Episcopal Life Online Newslink September 6, 2007
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's ELO Newslink includes:
* TOP STORY - ABRIDGED: Service, collaboration central in reorganization set for Church Center * DIOCESAN DIGEST - NEVADA: Sixth nominee added to diocesan bishop slate * DIOCESAN DIGEST - WEST MISSOURI: East Coast trip opens history to pilgrims * WORLD REPORT - RWANDA: Three former Episcopal priests elected missionary bishops for North America * FEATURE - Recovering from Katrina: Returning as a volunteer, former student experiences new 'pride of Mississippi'
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TOP STORIES
ABRIDGED: Service, collaboration central in reorganization set for Church Center
[Episcopal News Service] Raising levels of service to dioceses, congregations, and individuals -- "equipping people to use their gifts" -- is at the heart of recommendations to reorganize work based at the Episcopal Church Center, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a September 5 presentation to staff.
The recommendations for reorganization -- shaped with input from bishops, General Convention deputies, Executive Council members, and staff through five months' work by two task forces -- are now ready for next steps of implementation, Jefferts Schori said.
Task force members joined the Presiding Bishop in briefing the staff on the reorganization, which recommends the creation of four new "Centers for Mission": Advocacy Center, Evangelism and Congregational Life Center, Mission Leadership Center, and Partnerships Center including a Diocesan Services unit.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_89783_ENG_HTM.htm
An extended version of this story is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_89721_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
NEVADA: Sixth nominee added to diocesan bishop slate http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_89774_ENG_HTM.htm
WEST MISSOURI: East Coast trip opens history to pilgrims http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_89780_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
RWANDA: Three former Episcopal priests elected missionary bishops for North America http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_89785_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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FEATURES
Recovering from Katrina
Returning as a volunteer, former student experiences new 'pride of Mississippi'
By Rachael Taylor
[Episcopal Life] Mississippi holds fond memories for me. It is where I ate my first crawfish and fell in love with the sweet, heady scent of magnolias in bloom. As a University of Southern Mississippi "Pride of Mississippi" band member, I learned that "band camp" is not nearly as much fun as it sounds. At my alma mater, I watched a young quarterback named Brett Favre throw the football harder and farther than seemed humanly possible. It was while I was at Southern Miss that I became an official "Parrot Head," one of the fans of another alum, Jimmy Buffett. In Mississippi, I formed friendships with warm, loyal people that would sustain and nurture me for decades.
The Mississippi of my youth is vastly different now. The Gulf Coast where I spent weekends avoiding college term papers, piles of dirty laundry, bad dorm food and the Graduate Record Examinations was ripped apart by Hurricane Katrina.
One is immediately struck by the absence of things -- the large empty spaces where buildings once stood and the concrete slabs with trailers parked on them. The beach roads, once cluttered with gas stations and fast-food restaurants, are devoid of the usual glaring advertisements for cheap eats, gas, motels and souvenirs. Even now, piles of debris remain.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81834_89763_ENG_HTM.htm
More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm