wfn.org | [ELD] Lambeth Conference begins two-day covenant discussion / Senior, junior bishops at Lambeth cele

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>August 1, 2008

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

Episcopal Life Online coverage of the Lambeth Conference is available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/lambethconference.

A team of Blogging Bishops are contributing to The Lambeth Journal at
http://episcopalchurch.typepad.com/lambethjournal.

Spanish and Portuguese translations of Lambeth Conference Daily Accounts  and
Episcopal Life coverage are available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/89878_99166_ENG_HTM.htm.

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Lambeth Conference begins two-day covenant discussion
* TOP STORY - Lambeth Digest, Day 11
* TOP STORY - Senior, junior bishops at Lambeth celebrate the old and  the
new
* TOP STORY - Bishops say tone of Lambeth Conference hearings differs  from
smaller gatherings
* TOP STORY - Women bishops urge more focus on gender issues
* TOP STORY - Lambeth Conference Daily Account: Bishops Duncan Gray III  of
Mississippi, Dorsey Henderson of Upper South Carolina
* WORLD REPORT - CANADA: Global Christian student assembly launches in
Montreal
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: West Indies Archbishop Drexel Gomez addresses  media at
Lambeth News Conference
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: Botswana Bishop Trevor Mwamba addresses media at
Lambeth News Conference
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: Alice Chung Po Chuen addresses media at Lambeth  News
Conference
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: Middle East President Bishop Mouneer Anis  addresses
media
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: Lambeth Conference Daily Account: Bishops Duncan  Gray
III of Mississippi, Dorsey Henderson of Upper South Carolina
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: San Diego Bishop James Mathes speaks about  incursions
into his diocese
* DAYBOOK - Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Sex & The Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance,  and
Religion on America's College Campuses

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Lambeth Conference begins two-day covenant discussion

Implications of 'autonomy in communion' concerns some

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service, Canterbury] The current draft of the proposed
Anglican covenant is meant to be a "covenant of friendship," not a
legalistic document, however it would require Anglican Communion  provinces
to limit their autonomy for the sake of the communion.

"We did not even think about going a legalistic or a contract route,"
Covenant Design Group Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the West Indies told a  news
briefing in the middle of the first of two days that the 2008 Lambeth
Conference will spend discussing the proposed Anglican covenant.

"It's not a stick to whack people over the head with; people entered  into it
voluntarily so the expectation is they will observe it," said Archbishop
Phillip Aspinall of Brisbane, the primate of Australia and principal
spokesman for the bishops. "It is meant to be a vehicle for grace and
self-limitation and mutual support and encouragement."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_99664_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

>Lambeth Digest, Day 11

[Episcopal News Service, Canterbury] Much happens each day at the  Lambeth
Conference (http://www.lambethconference.org/index.cfm). In addition to
Episcopal Life Media's other coverage
(http://episcopalchurch.org/97360_ENG_HTM.htm), here's some of what else
happened on August 1, the eleventh day of the conference.

Lambeth Digest: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_99663_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Senior, junior bishops at Lambeth celebrate the old and the new

Decades of seeking 'fresh' relationship, common ground marks conference
history

>By Pat McCaughan

[Episcopal News Service, Canterbury] Bishop Dinis Sengulane of Lebombo  in
Mozambique has attended four Lambeth Conferences but says the prospect  of
this one still filled him "with fear and trembling, as if it were the  first
time. I am still full of excitement because everything is new and  everything
is fresh."

Bishop Eugene Sutton of Maryland was consecrated June 28, just two weeks
before he arrived at Lambeth 2008, also very excited. He recalls a few
anxious moments too: "The first time I spoke to the bishops, I was  nervous
as all get-out" before addressing the "hot topics" of full inclusion and
authority of Scripture during a Windsor Continuation Group discussion.

Hot topics are nothing new at the every-decade worldwide gathering of
Anglican bishops. Bishops with a Lambeth track record say that, over  time,
some things have changed, and others, not so much.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_99658_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Bishops say tone of Lambeth Conference hearings differs from smaller
gatherings

Opinions, not relationships, dominate some testimony

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service, Canterbury] While the 2008 Lambeth Conference's
Bible study and indaba groups may have developed into places of deep
conversation and relationship-building, the tone of the plenary hearings  is
another matter.

In their official statements, bishops who have served as media  spokespeople
both for the conference and for the Episcopal Church have usually spoken
only about the activities of their eight-member Bible study groups and
40-member indaba groups. They generally portray those gatherings  positively,
while noting that there have been times when the groups have had to  adjust
their processes to accommodate members' concerns. They have repeatedly
remarked about the quality of the relationships they are building.

At the other end of the spectrum are the conference's July 23 and 28
hearings on the "preliminary observations" of the Windsor Continuation  Group
and July 30 and 31 and August 1 draft versions of a reflection document  due
to be issued at the end of the conference.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_99654_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Women bishops urge more focus on gender issues

>Welcome is warmer at this Lambeth Conference

>By Solange De Santis

[Episcopal News Service, Canterbury] The 2008 Lambeth Conference is the
second of the decennial meetings to include female bishops and several  of
them said the welcome is warmer, but that they wish more consideration  were
given to women's issues.

