wfn.org | [ELD] Surrounded by prayer, historic inauguration events draw to a close at National Cathedral

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>January 21, 2009

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Surrounded by prayer, historic inauguration events draw to  a
close at National Cathedral
* WORLD REPORT - SOUTHERN AFRICA: Church leaders want new facilitator  for
Zimbabwe talks
* MISSION - Episcopal students 'gather' in Colorado for life-changing
experience
* MISSION - Anglican-Methodist International Commission for Unity in  Mission
issues communiqué
* MULTIMEDIA - Image Gallery: Historic inauguration events draw to a  close
at National Cathedral
* OPINION - COMMENTARY: Changing course
* CALENDAR - Upcoming special events and services
* DAYBOOK - January 22, 2009: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Surrounded by prayer, historic inauguration events draw to a close at
National Cathedral

Presiding Bishop prays Obama, people of the U.S.

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] Four days of ceremonies and prayers for  President
Barack Obama's inauguration came to a close January 21 with the  traditional
National Prayer Service at the Episcopal Washington National Cathedral
(http://www.nationalcathedral.org).

President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and  Jill
Biden attended the invitation-only service along with members of his
administration, Congress, and the diplomatic corps; faith leaders and  other
invited guests, nearly 3,200 in all.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori asked God during the  service's
closing prayer "strengthen and sustain Barack, our President, that in  the
days to come he may lead your people with confidence and compassion.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_104175_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Church leaders want new facilitator for Zimbabwe talks

>By Munyaradzi Makoni

[Ecumenical News International, Cape Town] A forum of South African  church
leaders has said former president Thabo Mbeki must step down as mediator  of
the process to solve the political crisis in Zimbabwe after years of
failure.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_104213_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>MISSION

Episcopal students 'gather' in Colorado for life-changing experience

>By Susan Hanson

[Episcopal Life] James Boyer, a junior social work major at Prairie View  A&M
University, admitted that he was wary of attending Gather, the national
Episcopal student conference that was held December 28, 2008-January 1,  2009
in Estes Park, Colorado. "I really didn't want to go," he said in an
interview.

Not only had Boyer never been out of his home state of Texas, but he was
anxious about being in the midst of what he assumed would be a crowd of
white people. Being in the minority, said Boyer, an African-American  student
from Houston, often made him defensive, even confrontational. "But I've
realized that it's because of me," he said, describing the conference  and
the insight it brought him as "life-changing."

Held once every four years at the Y.M.C.A. of the Rockies, Gather gives
Episcopal students from around the country an opportunity to worship
together, explore their faith, and learn from one another. "We had  people
from everywhere," Boyer said of the 133 participants, "and they all  brought
different opinions."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_104216_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Anglican-Methodist International Commission for Unity in Mission issues
communiqué

[ACNS] The Anglican-Methodist International Commission for Unity in  Mission
recently held its first meeting in the Centro Anglicano de la Diócesis  de
México in Mexico City, as guests of the Anglican Consultative Council.

A communiqué from the meeting is available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_104214_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>MULTIMEDIA

Image Gallery: Historic inauguration events draw to a close at National
Cathedral

[Episcopal News Service] Four days of ceremonies and prayers for  President
Barack Obama's inauguration came to a close January 21 with the  traditional
National Prayer Service at the Episcopal Washington National Cathedral.

President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and  Jill
Biden attended the invitation-only service along with members of his
administration, Congress, and the diplomatic corps; faith leaders,  including
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori; and other invited guests,  nearly
3,200 in all.

Image Gallery: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81991_104219_ENG_HTM.htm

More Multimedia: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80056_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>OPINION

>COMMENTARY: Changing course

>By Tom Ehrich

[Religion News Service] Twenty-five years ago, I met my first  "survivalist."

He wasn't a glowering extremist from back-country Idaho. He was a  suburban
homeowner and technologist who realized that he needed to be more
self-sufficient.

A bad recession was in full swing. An intricate global economy based on  Arab
oil looked like a house of cards. So he began raising food on his  suburban
tract. He stockpiled supplies and created a backup heating system that
didn't require electricity. He wasn't sullen or militant about it; he  just
wanted to be prepared.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81840_104218_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>CALENDAR

A round-up of upcoming special events, services, concerts and diocesan
conventions taking place throughout the Episcopal Church is available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/calendar.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On January 22, 2009, the church calendar remembers Vincent, Deacon of
Saragossa and Martyr (304).

* 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 January 22, 1997, Virginia Theological Seminary
revised its policy on sexual behavior from a statement that explicitly
forbade "sexual intercourse outside the bonds of marriage, adulterous
relationships, and the practice of homosexuality." By a vote of 31 to 3,  the
seminary's board of trustees adopted "A Call to a Holy Life."

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" from  Random
House, Inc., by Barack Obama, 384 pages, paperback, c. 2007, $14.95

[Random House, Inc.] At the heart of this book is President Obama's  vision
of how we can move beyond our divisions to tackle concrete problems. He
examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the  racial
and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational
threats-from terrorism to pandemic-that gather beyond our shores. And he
grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy-where it is vital  and
where it must never intrude. Underlying his stories about family,  friends,
members of the Senate, even the immediate-past president, is a vigorous
search for connection: the foundation for a radically hopeful political
consensus.

A senator and a lawyer, a professor and a father, a Christian and a  skeptic,
and above all a student of history and human nature, President Obama has
written a book of transforming power. Only by returning to the  principles
that gave birth to our Constitution, he says, can Americans repair a
political process that is broken, and restore to working order a  government
that has fallen dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary
Americans. Those Americans are out there, he writes -- "waiting for
Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them."

[The description above is provided by the publisher of this title, and  does
not necessarily reflect the opinion of Episcopal Books and Resources  (EBaR)
or that of The Episcopal Church.]

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

>_____________________

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