wfn.org | [ELD] Louisiana team brings Gulf Coast recovery issues to national stage / Reconstituted San Joaquin

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>August 29, 2008

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

Editor's note: Episcopal Life Daily will observe the Labor Day holiday
on Monday, September 1, with regular service resuming on Tuesday,
September 2.

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Louisiana team brings Gulf Coast recovery issues to
national stage
* TOP STORY - Reconstituted San Joaquin diocese sees ordination
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - IOWA/LEXINGTON: Reading camps lift kids out of
poverty
* PEOPLE - Virginia Seminary welcomes Rosemary Gooden as first Martha J.
Horne Visiting Professor
* MULTIMEDIA - Videos: Louisiana team brings Gulf Coast recovery issues
to national stage
* OPINION - Get off the sidelines: With teamwork if not affection, the
Anglican Church can be a force for peace and justice
* ARTS - Colorful and creative, millinery was a hit at Queen's Tea Party
* DAYBOOK - September 1, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Abraham's Curse: The Roots of Violence in Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Louisiana team brings Gulf Coast recovery issues to national stage

>By Joe Bjordal

[Episcopal News Service] Four members of the staff of the Episcopal
Diocese of Louisiana (http://www.edola.org) participated in a lobbying
and advocacy effort at the Democratic National Convention August 25 to
28 in Denver, Colorado. They served as part of a 40-member team of the
Equity and Inclusion Campaign (http://www.equityandinclusion.org), a
coalition of more than 100 community and faith-based organizations in
the Gulf Coast region.

The coalition members have signed a declaration, "One Nation, One Gulf,
One Promise," in which they call on the next President of the United
States to commit to rebuilding the Gulf Coast by "ensuring access to
education and job training, encouraging investment in small businesses,
creating affordable housing opportunities for those who are still
displaced, streamlining the federal bureaucracy and creating long-term
disaster recovery plans for every region in the U.S."

Representatives of member organizations of the Equity and Inclusion
Campaign will also participate in the Republican National Convention in
St. Paul, Minnesota September 1 to 4.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_100270_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Reconstituted San Joaquin diocese sees ordination

>Court allows some access to disputed accounts

>By Pat McCaughan

[Episcopal News Service, Stockton, California] It's been a tough first
few months for Bishop Jerry Lamb, but he said ordaining David Pina the
first deacon in the reconstituted Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin this
week broadcast an unmistakable message: "the diocese is truly here and
we will be here."

The occasion also served as "an icon ... for the whole church to
understand that everyone is called to servant ministry," Lamb told about
75 people attending the August 24 afternoon celebration at St. Anne's
Church in Stockton.

Overseeing San Joaquin's reconstituted diocese is his third stint as a
bishop and represented "a whole new episcopacy, rebuilding a diocese
when there was nothing here. There were no files, no staplers, nothing,"
said Lamb, 67, who had also served as interim bishop in the Diocese of
Nevada shortly after his 2007 retirement as Bishop of the
Sacramento-based Diocese of Northern California.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_100274_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

IOWA/LEXINGTON: Reading camps lift kids out of poverty
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_100269_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

Virginia Seminary welcomes Rosemary Gooden as first Martha J. Horne
Visiting Professor

[VTS] Dr. Rosemary D. Gooden, lecturer in modern church history and
mission at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, is the first scholar
appointed through the Martha J. Horne Visiting Professorship Fund at
Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), beginning September 1.

The Horne fund was established in May 2007 in honor of the distinguished
service of the Very Rev. Martha J. Horne, 13th dean and president of VTS
(1994-2007). Its purpose is to increase the international, racial,
ethnic, or cultural diversity of the seminary community and its academic
curriculum by providing funds for a visiting professor who will teach at
least one course for a full semester while in residence at the seminary.

"Rosemary's arrival reminds us of Dean Horne's unceasing efforts to
increase the seminary's awareness of, and responsiveness to, the complex
issues of racial, ethnic and cultural diversity," said the Very Rev. Ian
Markham, dean and president of Virginia Seminary. "We welcome Rosemary
and look forward to learning from her wisdom and understanding."

