NewsLink, Serving the Episcopal Church
Daybook -- Today is Monday, October 30, 2006.
* Today in Scripture: Daily Office meditation: http://www.forwardmovement.org/todaysreading.cfm * Today in Prayer: Anglican Cycle of Prayer: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm * Today in History: On this day in 1971, a group of lay women and deacons formed the Episcopal Women's Caucus. http://episcopalwomenscaucus.org/history.html
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Diocesan Digest
CALIFORNIA: Bishop calls diocese into 'dance of wisdom' http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79029_ENG_HTM.htm
EUROPE: Convocation of American Churches passes strategic plan http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79051_ENG_HTM.htm
VIRGINIA: Bishop 'saddened' by mission's decision to dissolve http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79052_ENG_HTM.htm
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World Report
ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury praises long march of the 'eco-mad' youngsters http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79042_ENG_HTM.htm
SRI LANKA: Churches welcome peace talks in Geneva http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79041_ENG_HTM.htm
WORLDWIDE: UN vote will boost arms control efforts, says religious leaders http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79037_ENG_HTM.htm
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People
Ellen D. Washington, prominent Washington lay woman, dies from car accident injuries http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79035_ENG_HTM.htm
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Monday Mission
'Groundwork III' evangelism resources set for early November posting
[ENS] The 2007 installment of "Groundwork" evangelism resources -- offering congregations a Year C Lenten guide for study and action -- will soon be posted online and mailed in early November to congregations churchwide, the Episcopal Church's director of mission, the Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler, has announced.
With content sections designed to support weekly lectionary readings, the resources offer practical suggestions for action designed to increase parish hospitality extended to visitors and seekers.
The new packet opens with content for Sunday, February 25, 2007. It also offers suggestions for enhancement of a congregation's website and online outreach, much as the two previous Groundwork packets for 2004-2005 addressed overall communication planning and advertising.
The title "Groundwork" supports the recent churchwide invitation to "come and grow," also the theme of the 75th General Convention, Lemler said.
"It is an urgent and hopeful moment for the mission of the Episcopal Church," Lemler said, reflecting on the current climate for parish-based evangelism initiatives. "We are faced by changes all around us. Christianity is not in the center of American culture as in previous generations. These realities bring challenges and tremendous opportunities to us. We can invite people, and we are a church of welcome, respect, prayer, and community ... a church for this time. Our call is to the actions of intentional invitation and welcome."
Lemler added: "In a recent survey of Episcopal congregations throughout the nation, the highest desire voiced was for congregational growth and evangelism. Groundwork III helps to address this aspiration. It provides spiritual, biblical, and practical means, and actions for a congregation of any size to engage the practices of invitation and evangelism.
"Groundwork III is a resource for congregations small, medium and large to experience transformation during the coming Lenten season," Lemler said. "It uses scripture and the spiritual themes of Lent to help individuals and congregations pay attention to the mission of the church. Practical ideas and tools for welcome and evangelism are offered as well."
Previously published Groundwork resources, including the 2004-2005, are available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/groundwork.
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Catalyst: "Rabble-Rouser for Peace: The Authorized Biography of Desmond Tutu" from Free Press, by John Allen, 496 pages, hardcover, $28
[Source: Free Press] -- To be a rabble-rouser for peace may seem to be a contradiction in terms. And yet it is the perfect description for Desmond Tutu, Nobel laureate and spiritual father of a democratic South Africa. Tutu understood that justice -- a genuine regard for human rights -- is the only real foundation for peace. And so he stirred up trouble, courageously engaging in heated face-to-face confrontations with South Africa's leaders; he stirred up trouble in the streets, leading peaceful demonstrations amid the barely controlled fury of police battalions; he stirred up trouble on the world stage, seeking international disinvestment in the apartheid economy.
Tutu has led one of the great lives of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and to read his story in full is to be reminded of the power of one inspired man to change history. In this authorized biography, written by John Allen, a distinguished journalist and longtime associate of Tutu, we are witnesses to courage, stirring oratory, and a demonstration of the power of faith to transform the seemingly intransigent.
To order: Episcopal Books and Resources online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org or call 800-903-5544.
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