wfn.org | Episcopalians: News Briefs

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

March 12, 2002

2002-060

Episcopalians: News Briefs

Sewanee offers new vocational discernment summer internships

(ENS)The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, is 
looking for college or university undergraduates or graduates of 
the class of 2002 to participate in a new summer program of paid 
internships to explore a vocation to the ordained ministry or in 
service-related organizations with a faith-based mission.

The Lilly Theological Exploration of Vocation Program at the 
university is funded through a new grant from the Eli Lilly 
Foundation. Its purpose is to develop a new generation of 
religious and service-oriented leaders through substantive 
experience in summer internships.

"This new Lilly Internship and Summer Discernment Institute 
(SDI) at Sewanee is being developed to help attract students to 
the ordained ministry and to vocations that embrace service as a 
way of life," said the Rev. William Danaher, assistant professor 
of theology and ethics at the School of Theology and a member of 
the program's steering committee. "We invite any young women and 
men who are considering service in the church as a vocation to 
get in touch with us," says Danaher. " We especially encourage 
minority students to consider this opportunity."

Up to 32 students will be selected to spend June 3-August 2 
exploring vocation. Students will spend five days at Sewanee in 
class orientation, six weeks at the internship site, and close 
the experience with five days back at Sewanee with reflection 
and presentations. Each intern will receive a stipend of $2,400. 
Round trip travel from Sewanee to the internship sites is 
included above the stipend.

Two internship tracks are offered. Track 1 is parish-based 
involving a small group of students participating in the 
religious life of the parish community and engaging in 
parish-sponsored outreach. This first summer the University is 
partnering with the congregations of St. Mary the Virgin at 
Times Square in New York City, the Cathedral Church of the 
Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, the Cathedral of St. Phillip in 
Atlanta, Georgia, and Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans. 
Track 2 includes independent internships in churches, service 
organizations or businesses, identified by the student and 
approved by SDI, where a student may explore service as a way of 
life.

Students must submit application packets by April 1 to the 
Office of Career Services of the University of the South, 735 
University Ave., Sewanee, TN, 37383. Phone: 931-598-1121; Fax: 
931-598-1166. To download application or apply online, visit the 
Career Services website: http://www.sewanee.edu/CareerServices/. 
For further inquiries or to receive the information packet by 
email write: theology@sewanee.edu.

Washington bishops issue call to support Saudi peace plan 

(ENS) Bishop of Washington pro tempore Jane Holmes Dixon and 
assisting bishop of Washington Allen L. Bartlett, Jr. joined 
Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold in sending letters to 
President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell, calling for 
support of the Saudi peace plan that calls for Arab recognition 
of Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawl to 1967 borders.

On March 5, Dixon and Bartlett issued a letter to President 
Bush, strongly urging him to support Crown Prince Abdullah's 
peace initiative. Copies were also sent to members of Congress 
and Middle East ambassadors.

The letter condemned those forces that promote violence on both 
sides. It also stated that "perhaps most importantly, the Saudi 
Peace Plan, in our opinion, addresses the root cause of most of 
the Palestinian violence: the occupation and the expanding 
Jewish settlements."

Bartlett has visited the Middle East on a number of occasions. 

On March 6, Griswold issued a statement to Powell which stated: 
"Crown Prince Abdullah's plan offers a way forward. I sincerely 
hope that all parties will see it as a potential avenue to a 
just and lasting peace between two peoples who share the 
patrimony of Abraham as Jews, Christians and Muslims."

Yale and Berkeley celebrate renewal of affiliation

(ENS) On March 6, Yale University announced the continuation for 
10 years of the affiliation between Yale Divinity School and 
Berkeley Divinity School. 

Berkeley is one of 11 accredited Episcopal seminaries in the 
United States and has been affiliated with Yale Divinity School 
since 1971. Episcopal students are 27 percent of the Yale 
Divinity School student population of about 400. 

The agreement to renew affiliation was formally signed by Yale 
University President Richard C. Levin and Christian R. Sonne, 
chair of Berkeley's board of trustees. The Berkeley board 
unanimously approved the agreement at its meeting January 24.

Levin said, "We are pleased to renew our affiliation with 
Berkeley Divinity School. With a strengthened commitment to 
partnership, we look forward to building upon our historic 
relationship." 

In a written statement, Sonne said of the occasion: "All of us 
at Berkeley strongly believe that our unique partnership with 
Yale is crucial to the success of our mission to train leaders 
for the Episcopal Church. We are delighted to continue that 
relationship and to strengthen it further through an updated 
agreement that is consistent with the current needs of both Yale 
and Berkeley." 

The renewal agreement makes a few changes in the relationship 
between Yale and Berkeley, which is an independent institution 
with its own board and administration. It clarifies Berkeley's 
use of Yale systems for all salary and other payments to 
Berkeley faculty and staff. Also, similar to the process under 
the previous agreement, the Berkeley board will appoint or 
reappoint Berkeley's dean with the approval of the dean of Yale 
Divinity School, but either appointing party will now be able to 
remove a dean. 

