wfn.org | [ELD] As Darwin turns 200, Jefferts Schori the scientist reflects / Evolution and faith in dialogue:

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>February 13, 2009

[Editor's note: Episcopal Life Daily will observe the Presidents' Day
holiday on February 16. Regular service will resume on February 17.]

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - As Darwin turns 200, Jefferts Schori the scientist  reflects
* TOP STORY - Evolution and faith in dialogue: After 150 years,
Darwin's theory still presents challenges
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - FORT WORTH: Wantland denies having renounced his  orders
* ARTS - Silence no option
* OPINION - Bucking precedent: Schismatics' grounds for objection fall  short
* DAYBOOK - February 16, 2009: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Finding Hope in Hard Times - Seven Spiritual Practices: A
Faithful Steward's Guide

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

As Darwin turns 200, Jefferts Schori the scientist reflects

>By Daniel Burke

[Religion News Service - New York City] Decades before she was elected
presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, when even the priesthood
seemed an unlikely calling, a teenage Katharine Jefferts Schori
wrestled with big questions through the night.
In the darkness of the Stanford University chapel, she pondered the
usual puzzles of young adulthood: Where do I belong? Why am I here?
But Jefferts Schori was also hunting bigger fish -- how to reconcile
her Christian faith with the science she was learning as a biology
major.

"How to make sense of the wonders of creation and the scientific
descriptions of how they came to be," Jefferts Schori recalled in an
interview in her office here, "I hadn't had any conscious assistance
in how to deal with that as a child."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_105049_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - - - -

Evolution and faith in dialogue

After 150 years, Darwin's theory still presents challenges

>By Phina Borgeson

[Episcopal News Service] Late one evening, driving home through
Regina, Kentucky, the Rev. Johnnie Ross was pulled over by a police
officer. He examined his identification, noting, "Father Ross?" The
officer, a Baptist preacher, had seen the bumper art of the Christian
fish kissing the Darwin amphibian on Ross's car and demanded an
explanation. At 2:30 a.m., they were still talking.

The compatibility of evolution and Christian faith originally was a
huge challenge for him, said Ross, rector of Saint Raphael's Church in
Lexington, Ky. When asked at a high school graduation party at the
Methodist congregation of his youth what he wanted to be, he had said
a biologist. His Sunday school teacher took him aside and told him,
"Science is Satan's way of confusing the faithful."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_105047_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

FORT WORTH: Wantland denies having renounced his orders

[Episcopal News Service] In a statement posted online, retired Diocese
of Eau Claire Bishop William Wantland denies having told Presiding
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori that he wanted to renounce his
orders.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_105054_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>ARTS

>Silence no option

>By Jerry Hames

[Episcopal News Service] Anne Weatherholt was a freshly ordained
priest, recently graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary, when
she officiated at a wedding of a young couple in the chapel of Hood
College in Maryland where she served as chaplain.

The shock came one year later when she met the bride in a grocery
store and learned that the couple already had divorced. The young
woman described how she had been beaten after the marriage, and said
that her ex-husband often hit his dog before their marriage.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81827_105043_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>OPINION

>Bucking precedent

>Schismatics' grounds for objection fall short

>By Randall Balmer

[Episcopal Life] "Those who cannot remember the past," George
Santayana once noted, "are condemned to repeat it."

These words came to mind when I read about the unfortunate decision of
conservative bishops to break with the Episcopal Church and form their
own group, which they are calling the "Anglican Church in North
America." The actions of the schismatics are eerily reminiscent of the
decision by antebellum Southerners to break with their Northern
coreligionists over the issue of slavery.

The formation of this "Anglican Church in North America," as widely
noted, marks the first time in the history of the Anglican Communion
that a group has sought to define itself in terms of theological
orientation rather than geography. In so doing, the conservatives are
playing fast and loose with both tradition and the canons - something
that the conservatives, paradoxically, have faulted the Episcopal
Church for doing in the elevation of Gene Robinson to be bishop of New
Hampshire in 2003.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81840_105055_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On February 16, 2009...

* 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 16, 1984, Peter J. Lee was elected
bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Finding Hope in Hard Times - Seven Spiritual Practices: A Faithful
Steward's Guide" from the Evangelism and Congregational Life Center,
pamphlet, c. 2009, gratis

[Evangelism and Congregation Life Center] This resource offers
practical steps and prayerful reflections in how we can individually
and as a faith community adapt to the troubling reality of our fragile
and weakened economy. Ideal for a Lenten study, adult forum or small
group venues; the seven practices offer a way to ground us in the
deepest reality of God's abundant grace -- despite trying times.

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. Episcopal Life started in-depth coverage of
General Convention in January.