Episcopal Life Online Newslink July 31, 2007
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's ELO Newslink includes:
* TOP STORY - Colombia diocese's care for neediest affirmed by Presiding Bishop * TOP STORY - Presiding Bishop urges advocacy, prayers for peace in Southern Sudan * DIOCESAN DIGEST - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Church thrives despite worldwide Anglican dispute * WORLD REPORT - EUROPE: Britain's longest protest march in full stride for climate change * OPINION - I still think I'm a Christian
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TOP STORIES
Colombia diocese's care for neediest affirmed by Presiding Bishop
From Staff Reports
[Episcopal News Service] Care for the neediest -- especially children and widows without adequate food and shelter -- is central to the ministry of the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Colombia, which welcomed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori for a July 18-21 pastoral visit.
"It is our ministry to take the Church out of the sacristy and into the local communities," Colombia's Bishop Francisco Duque-Gomez said during a clergy gathering with the Presiding Bishop.
Lay leaders also joined in thanking Jefferts Schori for her solidarity in their outreach initiatives, which assist "significant numbers of children and 'tercera edad' [older adults] in providing nutrition they would otherwise do without," the Presiding Bishop said.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_88686_ENG_HTM.htm
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Presiding Bishop urges advocacy, prayers for peace in Southern Sudan
[Episcopal News Service] In response to an urgent appeal from the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has issued a statement calling on all U.S. Episcopalians to pray and advocate for the people of Sudan, amid "fears that open warfare could resume within months, producing a humanitarian disaster of tremendous proportion."
Jefferts Schori noted that, in the coming weeks, she will be announcing a series of responses to that request, adding that the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations in Washington, D.C., will be coordinating grassroots advocacy through the Episcopal Public Policy Network. "As an initial response, I urge all Episcopalians to call, write, or email their Senators and Representatives and ask them to press for U.S. diplomatic engagement to avert breakdown of the 2005 peace agreement in the Sudan," she said. "Additionally, I urge all Episcopalians to pray regularly for peace in Southern Sudan."
Full story and statement:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_88669_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Church thrives despite worldwide Anglican dispute http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_88667_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
EUROPE: Britain's longest protest march in full stride for climate change http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_88670_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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OPINION
I still think I'm a Christian
By Lauren R. Stanley
[Episcopal Life] Well, spit. I guess I'm not a real Christian after all. I thought I was. Truly. I've devoted my life -- my body and my soul -- to being a Christian, to trying to live as one. But apparently, I'm not.
At least, not as far as Pope Benedict XVI is concerned. The Vatican, under his leadership, recently announced that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true Church, and that those of us who worship in other "churches" aren't worshipping in real churches after all.
Well, spit. What's a girl like me -- or anyone else who proclaims faith in Jesus Christ but who is not a Roman Catholic -- to do?
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_88679_ENG_HTM.htm