wfn.org | [ELD] Episcopal Life Daily

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>November 12, 2008

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* WORLD REPORT - AFRICA: Religious leaders say Congo conflict is over
resources
* WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Liberal Anglicans defend diversity, oppose
covenant
* PEOPLE - Nashotah House extends Robert Munday's contract as dean
* EDUCATION - Nashotah House graduates first class of distance learners
* ARTS - Chant revival: Episcopal music offerings abundant at holiday
season
* SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - Twenty-Seventh Sunday After Pentecost, Proper
28 - Year A [RCL]
* DAYBOOK - November 13, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Reweaving the Sacred: A Practical Guide to Change and
Growth for Challenged Congregations

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

AFRICA: Religious leaders say Congo conflict is over resources
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_102392_ENG_HTM.htm

ENGLAND: Liberal Anglicans defend diversity, oppose covenant
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_102393_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

Nashotah House extends Robert Munday's contract as dean

[Nashotah House] The Very Rev. Canon Robert S. Munday will serve as dean
and president of Nashotah House for a further five years, the board of
trustees for the Wisconsin-based seminary announced recently.

Now in his eighth year as dean and president of the Anglican seminary,
Munday has won the enthusiastic support of the trustees, says retired
South Carolina Bishop Edward Salmon, chairman of the seminary's board.
"These are hard times for seminaries across the country," Salmon said,
"but Nashotah House is thriving and it's in recognition of the strength
of our M.Div. program, and the tremendous growth of our distance
learning and post-graduate programs, that the trustees are delighted to
extend our dean's term of service here."

Throughout Munday's tenure at Nashotah House, the number of
degree-seeking students has more than doubled, and currently stands at
109, a press release from the seminary said. "Ninety-five students
enrolled in Nashotah House's summer school program in July, by far the
largest summer school population the seminary has ever enjoyed. Most of
this growth has been due to Nashotah House's Doctor of Ministry program
and the M.A. in Ministry distance-learning program, both of which were
instituted under Dean Munday's leadership two years ago."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_102385_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>EDUCATION

Nashotah House graduates first class of distance learners

[Nashotah House] Nashotah House, Wisconsin's oldest institution of
higher learning, graduated its first class of online distance learners
at its recent academic convocation held at St. John's Northwestern
Military Academy in Delafield. The class of 11 students received Masters
of Arts in Ministry degrees. 

Instituted in 2006, and accredited by the American Association of
Theological Schools, the two-year degree program provides online
students with classical training in the disciplines of Biblical Studies,
Theology, Moral Theology, Contemporary Society, Pastoral Ministry and
Liturgy. It also includes one week of intensive study on campus each
quarter, when the students experience the community life, spiritual
disciplines and daily worship of Nashotah House. Two classes of 15
students each, scheduled to complete their degrees in 2009 and 2010
respectively, follow Nashotah House's first distance-learning cohort.

"We are very proud of this class, both for who they are and what they
offer our church, and for what they have meant to us," said the Very
Rev. Robert S. Munday, dean and president of Nashotah House.
"Theological education in the United States is changing, and the needs
of our students are changing. This distance-learning program allows us
to respond to students who cannot relocate for an entire two- or
three-year degree program, while remaining true to our own distinctive
ethos and tradition -- and communicating it to another generation."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_102389_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>ARTS

>Chant revival

Episcopal music offerings abundant at holiday season

[Episcopal Life Holiday Gift Guide] It doesn't have much of a beat, the
kids can't dance to it, and it's sung in a dead language, but Gregorian
chant seems to be the hottest thing in sacred music right now.

Nearly 200 scholas -- choirs that sing plainsong -- have emerged around
the country, many in the last five years, according to the Church Music
Association of America. Sacred music seminars that once drew few people
now lure musical directors, organists and singers who want to learn more
about Gregorian chant, said CMA president William Mahrt.

Religious publishers are stocking and selling large collections of
plainsong books and music. Paraclete Press, the Massachusetts publishing
house of the Community of Jesus, a monastic, Christian community in the
Benedictine tradition, sold 5,000 copies of its "Gregorian Melodies" CD
in the first half of this year -- more than it did all of last year.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_102381_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS

Twenty-Seventh Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 28 - Year A [RCL]

Judges 4:1-7, Psalm 123; or Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11),
12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30

>By the Very Rev. Anthony F.M. Clavier

[Sermons That Work] Jesus was good at providing difficult stories. No
doubt they were as hard to hear standing in a group in Palestine as they
are from our pews today. If we have sympathy for anyone in today's
gospel reading, it is probably for the poor person who was deprived of
the gift once given, just because he was shy, or reserved, or cautious. 

We'll leave aside the whole matter of being cast into the eternal
rubbish dump and all the wailing and teeth gnashing. 

And surely Jesus is not telling us that our friend who has put extra
cash under the mattress is worse off than those of us who are watching
our pension funds decrease in the stock market? 

Full reflection:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermons_that_work_101978_ENG_HTM.htm

More Spiritual Reflections:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On November 13, 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 November 13, 354, Augustine of Hippo, author of
Confessions and City of God, was born in Thagaste.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Reweaving the Sacred: A Practical Guide to Change and Growth for
Challenged Congregations" from Church Publishing, Inc., by Carol J.
Gallagher, 135 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $16

[Church Publishing, Inc.] Ideal growth and development tool for small
congregations in all mainline denominations. This book offers simple,
clear exercises and techniques to help leaders and members pinpoint
problems and identify gifts/values of their shared history, in order to
engage in a ministry of renewal, welcome, and growth.

>Topics include:

* Relationships and Identity: understanding the starting point for
rebuilding and outreach.
* Grief and Healing: unpacking concerns that might be inhibiting growth.
* Providing Safety and Security: engendering trust, beginning with
leaders.
* Inviting Growth: plans and exercises to cultivate invitation and
inclusion of newcomers.
* Understanding Gifts through Storytelling: helping leaders identify
their future through variety of teaching and learning styles.

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