Episcopal Life Online Newslink November 9, 2007
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's ELO Newslink includes:
* TOP STORY - 'Towards Peace in Korea' conference to open November 14 * TOP STORY - Arab/Israeli peace central to Washington interfaith initiatives * DIOCESAN DIGEST - NORTHERN INDIANA: Diocese called to pay attention to early church model, mission * DIOCESAN DIGEST - OREGON: Bishop tells convention of plans to leave his position * DIOCESAN DIGEST - WESTERN KANSAS: Convention hears challenge, criticism * WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Founder of Samaritans Chad Varah changed people's 'attitudes to suicide' * WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal reaches £7 million * WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury sends greetings to Hindu community for Diwali festival * WORLD REPORT - KENYA: 'Historic' world Christian forum issues call for dialogue * OPINION - This Veterans Day, support our troops * ARTS - Exhibit explores literal, metaphoric meanings of body of Christ
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TOP STORIES
'Towards Peace in Korea' conference to open November 14 Presiding Bishop will lead visit to North Korea; Lord Eames to serve as Canterbury's special envoy
[Lambeth Palace, Episcopal News Service] In preparation for the forthcoming worldwide Anglican conference "Towards Peace in Korea" (TOPIK), Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and former Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Robin Eames have held discussions concerning the humanitarian situation in North Korea.
They paid particular attention to recent flooding, and issues of religious freedom that might affect the role the church could play in promoting peace and reconciliation.
Eames will serve as Williams' special envoy and president of the TOPIK conference, which will draw about 150 Anglican leaders, including Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, ecumenical guests and other participants to the Korean Peninsula November 14-20. The conference will begin with a three-day peace trip to Geumgangsan in North Korea.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91764_ENG_HTM.htm
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Arab/Israeli peace central to Washington interfaith initiatives
By Episcopal Life staff
[Episcopal News Service] Furthering the cause of Arab/Israeli peace was the focus of two major efforts this week when Episcopalians joined with interfaith leaders to engage in initiatives intended to bring a lasting stability to the Holy Land.
Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani traveled to Washington, D.C., with the Council of Leaders of Holy Land Institutions for meetings with U.S. religious leaders, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, C. David Welch, and members and staff of the House and Senate. The Council, made up of 15 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders of Holy Land institutions, is engaged in peace-building initiatives designed to decrease violence in the region and create an open dialogue for peace.
On November 9, members of the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI) met with Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_91763_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
NORTHERN INDIANA: Diocese called to pay attention to early church model, mission http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_91753_ENG_HTM.htm
OREGON: Bishop tells convention of plans to leave his position http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_91757_ENG_HTM.htm
WESTERN KANSAS: Convention hears challenge, criticism http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_91747_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
ENGLAND: Founder of Samaritans Chad Varah changed people's 'attitudes to suicide' http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_91749_ENG_HTM.htm
ENGLAND: Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal reaches £7 million http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_91744_ENG_HTM.htm
ENGLAND: Archbishop of Canterbury sends greetings to Hindu community for Diwali festival http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_91751_ENG_HTM.htm
KENYA: 'Historic' world Christian forum issues call for dialogue http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_91759_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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OPINION
This Veterans Day, support our troops
By George Clifford
[Episcopal Life] Veterans Day is quickly becoming simply another public holiday, an opportunity for people to sleep late, stay home from school (if it falls on a weekday), or get a head start on Christmas shopping. Today, many see joining the military as a way out of rural communities or urban poverty; military recruiters emphasize educational opportunities and career bonuses. These perceptions, per se, are not bad. However, when the draft ended in 1973 and the U.S. military became an all volunteer force, any remaining sense of military service as an obligation that citizens owed to their nation disappeared. Similarly, aspiring politicians no longer consider military service an essential, if unofficial, prerequisite to elective office. Many U.S. citizens do not know anyone in the military and have little awareness of what military life is like.
In the last four decades, the U.S. has increasingly frequently turned to the military as the instrument of choice for implementing foreign policy. The U.S. conducted military operations in Grenada, Panama, Haiti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous, less-well-known places. Regardless of whether one regards an operation as morally right, each operation took a toll on our military personnel. They repeatedly went into harm's way, sometimes were killed or wounded, sometimes sacrificing important time and relationships at home, and always answering duty's call to serve their country.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_91740_ENG_HTM.htm
More Opinion: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_ENG_HTM.htm
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ARTS
Exhibit explores literal, metaphoric meanings of body of Christ
By Jerry Hames
[Episcopal News Service] A juried exhibition that features works in painting, printmaking, sculpture and other media, engaging both the literal and metaphoric meanings inherent in the phrase "body of Christ," is on display in seminaries and religious schools in Pennsylvania, Washington and Virginia.
The show recognizes the importance of art as a way of addressing theological questions and deepening the life of faith.
Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria hosted an opening reception November 5 with a gallery talk and theological reflections by Margaret Adams Parker, an artist and VTS adjunct instructor in theological aesthetics, and Katherine Sonderegger, a professor of theology.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_91761_ENG_HTM.htm
More Arts: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_ENG_HTM.htm