Episcopal Life Daily April 3, 2008
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:
* WORLD REPORT - WALES: Anglican priests vote no on women bishops * WORLD REPORT - ZIMBABWE: Zimbabweans and churches still wait for full election results * PEOPLE - Olympia: Seattle cathedral dean resigns * FEATURE - 'A gathering force': Grassroots coalitions commit to 'new' New Orleans * DAYBOOK - April 4, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History * CATALYST - Understanding the Windsor Report: Two Leaders in the American Church Speak Across the Divide
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WORLD REPORT
WALES: Anglican priests vote no on women bishops http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_96261_ENG_HTM.htm
ZIMBABWE: Zimbabweans and churches still wait for full election results http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_96258_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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PEOPLE
Olympia: Seattle cathedral dean resigns
[Episcopal News Service] The Very Rev. Robert Taylor resigned on March 29 as dean of St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, Washington, after nine years in the post.
St. Mark's is the cathedral of the Diocese of Olympia, and also a parish church, the seventh-largest congregation in the United States.
In letters to the congregation, members of the St. Mark's vestry praised Taylor's many accomplishments and his reputation as a caring pastor during his tenure while acknowledging that conflicts about his management style had surfaced in recent months.
In his letter of farewell to the congregation, Taylor outlined the work done under his leadership, but added, "Despite our many accomplishments together, my vision for our future has diverged from that of the Vestry in significant ways, and that has resulted in a loss of trust between us."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_96263_ENG_HTM.htm
More People: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_ENG_HTM.htm
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FEATURES
'A gathering force'
Grassroots coalitions commit to 'new' New Orleans
By Pat McCaughan
[Episcopal Life] When the New Orleans levees buckled, they gave way to more than cascading waters. They exposed years of racial and economic inequity and launched a flood of new voices, grassroots coalitions and a reborn Episcopal Church, all working together for justice.
Shakoor Aljuwani is part of that reborn church. Last year, at 57, the longtime community activist, ex-Black Panther and former member of the Nation of Islam was baptized at the Easter Vigil, moved by "the sincerity of the Episcopal Church to work for change and the good of all" in post-Katrina New Orleans.
"I saw a real diocesan commitment to build a new New Orleans," Aljuwani said. "There was genuine comfort in their presence. I'd often doubted the sincerity in past relationships with various denominations, but I saw something powerful developing, a gathering force, and the enormity of what we were faced with made me search deeper and see the need, that I had to have faith in God in this survival process.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81834_96252_ENG_HTM.htm
More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm
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DAYBOOK
On April 4, 2008, the Church calendar remembers Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Leader (1929-1968).
* 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 April 4, 1687, James II issued a Declaration of Indulgence which allowed freedom of worship in England and also severely threatened Anglican control of church and state. The declaration permitted nonconformists to meet, forgave penalties for ecclesiastical offenses and no longer required oaths of supremacy and allegiance for those in royal service.
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CATALYST
"Understanding the Windsor Report: Two Leaders in the American Church Speak Across the Divide" from Church Publishing, Inc., by Ian T. Douglas and Paul F. M. Zahl, with a comprehensive summary by Jan Nunley, 184 pages, paperback, c. 2005, $35
[Source: Church Publishing, Inc.] 2003 was a tempestuous year in the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church gave its canonical consent to the election of an openly gay priest, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson. In the Anglican Church of Canada, a diocese authorized a liturgical rite for the blessing of same-gender unions. Responding to the outcry from many parts of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury appointed a special commission to analyze the events and make recommendations for preserving unity amid disagreement. The commission's findings, published as The Windsor Report in October 2004, have generated as much controversy as the events that prompted them. But what does the report actually mean to the Episcopal Church?
A comprehensive summary by Jan Nunley of the report and its aftermath puts those questions into context, while a conversational commentary -- organized around important themes -- by Douglas and Zahl, two very different voices, reflects on its recommendations and implications for the future of the church.
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