wfn.org | [ELD] Covenant Design Group publishes Lambeth Commentary / Council hears that 2009 budget could run

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>October 22, 2008

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Covenant Design Group publishes Lambeth Commentary;
provinces have until March 2009 to respond
* TOP STORY - Council hears that 2009 budget could run a deficit
* TOP STORY - North Carolina bishop says 'go to the mountain to
encounter God's word'
* DIOCESAN DIGEST -
* WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury, deposed Pittsburgh
bishop meet at Lambeth Palace
* EDUCATION - Presiding Bishop receives honorary doctorate from Bexley
Hall Seminary
* ARTS - In an unusual twist, church wins theater award
* WEEKS AHEAD - Upcoming special events and services
* SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Pentecost, Proper
25 - Year A [RCL]
* DAYBOOK - October 23, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious
Liberty is Vital to American National Security

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Covenant Design Group publishes Lambeth Commentary; provinces have
until March 2009 to respond

>By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service] The Covenant Design Group has published a
document "which sets out the responses of the bishops at the Lambeth
Conference in their discussions of the St. Andrew's Draft for an
Anglican covenant," an October 22 news release from the Anglican
Communion Office announced.
The 33-page Lambeth Commentary, compiled at the Covenant Design
Group's recent meeting in Singapore, has been sent to all 38 provinces
of the Anglican Communion "to assist in their discernment and response
to the St. Andrew's Draft," the news release said.

The provinces have until March 9, 2009 to respond to the St. Andrew's
Draft, which will also be sent -- along with the Lambeth Commentary --
to ecumenical partners of the Anglican Communion, inviting their
reflections and responses.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_101833_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Council hears that 2009 budget could run a deficit
Shortage of $2.5 million would be balanced by surpluses in 2007, 2008

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] [Helena, Montana] The Episcopal Church's
Executive Council heard October 22 that the church's 2009 budget, if
council members approve it, will have a $2.5 million deficit.

However, Treasurer Kurt Barnes told council members that the entire
2007-2009 triennial budget will be balanced, as required by the
Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons. There were surpluses of
$1.2 million in 2007 and $2 million in 2008, Barnes said.

Projections for the 2009 budget anticipate $54.6 million in revenues
compared to $57.1 million in expenses. Barnes said that, given the
triennial nature of the budget and the previous surpluses, the 2009
budget "could suffer a deficit of $2.8 million" and still be balanced.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_101827_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

North Carolina bishop says 'go to the mountain to encounter God's word'

>By Daphne Mack

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Michael B. Curry of the Diocese of
North Carolina told those gathered October 21 at the Intercontinental
New Orleans Hotel to "go to the mountain to encounter God's word" as
they face changes in social and cultural context that require a "shift
in the strategic thinking and praxis of African-American descent."

In delivering the keynote address at the Black Ministries Conference,
titled "Grant Us Wisdom, Grant Us Courage, for the Living of These
Days," in New Orleans, Louisiana, Curry cited journalist Gwen Ifill's
current book, "Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," saying Ifill
identified a shift that has called forth a transformational time in
black leadership.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_101825_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

SAN DIEGO: Appeals court ruling favors diocese in property dispute
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_101832_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury, deposed Pittsburgh bishop meet at
Lambeth Palace
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_101796_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>EDUCATION

Presiding Bishop receives honorary doctorate from Bexley Hall Seminary

>By Richelle Thompson

[Diocese of Southern Ohio] More than two years ago, Columbus, Ohio,
was the site of the historic election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as
the 26th Presiding Bishop -- and the first female leader of a major
denomination in the world. She returned to Columbus October 7-8 to
receive an honorary doctorate of divinity from Bexley Hall Seminary.

The Presiding Bishop also preached during a festive choral Evensong at
Trinity, Capitol Square, where bishops cast their ballots for her
during the 2006 General Convention. Trinity dedicated a special plaque
in her honor.

Jefferts Schori recalled the legacy of Philander Chase, the founder of
Bexley Hall Seminary as well as several churches in Ohio, Louisiana
and Illinois. Chase was "an apostle who loved frontiers and who pushed
boundaries," Jefferts Schori said in her sermon on October 8 in the
Gloria Dei Chapel at Trinity Lutheran Seminary.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_101812_ENG_HTM.htm

More Education: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80263_93222_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>ARTS

In an unusual twist, church wins theater award

>By ENS Staff

[Episcopal News Service] Christ Church has won one of Philadelphia's
theater awards, a Barrymore, for its creative collaboration with the
Arden Theater in presenting Thornton Wilder's play, "Our Town," last
spring. The awards ceremony took place October 6.
The Arden, which is near the church, staged acts one and three of the
classic drama, but act two took place in Christ Church. The play ran
from May 22 to June 22, 2008.

"We knew that by making Christ Church available as a theater, we would
welcome 18,000 people into our church who might never come in. Not
only did we want to participate with the dynamic work of the Arden
Theater, our motives were evangelical. Since the production, we've
seen many people in church who first came to an 'Our Town'
performance," said the Rev. Timothy Safford, rector. He added that he
was "thrilled" that the church was honored along with a secular
theater company.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_101807_ENG_HTM.htm

More Arts: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_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

Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 25 - Year A [RCL]

Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17; or Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18,
Psalm 1; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46

>By the Rev. Sister Judith Schenck

[Sermons That Work] "All." It is such a little word, only three
letters: "all." Not some, not a portion, not a little bit, not most
of, but all. It encompasses everything, everyone, no exceptions, no
limits. All.

We call it the Great Commandment or the Summary of the Law: Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy
mind and thy neighbor as thyself.

In the Rite One Eucharist prayer, this summary of the law was recited
together every Sunday. It can be beautiful to profess together our
call to total love. Yet often it is a rattle prayer. We all stand
there and rattle it off together without letting it permeate,
challenge, or transform. Then we go through the rest of the service
and out the door to our nice cars, our modern, beautiful homes, and
our comfortable American lifestyles.

Full reflection:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermons_that_work_101667_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On October 23, 2008, the Church calendar remembers Saint James of
Jerusalem, brother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and martyr, c. 62.

* 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 October 23, 1994, Bishop James Ottley of Panama
assumed the role of Anglican observer at the United Nations.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is
Vital to American National Security" from Oxford University Press, by
Thomas F. Farr, 367 pages, hardcover, c. 2008, $29.95

[Oxford University Press] Virtually every trouble spot on the planet
has some sort of religious component, from Iraq and Afghanistan to
Israel and Palestine. All of these conflicts are of great
geo-political importance and of intense interest to the United States.
Yet, argues Thomas Farr, our foreign policy is gravely handicapped by
an inability to understand the role of religion in these places and
indeed a strong disinclination to consider religious factors as
important. In this engaging and well-written insider account, Farr
offers a closely reasoned argument that religious freedom, the freedom
to practice one's own religion without fear or interference, is an
essential prerequisite for a democratic society. If the U.S. wants to
foster democracy, he says, it must focus on fostering religious
liberty. Although we ourselves have developed a remarkably successful
model of religious freedom, our foreign policy favors an aggressive
secularism that is at odds with the American model. It is essential,
says Farr, that we take an approach that recognizes the great
importance of religion in people's lives.

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