NewsLink, Serving the Episcopal Church
Daybook -- Today is Friday, December 1, 2006. The Church calendar remembers Nicholas Ferrar, deacon (1592-1637).
Today is also World AIDS Day; for a related statement from the Presiding Bishop, go to: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79953_ENG_HTM.htm.
* Today in Scripture: Daily Office meditation: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm * Today in Prayer: Anglican Cycle of Prayer: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm * Today in History: On this day in 1847, the Rev. Michael Fackler baptized James McKinlay, marking the first recorded service using the American Book of Common Prayer in the Pacific Northwest. http://www.diocese-oregon.org/history
The new Church Year begins December 3, 2006, with the First Sunday of Advent.
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World Report:
KENYA: Protestants to mobilise for 2007 World Social Forum http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80046_ENG_HTM.htm
KYOTO: Korea-Japan dialogue starts for Asian theology of reconciliation http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80036_ENG_HTM.htm
SCOTLAND: Primus calls on government to 'stop the Arms Trade' http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80035_ENG_HTM.htm
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People
Louisiana communicator Ann Ball moves to disaster response position http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80011_ENG_HTM.htm
John Bernard Haverland dies at 84
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80017_ENG_HTM.htm
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Advent finds God 'in the Darkness'
Message of strength, hope offered in new book by Clarke Oler
[ENS] Veteran Episcopal priest and psychotherapist Clarke K. Oler "calls us to journey inward to our darkest places," notes longtime colleague Gretchen Buckenholz of New York. "That is where we will find holy ground."
Buckenholz, founder and director of the Association to Benefit Children, offers this insight in her endorsement of Oler's new book "God Is in the Darkness: Finding Faith in Troubled Times" (Bartleby Books, 2006, paper, 163 pages) -- a collection of Oler's sermons throughout his 50 years of ordained ministry, notably as rector of Holy Trinity Church, New York City, and All Saints' Church, Beverly Hills, and as associate at All Saints' Church, Pasadena, California.
"I never had any intention of writing a book," Oler, 81, recently told ENS. "But friends said, 'Some of your sermons need to be saved.' My hope is that the book can give comfort and strength for troubled times."
Available through Episcopal Books and Resources (http://www.episcopalbookstore.org, 800.903.5544), the book takes its name from an Advent sermon that forms the text's second chapter. An excerpt follows:
'God Is in the Darkness' by Clarke K. Oler, excerpted with permission
"Advent is the beginning of the Church year, a kind of prologue to the Christian story. It is a season of four weeks beginning [often] on the last Sunday in November in which we recall the centuries during which Israel stuggled to understand and come to terms with God. The birth of Jesus is God's answer to their dilemma and despair.
'At another level, Advent is a season in which we reflect upon our own struggle with our own faith, our failure and guilt at loosing touch with God, especially when we need Him most in times of our greatest pain.
"It is not a bright, cheerful season. There is a dark, brooding quality to it. The altar colors have turned to deep purple. ... The music of our Advent services -- often written in minor keys -- has a somber, contemplative quality....
"It is hard for the Church to maintain the somber mood of its Advent services because the tradesmen have stolen Advent. Thanksgiving is barely over when the stores and television are blaring Christmas carols and bedecking themselves in Christmas decorations. It didn't use to be so in earlier times. In the old days, Advent was truly a season of self examination and penitence. And Christmas parties were not held until after Christmas, in the season we call Twelfth Night. When I was a young and foolish priest, I tried to salvage Advent by asking my congregation to hold off on Christmas parties until after Christmas. I almost got run out my parish by outraged parishioners who couldn't believe I would even think of such a thing.
"The central message of Advent is that God is not just a light and the end of a dark tunnel. God is in the dark tunnel with us. In the dark times of our lives we struggle to be faithful to God in spite of doubt and failure and guilt. And we struggle with the pain of grief and fear and illness and personal calamities. It is crucial for us to hold on to the belief that God is with us in those hard times. He doesn't just suddenly show up when things get better....
