Episcopal Life Online Daybook -- Today is Monday, July 23, 2007.
* Today in Scripture: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm * Today in Prayer: Anglican Cycle of Prayer: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm * Today in History: On this day in 1978, more than 400 bishops gathered from all over the Anglican Communion as the 11th Lambeth Conference began.
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MISSION
Province VIII youth gather in Salt Lake City
By Pat McCaughan
[Episcopal News Service, Salt Lake City, Utah] The morning worship was a little bit gospel, a little bit aerobics, with clapping, dancing and even a deep knee bend or two accompanying Fran McKendree's guitar as more than 100 young people met July 18 for the first full day of Province VIII's triennial youth event in Salt Lake City.
The joyful gathering, themed "Choose the Better Part," drew young people from Hawaii to Navajoland, Idaho to Alaska, for light-hearted fun and conversation, as well as the more serious spiritual discernment and leadership development that have been the inevitable byproducts of provincial youth events (PYE) over the past 18 years, says the Rev. Brian Prior, Province VIII youth ministry network coordinator.
"I tell kids all the time that there are lots of great opportunities to experience the breadth and depth of the Episcopal Church," said Prior, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, which he started 10 years ago in Spokane Valley.
"Most of our Episcopal experiences are so parochial; there are so many great people out there that it is more important than ever for young people in the emerging generation to realize that the Episcopal experience is pretty broad," said Prior, who is also vice president of the House of Deputies.
"Our hope is that they make some true friends from other places and gain a sense of being part of a larger family. We also hope they learn new and different ways to live into their faith because of what it has to offer them."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_88321_ENG_HTM.htm
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Catalyst: "The Magdalene Mystic: Living the Spirituality of Mary Today" from Church Publishing, Inc., by Betty Conrad Adam, 176 pages, paperback, c. 2006, $14
[Source: Church Publishing, Inc.] The early Christians formed communities to follow the risen Jesus. One such community wrote down its gospel story, but sometime in those early years, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene disappeared.
In the late 19th century, it surfaced in the Cairo marketplace, and today, contemporary Christians are embracing the message of this Magdalene Gospel.
The Magdalene Mystique invites readers into the spiritual life of an actual community that celebrates Mary Magdalene as mystic and visionary, beloved companion of Jesus, and first witness to the resurrection. Following Mary's gospel, the community seeks to embody an ethos of equality and justice.
With historic background based on the scholarship of prominent researchers including Karen King and Jane Schaberg, plus prayers, liturgies, and real-life stories, this is a powerful book for group study and private devotion.
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