Episcopal Life Online Newslink September 19, 2007
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
[Editor's note: Episcopal Life Online will carry in-depth coverage of the House of Bishops September 20-25 meeting in New Orleans. For up-to-date news and multimedia reports visit http://www.episcopalchurch.org/89878_ENG_HTM.htm. Image galleries of bishops by diocese are available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/89878_73588_ENG_HTM.htm.]
Today's ELO Newslink includes:
* TOP STORY - House of Bishops meeting set to open * DIOCESAN DIGEST - NEW YORK: Approval given to seminary's plan for seven-story building * WORLD REPORT - CANADA: Ottawa synod to consider blessing same-gender couples * WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury appoints new climate change adviser * WORLD REPORT - SOUTHERN AFRICA: Malaria 'biggest problem' facing Mozambique, says bishop * IMAGE GALLERY - Diocesan, suffragan and assisting bishops by diocese * SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 20) - Year C [RCL]
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TOP STORIES
House of Bishops meeting set to open
Listening can build relationships, lower anxiety, Presiding Bishop's canon says
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service, New Orleans] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has assured Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams that he will be received September 20 and 21 by the House of Bishops "with great respect and hospitality."
The Rev. Dr. Charles Robertson, canon to the Presiding Bishop and Primate, said September 19 that Jefferts Schori had spoken with Williams to discuss meeting arrangements and the bishops' anticipation of their conversations.
Robertson termed "extraordinary" the unanimity with which the House of Bishops voted at its March meeting (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_84231_ENG_HTM.htm) to invite Williams to meet with them.
"Both he and we recognize the importance of this time, and that it is natural to experience some anxiety" in the current context, Robertson said.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_90171_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
NEW YORK: Approval given to seminary's plan for seven-story building http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_90169_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
CANADA: Ottawa synod to consider blessing same-gender couples http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_90166_ENG_HTM.htm
ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury appoints new climate change adviser http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_90167_ENG_HTM.htm
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Malaria 'biggest problem' facing Mozambique, says bishop http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_90168_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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IMAGE GALLERIES
Galleries containing images and contact details of the Episcopal Church's diocesan, suffragan and assisting bishops is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/89878_73588_ENG_HTM.htm.
Also available are the following related websites:
Gallery of Black Bishops (1874-present)
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/5888_3588_ENG_HTM.htm
List of Female Bishops (1989-present)
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/41685_41472_ENG_HTM.htm
College for Bishops http://www.collegeforbishops.org
Gallery of Previous Presiding Bishops
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78716_ENG_HTM.htm
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/presiding-bishop.htm
Episcopal Life Online Topic Page for House of Bishops http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80263_80273_ENG_HTM.htm
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SPIRITUAL REFLECTION
Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 20) - Year C [RCL] Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 or Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 79:1-9 or 113; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13
By Cole Gruberth
[Sermons That Work] There's a T-shirt that perhaps you've seen. It reads simply: "Love is for losers." Now probably to the wearer, the phrase is only a humorous expression of teenage angst or rebellion. But set next to today's gospel reading, it suggests a different view of love, friendship, success, competition, and worth.
If what we value most is wealth and prestige, then love is at best an idle pleasure, and at worst a distraction or an impediment to our struggle to succeed. On the other hand, if what we value most highly is love itself, particularly the godly love that we are to show to all our neighbors, we will be willing to risk, and indeed even to lose, everything for the sake of love.
The steward in Jesus' parable is after wealth, in any way he can get it. Not content to be a trusted steward managing the household of a wealthy man, he sets out to skim off an extra share of the wealth for himself. Not surprisingly, his employer puts an end to this as soon as the wrongdoing comes to light. The steward, now deprived of his source of income and prestige, runs one last scam in order to buy some goodwill with a few households that are in debt to his former master.
Full reflection: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_90157_ENG_HTM.htm
More Spiritual Reflections: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm