wfn.org | [ELD] Episcopal election methods due for revision / Episcopal, Lutheran leaders call for balanced ap

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>December 5, 2008

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Episcopal election methods due for revision
* TOP STORY - Episcopal, Lutheran leaders call for balanced approach to
Detroit bailout
* TOP STORY - Presiding Bishop declares inhibited Fort Worth bishop has
renounced his orders
* TOP STORY - Religious leaders call for urgent U.S. leadership for
Israeli/Palestinian peace
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - CHICAGO: Cathedral exhibit tells story of St.
Nicholas
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - LOUISIANA: Bishop Jenkins announces retirement
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - QUINCY: Cathedral to stay in the Episcopal Church
* WORLD REPORT - RUSSIA: Patriarch Aleksii II of Moscow dies at 79;
Archbishop of Canterbury expresses sadness
* WORLD REPORT - SOUTHERN AFRICA: Archbishop calls political leaders'
silence on Zimbabwe 'disgraceful'
* WORLD REPORT - ZIMBABWE: Tutu talks tough on Mugabe; Government heeds
church cholera call
* MISSION - Ancient spiritual tool popular in modern U.S. military
* OPINION - Great Expectations: Celebrating Advent
* ARTS - Books, music offer inspiration this Christmas season
* DAYBOOK - December 8, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Imagination and the Journey of Faith

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

>Episcopal election methods due for revision

Survey of nominees and search participants is latest part of study
group's work

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] The way in which the Episcopal Church elects
its bishops could change as the result of a survey being conducted now
by the Episcopal Elections and Transitions Project.

The project, sponsored by the Episcopal Church's College for Bishops,
the Presiding Bishop's Office of Pastoral Development and the CREDO
Institute, is attempting "to obtain insights into the existing best
practices of episcopal elections and to identify possible new directions
for the best-practice models of the future," according to a news
release.

The Episcopal Church has revised its recommended method for the election
of bishops approximately every ten years. That method takes the form of
a manual of best practices to follow during the course of a search and
election process which the Presiding Bishop's Office for Pastoral
Development offers dioceses. (General Convention is responsible for
making constitutional and canonical changes governing election of
bishops.)

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_103479_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Episcopal, Lutheran leaders call for balanced approach to Detroit
bailout

[EPPN] Leaders of the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America in the state of Michigan have issued a pastoral letter
calling on the U.S. Congress to consider the parable of the Good
Samaritan as it consider a financial bailout of the Michigan-based auto
industry.

Executives of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors were on Capitol Hill in
Washington, D.C. on December 4 for the second time in a month,
attempting to convince Congress to give them $34 billion to stem their
slide towards bankruptcy.

Noting that the state's 9.5 percent unemployment rate is the highest in
the U.S., the church leaders told Congress that "now is not the time for
our country to continue walking on the other side of the road, ignoring
the plight of our economically-battered workers."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_103478_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Presiding Bishop declares inhibited Fort Worth bishop has renounced his
orders

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said
December 5 that she had accepted Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
(http://www.fwepiscopal.org/index1.php) Bishop Jack Iker's renunciation
of his orders in the Episcopal Church.

The Presiding Bishop's office released a one-page notification on  December 5
saying Jefferts Schori had accepted Iker's renunciation with the "advice  and
consent" of her advisory council.

The document says that Iker made his renunciation in writing on November
24; however a spokesperson for Iker denies that such a renunciation has
been made.

"I have chosen to follow this course rather than seeking consent of the
House of Bishops to Bishop Iker's deposition for abandonment of the
Communion of this Church because I believe it to be a more pastoral
response to Bishop Iker's clear expression of his desire not to be a
part of the Episcopal Church at this time," the Presiding Bishop wrote
in a letter to the House of Bishops.  "I believe this course best  expresses
my hope and prayer that reconciliation in the future can be achieved by
God's love and grace."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_103480_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Religious leaders call for urgent U.S. leadership for
Israeli/Palestinian peace

>By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has
joined Jewish, Muslim and other Christian leaders in advocating for
urgent U.S. leadership in the quest for a two-state solution in
Israel/Palestine and lasting peace in the Holy Land.

