Episcopal Life Daily February 5, 2008
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:
* TOP STORY - Presiding Bishop's Lenten message * TOP STORY - Executive Council to meet February 11-14 in Quito, Ecuador * DIOCESAN DIGEST - LOS ANGELES: St. John's Church dedicated as pro-cathedral * DIOCESAN DIGEST - NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Diocese sues to regain Petaluma church property * WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Anglican World News and Notes launched * WORLD REPORT - MIDDLE EAST: Baghdad priest describes hope amid pain following recent attacks * TEACHING - Episcopal Divinity School to host Absalom Jones, Kellogg lectures * OPINION - GUEST COMMENTARY: The religious test failed by voters and candidates * DAYBOOK - February 6, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History * CATALYST - A Church for the Future: South Africa as the Crucible for Anglicanism in a New Century
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TOP STORIES
Presiding Bishop's Lenten message
Keeping a holy Lent: prayer, fasting, almsgiving
By Katharine Jefferts Schori
[Episcopal News Service] The Church gradually took on the discipline of Lent in solidarity with those preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil. That preparation work has traditionally been summarized as prayer and study, fasting, and almsgiving. Today we might remember the origins of Lent, take in our traditional understandings, and use these 40 days plus Sundays to prepare to renew our own baptismal vows. This ancient understanding of prayer, study, fasting, and almsgiving shapes the lives we lead. Each of us is baptized into a life of relationship with God (prayer), relationship with self on behalf of others (fasting), and relationship with all the rest of creation (almsgiving). Lent brings a regular opportunity to tune up our Christian life and relationships.
What happens when you take your car in for a tune-up? Most of us no longer do that work ourselves, because the computers in our vehicles are usually beyond our reach. They are not, however, beyond the ken of those with appropriate skill, training, and tools. The spiritual life of a Christian can also benefit from the assistance of technicians (trained practitioners) -- priests, spiritual directors, confessors, a Cursillo reunion, or 12-step group. The opportunity to review the functioning of spark plugs, change the oil, test the cylinder compression, and rotate, fill, and maybe even replace the tires keeps our cars running.
The same kind of attention to one's spiritual life can yield better gas mileage (focused energy for effective living) and effective transportation (how do I get from where I start to my destination?). Reviewing the rules of the road can make the trip much more pleasant for us and others (the early followers of Jesus actually called their practice "the road" or "the way"). We human vehicles need an effective connection to the source of life, guidance and directions (prayer and study), regular maintenance (fasting), and effective ways to connect with the world (almsgiving).
Full message: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94558_ENG_HTM.htm
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Executive Council to meet February 11-14 in Quito, Ecuador
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service] Budgets for the current year and the next triennium will be on the agenda when the Executive Council (http://episcopalchurch.org/13299_19849_ENG_HTM.htm) gathers February 11-14 in Quito, in the Diocese of Ecuador Central (http://www.ecuadorepiscopal.org/home).
The Council will also have a day-long chance to learn about and engage in the ministry of the diocese, which includes approximately 1,500 Episcopalians worshipping in 23 congregations.
The Quito gathering fulfills the council's pledge to meet in Province IX (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/directory_11134_ENG_HTM.htm) of the Episcopal Church during the current triennium. Such a pledge is important, said Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, "because a significant part of this church is not part of the 50 United States, speaks other languages, and labors for the gospel in vastly different contexts."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94574_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
LOS ANGELES: St. John's Church dedicated as pro-cathedral http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_94559_ENG_HTM.htm
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Diocese sues to regain Petaluma church property http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_94578_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
ENGLAND: Anglican World News and Notes launched http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_94565_ENG_HTM.htm
MIDDLE EAST: Baghdad priest describes hope amid pain following recent attacks http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_94567_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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TEACHING
Episcopal Divinity School to host Absalom Jones, Kellogg lectures
[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is set to celebrate the 21st anniversary of its Absalom Jones Lecture on February 13 at 7 p.m., in St. John's Memorial Chapel on its Cambridge, Massachusetts campus.
Established in 1986, the lecture benefits the Absalom Jones Scholarship fund, named for the Episcopal Church's first black priest, which provides assistance for African American students attending EDS and preparing for ordination in the church.
This year's speaker, the Rev. Dr. Harold Lewis, will lecture on Jones as "An Icon of Inclusivity." Lewis will also preach at the 8:30 a.m. Eucharist on February 14, and the Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris, retired suffragan bishop of Massachusetts, will serve as celebrant.
The Rev. Canon Marilyn McCord Adams, Episcopal priest and Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, will speak at EDS May 1-2 as its 2008 Kellogg lecturer.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_94566_ENG_HTM.htm
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OPINION
GUEST COMMENTARY: The religious test failed by voters and candidates
By Randall Balmer
[Religion News Service] Eight years ago, when George W. Bush declared that Jesus was his favorite philosopher, suppose someone had asked a follow-up question.
"Mr. Bush, Jesus invited his followers to love their enemies and to turn the other cheek. How will that guide your foreign policy, especially in the event, say, of an attack on the United States?"
Or: "Gov. Bush, your favorite philosopher expressed concern for the tiniest sparrow. How will that sentiment be reflected in your administration's environmental policies?"
Or: "Jesus called his followers to care for 'the least of these.' How does that teaching inform your views on tax policy or welfare reform?"
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_94563_ENG_HTM.htm
More Opinion: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_ENG_HTM.htm
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DAYBOOK
On February 6, 2008, the Church calendar remembers Ash Wednesday.
* 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 February 6, 891, Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, died. His 867 encyclical, which objected to the filioque clause in the creed ("the Holy Spirit...who proceeds from the Father and the Son"), was significant in the East-West conflict that eventually led to the "Great Schism."
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CATALYST
"A Church for the Future: South Africa as the Crucible for Anglicanism in a New Century" from Church Publishing, Inc., by Harold T. Lewis, foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 161 pages, paperback, c. 2007, $18
[Source: Church Publishing, Inc.] This book examines current issues facing the Anglican Communion through the prism of the history of the Southern African church and people. Through this combined narrative of the global and local church, the author offers a remarkable story combining history, race, class and culture in Africa. Lewis traces the paradigm shift in Anglicanism as its vitality moves beyond the borders of England and America to the global South, with all the theological implications. Today, South African Anglicanism attempts a middle way through crucial issues like HIV/AIDS, poverty, and human sexuality. This volume is ideal for those interested in "inculturation" - the intersection of church, culture, and ethnicity.
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
More Catalyst: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/83842_ENG_HTM.htm
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