Episcopal Life Daily February 26, 2008
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:
* TOP STORY - Congolese Anglicans, Europe Convocation explore partnership opportunities * TOP STORY - Presiding Bishop tells endowed parishes to be 'confessors of the resurrection' * WORLD REPORT - CANADA: Three more churches vote to align with South American province * WORLD REPORT - CHINA: Episcopal Relief and Development responds to massive snowstorms * WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Multi-million pound multi-faith center to open in Guildford * MISSION - Living Stones Partnership endorses Ministry Developers' Collaborative action initiatives * PEOPLE - Serene Jones appointed first woman president of Union Theological Seminary * OPINION - COMMENTARY: Changes in the environment * DAYBOOK - February 27, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History * CATALYST - Rosa Parks: A Life
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TOP STORIES
Congolese Anglicans, Europe Convocation explore partnership opportunities
Bishop Whalon delivers mission funding for Congo archbishop's transportation
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Pierre Whalon of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe embarked on a February 6-15 mission trip to the Anglican Province of the Congo to seek possibilities for forging companion relationships, stir up interest in the upcoming meeting of the Anglican Communion's Francophone Network, and deliver funds collected from the Episcopal Church's bishops for Congo Archbishop Fidèle Dirokpa's transportation.
The Anglican Province of the Congo includes nine dioceses in Congo's Republic and Democratic Republic, two neighboring countries in Central Africa. Congo-Kinshasa, a former Belgian colony, makes up the Democratic Republic, and Congo-Brazzaville, a former French colony, forms the Republic.
During his nine-day visit, Whalon said he was struck by "the contrast between the countries' extraordinary wealth and its peoples' extraordinary poverty; and the faithfulness and joyousness of the people and clergy, with their bishops."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_95200_ENG_HTM.htm
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Presiding Bishop tells endowed parishes to be 'confessors of the resurrection'
By Joe Bjordal
[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has challenged members of the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes to be "confessors of Jesus Christ and the power of resurrection."
Jefferts Schori was the preacher at the closing Eucharist of the organization's 23rd annual conference (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_95160_ENG_HTM.htm) which concluded on February 23 in St. Louis, Missouri. The service was held at the Church of St. Michael and St. George (http://www.csmsg.org), in suburban Clayton, one of the two host congregations for the conference. Missouri Bishop George Wayne Smith was the celebrant.
The service commemorated the Feast of Polycarp, bishop of Smyra, who was executed in 156 A. D. because, according to the Presiding Bishop, "he would not repudiate his faith in Jesus Christ." The story of Polycarp and the readings for the day provided what she termed "a theme of confession and resurrection," which was fitting for the conference.
"You and I are here because we confess a faith in Jesus Christ and the eternal possibility of new life," she said.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_95225_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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WORLD REPORT
CANADA: Three more churches vote to align with South American province http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_95208_ENG_HTM.htm
CHINA: Episcopal Relief and Development responds to massive snowstorms http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_95223_ENG_HTM.htm
ENGLAND: Multi-million pound multi-faith center to open in Guildford http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_95224_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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MISSION
Living Stones Partnership endorses Ministry Developers' Collaborative action initiatives
By Phina Borgeson
[Episcopal News Service] Action steps to advance the development of baptismal ministry was the focus of the Living Stones Partnership when it gathered February 16-19 in Des Moines, Iowa.
While devoting most of their time together to reflect on one another's baptismal ministry case studies, members also took time to review and endorse a proposal of the Ministry Developers' Collaborative for four action initiatives.
Living Stones, which began with eight dioceses from the United States and Canada in 1992, now includes more 21 Anglican and Episcopal dioceses, communities and seminaries committed to the revitalization of ministry at the local level.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_95216_ENG_HTM.htm
More Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_ENG_HTM.htm
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PEOPLE
Serene Jones appointed first woman president of Union Theological Seminary
[Union Theological Seminary] Dr. Serene Jones has been selected to become the 16th and first woman president of the historic Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. The announcement was made February 25 by David Callard, chairman of the Seminary's Board of Trustees. Jones will assume the presidency of the independent, non-denominational seminary, on July 1, 2008.
She will succeed Joseph C. Hough Jr., who is retiring after serving as Union's president since 1999.
Jones, the Titus Street Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, will come to Union after 17 years on the Yale faculty. At present she also serves as chair and faculty member of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Yale University. Jones has held faculty appointments at Yale Law School and in the Department of African American Studies and Religious Studies.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_95209_ENG_HTM.htm
More People: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_ENG_HTM.htm
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OPINION
COMMENTARY: Changes in the environment
By Tom Ehrich
[Religion News Service] My writing world has gone topsy-turvy.
First, I started using an iMac at work -- not all that different from Windows, but different enough to require learning.
Second, with two business trips coming up, I began looking for ways to escape schlepping a heavy Dell laptop through airports. The new MacBookAir looked appealing at three pounds, but costly at $1,700.
Third, my oldest son pointed me to "cloud computing," in which everything is done on the Internet, from writing to e-mail to calendar management. As an experiment, I'm writing this column using Google Docs on a web browser.
Finally, my desk chair collapsed, forcing me into the chair market.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_95218_ENG_HTM.htm
More Opinion: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_ENG_HTM.htm
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DAYBOOK
On February 27, 2008, the Church calendar remembers George Herbert, priest (1593-1633).
* 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 27, 280, Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to be converted to the Christian faith, was born.
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CATALYST
"Rosa Parks: A Life" from the Penguin Group, by Douglas Brinkley, 246 pages, paperback, c. 2005, $13
[Source: Penguin Group] Fifty years after she made history by refusing to give up her seat on a bus, Rosa Parks at last gets the major biography she deserves. The eminent historian Douglas Brinkley follows this thoughtful and devout woman from her childhood in Jim Crow Alabama through her early involvement in the NAACP to her epochal moment of courage and her afterlife as a beloved (and resented) icon of the civil rights movement. Well researched and written with sympathy and keen insight, the result is a moving, revelatory portrait of an American heroine and her tumultuous times.
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