NewsLink, Serving the Episcopal Church
Daybook -- Today is Monday, December 4, 2006. The Church calendar remembers John of Damascus, priest, (676-760).
* 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 1093, Anselm was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury. http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/141.html
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Diocesan Digest
EAU CLAIRE: Diocese claims place in 'the central, moderate spectrum of historic Anglicanism' http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80145_ENG_HTM.htm
INDIANAPOLIS: Bishop tells convention to have no fears about church's future http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80147_ENG_HTM.htm
LONG ISLAND: Bishop sees signs of hope despite conflict http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80150_ENG_HTM.htm
MICHIGAN: Bishop calls diocese to faithful, bold stewardship http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80152_ENG_HTM.htm
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Diocese affirms full inclusion, supports MDGs http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80154_ENG_HTM.htm
NEW YORK: Diocese reaffirms support for full inclusion, stops short of rejecting B033 http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80156_ENG_HTM.htm
OLYMPIA: Convention affirms full inclusion of gays and lesbians in church http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80158_ENG_HTM.htm
SOUTH CAROLINA: Convention backs bishops' desire to change Episcopal polity http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80144_ENG_HTM.htm
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World Report
ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury issues statement for World AIDS Day http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80169_ENG_HTM.htm
IRELAND: Bishops meet with Democratic Unionist Party http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80165_ENG_HTM.htm
KENYA: Churches resist blanket condom distribution in AIDS war http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80167_ENG_HTM.htm
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Mission: Ecumenical partner Churches begin three-year project on transforming globalization
By Pat McCaughan
[ENS] Three full communion partners -- the Episcopal Church, the Old-Catholic Church of the Union of Utrecht, and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church) -- have begun a three-year ecumenical project to explore ways to transform the harmful effects of globalization.
Church representatives at the "Theological Conference on Catholicity and Globalization," November 6-11 in Maarssen, The Netherlands, began an "exciting mixture of traditional ecumenism with 21st century political realities," said the Rev. Dr. J. Robert Wright, professor of Ecclesiastical History at the General Theological Seminary in New York, who attended the gathering.
The meeting, convened by the Most Rev. Dr. Joris Vercammen, Archbishop of Utrecht, represents the first time the three full communion partners "are considering not just ecclesial matters but are also considering the implications of being catholic churches for the sake of a major problem in world economics and politics and sociology, namely globalization," Wright said.
Vercammen first proposed the gathering after he celebrated Holy Eucharist at General Convention 2006 in Columbus, Ohio, Wright said. "He had visited the Philippines earlier and had seen some of the disastrous effects of bad globalization." The Very Rev. Eleuterio J. Revollido of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), living in exile in Switzerland after receiving death threats, described for participants the consequences of globalization. The IFI represents about 6 million people, many of who are among the poor whose jobs have been either eliminated by technology or outsourced elsewhere. IFI broke with Rome in 1948 and has been in full communion with the Episcopal Church (TEC) since 1961.
Revollido also cited the October 3 murder of the Rt. Rev. Alberto B. Ramento, ninth Obispo Maximo of the IFI, a peace and human rights advocate and an outspoken critic of globalization and Philippine governmental policies. Ramento was stabbed to death at his rectory in the Parish of San Sebastian, Tarlac City on October 3. International faith communities, including the Episcopal Church, have called for an investigation into his death. The group, which dedicated its report to Ramento, also discussed efforts to canonize him.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80172_ENG_HTM.htm
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Media: The Witness ceases publication after almost 90 years
The Witness magazine, ending a history of involvement in peace and justice issues dating back to its inception in 1917, is ceasing publication, the Episcopal Church Publishing Company (ECPC) board decided at its fall meeting in Washington, D.C.
The board decided that resources were not available to continue the online version of The Witness. The print version was discontinued in 2003. ECPC will continue, however, to "serve those who give voice to the demands that justice makes upon the churches," according to an announcement.
Newly elected president of the board, the Very Rev. Tracey Lind of Ohio, said that the overall tone of the meeting was quite positive. "We celebrated our long history as a voice for peace and justice concerns in the church, while bowing to the inevitable conclusion that we didn't have sufficient funds to continue." Lind said that the board discussed and endorsed the possibility that it could use the remaining funds to pull together some of the most outstanding examples of the publication's prophetic witness over many generations.
"Future generations must know what a crucial role The Witness played in speaking the truth to power and championing justice for all. We are a different church because of that ministry." Lind also pointed out that the ECPC itself continues as a corporate entity, "ready to lend its voice to future debate in the church over justice issues. It may even be open to the possibilities for publications in the future."
The Witness built a reputation of excellence over the years, receiving many awards from colleagues in the Associated Church Press and Episcopal Communicators.
The published materials of The Witness, in print and online, will soon become a part of the permanent collection of the Archives of the Episcopal Church, available at http://www.episcopalarchives.org.
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Catalyst: "The Christmas Tide" from Church Publishing, Inc., by Frederick Buechner, 110 pages, hardcover, c. 2005, $16
[Source: Church Publishing, Inc.] -- "What I wanted to do in this little book was to convey as directly and completely and as honestly as I could what it felt like to be the ten year old child I was at the time of my father's death in 1936." This story of Teddy Schroeder and his sister Bean is a moving account of a child growing out of mystery (the mysteries of the world) into understanding. As a novel it is simple and evocative, focused on the inner feelings more than outward events. The big event is the death of the narrator's father and what it does to Teddy and Bean. The book ends at Christmas, and while it is not about Christmas the hope of the season is the book's meaning (and the author's intention). At the end, when the children are in church, they sing from the hymn "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" the lines: "This holy tide of Christmas doth bring redeeming grace." Teddy reflects on this, what the word "tide" means and whether it is about the beach where they had been with their father.
Bean asks Teddy, "What is the tide of Christmas if you think you're so smart?" and Teddy replies: "It's the high tide, Bean. It's the Wizard of Oz tide. It's the one that brings you home." "Everybody?" Bean said. "Everybody," Teddy said. "Then he said just one more thing even though he nearly didn't because he was afraid it might make Bean cry the way she had been crying the time he found her under the bridge table. 'Even Daddy,' he said." -- From the author's introduction.
(This book was originally published as The Wizard's Tide.)
To order: Episcopal Books and Resources online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org or call 800-903-5544.
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