Episcopal Life Daily January 31, 2008
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:
* TOP STORY - 'Refugees are children of God,' Presiding Bishop, ELCA leader say in joint statement * TOP STORY - Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee urges local expressions of communion agreement * TOP STORY - Prayer service for Kenya held at Virginia seminary * DIOCESAN DIGEST - EAST TENNESSEE: Annual convention revises canon for bishop succession * DIOCESAN DIGEST - WASHINGTON, D.C.: Convention spends time talking, learning * WORLD REPORT - AUSTRALIA: Armidale Bishop calls for Day of Thanksgiving for recent rains * WORLD REPORT - CANADA: Church refunded CAN$9.7 million on residential schools contributions * FEATURE - Crossroads' cloak: Flagship outreach ministry in the Diocese of Michigan relocates * DAYBOOK - February 1, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History * CATALYST - Go Down, Moses! Daily Devotions inspired by Old Negro Spirituals
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TOP STORIES
'Refugees are children of God,' Presiding Bishop, ELCA leader say in joint statement
Jefferts Schori visits Chicago interfaith refugee center, divinity students
By Neva Rae Fox
[Episcopal News Service] Citing "staggering statistics about the global refugee crisis," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori joined Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson in issuing a joint statement on January 30 calling attention to the plight of refugees.
"We are confronted by the overwhelming reality that 33 million people worldwide are refugees," the statement declared, noting that "refugees are children of God -- each is someone's son or daughter, father or mother, brother or sister."
The two religious leaders visited the Episcopal Church of the Atonement in Chicago, Illinois, whose outreach includes ministry to refugees.
"The current migration climate in this country is often focused on exclusion and restriction," the presiding bishops said. "As people formed by a generous and embracing gospel, we must challenge our leaders to avoid cultivating an unwarranted atmosphere of fear. We must not encourage building walls or denying basic human rights to those who clamor for security and justice."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94426_ENG_HTM.htm
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Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee urges local expressions of communion agreement
[Episcopal News Service] The 14-member Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee (LECC) recently met to learn about one of the most successful local partnerships under the Called to Common Mission (CCM) full-communion agreement.
The LECC meets at least twice a year, and reports annually to the participating churches on the status of interchurch activities.
Meeting at St. Paul's College in Washington, D.C., January 28-30, the Committee consulted with four local bishops, their ecumenical officers and the local LECC to learn about common mission and ministry in the area. Diocese of Washington Bishop John Chane, Metro Washington ELCA Synod Bishop Richard Graham, Diocese of Virginia Bishop Coadjutor Shannon Johnson and Diocese of Virginia Bishop Suffragan David Jones shared their current successes, challenges and plans for the future.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94423_ENG_HTM.htm
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Prayer service for Kenya held at Virginia seminary
Students affected by post-election violence
[Virginia Theological Seminary] The community of the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) in Alexandria gathered January 29 for a service of prayer for Kenya and for the VTS students -- Mary Tororeiy, Daniel Mwiti Munene and Peter Kanyi -- affected by the violence and political unrest following the country's disputed presidential elections. The Kenyan National Anthem was sung, candles were lit, and prayers were given on behalf of bereaved and displaced families, for the sick and terminally ill who cannot access medical facilities, for the Church in Kenya, and for the process of dialogue during the peace talks which began January 29 in Nairobi.
"The VTS community stands in solidarity with our students and graduates from Kenya and with all of their families," said the Rev. Dr. Marge McNaughton-Ayers, dean of Admissions and Community Life at VTS. "We are especially grieving with two of our Kenyan students, one whose house was burned to the ground in the violence in Eldoret and another whose relative was killed on his own land. When one person in the body of Christ suffers we all suffer with them. We pray for peace."
On January 5, Masters in Theological Studies student Mary Tororeiy received word from her husband in Kenya, the Rev. Antonio Nyandoro Ocharo, that a mob of people had burned their house to the ground along with three other houses in the neighborhood. Neither Ocharo nor the man who looks after the house when they are away was in the house at the time. Had they been home, they would have likely been killed. Ocharo, who has not been able to return home, is staying in the rectory. Tororeiy is not able to return to Kenya because of the danger traveling within the country.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94411_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
EAST TENNESSEE: Annual convention revises canon for bishop succession http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_94422_ENG_HTM.htm
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Convention spends time talking, learning http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_94427_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
AUSTRALIA: Armidale Bishop calls for Day of Thanksgiving for recent rains http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_94417_ENG_HTM.htm
CANADA: Church refunded CAN$9.7 million on residential schools contributions http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_94393_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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FEATURES
Crossroads' cloak
Flagship outreach ministry in the Diocese of Michigan relocates
[Episcopal Life] Two years after the 1967 uprising that shattered the city of Detroit, a young priest arrived at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul to encounter a man on the street who approached the towering cut-stone, neo-Gothic building and wondered, "maybe someone in there will care."
The priest -- Jim McLaren -- began to hear the question with regularity and in a variety of ways, so much so that in 1971, he began a social service ministry called Crossroads in the Cathedral's former bookstore. For 36 years, the ministry has trained legions of volunteers from a variety of faith backgrounds to conduct one-on-one interviews with the poorest of the poor from the streets of Detroit.
From its founding, its patron saint St. Martin of Tours, the 4th century
Roman soldier who cut in half his cloak to share with a beggar, has inspired the ministry of Crossroads. Just as St. Martin recognized in a dream that it was Jesus wrapped in the remnant cloak, McLaren and the volunteers who followed sought to see the face of Jesus in whoever knocked at the door.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81834_94408_ENG_HTM.htm
More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm
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DAYBOOK
On February 1, 2008, the Church calendar remembers Brigid (Bride). (450-523)
* Today in Scripture: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm * Today in Prayer: Anglican Cycle of Prayer: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm * Today in History: On February 1, 1956, Hamilton West became the fifth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida.
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CATALYST
"Go Down, Moses! Daily Devotions Inspired by Old Negro Spirituals" from Judson Press, edited by Leonidas A. Johnson, 393 pages, paperback, c. 2000, $13
[Source: Judson Press] African American spirituals are the heart of all other American music and comprise the taproot of the musical expression of the black religious experience. Go Down, Moses offers 365 daily devotions and includes a suggested Scripture reading for each day as well as a short prayer. Tying into the inspiration generated by African American spirituals, each devotion consists of a Negro spiritual that for decades has helped define African American religious culture. The suggested Scripture readings guide readers through the entire Bible during the course of one year.
"What a winning idea for a devotional! In an era when many daily devotionals skim the surface of the spiritual life, this one speaks to the depths of human pain." -- Publishers Weekly
To order: Episcopal Books and Resources, online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org, or call 800-903-5544 -- or visit your local Episcopal bookseller, http://www.episcopalbooksellers.org
More Catalyst: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/83842_ENG_HTM.htm