Episcopal Life Online Newslink September 26, 2007
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's ELO Newslink includes:
* TOP STORY - Southern Africa elects Grahamstown bishop Thabo Makgoba as Primate * TOP STORY ? Anglican Communion's secretary general reflects on House of Bishops' meeting * TOP STORY - Disaffected, breakaway bishops debate cooperation around parallel 'Anglican' province * TOP STORY - Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission Communiqué * WORLD REPORT - RWANDA: 'Women have the capacity to build peace,' bishop tells IAWN consultation * WORLD REPORT - SOUTH INDIA: Church's Jubilee Fund boasts million dollar success * SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 21) - Year C [RCL]
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TOP STORIES
Southern Africa elects Grahamstown bishop Thabo Makgoba as Primate
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Thabo Makgoba of the Diocese of Grahamstown was elected as Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) at an Elective Assembly in Cape Town September 25.
Makgoba will succeed Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane who has served as ACSA's Primate since 1996 and is set to retire December 31. He will be "collated" as Archbishop on January 1, 2008, and enthroned in St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town, towards the end of March 2008.
At 47, Makgoba is the youngest bishop ever to be elected to the office of Archbishop and Metropolitan in the Anglican Church in Southern Africa.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_90477_ENG_HTM.htm
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Anglican Communion's secretary general reflects on House of Bishops' meeting Joint Standing Committee to report to Archbishop of Canterbury by week's end
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, issued a statement September 26 on behalf of the Joint Standing Committee (JSC) of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council, in light of its recent meeting with the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops in New Orleans.
Members of the Joint Standing Committee, who were briefed by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori before their departure, intend to consult with one another "in the preparation of a report to be submitted to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the end of the week offering an early response to the statement that the House of Bishops have developed," Kearon said.
The committee members, Kearon said, "would like to express their profound thanks to the Presiding Bishop and to the House of Bishops for the generosity and graciousness of the welcome that they have received."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_90474_ENG_HTM.htm
Full coverage of the House of Bishops' September 20-25 meeting is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/89878_ENG_HTM.htm
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Disaffected, breakaway bishops debate cooperation around parallel 'Anglican' province
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service, Pittsburgh] Fifty-one bishops and bishops-elect representing several self-identified Anglican organizations were told at the beginning of a three-and-a-half-day meeting September 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that they needed to overcome differences if they are to succeed in their attempt to create a united, missionary and orthodox Anglicanism in North America."
Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan told the gathering that before any unified orthodox Anglicanism could be expected to emerge in North America, relationships among the organizations need to be reordered.
"Our shortcoming is not 'right Faith,'" he said. "Our shortcoming is 'right Order' and 'right Mission.'"
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_90470_ENG_HTM.htm
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Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission Communiqué
[ACNS] The Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission (IATDC) met September 10-16 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The full text of a Communiqué issued by the commission is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_90473_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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WORLD REPORT
RWANDA: 'Women have the capacity to build peace,' bishop tells IAWN consultation http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_90476_ENG_HTM.htm
SOUTH INDIA: Church's Jubilee Fund boasts million dollar success http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_90467_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS
Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 21) - Year C [RCL] Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 or Amos 6:1a, 4-7; Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 or 146; 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31
By Susanna Metz
[Sermons That Work] How could anyone stand to have a poor man lying in the doorway, covered with sores, those sores being licked by stray dogs -- a poor man who longs for nothing but the crumbs that fall off the table? Aren't we outraged that a rich man, dressed in purple and fine linen, who feasted sumptuously every day, ignored this poor man? We're not surprised when he ends up in Hades and can't even get a tiny drink of water. We'd never do that to anyone, would we? What was that rich man thinking of?
It's easy to feel pretty self-righteous about the rich man. It's also easy to think that this isn't a hard parable to understand. The poor man who suffered on earth is rewarded in heaven because those with the means to help him while he was alive didn't. The rich man who had more than enough -- lots more than enough -- is sent to Hades because he didn't share. Serves him right.
But wait a minute. That's a bit too easy. If we understand this parable right away, it must be that it strikes a chord with us. It's a lesson we hear all the time. Those with many gifts must see that those with nothing get the assistance they need to live a decent life. If you're rich, give to the poor. This is obviously a moral lesson for rich people, churches, and nations, and there you have it. So we're through, and we can all go home, right?
Full Story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_90069_ENG_HTM.htm