wfn.org | [ELD] Domestic poverty work focus of Presiding Bishop's Summit

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

>Episcopal Life Daily
>May 28, 2008

Episcopal Life Online is available at  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Domestic poverty work focus of Presiding Bishop's Summit
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - CONNECTICUT: Diocese settles property suit with  Bristol
parish
* WORLD REPORT - MIDDLE EAST: Court ruling favors Jerusalem diocese, not
former bishop, in dispute over school's ownership
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: Summit on Domestic Poverty
* WEEKS AHEAD - Upcoming special events and services
* SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - Third Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 4 - Year A
[RCL]
* DAYBOOK - May 29, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Domestic poverty work focus of Presiding Bishop's Summit

>By Neva Rae Fox

[Episcopal News Service] Following a three-day Summit on Domestic  Poverty,
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori released a communiqué,  noting
that "we are just beginning to engage this ministry in a coherent way  that
draws in the whole of the church in the United States."

Nearly 100 representatives from all areas of the country gathered in  Arizona
May 13-15 to focus on domestic poverty issues, including social causes,
anti-racism work, economic justice, ecological and environmental  concerns,
healthcare, children, social justice, immigration, prison ministry and  more.
The diverse group of lay and ordained Episcopal participants was joined  by
ecumenical representatives from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in  America
(ELCA), the Moravian Church, and United Methodist Church. All  proceedings
were presented in American Sign Language.

At the start of the summit, the Presiding Bishop said the focus would be  on
three questions: "Who are we; why are we here; what are we doing about  it."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_97421_ENG_HTM.htm

More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

CONNECTICUT: Diocese settles property suit with Bristol parish
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_97426_ENG_HTM.htm

More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

MIDDLE EAST: Court ruling favors Jerusalem diocese, not former bishop,  in
dispute over school's ownership
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_97428_ENG_HTM.htm

More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>MULTIMEDIA

>Video: Summit on Domestic Poverty

[Episcopal News Service] The three-day Summit on Domestic Poverty drew
nearly 100 representatives to Arizona May 13-15 to focus on domestic  poverty
issues.

Video: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm

More Multimedia: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80056_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>WEEKS AHEAD

A round-up of upcoming special events, services, concerts and diocesan
conventions taking place throughout the Episcopal Church is available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_1669_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS

Third Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 4 - Year A [RCL]

Genesis 6: 9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19; Psalm 46; or Deuteronomy 11:18-21,  26-28;
Psalm 31: 1-5, 19-24; Romans 1: 16-17; 3:22b-28, (29-31); Matthew 7:  21-29

>By Susanna Metz

[Sermons That Work] Well, this is a rough gospel passage, isn't it? It  seems
as if an awful lot of people are going to be disappointed when they come  to
enter the kingdom of heaven. It sounds as if Jesus is saying that even
though some people think they've been doing good things, Jesus is going  to
say to them, "I never knew you." And worse than that, Jesus will call  these
people "evildoers."

That just doesn't sound like the Jesus we think we know so well in the
gospels. Shouldn't people who claim to prophesy in Jesus' name and to  cast
out demons be pleasing to God? And what does this say to us about the  things
we do? Could we be in danger of being rejected when we say, "Lord, lord"  but
don't live the way the Lord would have us live? It makes us squirm a  bit.

Certainly we all need to squirm at times - to look seriously at  ourselves -
and that's really the bottom line of this particular passage. But  there's a
lot more to these verses in Matthew than Jesus giving somebody the hard
line; these verses are just a short bit of a much longer lesson Jesus is
teaching his listeners. And unless we take a look at the whole teaching,  we
miss a lot.

Full reflection: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82478_97347_ENG_HTM.htm

More Spiritual Reflections:  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On May 29, 2008...

* 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 May 29, 1936, Percy Dearmer, priest and hymn
translator, died in London. Dearmer also wrote numerous books including  The
Parson's Handbook.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery" from Simon  &
Schuster, Inc., by E. Benjamin Skinner, foreword by Richard Holbrooke,  328
pages, hardcover, c. 2008, $26

[Simon & Schuster, Inc.] As Samantha Power and Philip Gourevitch did for
genocide, Skinner has now done for modern-day slavery. With years of
reporting in places such as Haiti, Sudan, India, Eastern Europe, The
Netherlands, and, yes, even suburban America, he has produced a vivid
testament and moving reportage on one of the great evils of our time.

Skinner infiltrates trafficking networks and slave sales on five  continents,
exposing a modern flesh trade never before portrayed in such proximity.  From
mega-harems in Dubai to illicit brothels in Bucharest, from slave  quarries
in India to child markets in Haiti, he explores the underside of a world  we
scarcely recognize as our own and lays bare a parallel universe where  human
beings are bought, sold, used, and discarded. He travels from the White
House to war zones and immerses us in the political and flesh-and-blood
battles on the front lines of the unheralded new abolitionist movement.

At the heart of the story are the slaves themselves. Their stories are
heartbreaking but, in the midst of tragedy, readers discover a quiet  dignity
that leads some slaves to resist and aspire to freedom. Despite being
abandoned by the international community, despite suffering a crime so
monstrous as to strip their awareness of their own humanity, somehow,  some
enslaved men regain their dignity, some enslaved women learn to trust  men,
and some enslaved children manage to be kids. Skinner bears witness for
them, and for the millions who are held in the shadows.

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