Out of the 670 bishops attending, 18 are female, compared to 11 in 1998.  The
communion's first female primate, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop
Katharine Jefferts Schori, is attending her first Lambeth Conference,  having
been elected bishop of the Diocese of Nevada in 2001. She was elected
presiding bishop in June 2006.

Nine days before the conference began on July 16 (it ends August 3), the
Church of England's governing synod voted to bring forward legislation  that
would allow the consecration of women to the episcopate. The question of
accommodating those who cannot accept women in that role was vigorously
debated. A proposal that male "super bishops" be allowed to oversee
dissenting parishes was defeated and a "code of practice" approved for
dissenters but theological traditionalists said it was too weak.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_99652_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Lambeth Conference Daily Account: Bishops Duncan Gray III of  Mississippi,
Dorsey Henderson of Upper South Carolina

[Episcopal News Service, Canterbury] Bishops Duncan Gray III of  Mississippi
and Dorsey Henderson of Upper South Carolina offer the following Daily
Account for August 1 at the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

Daily Account: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_99648_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

CANADA: Global Christian student assembly launches in Montreal
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_99637_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>MULTIMEDIA

Multimedia files available at

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/89878_97371_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Video: West Indies Archbishop Drexel Gomez addresses media at Lambeth  News
Conference

[Episcopal News Service] The Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, primate of the West
Indies, speaks about the Anglican covenant at the August 1 news  conference
at the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

>- - - - -

Video: Botswana Bishop Trevor Mwamba addresses media at Lambeth News
Conference

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Trevor Mwamba, bishop of Botswana,
speaks about the Anglican covenant at the August 1 news conference at  the
2008 Lambeth Conference.

>- - - - -

Video: Alice Chung Po Chuen addresses media at Lambeth News Conference

[Episcopal News Service] Alice Chung Po Chuen, wife of Bishop Roger  Chung of
Antsiranana, speaks at the August 1 news conference at the 2008 Lambeth
Conference.

>- - - - -

Video: Middle East President Bishop Mouneer Anis addresses media

[Episcopal News Service] The Most Rev. Mouneer Anis, president bishop of  the
Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, speaks to media about  his
impressions of the 2008 Lambeth Conference and issues of human sexuality  in
the Anglican Communion.

>- - - - -

Video: Lambeth Conference Daily Account: Bishops Duncan Gray III of
Mississippi, Dorsey Henderson of Upper South Carolina

[Episcopal News Service] Bishops Duncan Gray III of Mississippi and  Dorsey
Henderson of Upper South Carolina offer the following Daily Account for
August 1 at the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

>- - - - -

Video: San Diego Bishop James Mathes speaks about incursions into his
diocese

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop James Mathes of San Diego said August 1  that
he is heartened by an apology from Archbishop Gregory Venables of the
Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, for unwelcome incursions into  the
Southern California diocese.

>- - - - -

Multimedia files available at

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/89878_97371_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On August 2, 2008...

* Today in Prayer for Lambeth: Guide the bishops of the Anglican  Communion
as they consider processes arising from the Windsor Report that can lead  to
the renewal of mutual responsibility and interdependence in the Body of
Christ.

>On August 3, 2008...

* Today in Prayer for Lambeth: Bless all those who shared in and have  been
shaped by the meetings at Canterbury. Let their participation in the  Body
and Blood of Christ at the final Eucharist represent a fulfillment of  the
many conversations and a tangible sign of our unity in faith.

>On August 4, 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 Prayer for Lambeth: Keep safe the bishops, their spouses,  their
advisors, and all those who have made the 2008 Lambeth Conference a  reality,
as they return home to strive to be leaders in God's mission and thus
strengthen the Anglican Communion.

* Today in History: On August 4, 1980, Rustin Ray Kimsey was consecrated
fifth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Sex & The Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion  on
America's College Campuses" from Oxford University Press, by Donna  Freitas,
299 pages, hardcover, c. 2008, $24.95

[Oxford University Press] Today's college students are fascinated by
religion but they are also more sexually active than previous  generations.
How do these young people reconcile their spiritual longings with sexual
freedom on campus?

Based on dozens of face-to-face interviews, Sex and the Soul explores  the
sexual and spiritual lives of today's college students. Donna Freitas
crisscrossed the country, visiting a range of America's colleges and
universities -- from public to private, Catholic to evangelical--to find  out
what students had to say about these highly personal subjects. Their  stories
will not only engage readers, but, in many cases, move them with the  painful
struggles these candid young women and men face. Indeed, the book  uncovers
aspects of college life that may unsettle some readers, especially  parents.
Many campuses, for instance, are dominated by the hook-up culture of  casual
sex. Moreover, a surprising number of students see little connection  between
sex and religion. Indeed, these observations hold true even at Catholic
schools. Only at evangelical colleges is religion an important factor  when
deciding whether or not to engage in sex. But Freitas's research also
reveals that, even at secular schools, students are not comfortable with  the
prevalence of casual sex, and that they do want religion to speak about  what
they should do and who they should try to be -- not just what they  should
avoid doing.

Sex and the Soul will offer readers the chance to hear college students
speaking honestly about extremely sensitive topics, in a book that will  be
of great interest to students, parents, clergy, teachers, and anyone who
wants to know what's happening on today's college campuses.

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