The National Interreligious Leadership Initiative
(http://www.nili-mideastpeace.org) (NILI) for Peace in the Middle East
released a November statement, titled "A Window of Hope for Peace in
Jerusalem," and wrote to President-elect Barack Obama December 4 calling
for "engaged, urgent U.S. leadership for peace" as soon as he takes
office.

"The United States has a unique and indispensable role which gives our
nation a special responsibility to pursue peace. Israeli-Palestinian
peace must be an urgent priority for President-elect Obama from the day
he takes office," the leaders' statement says. "Achieving
Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace will have positive reverberations in the
region and around the world. Our nation and the world will be much safer
with the achievement of the peace of Jerusalem."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_103451_ENG_HTM.htm

More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

CHICAGO: Cathedral exhibit tells story of St. Nicholas

>By David Skidmore

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Jeffrey Lee of the diocese of Chicago
will welcome young people to St. James Cathedral in downtown Chicago on
Sunday, December 14 for an afternoon of "discovering the truth about
Santa Claus." The event is part of festivities surrounding the offering
of an exhibit on the life of St. Nicholas which is open to the public
through January 4.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_103468_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

LOUISIANA: Bishop Jenkins announces retirement

>By Lisa B. Hamilton

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Charles E. Jenkins III of Louisiana,
saying he has struggled with the emotional trauma caused by the
Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005, has announced his retirement,
effective December 31, 2009.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_103466_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

QUINCY: Cathedral to stay in the Episcopal Church

>By Joe Bjordal

[Episcopal News Service] Members of the congregation of St. Paul's
Episcopal Cathedral in Peoria, Illinois at a meeting on December 4 voted
181 to 35 to remain in the Episcopal Church. The decision follows a
meeting November 7 of the annual synod of the Diocese of Quincy at which
a majority of delegates voted to leave the Episcopal Church and realign
with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_103475_ENG_HTM.htm

More Diocesan news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

RUSSIA: Patriarch Aleksii II of Moscow dies at 79; Archbishop of
Canterbury expresses sadness

[Episcopal News Service, Ecumenical News International] Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams has expressed his sadness on being informed of
the death December 5 of Patriarch Aleksii II of Moscow. He was 79.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_103456_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Archbishop calls political leaders' silence on Zimbabwe
'disgraceful'

>By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service] The Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, archbishop of Cape
Town and primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, has said in
a statement that he is "deeply pained by the terrible deterioration,
disease and despair we are seeing in Zimbabwe," adding that the silence
of political leaders in the region is "disgraceful."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_103443_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

ZIMBABWE: Tutu talks tough on Mugabe; Government heeds church cholera
call

[Ecumenical News International, Harare] The Zimbabwean government has
declared a cholera outbreak -- which has claimed at least 500 lives so
far across the country -- as a national emergency, as churches continue
to plead for action and humanitarian assistance to deal with the
epidemic.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_103439_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>OPINION

>Great Expectations: Celebrating Advent

>By Tim Schenck

[Episcopal News Service] I have nothing against mall Santas. Out of
uniform, they're among the jolliest people I know. So why can't I stand
going to the mall in December? It may be the endless soundtrack of
cheesy Christmas carols, the tinseled decorations on steroids, or the
forced joy that pervades each level. Obviously the hyper-consumerism is
a turn-off but I think ultimately it's the lack of anything having to do
with faith. God is nowhere to be found. And "Jesus is the Reason for the
Season" bumper stickers in the parking lot aren't helpful.

Which is precisely why I love the season of Advent; it is so incredibly
counter-cultural. Not in a tie-dyed, hippie kind of way but as a
profound expression of faith in Jesus Christ. Because everywhere else
Christmas has already come -- it really started on Black Friday. Or
perhaps the day after Halloween (it's hard to tell). Throughout Advent,
fake Santas are ho-ho-ho-ing, Christmas lights are flashing, and Rudolph
is guiding Santa's sleigh tonight. The "Christmas-Industrial Complex"
spins wildly out of control and Advent gets swallowed up by the Yuletide
behemoth.

