Episcopal Life Daily February 11, 2008
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:
* TOP STORY - San Joaquin steering committee represents 'broad theological spectrum' * TOP STORY - Executive Council opens four-day meeting in Ecuador * TOP STORY - 'The Church of the Presidents' focus of February 17 bulletin inserts * TOP STORY - Canterbury defends Sharia comments in General Synod address * DIOCESAN DIGEST - PITTSBURGH: Group of laity voices support for bishop * DIOCESAN DIGEST - SAN DIEGO: Convention 'empowered for ministry'; diocese called to build bridges * DIOCESAN DIGEST - SOUTHERN VIRGINIA: Annual Council continues support of MDGs * DIOCESAN DIGEST - TEXAS: Priest-chaplain found to have molested students faces loss of orders * WORLD REPORT - CANADA: Demonstrators demand answers in residential school cases * WORLD REPORT - SOUTHERN AFRICA: ERD responds to floods in Malawi, Zambia * TEACHING - Religion, Culture and Anglican Communion focus of Virginia Seminary's new weekly web commentaries * FEATURE - Glimpses of Hope: Vermont Episcopalians visit projects supporting AIDS orphans in Africa * DAYBOOK - February 12, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History * CATALYST - Christian Social Witness
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TOP STORIES
San Joaquin steering committee represents 'broad theological spectrum'
Four-day 'listening tour' planned for February 19
By Pat McCaughan
[Episcopal News Service] A steering committee has been appointed to begin to reconstitute the Fresno-based Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, while a second priest has been appointed as "interim pastoral presence" in the Central California Valley diocese.
"The steering committee has been formed and there are about 20 people involved," said the Rev. Canon Robert Moore, appointed by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as an interim pastoral presence late last year.
"It is important for people both inside and outside California to understand that this committee represents a broad spectrum of theological positions," Moore said. "We are really trying to stay away from designations like liberal and conservative, because it is very important to the Presiding Bishop that it be a representative group of people."
Moore confirmed that the Rev. Canon Brian Cox, 16-year rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara in the Diocese of Los Angeles, also has been appointed as an interim pastoral presence in San Joaquin.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94816_ENG_HTM.htm
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Executive Council opens four-day meeting in Ecuador
Members hear reports on Church Center reorganization, mission funding
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
[Episcopal News Service, Quito, Ecuador] During the opening morning February 11 of a four-day meeting in the Diocese of Ecuador Central, members of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council heard about progress on the reorganization of the Church Center in New York and were called to find ways to be pro-active about their work.
Later in the day, members of Council's International Concerns Committee had an initial discussion on how Council might respond to the second draft of a proposed Anglican covenant.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, during her opening remarks in the morning, outlined the national and international traveling she has done since Council's meeting last October. She noted that, since her installation in November 2006, she has visited 45 of the Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses. "Wherever I go I see signs of vitality in mission and ministry," she said.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94819_ENG_HTM.htm
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'The Church of the Presidents' focus of February 17 bulletin inserts
[Episcopal Life Weekly] In honor of Presidents Day, February 18, bulletin inserts for February 17 focus on "the Church of the Presidents," St. John's Church in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. Since James Madison, every President of the United States has visited St. John's, and many have worshipped there regularly.
Bulletin inserts are available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_8852_ENG_HTM.htm
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Canterbury defends Sharia comments in General Synod address
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service, London] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has defended his recent public remarks regarding certain aspects of Islamic Sharia being introduced into the British legal system, saying it is "not inappropriate for a pastor of the Church of England to discuss the perceived concerns of other religious communities and try to bring them into better public focus."
Williams' comments came during a February 11 presidential address (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94771_ENG_HTM.htm) at the opening of the Church of England's General Synod. He was greeted with extended, thunderous applause and a standing ovation as he entered Assembly Hall in Church House, Westminster, where the General Synod is meeting through February 14.
Williams' earlier comments about civil and religious law in England, which resulted in a strong reaction in the media and calls for his resignation, were made during a February 7 BBC Radio 4 World at One interview (http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1573) and as part of a lecture (http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1575) for the Temple Festival Series in London later the same day.
