wfn.org | [ELD] Executive Council asks for comment on current Anglican covenant draft

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>July 2, 2009

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

Editor's note: Episcopal Life Media will observe the Independence Day
holiday. Regular service will resume on July 6.

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Executive Council asks for comment on current Anglican
covenant draft
* TOP STORY - ECW members hope to 'Grow in Grace' at 46th triennial
gathering
* WORLD REPORT - BRAZIL: Theologian Jaci Corréia Maraschin dies at 79
* WORLD REPORT - SOUTH AFRICA: Archbishop criticizes striking doctors,
calls on government to improve conditions
* PEOPLE - John Maurice (Jack) Gessell, emeritus professor at Sewanee,
dies at 89
* OPINION - Learn about Native American concerns
* OPINION - Readers respond to opinion articles on proposed Anglican
covenant
* DAYBOOK - July 3: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - World of Faith and Freedom - Why International Religious
Liberty is Vital to American National Security

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Executive Council asks for comment on current Anglican covenant draft

Convention deputations urged to respond after Anaheim deliberations

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church's Executive Council has
asked General Convention deputations and their bishops to study and
comment on the latest draft of a proposed Anglican covenant.

In May, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) postponed an expected
request that the Anglican Communion's 38 provinces consider adopting
the Ridley Cambridge draft. The council said instead that it wanted
the draft's Section 4, which contains a dispute-resolution process, to
get more scrutiny and possibly be revised.

The Archbishop of Canterbury appointed a small working group to do
that work. The members, all of whom served on the original Covenant
Design Group, have solicited provincial responses by November 13,
2009. The working group will meet November 20-21 in London and report
to the Standing Committee meeting December 15-18. The Standing
Committee is a group of elected representatives of the ACC and the
Primates Meeting.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_111795_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

ECW members hope to 'Grow in Grace' at 46th triennial gathering

>By Nan Ross

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal Church Women (ECW) members hope to
"Grow in Grace" at their 46th triennial meeting, which runs July 8-17,
concurrently with the 76th General Convention, in Anaheim, California.

The meeting will include worship, special music, workshops and plenary
speakers.

An ECW-led Prayer Walk throughout the convention center on July 7 will
serve as a prelude to the opening ceremony featuring Presiding Bishop
Katharine Jefferts Schori on July 8.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_111745_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

BRAZIL: Theologian Jaci Corréia Maraschin dies at 79

>By ENS staff

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Jaci Corréia Maraschin, an
influential poet, theologian and priest in the Episcopal Anglican
Church of Brazil (Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, or IEAB), has
died aged 79.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_111778_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

SOUTH AFRICA: Archbishop criticizes striking doctors, calls on
government to improve conditions

>By ENS staff

[Episcopal News Service] Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town has
criticized doctors on strike in South Africa for depriving "the
poorest of the poor" of health care, but also called on the government
to expedite talks to meet doctors' needs.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_111776_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

John Maurice (Jack) Gessell, emeritus professor at Sewanee, dies at 89

>By ENS staff

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. John Maurice (Jack) Gessell,
emeritus professor of Christian ethics at the School of Theology,
Sewanee: The University of the South, died July 1 in Winchester,
Tennessee. He was 89.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_111796_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>OPINION

>Learn about Native American concerns

>By Katharine Jefferts Schori

[Episcopal Life] In several recent diocesan visits, I've had
interactions with Native American members of this church or questions
about ministry in Native communities.

When I visited Minnesota in May, Bishop James Jelinek arranged for me
to meet with the Department of Indian Work in Prairie Island. The
Native community at Prairie Island operates a lucrative casino and
serves its members by providing housing, education, health care and
ministry with and care for elders.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_111744_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Readers respond to opinion articles on proposed Anglican covenant

[Episcopal News Service] Several readers have responded to the opinion
columns "Consider facts about proposed covenant, not myths" by the
Rev. James Stockton and "Covenant aligns with Episcopal identity" by
the Rev. Bruce Robison.

Responses to the columns are available at

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_111743_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On July 3, 2009...

* 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 July 3, 1999, twenty-fifth Presiding Bishop
Frank T. Griswold began his official visit to Russia and the Russian
Orthodox Church.

>_____________________

>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

>_____________________

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