"God is in the darkness. We cannot wait for the light to come on at Christmas before we choose life. But we know the light is coming. Christ will come, not as a magician to solve our problems, but as a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, bearing in his flesh the cars from the whips and the nail holes in his hands and feet. He will take us by the hand and walk with us through our shadowlands into such a bright dawan as we cannot yet even imagine."
A publisher's biographical sketch notes that while Oler's "formal education includes graduating Yale University, St. John's University and Virginia Theological Seminary, his real education was his observations during his career with IBM and his experiences in World War II. As a communications specialist in the Burma campaign and in the civil unrests of post-war China, he learned that the struggle for peace is a continuing universal process."
Oler and his wife of 54 years, Wendy, have three adult children and reside in Pasadena, California.
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Historians, archivists offer skilled expertise churchwide
Conference planned as Jamestown, church mark 400-year milestones
[ENS] In advance of 2007 observances of the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown Colony and the beginning of a permanent Anglican presence in the Americas, the perspectives and scholarship of skilled historians and archivists offer rich resources within the Episcopal Church.
The observances are featured in a series of parish bulletin inserts currently in use by congregations and offered through the Episcopal News Service. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79411_ENG_HTM.htm
A significant conference of these historians and archivists is planned for June 24-27, 2007, in Williamsburg, Virginia, concurrent with observances of the Jamestown 400-year milestone. (Further information may be obtained through contact links listed below.)
Leaders among these experts include the Historiographer of the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Dr. J. Robert Wright, professor at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, and the Episcopal Church's canonical archivist and director of archives, Mark J. Duffy.
The importance of this work is captured in the words of Episcopal Church Historical Society President Frederica Harris Thompsett, as quoted on the Web site of the Episcopal Women's History Project: "Through our memories we can convert understanding of past events into insight that illuminates our future."
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Historical Society of the Episcopal Church http://www.hsec.us/annual President: Dr. Fredrica Harris Thompsett, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
[Source: HSEC] Founded in 1910 in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church furthers understanding of church history through research, conferences, archival preservation programs, and publication. The Society is a voluntary organization for people who are engaged in researching and preserving church history and for those who enjoy reading that history. The Society serves the Episcopal Church by adding historical perspective to contemporary discussions of theological significance.
Known as the Church Historical Society until 1976, the Society has implemented its constitution and its mission by publishing, since 1932, the Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Since 1987 this journal has been entitled Anglican and Episcopal History, reflecting its expanded, internationalized scope and editorial board. A subscription to this quarterly journal is included as one of the benefits of membership in the Society. During the past decade, the Society has sponsored a monograph series, Studies in Anglican History, published by the University of Illinois Press. Seven volumes of that series are now in print, and more are forthcoming.
The Society works in close partnerships with sister organizations such as the Archives of the Episcopal Church, the National Episcopal Historians and Archivists (NEHA), the Episcopal Women's History Project (EWHP), and the office of the Historiographer of the Episcopal Church.
Since 1999 the Society has co-published with NEHA a newsletter, "The Historiographer." The Society holds an annual membership meeting, which every three years is held concurrently with a church history conference cosponsored with NEHA and EWHP. At those conferences, historians present the results of their research in panel sessions to an audience of members of the Society as well as nonmembers.
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The National Episcopal Historians and Archivists (NEHA) http://www.neha-archive.net President: Willis Moore Diocese of Hawaii
[Source: NEHA] The National Episcopal Historians and Archivists (NEHA) formally the National Episcopal Historians Association, began in 1961 as an outgrowth of the Church Historical Society. The founders felt that an organization was needed that would promote archival and historical information collection for congregations, dioceses, and institutional archivists as well as historiographers and registrars.
Since its first meeting at The University of the South, NEHA provided a forum for the exchange of information and ideas about the collection of records. It began with manual support for its members with workshops and training in collection techniques presented in an annual meeting.
