wfn.org | [ELD] Episcopal Life Daily

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

>Episcopal Life Daily
>November 11, 2008

>Episcopal Life Online is available at
>http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* WORLD REPORT - CONGO: Families supporting refugees are themselves at
risk, says ACT
* FEATURE - 'Green' shopping: Environmentally friendly gifts are popular
this year
* OPINION - Of gates and doors: Don't let certainty crowd out love's
imperative
* DAYBOOK - November 12, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - How Many Lightbulbs Does It Taken To Change A Christian? A
Pocket Guide to Shrinking Your Ecological Footprint

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

CONGO: Families supporting refugees are themselves at risk, says ACT
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_102332_ENG_HTM.htm

More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>FEATURES

>'Green' shopping

Environmentally friendly gifts are popular this year

[Episcopal Life Holiday Gift Guide] Shopping researchers believe that
more people than ever will celebrate a "green Christmas" in 2008 -- but
their prediction has nothing to do with climate change. Rather, the
"green" trend is a gradual but steady move toward more earth-friendly,
environmentally safe products purchased for holiday gifts.

Earth friendly? Retailers say that means products that allow consumers
to make choices in their daily lives to reduce the negative impacts on
our environment and aim for a sustainable lifestyle.

Such products fall into several categories: natural (without chemicals
or additives), organic, sustainable (from a sustainable or renewable
resource), reusable, energy efficient and low impact (having the least
detrimental impact on the environment).

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81834_102358_ENG_HTM.htm

More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>OPINION

>Of gates and doors

Don't let certainty crowd out love's imperative

>By Vicki Gray

[Episcopal Life] I'm "only" a deacon -- the permanent, vocational kind
-- and a would-be poet. I don't profess to be a theologian, but simply
someone who, like Micah, seeks only "to do justice, and to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God." 

I have found -- been surprised by -- God, not in creeds, nor in books,
beautiful though our Book of Common Prayer assuredly is, but in some
truly god-awful places and in the faces of God's marginalized people in
those dark places just this side of Douglas LeBlanc's "Storming Hell's
gates (Episcopal Life, September). And standing -- more often, sitting
-- on some pavement just outside -- or one foot inside -- those hellish
gates, I've been seized not by any fear of "gauzy concepts of equality,
inclusion and niceness" or of succumbing to any "anti-Nicene
conclusions," but rather by the need to extend God's love and hope to
those in danger of falling through those gates.

This experience of God has convinced me of the rightness of LeBlanc's
conclusion that we have spent too much time "worrying about hell
invading the church," so much so that we have been blinded "to how the
church might be invading hell." "Christians," as he rightly says,
"already storm hell through evangelism, works of mercy and standing up
to ungodly uses of power."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_102315_ENG_HTM.htm

More Opinion: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On November 12, 2008, the Church calendar remembers Charles Simeon,
priest, 1836.

* 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 November 12, 1701, the Carolina Assembly passed
the Vestry Act of 1701, making the Church of England the official
religion of the Carolina colony. Active opposition by Quakers and other
religious Nonconformists who lived there ultimately convinced the
proprietors of the colony to revoke the act in 1703. On November 12,
1836, Charles Simeon, one of the Church of England's most famous
evangelical priests, died.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"How Many Lightbulbs Does It Taken To Change A Christian? A Pocket Guide
to Shrinking Your Ecological Footprint" from Church Publishing, Inc., by
Jan Nunley, Claire Foster & David Shreeve, 65 pages, paperback, c. 2008,
$10

[Church Publishing, Inc.] For Christians, "going green" isn't about
being trendy, it's about stewardship of God's creation and mindful
living. But where to start? How can communities, churches, and
individuals take steps to reduce our environmental footprint and live
more lightly on the earth? This full-color, information-packed booklet
is divided into eight easy-to-read sections: water, energy,
transportation, waste, biodiversity, well-being, lifestyle, and Sabbath.
It contains hundreds of practical ideas to help people, congregations,
and communities make a real difference to the environment. Includes
links and contact information for environmental organizations in the
United States and Canada. 

The Rev. Jan Nunley will be signing copies of this title at the
Something For Everyone Holiday Book Signing on November 12th from 4 - 6
pm at Catalyst Books, located at 815 Second Avenue (bet. 43rd & 44th
Streets), New York, NY 10017. Light Refreshments will be served. All are
welcome. Please RSVP in advance to catalyst@episcopalchurch.org

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