wfn.org | [ELD] Primates express 'horror' at Zimbabwe crisis / Episcopalians in San Joaquin renew sense of mis

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>February 3, 2009

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Primates express 'horror' at Zimbabwe crisis
* TOP STORY - Episcopalians in San Joaquin renew sense of mission
* WORLD REPORT - BRAZIL: Churches criticize privatization of water  resources
* WORLD REPORT - ZIMBABWE: Anglicans pray outside as Mugabe bishop
holds property
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - ALASKA: Kimsey to serve as assisting bishop
* PEOPLE - Mary Kostel named special counsel to the Presiding Bishop
* PEOPLE - Archbishop of Canterbury presents St. Augustine Cross to
Monsignor Donald Bolen
* MULTIMEDIA - Audioslide: In Cairo, Arab and Western artists wage peace
* MULTIMEDIA - Image Gallery: Primates meet in Alexandria, Egypt
* OPINION - Chance to engage: Mississippi Episcopalians willing to
discuss the tough questions
* DAYBOOK - February 4, 2009: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Pilgrim Road: A Benedictine Journey through Lent

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Primates express 'horror' at Zimbabwe crisis

Windsor Continuation Group report discussed but not released

>By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service -- Alexandria, Egypt] Zimbabwe's economic and
socio-political breakdown is a "matter of grave concern," Anglican
primates said in a February 3 statement calling on President Robert
Mugabe to step down and urging "the implementation of the rule of law
and the restoration of democratic processes" in the devastated African
nation.

The statement, which noted "with horror the appalling difficulties" in
Zimbabwe under the current regime, was released to the media on the
third day of the primates' February 1-5 meeting, being held behind
closed doors at the Helnan Palestine Hotel in Alexandria, Egypt.

Anglicans in Zimbabwe's Diocese of Harare have faced ongoing
harassment and violence from Mugabe's police force in an attempt to
stop them from worshipping. Renegade Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, an avid
Mugabe supporter, still claims ownership of the Anglican churches
despite being officially excommunicated in May 2008.
Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_104691_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Episcopalians in San Joaquin renew sense of mission
'Church in a closet' epitomizes resurrection spirit

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service -- Bakersfield, California] In addition to
measuring its growth in a number of common ways such as average Sunday
attendance, Grace Episcopal Church has an uncommon yardstick: it has
grown from a "church in a box" to a "church in a closet."

Two years ago, the accoutrements of what is now Grace Episcopal Church
could fit in a box that traveled around town in the trunks of members'
cars. Today, Grace's vestments, vessels, torches, processional cross,
name tags, children's books, icons made by members of the congregation
-- even the altar -- reside in two closets inside Huber Memorial
Chapel at First Congregational Church in Bakersfield. Each Sunday,
Grace's members unpack the closets and turn the building, which is
normally used for concerts, into a worship space.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_104687_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

>ALASKA: Kimsey to serve as assisting bishop
>Search for diocesan bishop continues
>By Pat McCaughan, February 03, 2009

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Rustin R. Kimsey, who became
assisting bishop of the Diocese of Alaska on February 1, said he is
"humbled by the privilege of serving" a third diocese as bishop.

In an open letter dated January 6 and posted on the diocesan website,
diocesan standing committee president the Rev. Dawn Allen-Herron said
the diocese had signed a letter of intent with Kimsey to serve as
assisting bishop, effective February 1. He is to serve until the
election of the next bishop, the letter said.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_104693_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

BRAZIL: Churches criticize privatization of water resources

>By Stephen Brown

[Ecumenical News International, Belem, Brazil] Churches in Brazil have
backed a provision in the newly-passed Bolivian constitution
describing water as a "fundamental human right" that may not be
controlled by private companies and they say other nations should
follow suit.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_104641_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

ZIMBABWE: Anglicans pray outside as Mugabe bishop holds property

[Ecumenical News International, Harare] The head of Zimbabwe's
Anglican Diocese of Harare, Bishop Sebastian Bakare, says his
congregation is looking to divine intervention as renegade former
bishop Nolbert Kunonga and a small breakaway faction deny worshippers
access to church property.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_104678_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

Mary Kostel named special counsel to the Presiding Bishop

[Episcopal News Service] Mary E. Kostel has been named special counsel
to the Presiding Bishop for property litigation and discipline,
according to an announcement by the Rev. Canon Charles Robertson of
the Presiding Bishop's office.

