Dear friends, God is saying to you please help me turn all kinds of
wilderness into glorious gardens because in God's world today, the
fields
are covered with weeds and tears of oppression and injustice of abuse
and
exploitation," he said to the 583 gathered at New York City's
Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize winner renowned for his anti-apartheid
activism,
said God wants to change all of it into lush fields of freedom, justice,
compassion and caring "for the good strikes down with lighting bolts the
perpetrators of injustice and oppression."

He thanked parishes including All Saints Pasadena, California, and New
York's Trinity Wall Street for their continued support of the Desmond
Tutu
Peace Centre and acknowledged "the many projects that would not have
been
possible without the assistance of the Consortium."

The Desmond Tutu Centre for Peace, in Cape Town, South Africa, works
primarily to apply the experience of the South African people and the
example of Desmond Tutu to inspire a new generation of visionary peace
builders. Its focus is to teach the principles-practiced by ordinary
people-that were able to guide South Africa from a legacy of violence to
a
cooperative peace.

"There are many great people out there in this wonderful community that
is
the Episcopal Church," Tutu said. "You are among those who said no to
war,
to the erosion of the illegal rights. Many, many, many of you cared
enough
and we want to thank you for that."

Tutu urged participants "to be on the lookout for other worthy
causes...because God has no one but us to be God's partners," he said.
"And
you in this Consortium have been among God's best partners to help bring
divine projects to a successful completion."

The CEEP was founded in 1985 as a way of creating a peer network where
endowed parishes could learn to manage their endowments effectively and
to
explore opportunities for greater outreach and ministry through their
use.
Its membership includes congregations with endowments of $1 million or
more.

For more on the work of the Consortium visit
http://www.endowedparishes.org/

-- Daphne Mack is a staff writer for Episcopal News Service.

___________________________
To SUBSCRIBE to enslist, send a blank email message, from the address
which
you wish subscribed, to: join-enslist@epicom.org

Send QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS to news@episcopalchurch.org.

The enslist is published by Episcopal News Service:
www.episcopalchurch.org/ens