Episcopal Life Online Daybook -- Today is Monday, November 5, 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 1977, Oscar Clark Carr, Jr., a church and human rights leader, died of cancer.
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MISSION
World Mission Sunday 2008 calls for 'Extending God's Grace to Everyone, Everywhere'
[Episcopal News Service] "Extending God's Grace to Everyone, Everywhere" will be the theme of World Mission Sunday 2008, to be observed on February 3. Based on 2 Corinthians 4:15, "Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God," World Mission Sunday's theme underscores the variety of opportunities for nurturing relationships in Christ throughout the world and is a call for Episcopalians to live out the Baptismal Covenant by proclaiming the Good News, seeking and serving Christ in all persons, and striving for justice and peace among all people.
"Thousands of Episcopalians have experienced the grace that comes from participating in our church's international mission endeavors," said Canon Margaret S. Larom, director of Anglican and Global Relations. "The joy of being part of God's mission in the world -- of knowing that we can make a difference while serving alongside our partners -- is one of the great blessings available to us. Whether individually or in teams, as congregations or dioceses, as missionaries or mission supporters, Episcopalians are reaching out to everyone, everywhere, with commitment, energy, and love. For that, I give grateful thanks to God."
Celebrated each year on the last Sunday after Epiphany, World Mission Sunday encourages awareness of and participation in global mission by parishes and dioceses of the Episcopal Church. World Mission Sunday 2008 will focus on the many ways God's mission is carried out around the world, through prayer, relationship, time, labor, and money. The theme "Everyone, Everywhere" will carry through to a church-wide world mission conference set for June 5-8, 2008, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Resources for World Mission Sunday will be available online for ordering or downloading at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/wmsunday beginning December 3. Posters in English and Spanish, bulletin inserts, prayers, homilies, and ways to become more active in the Episcopal Church's global mission are among the resources that will be offered to help parishes and dioceses celebrate World Mission Sunday.
"God's mission transforms the world and the church. Local congregations, dioceses, the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion, the universal church -- all experience transformation as they engage mission," said the Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler, director of mission for the Episcopal Church. "In our age and time, every congregation is connected and can be further connected to mission throughout the world. There are no boundaries or limitations to God's love, and, similarly, there are no limitations to the companionship in mission which we share with Christian brothers and sisters in every corner of the globe.
"World mission is local mission, in myriad settings around the earth and in each congregation 'at home.' The connections are astonishing. The possibilities are limitless. The hope is that of the Gospel itself."
Further information about World Mission Sunday 2008 is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/wmsunday or by contacting Mary Brennan, World Mission Education Officer, 212-716-6223, mbrennan@episcopalchurch.org. Details about the world mission conference "Everyone, Everywhere" are available at http://www.everyone08.org.
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Catalyst: "The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions - 2nd Revised Ed." from HarperCollins Publishers, by Marcus Borg & N. T. Wright, 305 pages, paperback, c. 2007, $15.95
[Source: HarperCollins Publishers] Jesus is reported to have asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" The question of who Jesus really was has been reignited in our own time, as scholars, clergy, and laypeople debate the truth about Jesus. The answer determines what true Christian faith and authentic Christian living are today.
Now, two leading scholars, representing the primary alternative views, freshly capture the historical Jesus debate in one spirited volume. Marcus Borg, the most popular liberal voice on Jesus, a member of the Jesus Seminar, and author of the bestselling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, and N. T. Wright, the most prominent standard-bearer for the traditional stance, outspoken critic of the Jesus Seminar, and author of Jesus and the Victory of God, collaborate for the first time in a civilized but forthright debate about all the essential issues.
Through their engaging exchange Borg and Wright begin to answer the essential question of "how different visions of Jesus relate to visions of the Christian life," and they spell out what it means to each of them to be a Christian at the end of the 20th century.
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