wfn.org | Episcopalians: News Briefs

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

May 16, 2002

2002-123

Episcopalians: News Briefs

Economic justice fund in Michigan goes interfaith

(Detroit Free Press) A fund that helps poor families and small 
businesses in the Detroit area is branching out from its roots 
in the Episcopal Church into the interfaith community.

The $3.2 million McGehee Economic Justice Fund, named for 
former bishop H. Coleman McGehee, Jr., is adopting an even 
larger mission and a new name, the Michigan McGehee Interfaith 
Loan Fund. "We now have a new board with representatives from 
other faith groups, including Baptists, a Methodist, a 
Presbyterian, a Jewish representative," said John Hooper, 
executive director of the fund. "Now we expect the fund will 
grow even larger and we can do more to help people."

The base of the fund has been created by individuals and 
religious groups who invested at least $500 with the fund. "Some 
investors don't want any interest from us. For others, we pay up 
to 4 percent interest," Hooper said. In turn, the fund offers 
loans at low interest rates to groups that build affordable 
housing, start small businesses and launch programs to help the 
poor.

"Now that the interfaith fund is up and running, this lets us 
go to the next phase, which is introducing this fund to our own 
faith communities," said Rabbi Marla Feldman of the Jewish 
Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit. Representatives from 
several Protestant denominations are also poised to promote the 
fund among their congregations, according to Hooper.

Middle East travel seminar for journalists rescheduled for 
October

(ENS) A travel seminar for secular and religious journalists to 
Israel and Palestine, originally scheduled for April but 
postponed because of increased violence, is now scheduled for 
mid-October.

The seminar is being organized by the Media Project of the 
Middle East Forum, a broad-based ecumenical coalition of 
American churches and religious organizations working for peace 
in the region. It will be led by James M. Wall, senior 
contributing editor of The Christian Century, a frequent 
visitor to the region. He says the trip will provide journalists 
with background information and  interviews with key political 
and religious leaders, but leave time to pursue specific 
assignments. It will be limited to 20 working journalists.

"We will meet with Christians, Jews and Muslims because we 
realize that hearing and seeing the situation from their 
perspective is critical to understanding the current conflict," 
he says. Yet he noted that "the Palestinian perspective, often 
missed and rarely understood by Western journalists, will be a 
priority for the trip." 

Logistical support for the 11-day trip, October 16-27, will 
be provided by Betty Jane Bailey, a consultant to the Middle 
East Office of the Common Global Ministries Board of the United 
Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ. Arrangements on 
the ground are being made by the Bethlehem Media Center.

Costs for the trip, no more than $2,400, will include airfare 
from Newark, ground transportation, hotels, and most meals. 
Applications and a $400 deposit are due September 1. A final 
selection of participants will be made by a committee of the 
Middle East Forum's Media Project. 

For further information contact Bailey at BJBailey1@aol.com. 
Telephone is 973-324-9684 and fax 973-324-9685.

Interfaith program offers summer seminars on religious 
diversity in America

(ENS) The Interfaith Education Initiative (IEI), a joint project 
of Episcopal Relief and Development and the Office of Ecumenical 
and Interfaith Relations, is offering three summer seminars to 
help Episcopalians better understand the beliefs and practices 
of the many religions now a part of America's religious 
landscape.

"Worldviews: Foundations for Inter-religious Dialogue" will 
be offered June 10-15 on the campus of the University of 
Michigan in Dearborn, co-sponsored by the Diocese of Michigan 
and the university's Center for the Study of Religion and 
Society.

A second session of "Worldviews" will be offered July 22-27 
at the General Theological Seminary in New York. 

The third seminar, "An Anglican Response to Islam," will be 
held at General July 15-20 and feature a historical overview of 
Anglicanism's encounter with Islam, as well as discussion of 
Islamic law, eschatology, and human rights.

All three seminars will feature site-visits, provide 
information on religious beliefs and practices, and discuss 
interfaith dialogue methods and issues. IEI was created as a 
response to the tragedy of September 11 terrorist attacks.

For further information contact IEI at 800-334-7626, ext. 
6312 or interfaith@episcopalchurch.org.

WCC's Faith and Order Commission celebrating 75th anniversary 
in August

(WCC) In 1927 a group of church leaders committed to church 
unity gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and launched what 
became the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of 
Churches. Bishop Charles Brent of the Episcopal Church USA 
reminded the participants of Christ's hope that "they might all 
be one."

Churches can make a similar commitment August 25 on the 75th 
anniversary of the Lausanne meeting. "In 2002, in a deeply 
divided world, the call to unity assumes even greater urgency if 
the church is to provide an alternative of reconciliation 
between peoples and with God," said the Rev. Alan Falconer, 
director of the commission. Over the years the commission has 
brought churches together in dialogue, creating new levels of 
understanding and cooperation. "The patient work of dialogue 
leads to conversion to inclusiveness and communion--it is 
essential for the witness of the church," he added.

The anniversary celebrations will begin with the laying of a 
wreath on the grave of Brent, who chose to retire in Lausanne 
and continue his work for unity, and end with an ecumenical 
service in the city's cathedral. The WCC Central Committee is 
scheduled to meet in Lausanne the following week so most of its 
members will participate. 

The celebrations will include significant participation of 
Roman Catholics who have been full members of the commission 
since 1968.

Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music collecting data on 
congregations

(ENS) In response to General Convention resolution A066, the 
Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music is developing a pair of 
questionnaires that will provide more data on the congregational 
worship life.

The first questionnaire will identify current patterns and 
practices in Sunday worship and the second has been sent to 10 
people in each diocese, chosen by the bishop to represent the 
diversity of the diocese in all aspects of its life, according 
to an announcement by the Rev. Bruce Jenneker of Boston, 
co-chair of the commission, and the Rev. Clay Morris, the 
church's liturgical officer. They pointed out that the 
commission was "making history in its implementation of the 
resolution" because this is the first time the commission is 
seeking the advice of congregations, since the 1979 Prayer Book 
was drafted. It is also the first time it has used the Internet 
to gather information.

Jenneker and Morris report that the response to both 
questionnaires "has been very good." The congregational survey 
response has been over 20 percent and the diocesan survey has 
been sent to over half the dioceses--and half have already 
reported. 

Once the date has been collected, a committee will begin the 
process of interpretation so that it can be published in the 
General Convention Blue Book.

For further information contact the Office of Music and 
Liturgy at the Church Center (800-334-7626) or e-mail to 
cmorris@episcopalchurch.org.

Church Center friends bid farewell to Sylvia Howard

(ENS) Friends and colleagues at the Episcopal Church Center in 
New York bid farewell May 8 to Sylvia Howard. A prayer service 
was conducted by Bishop Christopher Epting of the ecumenical 
office.

Sylvia Marie Howard was born June 11, 1941, in Oklahoma where 
she earned a degree in speech therapy at the Oklahoma College 
for Women. She moved to Amarillo, Texas, where she taught at a 
center for speech and hearing. In 1976 she married Fred Howard 
and they moved to New York City the following year.

She first started her work at the Church Center in the 
telephone room and then the office of the treasurer, serving a 
total of 27 years. Friends remembered that she made a very 
positive impact on those who worked with her--and those she met 
along the way. In addition to her husband, she is survived by a 
brother, two foster children, 13 nieces and nephews, and three 
grandchildren.

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