wfn.org | [ELD] Episcopal Church report addresses U.S. poverty with model for development initiatives

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>March 12, 2009

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Episcopal Church report addresses U.S. poverty with
model for development initiatives
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - PENNSYLVANIA: Bishop Bennison appeals
ecclesiastical court's decision
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - DALLAS: Repentant stranger gives church 'manna from
heaven'
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - KANSAS: 'Pump 'n' pray' community prays and sweats
together
* WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Beat the credit crunch - book a church
wedding, says bishop
* MISSION - Heating up, cooling costs: Episcopalians save money and
the environment with geothermal systems
* PEOPLE - Pasadena rector Ed Bacon to co-host 'Oprah's Soul Series'
* ARTS - New statues honoring poets, theologians dedicated at
Washington National Cathedral
* DAYBOOK - March 13, 2009: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - I Loved Jesus in the Night - Teresa of Calcutta: A Secret
Revealed

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Episcopal Church report addresses U.S. poverty with model for
development initiatives

>By Neva Rae Fox

[Episcopal News Service] A groundbreaking report released on March 12
calls on The Episcopal Church to address the issues and concerns of
the poor in the United States, focusing initially on the needs of
Native American communities through its proposed "Model for Domestic
Poverty Alleviation."

The report, titled Faith in the Balance: A Call to Action,  is based
on the outcomes of the 2008 Presiding Bishop's Summit on Domestic
Poverty. The innovative model outlined in the report will work in
tandem with the Episcopal Church's global poverty initiatives of the
United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"The Episcopal Church focus on the Millennium Development Goals has
raised consciousness in our own faith communities and the broader
culture about the need to address abject poverty in developing
nations," explained Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine
Jefferts Schori. "This work has increased mission fervor and deepened
spirituality. We need to bring the same passion, organization, and
accountability to our work on domestic poverty - in the poorest
regions of the United States. Social statistics and the conditions of
life are quite similar in the poorest areas, both in the U.S. and
abroad, but the MDGs are addressed solely to poverty in the developing
world. We need to use both lenses (international and domestic;
distance and near vision) to see the least among us and around us."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_105850_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

PENNSYLVANIA: Bishop Bennison appeals ecclesiastical court's decision

>By Jerry Hames

[Episcopal News Service] The decision by an ecclesiastical trial court
that found Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison guilty of
two charges of conduct unbecoming a cleric and recommended that he be
deposed from ordained ministry will now go before a higher appeals
court of the church.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_105855_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

DALLAS: Repentant stranger gives church 'manna from heaven'

>By Pat McCaughan

[Episcopal News Service] Money has been turning up unexpectedly since
January at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Dallas, Texas
and Tuesday, March 10 was no exception.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_105835_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

KANSAS: 'Pump 'n' pray' community prays and sweats together

Trinity church program offers up 'good Christian sweat,' help for the  hungry

>By Pat McCaughan

[Episcopal News Service] Three times weekly, John Emerson "works up a
good Christian sweat" pumping iron during a half-hour power walk with
other men from Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence, Kansas.

>But first, they pray.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_105837_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

ENGLAND: Beat the credit crunch - book a church wedding, says bishop

[Church of England] Bishop David Urquhart of Birmingham, Church of
England, will help engaged couples slice a huge chunk off the cost of
their wedding, at the National Wedding Show in Birmingham this weekend
(March 13-15), when he introduces them to the 'three V's' for choosing
a church wedding: venue, vicar and vows.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_105834_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>MISSION

>Heating up, cooling costs

Episcopalians save money and the environment with geothermal systems

>By Phina Borgeson

[Episcopal Life] St. John the Divine in Moorhead, Minnesota, has been
unable to afford adequate heat for more than one day a week in recent
winters. The cost of fueling the two natural-gas boilers has
skyrocketed. Now, with drilling of geothermal wells to begin soon, the
congregation looks forward to making use of the historic building
seven days a week.

St. John's, which used to be a small congregation of older
Minnesotans, has grown with the presence of Sudanese refugees to a
worshiping community of more than 200, said the associate rector, the
Rev. Michael Johnson. Rector Alex Kenyi, Johnson and three deacons
lead three services every Sunday, one in English, one in the Sudanese
Dinka language and one in colloquial Arabic. The need is for more
weekday programs and events.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_105841_ENG_HTM.htm

More Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

Pasadena rector Ed Bacon to co-host 'Oprah's Soul Series'

>By ENS staff

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Dr. Edwin J. Bacon Jr., rector of
All Saints Church in Pasadena, California, in the Diocese of Los
Angeles, will co-host three radio broadcasts per month for the Oprah
Soul Series, beginning March 16.

Bacon called his new role "an exciting method" to proclaim the good
news in a national forum, in a March 6 letter sent to parishioners of
the 3,000 member congregation, known for its progressive politics and
social justice activism.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_105845_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>ARTS

New statues honoring poets, theologians dedicated at Washington
National Cathedral

[Episcopal News Service, Washington National Cathedral] New works of
art honoring three well-known poets, philosophers, and theologians
were dedicated during a special service of Choral Evensong March 11 at
Washington National Cathedral.

The three statues of Howard Thurman, John Donne and George Herbert
with corresponding shields were designed by artist Chas Fagan, a
resident of North Carolina.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_105839_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On March 13, 2009, the church calendar remembers James Theodore Holly,
bishop of Haiti, and of the Dominican Republic (1829-1911).

* 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 March 13, 1456, Johann Gutenberg first
published the Bible on his printing press with movable type.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"I Loved Jesus in the Night - Teresa of Calcutta: A Secret Revealed"
from Paraclete Press, by Paul Murray, 125 page s, hardcover, c. 2008,
$18.95

[Paraclete Press] Mother Teresa hit the bestsellers lists last year,
as well as the covers of Time and Newsweek. Her personal letters were
published for the first time, and they showed how for nearly five
decades she struggled mightily with belief in God.

The world was shocked. In a culture dominated by Richard Dawkins and
Christopher Hitchens lambasting the beliefs of religion as nonsense
and even dangerous -- the letters of Mother Teresa seemed to be
further evidence of why God and faith must go away forever.

I Loved Jesus in the Night is the compelling story of one priest's
memories of the icon of compassion. Sharing anecdote and firsthand
experiences with her, Paul Murray helps to explain why she had
feelings of being a "saint of darkness." This remarkable and beautiful
book is an attempt to understand the dark night experiences that she
endured in the light of the Gospel and of the mystical teachings of
St. John of the Cross. And something else as well.revelations of
Mother Teresa's sense of humor!

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

>_____________________

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