"Some of what has been heard is a very long way indeed from what was actually said," Williams said, referring to the ensuing media reports. However, he told Synod members that he accepted responsibility for any "misleading choice of words that has helped to cause distress or misunderstanding among the public at large and especially among my fellow Christians."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_94792_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
PITTSBURGH: Group of laity voices support for bishop http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_94752_ENG_HTM.htm
SAN DIEGO: Convention 'empowered for ministry'; diocese called to build bridges http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_94811_ENG_HTM.htm
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA: Annual Council continues support of MDGs http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_94786_ENG_HTM.htm
TEXAS: Priest-chaplain found to have molested students faces loss of orders http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_94787_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
CANADA: Demonstrators demand answers in residential school cases http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_94768_ENG_HTM.htm
SOUTHERN AFRICA: ERD responds to floods in Malawi, Zambia http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_94745_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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TEACHING
Religion, Culture and Anglican Communion focus of Virginia Seminary's new weekly web commentaries
[Virginia Theological Seminary] The Virginia Theological Seminary (http://www.vts.edu) (VTS) has launched two new web commentaries, one focusing on the Anglican Communion and the other on issues relating to religion and culture. The commentaries, written by VTS Faculty members and guest contributors, will be updated weekly and will, according to the Very Rev. Ian Markham, VTS dean and president, "provide a rich resource for reflection and conversation."
Written by the Rev. Dr. Roger Ferlo, associate dean and director for the Seminary's Institute for Christian Formation and Leadership (ICFL), the Religion and Culture Commentary offers short, informal theological reflections on public culture, with a focus on books, music, theater, movies, television and the visual arts. Ferlo, who was trained as a literary and cultural critic, has also spent almost 20 years as a parish priest. He is the author of Opening the Bible and Sensing God, the editor of an anthology of new writing, titled "Heaven," and is a regular contributor to the website Episcopal Café (http://episcopalcafe.com).
The Anglican Commentary, written by the Rev. Dr. Barney Hawkins, newly appointed executive director of VTS' Center for Anglican Communion Studies, will provide information regarding international programs and events with the Seminary's Anglican partners and friends, include interreligious conversations, and will feature Anglican Communion guest contributors.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_94820_ENG_HTM.htm
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FEATURES
Glimpses of Hope
Vermont Episcopalians visit projects supporting AIDS orphans in Africa
By Jane Davis
[Episcopal Life] Last Spring, three members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Chester, Vermont -- Susanna Grannis, Belinda Whipple-Worth and I -- traveled to South Africa and Rwanda. We are all board members of Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (CHABHA), and we visited the orphan-support projects the organization funds as well as some projects that it hopes to be able to assist in the future.
CHABA, based in West Windham, Vermont, raises awareness in the United States of the plight of children in sub-Saharan Africa affected by HIV/AIDS and supports community-based projects for these children in Namibia, Rwanda and South Africa.
In South Africa, we began our travels with the Rev. Lynne Coull, the Anglican provincial AIDS coordinator for the Diocese of the Highveld, which is a very large area to the east of Johannesburg. We drove several hours to the settlement of Röikkoppen, in the town of Standerton, where we were joined by the local Anglican priest, the Rev. Joe Khumalo, and Themba Maseko, the principal of the Shukuma Primary School. The Anglican Church feeds 59 children at the school, but the needs in the community are great.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_94772_ENG_HTM.htm
More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm
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DAYBOOK
On February 12, 2008...
* 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 12, 1733, Anglican presence in Georgia was established with Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia.
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CATALYST
"Christian Social Witness" from Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., by Harold T. Lewis, 162 pages, paperback, c. 2001, $11.95
[Source: Rowman & Littlefield Publisher, Inc.] In this volume of The New Church's Teaching Series, Harold T. Lewis surveys the teachings and witness of Anglicanism and the Episcopal Church concerning the Christian vision of a righteous social order, including the challenges of thenew millennium. Beginning with the Bible's understandings of social justice, Lewis summarizes the Anglican witness of theologians like F. D. Maurice and William Temple and goes on to discuss the Episcopal Church in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Later chapters discuss the challenges of a new social order that face the church today raised by liberation theology, third-world debt and economic justice, and questions of race, gender, and human sexuality.
As with each book in The New Church's Teaching Series, recommended resources for further reading and questions for discussion are included.
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