wfn.org | [ELD] Quincy's Bishop Ackerman announces retirement

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>October 30, 2008

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Quincy's Bishop Ackerman announces retirement
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - ATLANTA: 'Summit' meeting listens to young adults
* WORLD REPORT - UGANDA: Anglican bishop says war has ended despite  flare
ups
* PEOPLE - Zimbabwe Bishop Bakare receives prize for human rights work
* FEATURE - My Word: All Hallows' Eve
* OPINION - The 'invisible product' is all around us
* DAYBOOK - October 31, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

>Quincy's Bishop Ackerman announces retirement

>By Joe Bjordal

[Episcopal News Service] Shortly before members of the Diocese of  Quincy's
governing synod (http://www.dioceseofquincy.org) are expected to  consider
voting to leave the Episcopal Church, diocesan Bishop Keith Ackerman
announced his retirement, effective November 1.

The announcement was made October 29 in a news release from the standing
committee of the diocese, the governing body that has been serving as  the
ecclesiastical authority since early August when Ackerman began a
sabbatical. The sabbatical was to conclude November 1.

"Bishop Ackerman has reached this decision after much thought and  prayer.
The bishop and his wife, Jo, conferred with his physicians, many trusted
friends and the standing committee before making this decision," the  release
said.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_102055_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

ATLANTA: 'Summit' meeting listens to young adults
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_102053_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

UGANDA: Anglican bishop says war has ended despite flare ups
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_102049_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

Zimbabwe Bishop Bakare receives prize for human rights work

>By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Sebastian Bakare of the Diocese of  Harare,
Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, has been awarded Sweden's 2008 Per Anger  prize
for his "committed work for human rights in a politically unstable
Zimbabwe."

The Living History Forum -- known locally as Forum för Levande  Historia
(http://www.levandehistoria.se) -- has been commissioned by the Swedish
government to award the prize in memory of ambassador Per Anger, a  Swedish
diplomat who participated in efforts to rescue Hungarian Jews from  arrest
and deportation by the Nazis during World War II. The prize was first
awarded in 2004 and is worth 150,000 kronor (US$19,700 dollars). Bakare  will
participate in the prize-giving ceremony in Stockholm on November 10.

Bakare replaced the controversial former bishop of Harare, Nolbert  Kunonga,
in December 2007, and has repeatedly spoken out against human rights
violations in his country and condemned the "brutality" of the
government-backed police who have persecuted and assaulted Anglicans in  an
attempt to stop them from worshipping. Bakare is supported by the  majority
of Zimbabwe's Anglicans and has been praised by Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams as "a deeply respected and courageous elder statesman of  the
Zimbabwean Church."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_102050_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>FEATURES

>My Word: All Hallows' Eve

[Episcopal Life] All Hallows' Eve is the evening of October 31, which
precedes the church's celebration of All Saints' Day on November 1. The  Book
of Occasional Services (BOS) provides a form for a service on All  Hallows'
Eve. It begins with the Prayer for Light and includes two or more  readings
from Scripture. The options for the readings include the Witch of Endor  (1
Samuel 28:3-25), the Vision of Eliphaz the Temanite (Job 4:12-21), the
Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) and the War in Heaven (Revelation
12:[1-6]7-12). The readings are followed by a psalm, canticle or hymn,  and a
prayer. The BOS notes that "suitable festivities and entertainments" may
precede or follow the service, and there may be a visit to a cemetery or
burial place.

The popular name for this festival is Halloween.

It was the eve of Samhain, a pagan Celtic celebration of the beginning  of
winter and the first day of the New Year. This time of the ingathering  of
the harvest and the approach of winter apparently provided a reminder of
human mortality. It was a time when the souls of the dead were said to
return to their homes. Bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away  evil
spirits. Samhain was a popular festival at the time when the British  Isles
were converted to Christianity. The church "adopted" this time of
celebration for Christian use.

Adapted from An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church: A User-Friendly
Reference for Episcopalians, © 2000 by Don Armentrout and Robert Boak
Slocum, editors, used by permission of Church Publishing.

More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>OPINION

>The 'invisible product' is all around us

>By Fred Fenton

[Episcopal News Service] The comedian Bill Maher believes religion is
detrimental to humankind. He has produced a film called "Religulous,"  which
is for the most part a tour of religious snake oil salesmen around the
world. Maher plays his interviews with them for laughs, and in that he
succeeds.

In a recent appearance on "Larry King Live," Maher was asked if he duped
some of these characters into appearing in his movie. He replied: "This  is
so funny, religion accusing me of deception. Religion, the greatest scam  in
the history of the world, selling the invisible product for thousands of
years, accusing us of deception."

Is that what religion offers to the world, an "invisible product?"

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81840_102051_ENG_HTM.htm

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

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>DAYBOOK

>On October 31, 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 October 31, 1907, Daniel C. Roberts, priest and
hymnist, died in Concord, New Hampshire. On this day in 1980, the U.S.
Postal Service issued a Christmas stamp based on a stained glass window  in
Washington Cathedral.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction" from Oxford University
Press, by Jussi M. Hanhimäki, 171 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $11.95

[Oxford University Press] The United Nations has been called everything  from
"the best hope of mankind" to "irrelevant" and "obsolete." With this
much-needed introduction to the U.N., Jussi Hanhimaki engages the  current
debate over the organizations effectiveness as he provides a clear
understanding of how it was originally conceived, how it has come to its
present form, and how it must confront new challenges in a rapidly  changing
world.

After a brief history of the United Nations and its predecessor, the  League
of Nations, the author examines the U.N.'s successes and failures as a
guardian of international peace and security, as a promoter of human  rights,
as a protector of international law, and as an engineer of  socio-economic
development. Hanhimaki stresses that the U.N.'s greatest problem has  been
the impossibly wide gap between its ambitions and capabilities. In the  area
of international security, for instance, the U.N. has to settle  conflicts --
be they between or within states -- without offending the national
sovereignty of its member states, and without being sidelined by strong
countries, as happened in the 2003 intervention of Iraq. Hanhimaki also
provides a clear accounting of the U.N. and its various arms and
organizations (such as UNESCO and UNICEF), and he offers a critical  overview
of how effective it has been in the recent crises in Rwanda and the  former
Yugoslavia, for example -- and how likely it is to meet its overall  goals in
the future.

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