Berkeley currently has an interim dean, Frederick H. Borsch, 
retired bishop of Los Angeles, who was appointed by the board on 
February 19 to serve while the board conducts a search for a 
permanent dean. Borsch also serves as associate dean of Yale 
Divinity School for Anglican Studies.

Episcopal environmental group wins 2002 Energy Globe 
Award

(ENS) San Francisco's Regeneration Project, a self-described 
"Christian response to climate change," has won first prize in 
the category of Transport & Energy at this year's annual Energy 
Globe Awards, held in Linz, Austria.  Former President of the 
Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev honored this year's winners with 
a statue and prize money of 10,000 Euros, roughly $8,800 US 
dollars.

Projects from 98 countries submitted entries and from that an 
international panel of judges chose from 1,300 total projects. 
The Regeneration Project was selected from 16 international 
finalists, and was also featured at the World Sustainable Energy 
Day 2002, March 7-8 in Wels, Austria. 

"It is an honor to have been chosen out of such a large group of 
international candidates," said the Rev. Sally Bingham, 
co-founder of the Regeneration Project and environmental 
minister at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.  "It is exciting 
to see the environmental movement and the church finally unite."

The Regeneration Project was founded in 1993, primarily to 
establish an energy conservation program in the Episcopal Church 
and the interfaith community.  One of their projects, California 
Interfaith Power and Light, has become a model for the rest of 
the U.S. and the world.

Bingham's goal for California Interfaith Power and Light is to 
get churches to purchase or lobby for "green power" generated 
from renewable resources to cut down on carbon dioxide 
emissions, the gas most responsible for global warming.  "I am 
delighted to be able to take the message to an international 
audience this March," added Bingham.  "Faiths from all over the 
world can agree that to pollute the water and the air is harmful 
to our neighbors and to God's Creation."

For photos of this event and the 2002 winners, log on to 
http://www.esv.or.at.

Episcopal Relief and Development praised for supporting AIDS 
initiative

(ENS) Episcopal Relief and Development was recognized before the 
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for its support of an 
innovative program to teach HIV/AIDS prevention and pastoral 
care to seminarians in Africa. In a recent hearing, Dr. Peter 
Okaalet, African Director of Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) 
International, testified before the committee on the role of 
faith-based organizations in the fight against HIV and AIDS. At 
the hearing, Okaalet commended ERD's work, saying, "Four 
Anglican seminaries in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and South Africa 
have accepted the challenge and will integrate HIV/ AIDS courses 
into their curriculum." 

The curriculum educates seminarians about the illness and its 
transmission, and helps them deliver emotional and spiritual 
support to their local congregations. With this curriculum, 
future clergy and lay leaders will be equipped to supply 
life-saving information, help eliminate the cultural stigma of 
the disease, and provide pastoral care for those dying from 
AIDS, as well as care for their families and orphaned children.

"ERD is committed to the fight against a disease that is 
devastating communities worldwide," said Sandra Swan, ERD 
executive director. "We see the ultimate goal of the curriculum 
as providing future clergy with the tools necessary to educate 
their communities about HIV/AIDS prevention and to distribute 
quality care to those both suffering from the disease and 
affected by it."  

Tutu and Sachs highlight symposium at Episcopal Divinity 
School

(ENS) Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be the main respondent to a 
keynote address by Harvard professor Jeffrey Sachs at a 
symposium at Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, on April 6. 

Titled "Overcoming Poverty, HIV/AIDS, and Religious Conflict," 
the symposium is held in honor of the tenth anniversary of the 
Anglican, Global, and Ecumenical Studies Program (AGE) at EDS. 
Directed by the Rev. Ian Douglas, AGE is one of three study 
areas that structure the EDS curriculum. Douglas is associate 
professor of world mission and global Christianity, and is well 
known internationally for his publications and his leadership in 
the "post-colonial" Anglican Communion.

Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, is in residence at 
Episcopal Divinity School for the spring semester. Famous 
worldwide for his historic opposition to the South African 
system of apartheid and for his tireless efforts everywhere for 
equality and peace, he has achieved numerous firsts. In 1975 he 
became the first black to serve as General Secretary of the 
South African Council of Churches. In 1986 he became the first 
black Anglican Archbishop of Capetown. In 1995 Nelson Mandela, 
then president of South Africa, appointed him to serve as head 
of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigating human 
rights violations. Tutu holds dozens of honorary degrees. 

Sachs is Director of the Center for International Development 
and professor of international trade at Harvard University. He 
serves as economic consultant to governments and commissions 
around the globe, and his syndicated newspaper column appears in 
more than 50 countries. Most recently, in February he was 
appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations as 
special adviser on the millennium development goals. 

Other respondents at the symposium include Presiding Bishop 
Frank Griswold; EDS professor Joan M. Martin; and Archdeacon 
Fagamalama Tuatgaloa-Matalavea, Anglican observer to the United 
Nations. The event takes place at St. John's Memorial Chapel 
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is free but tickets are 
required.

------