NewsLink, Serving the Episcopal Church
Daybook -- Today is Monday, November 27, 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 1843, Virginia Bishop William Meade consecrated Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. http://www.emmanuelvb.com/history.htm
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World Report
ENGLAND: Archbishops critical of British Airways' cross-wearing policy http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79907_ENG_HTM.htm
ITALY: Archbishop and Pope share worship, say 'churches share witness and service' http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79905_ENG_HTM.htm
MALAWI: Two arrested in connection with Anglican priest's death http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79908_ENG_HTM.htm
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Mission: Two years after tsunami, ERD helps rebuild lives and communities
By Malaika Kamunanwire
[ENS] Jermina lives in Colachel in southern India. She recalls that day almost two years ago when she lost her four-year-old daughter.
"I remember a large wave swept everyone away," she said. "That day, my youngest daughter died. I was unable to hold on to her...I am not alone. Many people lost more than one child, children without parents, and husbands without wives."
The earthquake and resulting tsunami struck the Indian Ocean the morning of December 26, 2004, killing more than 230,000 people in 12 countries, with countless more missing.
Working with Anglican and ecumenical partners, Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) immediately responded to the needs in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand. In India and Sri Lanka, ERD currently works with church partners to implement long-term recovery programs that are rebuilding lives.
Rob Radtke, ERD's president, recently made an 11-day trip to India to see the impact of ERD's tsunami recovery programs.
The first week concentrated on projects in the Church of South India (CSI), a union of churches comprising 22 dioceses with about four million members. The CSI synod office in Chennai is working with ERD in several dioceses along India's south-east coast, the most affected area with 12,000 confirmed deaths.
Radtke was accompanied by the Rev. Robert Sunil, program coordinator for CSI, and Julie Petrie, program associate for Asia.
"ERD is partnering with the Church of South India in seven dioceses," said Petrie. "Our recovery programs focus on health, water and sanitation, housing reconstruction, fishing and other livelihood recovery. We are also providing trauma counseling, child protection and orphan care, along with other integrated community services."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79913_ENG_HTM.htm
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Mission: L.A. grant helps Solo Flight expand its offerings to single adults
From Episcopal Life
[ENS] The four bishops in the Diocese of Los Angeles have announced they will give a $50,000 matching grant to support the ministry of Solo Flight and regional conferences for single, divorced and widowed people.
"The bishops of Los Angeles are offering an incredible gift to single adults and to the church," said Kay Collier McLaughlin, founder and national coordinator of Solo Flight Ministries with Single Adults.
The first joint venture will be Solo Flight West Coast, with the Rev. Zelda Kennedy of All Saints, Pasadena, California, and Debbie Decker of Los Angeles' Solo Journeys serving as local coordinators.
McLaughlin will work with each regional team in staffing, training and maintaining the standards in spiritual formation and nurture of single adults for which the ministry is known.
Solo Flight at Kanuga Conferences at Hendersonville, North Carolina, is in its 17th year of serving as the only national gathering for single adults in the Episcopal tradition.
Because few Episcopal congregations offer ministry with single adults, the conference has something of a "promised land" reputation -- a safe and caring environment where single adults of all ages can consider their singularity in the context of their faith and develop skills for living singly in a couple-oriented church and culture, McLaughlin said.
The four bishops in Los Angeles are Diocesan Bishop J. Jon Bruno, Bishop Suffragan Chester L. Talton, and assisting bishops Sergio Carranza and Robert Anderson.
For more information on matching gifts, email: debbiedecker@ladiocese.org.
To organize a regional Solo Flight conference, email: kcollierm@diolex.org.
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Catalyst: "Christianity for the Rest of Us" from HarperCollins Publishers, by Diana Butler Bass, 321 pages, hardcover, c. 2006, $23.95
[Source: HarperCollins Publishers] -- For decades the accepted wisdom has been that America's mainline Protestant churches are in decline, eclipsed by evangelical mega-churches. Church and religion expert Diana Butler Bass wondered if this was true, and this book is the result of her extensive, three-year study of centrist and progressive churches across the country. Her surprising findings reveal just the opposite -- that many of the churches are flourishing, and they are doing so without resorting to mimicking the mega-church, evangelical style.
Christianity for the Rest of Us describes this phenomenon and offers a how-to approach for Protestants eager to remain faithful to their tradition while becoming a vital spiritual community. As Butler Bass delved into the rich spiritual life of various Episcopal, United Methodist, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, and Lutheran churches, certain consistent practices -- such as hospitality, contemplation, diversity, justice, discernment, and worship -- emerged as core expressions of congregations seeking to rediscover authentic Christian faith and witness today.
This hopeful book, which includes a study guide for groups and individuals, reveals the practical steps that leaders and laypeople alike are taking to proclaim an alternative message about an emerging Christianity that strives for greater spiritual depth and proactively engages the needs of the world.
To order: Episcopal Books and Resources online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org or call 800-903-5544.
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