wfn.org | [ELD] Sudanese archbishop appeals to fellow primates for urgent support / Darwin's 200th birthday is

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>February 4, 2009

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Sudanese archbishop appeals to fellow primates for urgent
support
* TOP STORY - Darwin's 200th birthday is focus of February 15 bulletin
inserts
* MISSION - Anglicans key to interfaith bridge-building efforts in
Egypt, Episcopal mission partner says
* CALENDAR - Upcoming special events and services
* SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - February 8 - Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany -
Year B
* DAYBOOK - February 5, 2009: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - A Time to Turn: Anglican Readings for Lent and Easter Week

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Sudanese archbishop appeals to fellow primates for urgent support

Anglican leaders visit Alexandria's ancient library

>By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service -- Alexandria, Egypt] Calling on the Anglican
Communion "not to abandon the people of Sudan in this time of danger and
uncertainty," Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul appealed to his fellow primates
February 4 saying that the Church in Sudan needs "urgent support for the
work of relief, rehabilitation and resettlement."

Also on the penultimate day of their February 1-5 meeting in Alexandria,
Egypt, the primates heard a proposal for a more coordinated approach to
relief and development work in the Anglican Communion and spent the
afternoon visiting Alexandria's ancient library.

Inter-tribal fighting, the ongoing conflict in Darfur and renewed rebel
atrocities by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are some of the concerns
Deng highlighted in his address. He spoke about LRA rebels "mounting
attacks on many unarmed villages ... often with severe brutality
including the severing of limbs with machetes and whole villages burnt
down."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_104759_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Darwin's 200th birthday is focus of February 15 bulletin inserts

[Episcopal News Service] The theories put forth by Charles Darwin in The
Origin of Species rocked the scientific and religious world 150 years
ago. Episcopal Life Weekly bulletin inserts for February 15 mark the
200th anniversary of the scientist's birth and outline his contributions
to 20th and 21st-century ideas about God, creation and the beginnings of
humankind. 

Bulletin inserts are available at

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/95270_ENG_HTM.htm.

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

>_____________________

>MISSION

Anglicans key to interfaith bridge-building efforts in Egypt, Episcopal
mission partner says

>By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service, Cairo] Anglicans in Egypt are vital for
bridge-building between Christians and Muslims, says the Rev.
Paul-Gordon Chandler, an Episcopal Church mission partner who has spent
the last five years as priest of a suburban church in Cairo. 

"Anglicans in this part of the world have a disproportionate influence,
which is a real catalyst for building" friendships and understanding
between Christians and Muslims, said Chandler, 44, who explained that
after the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001, he sensed
a growing divide between East and West.

Chandler saw an opportunity to do creative things at St. John's Church
in Maadi, a community he describes as theologically and liturgically
broad. Under his leadership since 2003, the church's three priorities
have centered on Muslim/Christian relations, community development, and
faith and the arts.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_104757_ENG_HTM.htm

More Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_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

>_____________________

>SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS

February 8 - Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany - Year B

Isaiah 40: 21-31; Psalm147: 1-12, 21c; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:
29-39

>By the Rev. Angela V. Askew

At first sight, it may seem odd that the lectionary offers us a reading
from Isaiah that is all about God the cosmic creator and giver of power,
and then there is a reading from Mark's gospel that includes the small
scene of Jesus' healing Simon Peter's mother-in-law. How does the might,
majesty, dominion, and power of God the Creator, as set forth in
Isaiah's poetry, shed light upon Jesus exorcising demons and healing
people in the Gospel of Mark? 

The first clue lies in our liturgical context: the season of the
Epiphany, which began with twin themes of our baptismal identities and
the light of Christ shining in the world. 

These themes led us first into readings about God's call to us. By
trying faithfully to understand the shape of that call, we have
revisited our responsibilities as outlined in our baptismal promises. As
we have been engaged in this, we have invoked the light of Christ to
shine ever brighter upon our path, helping us to discern our ministries
and mission in the world.

Full reflection:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermons_that_work_104466_ENG_HTM.htm

More Spiritual Reflections:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On February 5, 2009, the church calendar remembers The Martyrs of Japan
(1597).

* 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 5, 1736, John and Charles Wesley,
Anglicans who helped pioneered the Methodist movement, arrived in
America at Savannah, Georgia.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"A Time to Turn: Anglican Readings for Lent and Easter Week" from Church
Publishing, Inc., by Christopher L. Webber, 131 pages, paperback, c.
2004, $13

[Church Publishing, Inc.] For centuries Lent has been a time when
Christians stop and take stock of their lives. It is a time for
revisiting the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. It is a
time of focusing on our sinfulness and the need to repent, as well as a
season in which we focus on putting aside our luxuries and making sure
that others have what they need. All of these themes, and more, are
explored in this collection of Anglican readings that begin with Ash
Wednesday and end on the Saturday of Easter Week. 

These readings are arranged in a regular sequence through each week of
Lent. Sunday readings focus on God's love, Mondays on the need for
discipline, Tuesdays on fasting, Wednesdays on prayer, Thursdays on sin,
Fridays on the cross, and Saturdays on baptism. 

A Time to Turn draws on the best sermons, books, poems, and hymns of
Anglican writers throughout the centuries, with a reading for each day,
followed by the brief suggestion for focusing the reader's meditations.
Writers include Christina Rossetti, John Donne, Philips Brooks, John
Keble, Thomas Traherne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and many others. Brief
biographies are included, along with a bibliography for those who would
like to read more from a given writer.

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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