Episcopal Life Online Newslink June 24, 2007
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's ELO Newslink includes:
* TOP STORY - Church's 400-year heritage is fabric 'woven together with prayer' * TOP STORY - Canada rejects local options for blessing same-gender unions * TOP STORY - ERD receives leadership gift to support women's empowerment programs * TOP STORY - Mark MacDonald installed as Canada's first National Indigenous Anglican Bishop
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TOP STORIES
Church's 400-year heritage is fabric 'woven together with prayer'
Virginia Episcopalians host commemorative service June 24 on Jamestown Island
By Bob Williams
[ENS, Jamestown Island, Virginia] The fabric of four centuries of history -- woven with the 1607 beginnings of the Jamestown Settlement, Native American responses, and the rise of the African slave trade -- was prayerfully examined on June 24 as Episcopalians gathered for Eucharist to mark the church's 400-year heritage in the region.
Recalling the settlers' original sailcloth, canvas suspended from trees shaded the rough-hewn altar around which bishops from the four dioceses that comprised the original Virginia of 1785 gathered with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori for Eucharist at which Bishop John Clark Buchanan of Southern Virginia was celebrant.
Also at the table were the bishops of Liverpool, England, and Kumasi, Ghana, both representing points of a "triangle of hope" engaged in continued healing and reconciliation in the slave trade's wake.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_87199_ENG_HTM.htm
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Canada rejects local options for blessing same-gender unions
Such blessings not in conflict with core doctrine, Canadian Church agrees
[Episcopal News Service] A motion that would have permitted the Anglican Church of Canada to bless same-gender unions was defeated June 24 by members of the Church's General Synod, meeting in Winnipeg.
Motion A187, which passed in the houses of clergy and laity but failed by a narrow margin of two votes in the House of Bishops, would have allowed Canadian parishes to authorize the blessing of committed same-gender unions "with the concurrence of the diocesan bishop."
The motion passed by 78 to 59 votes in the House of Laity and by 63 to 53 votes in the House of Clergy, but was defeated by 21 to 19 votes in the House of Bishops.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_87198_ENG_HTM.htm
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ERD receives leadership gift to support women's empowerment programs
[ERD] Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) received a leadership gift to support its programs working with women globally to fight disease, hunger, and poverty, announced Robert W. Radtke, ERD president. The gift was given by the Laura Ellen and Robert Muglia Family Foundation.
Close to 80 percent of ERD's program beneficiaries are women. ERD's integrated community development programs give women access to resources and tools which promote self-reliance and support families and communities worldwide. With Anglican and ecumenical partners, ERD works with local communities to: protect women and their children from preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria; provide opportunities for women to earn an income through small business development programs; and teach women improved farming techniques.
"I am delighted that ERD's Women's Development Fund has been launched with an extraordinarily generous gift of $1 million from the Laura Ellen and Robert Muglia Family Foundation," said Radtke. "The Women's Development Fund will support women's empowerment strategies in all of ERD's programs -- from eradicating malaria, to fighting hunger to ensuring safe drinking water and basic health care."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_87197_ENG_HTM.htm
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Mark MacDonald installed as Canada's first National Indigenous Anglican Bishop
By Brian Sajeant
[Anglican Church of Canada] Native groups from across Canada came to Winnipeg June 22 to present gifts and pay their respects to the Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald as he was installed as the first National Indigenous Anglican Bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada.
The new bishop received a standing ovation following the ceremony during the Anglican Church's General Synod, which is meeting June 19-25.
Canadian Primate, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, described how the appointment came out of a proposal of the 2005 Anglican Indigenous Sacred Circle and was quickly supported by all the bishops in the circle. It was a turning point in a long road that had begun 39 years before.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_87196_ENG_HTM.htm
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