Things at church are different. We watch and wait and prepare. We sing
about the "long expected Jesus" and bid the sleepers to "wake." We hear
from those wonderful figures of the season, Isaiah and John the Baptist
and the Virgin Mary. All of whom stand in stark contrast to the "holy"
trinity of Frosty, Rudolph, and the Grinch.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81840_103464_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>MISSION

Ancient spiritual tool popular in modern U.S. military

>By Lisa B. Hamilton

[Episcopal News Service] "I wanted to extend my sincere thanks to your
organization for your gracious bead donation to those of us deployed to
Balad, Iraq. I was having a very hard time while there and found great
comfort using your beads and having them close to me. I also asked for
beads for some of my fellow soldiers, to help spread the comfort you
brought through the beautiful beads and their meaning. All of us thank
you for your kindness and generosity."

It's messages like this one from a soldier that energized Didi and Bob
Smith of McLean, Virginia, and their cadre of volunteers, who have sent
3,500 prayer beads free of charge to U.S. troops serving in Iraq and
Afghanistan since September, 2006.

Prayer beads are ancient spiritual tools to help worshippers keep track
of contemplative prayer, and are used in several religious traditions,
including Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. In recent years,
Anglican prayer beads have increased in popularity. Suggested prayers
for use with Anglican prayer beads range from those from the Roman
Catholic rosary or the Book of Common Prayer to those based on hymns or
the writings of Julian of Norwich.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_103476_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Episcopal Church agency responds to international piracy

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church-related Seamen's Church
Institute (SCI) has become involved in efforts to block the operations
of Somali pirates.

Recent attacks on shipping by the pirates have attracted worldwide
attention. There are currently 280 merchant mariners from 14 ships being
held hostage by pirates in Somalia, according to a news release from
SCI. Between January and September of this year, 581 merchant mariners
have been taken hostage and nine were killed by pirates worldwide.

Seaman's Church Institute, a New York City-based ecumenical mariners'
agency affiliated with the Episcopal Church, has worked on issues of
piracy for over two decades -- recording cases, providing assistance to
victims of these cases, and advocating to international organizations
for tough standards to reduce instances of hijacking.

Douglas B. Stevenson, director of SCI's Center for Seafarers' Rights,
recently helped craft an International Christian Maritime Association
(ICMA) resolution on piracy. The resolution contains a pledge from ICMA
and its member organizations to cooperate in accomplishing anti-piracy
initiatives, which includes a promise to support the seafarers and
families affected by piracy, SCI's release said.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_103481_ENG_HTM.htm

More Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_ENG_HTM.htm
	
_____________________

>ARTS

Books, music offer inspiration this Christmas season

>By Jerry Hames

[Episcopal Life] Words, music and excellent food are enjoyable
companions during the days of Christmas and into Epiphany. Although this
season will likely be leaner for most people, there are still many
things to enjoy that offer a wealth of pleasure.

For both economy and enlightenment, it's difficult to beat Waiting in
Joyful Hope 2008-09: Daily Reflections for Advent & Christmas
(Morehouse, $2) by Robert F. Morneau, auxiliary bishop of the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Green Bay (Wisconsin). It has daily meditations and
prayers for each of the days of Advent.

A second book is Daily Readings for Advent: Hearing God through the
Noise by Albert Kennington, a retired Episcopal priest in Alabama
(Forward Movement, $3). His meditations call Christians to listen for
the voice of God amidst the shorter days and longer nights of winter,
the holiday busyness and loneliness that often threatens to upset the
balance of daily life.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_103447_ENG_HTM.htm

More Arts: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On December 8, 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 December 8, 1962, John Melville Burgess was
consecrated as suffragan bishop of Massachusetts, the first African
American bishop of The Episcopal Church to serve a predominantly white
diocese.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Imagination and the Journey of Faith" from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., by Sandra M. Levy, 190 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $18

[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.] What makes us open to mystery, to
glimpses of the Transcendent in our daily lives? The power of the
imagination, according to Sandra Levy -- a power that has been seriously
depleted in today's postmodern culture.

To address and redress this situation, Levy first explores how the
imagination expresses itself -- through ritual, music, poetry, art, and
story -- and then focuses on specific practices that can exercise and
enrich our spiritual capacity, thus opening us up to divine encounter.

Imagination and the Journey of Faith will speak to both those outside of
a religious tradition and those in faith communities who wish to
strengthen and deepen the imaginative power of their spiritual lives.

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