Kostel, who is also chancellor of the Diocese of Washington, has
worked in similar areas of law in private practice. She has been
associated with the law firms of Shea & Gardner (now Goodwin Procter)
and Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. She was previously a trial attorney
for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_104684_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Archbishop of Canterbury presents St. Augustine Cross to Monsignor  Donald
Bolen

[Lambeth Palace] Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has awarded
the Cross of St. Augustine to Monsignor Donald Bolen of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity for his service to Anglican -
Roman Catholic relations.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_104680_ENG_HTM.htm

More People: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>MULTIMEDIA

Audioslide: In Cairo, Arab and Western artists wage peace

[Episcopal News Service] With the goal of building understanding and
respect between cultures and faiths, the creative work of 18 Arab and
Western artists was officially unveiled on January 29 at St. John the
Baptist Anglican/Episcopal Church in the suburban Maadi district of
Cairo, Egypt.

An audioslide of the exhibition is available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm.

An ENS article is available at

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_104604_ENG_HTM.htm.

>- - - - -

Image Gallery: Primates meet in Alexandria, Egypt

[Episcopal News Service] An image gallery from the February 1-5
primates meeting in Alexandria, Egypt are available at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81991_104652_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>OPINION

>Chance to engage

Mississippi Episcopalians willing to discuss the tough questions

>By Katharine Jefferts Schori

[Episcopal Life] I want to share with you some of the challenges and
joys I experienced in a recent visit to the Diocese of Mississippi.
Mississippi's Gulf Coast still is recovering from the massive storms
of August 2005. Churches are beginning to rebuild, but housing still
lags far behind the need. Episcopal Relief and Development has been
assisting in the efforts, which have been led by Lutheran Episcopal
Services in Mississippi. That joint work stands as a witness to what
is possible when we work together with partners.

Mississippi routinely ranks at the bottom of most measures of social
well-being in the United States -- poorest, highest child death rates,
least formal education, most children living in poverty and so on. The
west-central part of the state adjoining the Mississippi River, called
the Delta, has even worse statistics. We toured the Delta and saw
signs of poverty -- decrepit housing, working age men idle at midday
and very little evidence of social services, job possibilities or
reasons to move or stay there.

The Delta has some of the richest farmland in the country and a
distinguished and complex history of vibrant communities and cultural
vitality, as well as segregation and racial violence. There was once
significant wealth and employment here, but the mechanization of farm
production has meant the continued loss of jobs. We found several
hopeful signs as we visited the town of Greenwood. It once had three
synagogues, and it still has a vigorous Episcopal church. A good part
of the town clearly is decayed, but the central downtown is
experiencing a renaissance, in large part due to the efforts of
Episcopalians.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_104639_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On February 4, 2009, the church calendar remembers Cornelius the  Centurion.

* 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 February 4, 1555, John Rogers, the first
Protestant martyr under Queen Mary I of England, was burned at the
stake for heresy.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Pilgrim Road: A Benedictine Journey through Lent" from Church
Publishing, Inc., by Albert Holtz, O.S.B., 178 pages, paperback, c.
2006, $11

[Church Publishing, Inc.] In the view of St. Benedict of Nursia, the
Lenten journey is an inner pilgrimage with Christ into the deepest
parts of ourselves, to be marked not so much by external observances
such as fasting and self-denial as by a deepening of our relationship
with God.

Benedictine monk Albert Holtz develops that journey theme through
meditations written during a fifteen-country pilgrimage during a
sabbatical year. At the heart of each reflection is the lesson it
teaches about our inner spiritual journey.

By applying Benedict's monastic wisdom to the everyday concerns and
aspirations of modern Christians, Pilgrim Road helps contemporary
spiritual seekers keep Lent as a positive, meaningful, and fruitful
experience.

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

>_____________________

Subscriptions to Episcopal Life, the monthly newspaper for all
Episcopalians, are offered to individuals for $27 per year. This is an
18% savings off the cover price. To subscribe call 1-800-374-9510 or
send an email to elife@aflwebprinting.com. Save even more with a $50
two-year subscription.