Under the leadership of Dr. Arthur Ben Chitty the association launched a newsletter that later became the publication known as The Historiographer. Through this communication tool NEHA has come to defend its role as an archival and historical professional society for those who participate actively in preserving and exploring the historical dimensions of The Episcopal Church.
In 1999, the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church became the co-sponsor of The Historiographer.
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Episcopal Women's History Project http://www.ewhp.org President: Dr. Joan R. Gundersen Diocese of Pittsburgh
[Source: EWHP] Begun on faith and the proverbial shoestring, The Episcopal Women's History Project was organized in 1980 by a handful of dedicated Episcopal Churchwomen in New York City. Formed to raise the consciousness and conscience of the Episcopal Church to the historic contributions of its women, EWHP began, and has continued to gather the life stories of Episcopal Churchwomen who have served God faithfully and selflessly. It has inventoried written source materials, gathered oral histories, published a lively newsletter, supported research, given grants, and encouraged interest at all levels through conferences and workshops.
EWHP is an independent organization entirely supported by voluntary contributions.
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African American Episcopal Historical Collection http://www.vts.edu/library/archives/collection.asp (located at the Virginia Theological Seminary)
[Source: VTS] In 2003 the African American Episcopal Historical Collection was established at the VTS Archives as a joint project with the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church. Through documents, institutional records, oral histories, personal papers, and photographs, the collection documents the experience of African American Episcopalians in the United States. Individual collections document the experience of African American Episcopalians and contain significant references to religious faith and involvement in the Episcopal Church, particularly at the regional, diocesan, or local level.
Donations of appropriate archival materials from African American individuals and/or organizations working with African Americans in the Episcopal Church are encouraged. All donations are documented by a Deed of Gift transferring full title to the Historical Collection. For further information, on donating material contact Julia Randle at 703-461-1850. Monetary donations may be sent to Virginia Theological Seminary, 3737 Seminary Road, Alexandria, Virginia 22304, earmarked for the African American Episcopal Historical Collection.
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The Archives of the Episcopal Church http://episcopalarchives.org (located in Austin, Texas) Director: Mark J. Duffy
[Source: Archives] The Archives of The Episcopal Church is the official repository for records created by and about the Episcopal Church, related Anglican bodies, and individual Episcopalians. Its mission is to preserve and make available documentary evidence of the ongoing life and work of the Church and to offer a useful information service to its leadership, its members and to the general public. The Archives serves the broader mission of the Church by using its resources to support individual ministry, community life, and the corporate vitality of the institutional Church.
In pursuit of this goal, the Archives actively documents all aspects of mission and ministry, lay and ordained. Its purpose is to create a permanent and useful resource on the witness of this community and the activities that have defined the Episcopal and Anglican experience in America and in world mission. The Archives aims to support the understanding of all inquirers who seek to access the past, whether to inform an institutional perspective, to seek an individual appreciation, or to promote the historical dimension of Episcopal and Anglican tradition.
The Archives is authorized by the General Convention and is administered by the Board of the Archives as provided by Canon Title I.5.
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Catalyst: "Waiting for Wonder" from Morehouse Publishing, by Katerina Katsarka Whitley, 102 pages, paperback, c. 2005, $11.95
[Source: Morehouse Publishing] -- Imagine the hushed excitement and the vivid anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve. How much more intense that anticipation must have been for those who waited for the wonder of the very first Christmas. From the ancient prophets to the three kings, from the angel Gabriel to the stalwart Joseph, Katarina Katsarka Whitley imagines their astonishment and joy at the events unfolding around them.
In her inimitable style, Whitley places herself in the hearts and minds of the biblical characters -- both real and imagined -- who played a part in the Christmas narrative. She weaves stories, solidly based in Scripture, at once compelling and thought-provoking. The voices of her characters lead us closer to the Christ Child and deepen the meaning of the season of Advent for twenty-first century readers.
To order: Episcopal Books and Resources online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org or call 800-903-5544.
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ENS provides information and resources which we consider to be of interest to our readers. However, statements and opinions expressed in the articles and communications herein, are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of ENS or the Episcopal Church.