Episcopal Life Daily March 18, 2008
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:
* TOP STORY - In Ramallah, diocesan institutions bring hope to Palestinians * TOP STORY - Presiding Bishop presents Good Friday Offering to Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem * PEOPLE - Barbara Cawthorne Crafton to lead final retreat of Finger Lakes Conference * PEOPLE - Robert Rae Spears Jr., fifth bishop of Rochester, dies * MULTIMEDIA - Video: Bishop Christopher Epting: update from the Holy Land * MULTIMEDIA - Video: The Rev. Naim Ateek, director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center * MULTIMEDIA - Image Gallery: Presiding Bishop's visit to the Holy Land * DAYBOOK - March 19, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History * CATALYST - The Anglican Covenant: Unity and Diversity in the Anglican Communion
_____________________
TOP STORIES
In Ramallah, diocesan institutions bring hope to Palestinians
Lutheran, Anglican bishops in Jerusalem share vision of common mission
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem's commitment to the welfare and education of Palestinians was highlighted March 18 as Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori learned about some of the important work of the diocesan institutions as she toured the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Jefferts Schori, whose March 16-24 visit to the Holy Land comes at the invitation of Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani, is accompanied by her husband, Richard Schori; Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church's ecumenical and interfaith officer; and Maureen Shea, director of government relations.
During the morning, the delegation visited the Temple Mount and Wailing Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, but the group was diverted from one of the checkpoints after learning that an Israeli man had been stabbed and wounded near the Damascus gate.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_95833_ENG_HTM.htm
- - - - -
Presiding Bishop presents Good Friday Offering to Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem
Gift of $158,000 will serve Middle East Church's mission priorities
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori presented the Good Friday Offering -- a check for $158,801.42 -- to Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani on March 18 at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem.
The gift, which includes collections gathered on Good Friday 2007 from the Episcopal Church's parishes, congregations, cathedrals and missions, is intended to serve mission priorities of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
The Presiding Bishop, who is visiting the Holy Land March 16-24 at Dawani's invitation, said it is a great privilege to be able to present the offering in person.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_95815_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
_____________________
PEOPLE
Barbara Cawthorne Crafton to lead final retreat of Finger Lakes Conference
[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, Episcopal priest, spiritual director and author, will be general lecturer at "Endings and Beginnings: All the Ways to Say Good-bye," a Finger Lakes Conference retreat June 22-27 at William Smith College in Geneva, New York.
The retreat will mark the end of the Finger Lakes Conference, a 70-year-old ministry in the Episcopal Church.
"We know that you will join us in grieving over the loss of this outstanding opportunity for fellowship and Christian education which has sustained many a conferee through good times and bad," wrote the Finger Lakes Conference board of governors in a message to past conference attendees. "Many are indebted for learnings and friendships, of immeasurable value, that have grown and endured through the years."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_95818_ENG_HTM.htm
- - - - -
Robert Rae Spears Jr., fifth bishop of Rochester, dies
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service] Robert Rae Spears Jr., 89, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester from 1970 to 1984, died March 18.
"Bishop Spears made the diocese a healthy and vibrant place, though somewhat divided because of his determination to stand for justice and on the side of those who need advocacy," the current Bishop of Rochester, Jack McKelvey, said March 18 in a diocesan news release. "He was a trusted and valued colleague."
Spears came to Rochester at the height of racial and anti-Viet Nam war riots all over the U.S., including in the city of Rochester. He supported the African-American community in its efforts to find a voice and empowerment in Rochester, according to the release.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_95820_ENG_HTM.htm
More People: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_ENG_HTM.htm
_____________________
MULTIMEDIA
Video: Bishop Christopher Epting offers an update from the Holy Land
[Episcopal Life] Bishop Christopher Epting, ecumenical and interfaith officer, is accompanying the Presiding Bishop for her March 16-24 pastoral visit to the Holy Land. Epting offers an update March 18 following visits to the Ramallah-based institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and an ecumenical meeting with Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Holy Land.
Video: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm
- - - - -
Video: The Rev. Naim Ateek, director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
[Episcopal Life] The Rev. Naim Ateek, director of Sabeel, an Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, speaks about the importance of the Presiding Bishop's visit and the relationship with Episcopal Church.
Video: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm
- - - - -
Image Gallery: Presiding Bishop's visit to the Holy Land
[Episcopal Life] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is visiting the Holy Land March 16-24 at the invitation of the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem.
The Presiding Bishop is accompanied by her husband, Richard Schori; Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church's ecumenical and interfaith officer; Maureen Shea, director of government relations; and Matthew Davies, editor of Episcopal Life Online.
An image gallery of the visit will be updated daily at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81991_ENG_HTM.htm
More Multimedia: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80056_ENG_HTM.htm
_____________________
DAYBOOK
On March 19, 2008, the Church calendar remembers Wednesday in Holy Week and Saint Joseph.
* 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 March 19, 1825, John J. Husband, English-born American music teacher and sacred music chorister, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Husband taught music in Philadelphia and worked as the clerk at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
_____________________
CATALYST
"The Anglican Covenant: Unity and Diversity in the Anglican Communion" from the Continuum International Publishing Group, edited by Mark D. Chapman, 209 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $24.95
[Source: Continuum International Publishing Group] This book is a collection of essays by leading theologians and church leaders on the implications of the proposed Anglican Covenant, which has been offered as a solution to the recent crises facing worldwide Anglicanism. At the Anglican Primates' meeting in February 2007 a draft Covenant was commended for study by the constituent churches of the Anglican Communion. This book presents a sober and dispassionate discussion of the theology and politics behind the Covenant. The writers represent a number of different theological traditions and disciplines within and beyond Anglicanism. What unites them is a desire to understand other opinions and to listen to different views. The contributors include theological educators, church historians, ethicists, biblical scholars, and canonists from different parts of the Anglican Communion and from ecumenical partners. While the book aims to be dispassionate and to stand apart from the rhetoric of ecclesiastical parties, it also offers original and thought-provoking discussions based on detailed and thorough scholarship.
In his introduction Mark Chapman discusses the development of the authority structures of the Anglican Communion, as well as the recent history of conflict between the member churches, particularly over the issue of homosexuality. Ecumenical reflections on conciliarity are offered by Paul McPartlan, a leading Roman Catholic scholar, and Kenneth Wilson, a prominent Methodist. John Barton, Professor of Old Testament at Oxford University, contributes a chapter on the concept of Covenant in the Old Testament tradition. This book provides a valuable resource for global Anglicanism as it begins to develop the final version of the Covenant over the coming years. It will be crucial reading for all those involved in preparing for the Lambeth Conference of 2008.