Episcopal Life Online Daybook -- Today is Friday, September 7, 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 1807, Robert Morrison, sent by the London Missionary Society, arrived in Canton and Macao, China, as the first Protestant missionary in China.
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Multimedia: National Association of Episcopal Schools
[ENS] The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman is the new executive director of the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES), which supports and advocates for the vital work and ministry of those who serve more than 1,000 Episcopal schools, early childhood education programs and school establishment efforts throughout the Episcopal Church.
A video interview with Heischman is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm
Further information about NAES is available at http://www.episcopalschools.org.
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Catalyst: "A City Upon a Hill: How Sermons Changed the Course of American History" from HarperCollins Publishers, by Larry Witham, 318 pages, hardcover, c. 2007, $24.95
[Source: HarperCollins Publishers] The Puritan founder John Winthrop preached about "a city upon a hill," Abraham Lincoln's two greatest speeches have been called "sermons on the mount," and Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" oration is nothing if not a sermon. Not only can the history of the United States be told through its reflection in the landmark sermons preached from its pulpits and in front of its memorials, but in fact it was often the sermon that inspired and helped define American history.
Between the colonization of America and the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the sermon has both shaped America's self-understanding and reflected both sides of its most important social, political, military, and philosophical debates. That is the story of A City Upon a Hill: How the Sermon Made America, a narrative history of events, people, and ideas. The book covers American history from 1606 to 2001, building links between the pulpit and politics, between preachers and presidents, between sermons and historical events.
As a narrative history, A City Upon a Hill asks about, for example, the role of religion in the American Revolution and slavery, whether religious affiliation has grown or declined in various centuries, and how much ideas and beliefs affected policies, and vice versa. The sermon offers a uniquely compelling vehicle to tell the national story and shows that what America says and believes can often be better than what it does, serving as a national conscience amid centuries of triumphalist claims.
To order: Episcopal Books and Resources, online at http://www.episcopalbookstore.org, or call 800-903-5544 -- or visit your local Episcopal bookseller, http://www.episcopalbooksellers.org