Episcopal Life Daily March 31, 2008
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:
* TOP STORY - April 13 bulletin inserts feature Habitat for Humanity * TOP STORY - Make climate change legislation a priority, Presiding Bishop urges Senate * TOP STORY - Southern Africa primate Thabo Makgoba enthroned in Cape Town * MISSION - NCC Eco-Justice Program challenges congregations to address climate change * TEACHING - GreenFaith's National Fellowship Program seeks new applications * FEATURE - Since You Asked: Why do we celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday? * FEATURE - Great Idea: Come park it here! * OPINION - Targeting U.S. poverty: Meet needs with domestic mission, economic development, hope * DAYBOOK - April 1, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History * CATALYST - Sage Sisters: Essential Lessons for African American Women in Ministry
_____________________
TOP STORIES
April 13 bulletin inserts feature Habitat for Humanity
[Episcopal Life Weekly] Bulletin inserts for April 13 offer an outline of the work of Habitat for Humanity, featuring the work of Episcopal congregations in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. Habitat for Humanity is an interfaith Christian ministry that builds homes for low-income families in the United States and throughout the world.
Bulletin inserts are available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/95270_ENG_HTM.htm
- - - - -
Make climate change legislation a priority, Presiding Bishop urges Senate
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service] Urgent action is needed by the United States in response to global warming, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a March 31 letter to the U.S. Senate, urging Congress' upper house "to take up climate change legislation at the earliest possible moment."
Speaking "as one who has been formed both through a deep faith and as a scientist," Jefferts Schori said she believes "science has shown us unequivocally that climate change and global warming are real, and caused in significant part by human activities.
"Climate change is a threat not only to God's good creation but to all of humanity."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_96129_ENG_HTM.htm
- - - - -
Southern Africa primate Thabo Makgoba enthroned in Cape Town
By Matthew Davies
[Episcopal News Service] The Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba was enthroned as primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) on March 30 in a four-hour service at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town.
Archbishop of York John Sentamu represented the Archbishop of Canterbury and Iowa Bishop Alan Scarfe represented Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori during the liturgy, which was also attended by the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Anglican Communion secretary general, and the primates of the Congo, Tanzania and the Indian Ocean.
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki formally greeted Makgoba, paying tribute "to past Anglican leaders, and the church as whole, for their role in defeating apartheid," according to SABC News.
After the anointment by fellow bishops, including Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town Desmond Tutu, Makgoba pledged to work for peace, justice and reconciliation in a changing world.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_96100_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
_____________________
TEACHING
GreenFaith's National Fellowship Program seeks new applications
Nationally Recognized Initiative to Train Ordained, Lay Leaders for Environmental Leadership
[GreenFaith] GreenFaith has announced that its GreenFaith Fellowship Program is seeking applications for its second class of Fellows. The Fellowship Program is the first comprehensive education and training program in the U.S. to prepare lay and ordained leaders from interfaith religious traditions for religiously based environmental leadership.
The Fellowship Program consists of three three-day residential sessions in ecologically varied settings -- one urban, one rural, and one suburban. The themes of the retreats are: eco-spirituality, environmental justice, and stewardship and consumption. There will also be monthly conference calls, mentoring sessions, an email list serve, networking both within the program and at each fellow's local/regional level and reading/writing assignments before and after each retreat. The second class of Fellows will consist of at least 25 people and will run from the fall of 2008 through the end of 2009. Fellows will be selected through a competitive application process. GreenFaith is interested in attracting applications across a broad religious, geographic and ethnically diverse spectrum. African-American, Asian-American, Latino and Jewish applications for this year's class are particularly welcome.
The first class of 18 fellows is a talented group from across the country and active in a wide variety of religious settings: congregations, campus ministry, NGO work and denominational organizations. Initial reactions of the Fellows towards the program have been uniformly positive and enthusiastic.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_96105_ENG_HTM.htm
_____________________
MISSION
NCC Eco-Justice Program challenges congregations to address climate change
By Phina Borgeson
[Episcopal News Service] The National Council of Churches (NCC) Eco-Justice Program challenges "congregations to take action to address climate change" in their resources for Earth Sunday 2008, "The Poverty of Global Climate Change."