Full article: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_100265_ENG_HTM.htm

More People: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>MULTIMEDIA

Videos: Louisiana team brings Gulf Coast recovery issues to national
stage

[Episcopal News Service] Four members of the staff of the Episcopal
Diocese of Louisiana participated in a lobbying and advocacy effort at
the Democratic National Convention (DNC) August 25 to 28 in Denver,
Colorado. They served as part of a 40-member team of the Equity and
Inclusion Campaign, a coalition of more than 100 community and
faith-based organizations in the Gulf Coast region.

In a series of interviews, Shedwick White, Shakoor Aljuwani, Coutney
Cowart and Nell Bolton, speak about their work and the importance of
lobbying on issues of justice.

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

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

>_____________________

>OPINION

>Get off the sidelines

With teamwork if not affection, the Anglican Church can be a force for
peace and justice

>By Nelson Smith

[Episcopal Life] I have been an Episcopalian for more than 40 years and
have participated in many worthy causes and activities on behalf of my
church. Through its teachings and liturgy, I have discovered God's love,
grace and mercy, all of which I continuously need. I have learned what
it means to live in relationship and in community.

My church also has given me the freedom to explore my Christian faith
beyond doctrinal constraints and to see God's presence in new and
unconventional ways.

I always have appreciated the Big Tent provided by the Anglican Church,
in which Christians of both conservative and liberal stripes can
coexist, or at least should be able to. Sadly, though, at a time when
our world confronts huge global challenges, our worldwide communion is
wrought by a debilitating rift that threatens its potency to affect
positive change.

Full article: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_100262_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>ARTS

Colorful and creative, millinery was a hit at Queen's Tea Party

>By Jerry Hames

[Episcopal Life] They were red; they were white, blue and black. Some
had flowers and others gaily tied ribbons. At least one had butterflies.
Some, worn as a headband, sported a rainbow of colors. Whatever their
style, shape or fabric, these were among the most creative, imaginative
hats ever worn to the Lambeth Conference's premier social event- the
Queen's Tea Party at Buckingham Palace.

Many of the hats carried stories of their own. Some had been transported
by boat, train and plane thousands of miles, while others were purchased
just days before the festive event. The hat worn by Lynn Alexander,
spouse of Bishop J. Neil Alexander, was chosen for her by an online vote
of Episcopalians in Atlanta.

"I've seen so many beautiful hats around the diocese," she said in an
interview after her return. "I thought, instead of buying a new one, why
not borrow one?" So she asked women to search closets and attics for one
they thought suitable and send a photo to place on the diocesan website,
then asked people to vote for the one she should wear when she met the
Queen.

Full article: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_100255_ENG_HTM.htm

More Arts: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On September 1, 2008, the Church calendar remembers David Pendleton
Oakerhater, deacon and missionary (c.1850-1931).

* 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 September 1, 1525, Martin Luther published his
defense against English King Henry VIII.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Abraham's Curse: The Roots of Violence in Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam" from Random House, Inc., by Bruce Chilton, 259 pages, hardcover,
c. 2008, $24.95

[Source: Random House, Inc.] "When they arrived at the place which God
had indicated to him, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the
wood. Then he bound his son and put him on the altar on top of the wood.
Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son..." --
The Book of Genesis 

The story of Abraham's acceptance of God's command to sacrifice his son
Isaac is one of the most disturbing of all biblical stories. Isaac is
spared only at the last moment, when an angel stops Abraham's hand.
Theologians and scholars have wrestled with the question of why God
asked Abraham to kill his beloved son, why Abraham acquiesced, and why
in some interpretations he actually killed his son.

In Abraham's Curse, Bruce Chilton traces the impact of the story of
Abraham and Isaac on the beliefs and teachings of Judaism (where Abraham
is regarded as the forefather of Israel), Islam (where he provides the
role model for Muhammad), and Christianity (where he is the ancestor of
King David, whose lineage culminates in Jesus). As Chilton examines the
story's significance, he makes the case that, far from only reflecting
the violence of an ancient, unenlightened time, the sacrifice of
children in the name of religion is still a fundamental part of our
lives and culture -- from Islamist suicide bombings to militant Zionism
and graphic glorifications of the Crucifixion of Christ.

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