wfn.org | [ELD] ERD receives historic $300,000 pledge from Puerto Rico diocese

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>December 11, 2008

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - ERD receives historic $300,000 pledge from Puerto Rico  diocese
* WORLD REPORT - SOUTHERN AFRICA: Churches to pray for end of  'illegitimate'
Zimbabwe rule
* WORLD REPORT - SOUTHERN AFRICA: Churches bless Mozambique peace  monument
16 years after war
* WORLD REPORT - World Council of Churches seeks candidates for top job
* FEATURE - Nothing impossible for St. Jude's: Emerging community  gathers
young people into church
* DAYBOOK - December 12, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in  His
Stories and Prayers

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

ERD receives historic $300,000 pledge from Puerto Rico diocese

[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Puerto Rico has made a  three-year
commitment to Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) to contribute a  total
of $300,000 to the organization in support of the Millennium Development
Goals Inspiration Fund. "This will be the largest gift ever received  from a
single diocese in Episcopal Relief and Development's history," an ERD  news
release said.

In 2007, the Millennium Development Goals Inspiration Fund was launched  by
ERD, Jubilee Ministries and the Executive Council of the Episcopal  Church to
stop the spread of malaria in Africa, develop a pilot project in Asia  and
promote health in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"We are proud to support Episcopal Relief and Development in their work
towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals," said Bishop David
Alvarez of the Diocese of Puerto Rico. "We hope that our gift will  inspire
other dioceses and Episcopalians to partner with Episcopal Relief and
Development in their work towards alleviating poverty and disease."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_103691_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Churches to pray for end of 'illegitimate' Zimbabwe  rule

>By Frank Jomo

[Ecumenical News International, Maputo] Africa's largest Christian  grouping,
the All Africa Conference of Churches, has pledged to "pray for an end  to
illegitimate rule in Zimbabwe" after debating and toning down a  statement
about the country on the doorstep of Mozambique, where they have been
meeting.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_103683_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Churches bless Mozambique peace monument 16 years after  war

>By Frank Jomo

[Ecumenical News International, Maputo] There is no conflict that  dialogue
cannot end, the president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, the  Rev.
Nyansako-ni-Nku, has said in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_103681_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

World Council of Churches seeks candidates for top job

[Ecumenical News International, Geneva] The World Council of Churches  has
announced plans to find a successor to the Rev. Samuel Kobia after the
general secretary of the WCC had stated in February he did not wish, for
personal reasons, to take on a second term of office.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_103685_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>FEATURES

>Nothing impossible for St. Jude's

Emerging community gathers young people into church

>By Greta Huls

[Episcopal Life] It's safe to say there never has been another worship
service in the Diocese of Arizona quite like the one taking place  regularly
at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Phoenix.

Between 40 and 60 people gather each week as the community of St.  Jude's,
sponsored with the help of Trinity Cathedral and in partnership with  Urban
Young Life groups at two Phoenix high schools. St. Jude's is designed to
meet the needs of 15- to 30-year-olds in a crime-troubled area of  Phoenix
known as the I-17 corridor who have not connected with traditional  churches
for personal and cultural reasons.

Much of what the members do at St. Jude's will not look familiar or feel
comfortable to many people. Some of the members know first-hand about
challenges such as incest, child rape, drugs, homelessness and  prostitution
-- and they talk about it freely during the gatherings by way of words  or
song. St. Jude's is intentionally multicultural, multi-denominational,
multigenerational and socio-economically diverse.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_103672_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On December 12, 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 12, 1808, the Bible Society of  Philadelphia
was organized, the first of its kind in America. William White, first  and
fourth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, was elected its first
president. On December 12, 1995, the Bishop of Southwest Virginia  returned
sacred land to Monacan Indians.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories  and
Prayers" from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., by Eugene H. Peterson, 287
pages, hardcover, c. 2008, $24

[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.] Just as God used words both to create  the
world and to give us commandments, we too use words for many different
purposes. In fact, we use the same language to talk to each other and to
talk to God. Can our everyday speech, then, be just as important as the
words and prayers we hear from the pulpit? Eugene Peterson unequivocally
says "Yes!"

Tell It Slant explores how Jesus used language -- he was earthy, not
abstract; metaphorical, not dogmatic. His was not a direct language of
information or instruction but an indirect, oblique language requiring a
participating imagination -- "slant" language. In order to witness and  teach
accurately in Jesus' name, then, it is important for us to use language  the
way he did.

Part 1 focuses on Jesus' words in everyday contexts -- his teachings to  the
crowds, the stories he told, his conversations with his disciples. Part  2
shifts the focus to Jesus' prayers -- the words he spoke to God the  Father.

Peterson's Tell It Slant promises to deepen our understanding of Jesus'
words, strengthen our awareness of language as a gift of God, and  nurture
our efforts to make all of our speech convey a blessing to others.

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