Episcopal Life Online Daybook -- Today is Tuesday, November 13, 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 354, Augustine of Hippo, author of Confessions and City of God, was born in Thagaste.
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TEACHING
Episcopal Church Foundation's Fellowship Partners Program accepting 2008 applications
[Episcopal News Service] The 2008 application process for the Episcopal Church Foundation's (ECF) Fellowship Partners Program is underway.
The Fellowship Partners Program awards both academic and transformational ministry fellowships, and enables fellows to share their knowledge, experience, and best practices with the wider Church in practical ways. The emphasis is on partnerships that will have important impact in their local communities and beyond, and enhance lay and clergy leadership formation.
"It is our hope that through the Fellowship Partners Program, ECF will not only help Episcopal communities of faith build their own capacity to pursue their mission and ministry, but also enable fellows, by sharing their learning with the wider Church, to develop models that can be adapted by other congregations and ministries to transform their communities," said Donald V. Romanik, ECF president.
The Rev. Devon Anderson, Rima Vesely-Flad, and the Rev. Daniel Velez-Rivera were the 2007 recipients.
Anderson, former associate rector at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is working to equip people in the Diocese of Minnesota and beyond to implement global mission projects in their congregations.
Vesely-Flad, a doctoral student in Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, is the founder and director of the Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment, and is working to educate communities of faith about the criminal justice system, engage them in advocating for people with criminal convictions, and assist congregations in developing prison and reentry ministries.
Velez-Rivera's community-based work in Salem, Massachusetts, helps a multi-generational population of Latina women address some of the spiritual and practical challenges of having and raising children.
"We are extremely committed to helping our Fellows extend the impact of their work," said Antoinette (Toni) Daniels, director of Learning and Leadership at ECF. "We are in the process of convening a Council of Advice for the program which will develop meaningful and effective ways for fellows to share their experience and knowledge."
There are three fellowships available ranging from $5,000-$15,000. The application deadline is March 15, 2008. Recipients will be announced in May, 2008.
Full details about the Fellowship awards, eligibility, application requirements, and online applications are available on the Foundation's website (http://www.episcopalfoundation.org) or by calling 800-697-2858.
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Catalyst: "Religion as Entertainment" from Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., edited by C. K. Robertson, foreword by Wade Clark Roof, 301 pages, paperback, c. 2002, $29.95
[Source: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.] In this collection of essays, religion in the United States is explored in terms of its interaction with an entertainment-focused culture. The first half of the book addresses questions of how religion actually fulfills an "entertaining" role in society, focusing on lay participation in faith communities, the goals and impact of preaching the rise of non-traditional religions and attraction of meditation in recent years, and the question of whether bigger crowds are always better. The second half of the book focuses on how religion is treated in various entertainment media, including film, music, television, and literature.
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