wfn.org | [ELD] Executive Council opens three-day meeting in Albuquerque / Grieves urges Episcopalians to join

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>June 13, 2008

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Executive Council opens three-day meeting in Albuquerque
* TOP STORY - Grieves urges Episcopalians to join Public Policy Network,
become 'a full-bodied chorus in Washington'
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - PENNSYLVANIA: Bishop continues defense in sexual  abuse
trial
* OPINION - Radical ecumenism: It's time for a deeper conversation about
faith's essentials
* DAYBOOK - June 16, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology  of
God

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Executive Council opens three-day meeting in Albuquerque

Members continue work on 2010-2012 budget, get update on Church Center
reorganization

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] During the opening sessions June 13 of the
Executive Council's three-day meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the  seat
of the Diocese of the Rio Grande, members began looking at priorities  for
the next triennium's budget and heard about the status of the  reorganization
of staff at the Church Center.

The meeting began at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Albuquerque on the
morning of June 13 with simultaneous meetings of the Council's four  standing
committees (Administration and Finance, known as A&F; Congregations in
Ministry, known as CIM; International Concerns, known as INC; and  National
Concerns, known as NAC). Council then met in a plenary session in the
afternoon.

The committees spent part of their meeting time developing lists of
suggested mission priorities for the Episcopal Church as a way to guide  the
development of a proposed 2010-2012 budget. Those priorities are due to  be
discussed by the entire Council. Council proposes a triennial budget to  the
General Convention's Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and
Finance, which presents a triennial budget for General Convention's
approval. The 76th General Convention will meet in July 2009 in Anaheim,
California.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_97823_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Grieves urges Episcopalians to join Public Policy Network, become 'a
full-bodied chorus in Washington'

[Episcopal News Service] With elections this fall and a new Congress and
administration taking office in January 2009, the Episcopal voice on  public
policy should be "a full-bodied chorus in Washington," says the Rev.  Canon
Brian Grieves, senior director for Mission Centers and Advocacy Center
director for the Episcopal Church, urging Episcopalians to join the
Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) which is conducting its annual
Pentecost membership drive.

Mary Getz, EPPN coordinator, is seeking "more Spirit-filled voices to  speak
the Church's mission boldly." Getz notes that during last year's drive,  the
EPPN crossed the 20,000-member mark and more people were involved in the
membership drive than ever before.

In her message to EPPN members this year, Getz wrote: "Like the  disciples
who went out and spread the good news after the Holy Spirit's anointing,  we
celebrate our renewal of purpose, mission, and calling as God's people
during this season after Pentecost."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_97795_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

PENNSYLVANIA: Bishop continues defense in sexual abuse trial
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_97822_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>OPINION

Radical ecumenism

It's time for a deeper conversation about faith's essentials

>By David Hein

[Episcopal Life] Episcopal leaders once spoke as if their church had it  all:
Other American denominations could join it to make a true National  Church.
We're a long way from that kind of talk, prominent in the 19th century,  but
Episcopalianism still can resemble a fairly smug form of American
culture-religion.

In the ecumenical sphere, a bilateral dialogue might focus on how to  bring a
particular Protestant church into our historic episcopate. Or  discussions
attempt to mesh various communions' understandings of baptism,  justification
by faith or the Eucharist.

Which is why, in our present historical moment, Cardinal Avery Dulles's
recent article in First Things (December 2007) is so useful. He  correctly
understands the old ecumenical method of "convergence, which seeks to
harmonize the doctrines of each ecclesial tradition on the basis of  shared
sources and methods," to have run its course. Instead, "we need a  different
method, one that invites a deeper conversion."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_97805_ENG_HTM.htm

More Opinion: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On June 16, 2008, the Church remembers Joseph Butler, bishop of Durham
(1692-1752).

* 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 June 16, 1701, King William III issued a charter
establishing The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign  Parts,
"an organisation able to send priests and schoolteachers to America to  help
provide the Church's ministry to the colonists." The organization is now
known as The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG).

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God"  from
the Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., by Elizabeth A.  Johnson,
234 pages, hardcover, c. 2008, $24.95

[Continuum International Publishing Group] From the author's  introduction:
Since the middle of the twentieth century there has been a renaissance  of
new insights into God in the Christian tradition. On different  continents,
under pressure from historical events and social conditions, people of  faith
have glimpsed the living God in fresh ways. It is not that a wholly
different God is discovered from the One believed in by previous
generations. Christian faith does not believe in a new God but, finding
itself in new situations, seeks the presence of God there. Aspects
long-forgotten are brought into new relationships with current events,  and
the depths of divine compassion are appreciated in ways not previously
imagined.

This book further explores these discoveries. After the first chapter
describes Elizabeth Johnson's point of departure and the rules of
engagement, each succeeding chapter distills a discrete idea of God.
Featured are transcendental, political, liberation, feminist, black,
hispanic, interreligious, and ecological theologies, ending with the
particular Christian idea of the one God as Trinity. The aim of the book  is
to increase the light of theological knowledge, "ever ancient, ever  new,"
among a wide circle of people, including students, pastoral ministers,  and
everyone who questions, wonders, or thinks about their faith.

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