Episcopal Life Daily May 1, 2008
Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.
Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:
* TOP STORY - Presiding Bishop's Pentecost letter: Gift of Holy Spirit is 'breath of ever-new life' * TOP STORY - Nurture generosity, Martin Marty tells TENS annual conference * DIOCESAN DIGEST - SOUTHERN VIRGINIA: Diocese sets up tornado-relief fund * WORLD REPORT - CANADA: Athabasca synod supports breakaway churches * WORLD REPORT - UGANDA: Churches resist plan to cut religious education in schools * MISSION - IOWA: Bikers take to the roads in support of clean water, MDGs * MISSION - Free summer camp for military kids set for Kanuga; May 6 deadline for registration * DAYBOOK - May 2, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History * CATALYST - The First to Follow: the Apostles of Jesus
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TOP STORIES
Presiding Bishop's Pentecost letter: Gift of Holy Spirit is 'breath of ever-new life'
[Episcopal News Service] The "gift of Holy Spirit keeps us lively and moving" as "inspiring breath" in the Body of Christ, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori writes in her 2008 Pentecost letter to the Episcopal Church.
Jefferts Schori's letter precedes the Church's observance of the Feast of Pentecost on Sunday, May 11, and the opening of the annual Pentecost liturgical season of the church year.
The full text of the Presiding Bishop's letter, "In this season: Pentecost 2008," is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_96811_ENG_HTM.htm
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Nurture generosity, Martin Marty tells TENS annual conference
By Ben Wood
[Source: Diocese of West Missouri, for ENS] "Generosity is what it's all about."
That's what the Rev. Dr. Martin E. Marty, professor emeritus of religious history at the University of Chicago and a Lutheran pastor, told the 150 in attendance at The Episcopal Network for Stewardship's (TENS) annual conference April 12 in Founders' Hall at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, Missouri.
Marty's speech played on the theme of the April 11-12 gathering: "Let Your Light so Shine: The Power of Witness in Nurturing Generosity."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_96810_ENG_HTM.htm
More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife
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DIOCESAN DIGEST
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA: Diocese sets up tornado-relief fund http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_96815_ENG_HTM.htm
More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm
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WORLD REPORT
CANADA: Athabasca synod supports breakaway churches http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_96827_ENG_HTM.htm
UGANDA: Churches resist plan to cut religious education in schools http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_96817_ENG_HTM.htm
More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm
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MISSION
IOWA: Bikers take to the roads in support of clean water, MDGs
By Joe Bjordal
[Episcopal News Service] Twelve hearty peddlers took to the highways and byways of Iowa early on the morning of Ascension Day, May 1, as the Waters of Hope bike ride officially got underway. The riders come from three states: Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
Following a "blessing of the bikes" by Iowa Bishop Alan Scarfe at St. John's Episcopal Church in Keokuk, the riders began a 10-day, one-thousand-mile journey that is seeking to raise $150,000 for clean water projects in Swaziland and Sudan. The participants will also seek to raise awareness about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Waters of Hope was conceived by the Rev. Mitchell Smith, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Waterloo, Iowa. He has been assisted in organizing the ride, for more than a year and a half, by the Rev. Joe Chambers, chaplain for Episcopal Campus Ministry in Columbia, Missouri, where he ministers to students of the University of Missouri, Stephens College, and Columbia College. They decided they could use their mutual passion for biking to make a big difference in the lives of people halfway around the globe.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_96816_ENG_HTM.htm
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Free summer camp for military kids set for Kanuga; May 6 deadline for registration
By Lisa B. Hamilton
[Episcopal News Service] The National Military Family Association (NMFA) has chosen Kanuga's Camp Bob to host a free summer camp program called Operation Purple for 100 children ages 8-12 whose parents are or will be deployed. The camp session is August 4-8 and registration ends Monday, May 6.
Due to their popularity, Operation Purple sessions fill up quickly. Applications are accepted online only at http://www.operationpurple.org.
According to the NMFA website, "The program aims to help military kids experience carefree fun while also learning coping skills to deal with war-related stress and fostering relationships with others who know what they are going through."
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_96826_ENG_HTM.htm
More Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_ENG_HTM.htm
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DAYBOOK
On May 2, 2008, the Church calendar remembers Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, (c.293-373).
* 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 May 2, 2001, Pope Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria of the Coptic Orthodox Church, made a visit to Nashotah House to deliver a lecture and to receive an honorary degree.
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CATALYST
"The First to Follow: the Apostles of Jesus" from Church Publishing, Inc., by John R. Claypool, edited by Ann Wilkinson Claypool, 148 pages, hardcover, c. 2008, $18
[Source: Church Publishing, Inc.] One of the first things that Jesus did in his ministry was to reach out to twelve individuals and draw them into a circle of close companionship with him. This series is about those twelve apostles, their relationships with Jesus and with each other, and what the dynamics of that community can teach us. By studying those whom Jesus selected and what he did for them, to them, with them, and through them, we can learn much about how we can we experience the Holy in our own day. Jesus did not wait for people to be perfect in order to call them into the circle of God's love. As we look at those that Jesus called, and consider ourselves as part of that enlarging circle, we gain not only a deeper sense of our own reality, but also a deeper sense of how Christ would like to work with us.
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