NCC Earth Day resources are available at
http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/index.html.
"Addressing climate change must involve addressing the plight of those in poverty to be successful, while addressing poverty must involve environmental sustainability to be a long-term solution."
This central message of the resource is supported by background information and sermon ideas usable for the Sundays before and after Earth Day (April 20 and 27), as well as suggestions for environmental actions congregations in the United States can take to slow the acceleration of global warming and thus reduce its impact on the poor around the world.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_96104_ENG_HTM.htm
More Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_ENG_HTM.htm
_____________________
FEATURES
Since You Asked: Why do we celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday?
[Episcopal Life] The Rev. Clayton Morris, liturgical officer for the Episcopal Church, responds:
The worship life of the Episcopal Church is ordered in a series of rhythms. The liturgical year is punctuated by seasons: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary Time.
From Advent to Pentecost, the life and ministry of Jesus is the thematic
focus, Sunday by Sunday. From Trinity Sunday until the last Sunday after Pentecost, the weekly gathering of the community reflects on how it can "seek and serve Christ in all persons and strive for justice and peace among all people," in the words of the Baptismal Covenant. The week has its own rhythm.
The Book of Common Prayer calls the church to daily prayer, providing offices for morning, noon, evening and night. The prayer book also calls the church to gather as a congregation once a week to celebrate Eucharist.
Full response: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81834_96113_ENG_HTM.htm
- - - - -
Great Idea: Come park it here!
[Episcopal Life] St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, really knows what "welcomes you" means: a parking spot.
According to the Eastern Michigan diocesan newspaper, "Near the door, they have reserved three parking spaces. A sign explains what they are for: 'You're very Welcome -- Visitor Parking in Front.'"
The newspaper commends the parish for making such a "welcoming statement to visitors and to potential new members...[and setting] the tone for their first-time experience."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81834_96114_ENG_HTM.htm
More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm
_____________________
OPINION
Targeting U.S. poverty
Meet needs with domestic mission, economic development, hope
By Katharine Jefferts Schori
[Episcopal Life] Episcopalians have learned a great deal about the Millennium Development Goals in the last couple of years. These goals that work toward an earthly vision of the Reign of God have captured our imagination and mission efforts as a church. The goals move toward the great vision of Isaiah that Jesus claims as his own mission: to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and bring peace to the city and country. We are doing excellent work as a church in raising awareness of this kind of mission as a gospel imperative. However, the MDGs focus on overseas mission work in developing countries. They do not address poverty in the United States or the reality of equivalent conditions in some parts of our local communities.
Part of the challenge has to do with the multi-national character of The Episcopal Church, which includes some of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere: the dioceses of Haiti, Honduras, and Dominican Republic, and some that are scarcely better off, in Ecuador, Venezuela, and Colombia. Dioceses in those countries are an intensely appropriate focus of our MDG-related mission work.
We also have within the United States and its territories significant areas of poverty that rival conditions in parts of the developing world. As members of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (the formal, legal name of The Episcopal Church), our mission efforts are meant to go in both geographic directions.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_96112_ENG_HTM.htm
More Opinion: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_ENG_HTM.htm
_____________________
DAYBOOK
On April 1, 2008, the Church calendar remembers Frederick Denison Maurice, priest (1805-1872).
* 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 April 1, 1548, the English Parliament ordered the publication of the first Book of Common Prayer.
_____________________
CATALYST
"Sage Sisters: Essential Lessons for African American Women in Ministry" from The Pilgrim Press, edited by Linda H. Hollies, foreword by Barbara Blake King, 149 pages, paperback, c. 2007, $17
[Source: The Pilgrim Press] According to Hollies, what a woman learns in seminary does not adequately prepare her for a life of ministry. The tools are in the form of a collection of essays by safe female pastors, professors, heads of religious organizations, and other leaders who have been trailblazers in this male-dominated profession.
The lessons, advice, and options offered will assist women in seminary and those who are new to ministry. They will learn from those sage sisters who have endured many challenges and trials and have forged the way for future generations of female clergy.
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