Episcopal Life Online Newslink November 2, 2007
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's ELO Newslink includes:
* TOP STORY - Dominican Republic diocese appeals for flood relief following Tropical Storm Noel * TOP STORY - Pittsburgh convention approves first reading of constitutional changes * TOP STORY - Pittsburgh bishop declines Presiding Bishop's offer of reconciliation * DIOCESAN DIGEST - HAWAI'I: Convention hears and tells stories, outlines goals of conversion * DIOCESAN DIGEST - PENNSYLVANIA: Elkins Park parish introduces new worship experience * DIOCESAN DIGEST - PENNSYLVANIA: Standing Committee upholds Presiding Bishop's decision to inhibit bishop * WORLD REPORT - WEST INDIES: Show respect, bishop tells politicians ahead of Trinidad poll * OPINION - Sobbing with God: Mourning with mourners, we share the compassionate heart of God * ARTS - Holy fabrics: Sacred artwork the inspiration for Sacred Silks
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TOP STORIES
Dominican Republic diocese appeals for flood relief following Tropical Storm Noel
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic is requesting emergency assistance after Tropical Storm Noel, the 14th named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, displaced thousands of people and claimed at least 73 lives in the country due to flooding and mudslides caused by heavy rains.
After leaving the island of Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Noel gained strength and reached hurricane status before emerging over the eastern tip of Cuba and southeastern Bahamas. The storm is responsible for at least 120 deaths throughout the Caribbean.
A November 1 newsletter from the Dominican Republic diocese and its U.S. companions -- which include the dioceses of Georgia, Quincy, South Carolina, Southern Virginia, Southeast Florida, Southwest Florida, Virginia, Western Louisiana and others -- noted that Bishop Julio Holguín is seeking to direct the Episcopal Church's emergency response to human needs in the country, especially for flood victims in need of food, clothing, bedding, and medicines.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91554_ENG_HTM.htm
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Pittsburgh convention approves first reading of constitutional changes
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service] The annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh November 2 gave the first of two approvals needed to enact a constitutional change to remove language in the diocesan constitution stating that the diocese accedes to the Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons as the church's constitution requires.
Deputies voted 118 to 58 with one abstention to approve Resolution One. Clergy voted 109 to 24 in favor.
An effort, labeled Resolution Two, to instead return the diocese to full "accession" to The Episcopal Church was defeated by voice vote.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91563_ENG_HTM.htm
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Pittsburgh bishop declines Presiding Bishop's offer of reconciliation
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service] On the eve of the November 2-3 annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Bishop Robert Duncan rejected Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's request that he lead the diocese away from efforts to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church.
The three-sentence letter, dated November 1, said in full: "Here I stand. I can do no other. I will neither compromise the Faith once delivered to the saints, nor will I abandon the sheep who elected me to protect them."
The first two sentences echo the conclusion of Martin Luther's speech to the Diet of Worms in 1521, during which Luther refused to recant the stance he took against the Roman Catholic Church. Duncan signed his letter, "Pax et bonum in Christ Jesus our Lord, +Bob Pittsburgh."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91549_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
HAWAI'I: Convention hears and tells stories, outlines goals of conversion http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_91530_ENG_HTM.htm
PENNSYLVANIA: Elkins Park parish introduces new worship experience http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_91529_ENG_HTM.htm
PENNSYLVANIA: Standing Committee upholds Presiding Bishop's decision to inhibit bishop http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_91540_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
WEST INDIES: Show respect, bishop tells politicians ahead of Trinidad poll http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_91550_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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OPINION
Sobbing with God
Mourning with mourners, we share the compassionate heart of God
By Jan Johnson
[Episcopal Life] A frequent cause of traffic jams on highways in my area is the "looky Lou" habit in which drivers slow down to examine an accident on the side of the road. Usually an ambulance already has arrived, so it's not as if people want to help. They just to want to look.
Similarly, when public tragedies occur, we find ourselves hooked on monitoring news coverage. At first, this helps us move through the shock phase of grief, but then it comes to resemble that morbid "looky Lou" phenomenon. Perhaps we do this because we don't know what else to do.
If obsessing on news reports isn't the best response to tragedy, what is? While better responses include comforting the afflicted, joining a cleanup crew or donating money, there's another important response that off-site folks can participate in: the ongoing weeping with God, whose heart throbs when humans suffer or wander off. Such weeping is, I believe, an ongoing way to "mourn with those who mourn."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_91531_ENG_HTM.htm
More Opinion: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_ENG_HTM.htm
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ARTS
Holy fabrics
Sacred artwork the inspiration for Sacred Silks
By Jerry Hames
[Episcopal Life] Angela Coppola's idea came from divine guidance, she says, a few days after lunch with the Rev. Alan Jones, dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and his wife, who were seeking ways to make the cathedral's gift shop more profitable.
Coppola, who lived near Grace Cathedral at the time, walked past a few evenings later and was struck by the beauty of the stained-glass rose window. She thought about reproducing it -- in silk. Once she saw the first sample, she had an even bigger idea.
"The same voice inside me said: 'Wow, this would be fabulous to do for every religion in the world and to create a company that sells these,'" she says.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_91547_ENG_HTM.htm
More Arts: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_ENG_HTM.htm