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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>February 25, 2009

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - 'I am Episcopalian' -- new 'microsite' showcases videos
of diverse church members
* TOP STORY - International Women's Day, UNCSW gathering focus of
March 8 bulletin inserts
* TOP STORY - Archbishops of Canterbury, York launch Zimbabwe appeal
* WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Church gives out 'tweets' for Lent
* PEOPLE - Barney Hawkins to lead Virginia Seminary's institutional
advancement office
* PEOPLE - Bishop Barbara Harris reflects on a pioneer role
* OPINION - Kicking up some dust
* CALENDAR - Upcoming special events and services
* SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - March 1 - First Sunday in Lent - Year B
* DAYBOOK - February 26, 2009: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Most Loved in All the World: A Story of Freedom

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

'I am Episcopalian' -- new 'microsite' showcases videos of diverse
church members

[Episcopal News Service] A communications initiative to tell the
Episcopal Church's story was launched on Ash Wednesday at
www.episcopalchurch.org where visitors will find a new interactive
feature called "I Am Episcopalian."

The so-called "microsite" contains short videos of people "sharing
their deep, personal connections to the big, wide, vibrant church that
we are," said Anne Rudig, who joined the Episcopal Church Center in
New York as communications director on January 5.

Not only will the videos illustrate the diversity of Episcopalians --
"all ages, all walks of life, all ethnicities," said Rudig -- but the
site also will let users upload their own videos.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_105388_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

International Women's Day, UNCSW gathering focus of March 8 bulletin  inserts

[Episcopal News Service] In recognition of International Women's Day,
Episcopal Life Weekly bulletin inserts for March 8 outline the work of
Anglican representatives to the 53rd session of the United Nations
Commission on the Status of Women. The commission will meet this year
from March 2-13.

Bulletin inserts are available at

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

>- - - - -

Archbishops of Canterbury, York launch Zimbabwe appeal

Support PM Tsvangirai's plea for help, Southern Africa Archbishop  Makgoba
says

[Episcopal News Service, Lambeth Palace] Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York John Sentamu have launched a
joint appeal to help counter the humanitarian crisis and deteriorating
political situation in Zimbabwe.

The archbishops' appeal for Zimbabwe "highlights the support needed by
churches, which are struggling to feed the hungry and heal the sick,
and are suffering alongside their communities," a February 25 press
release from Lambeth Palace says.

In a joint article in The Times of London newspaper February 25, the
archbishops said: "We have been witnessing the slow death of a people.
And slow death is only intermittently newsworthy; nothing to report
except more of the same, so that the temptation is to switch off. But
this doesn't mean that the need for hope is any less urgent on the
ground."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_105381_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

>ENGLAND: Church gives out 'tweets' for Lent

Online community set up to mark season of prayer, reflection and action

[Church of England] "What are you doing?" asks the Church of England
this Lent as it connects with people through the social networking
site Twitter and a new Facebook application designed to get people to
share their top tips for helping each other. The initiatives are
designed to mobilize a viral movement marking Lent with simple acts of
generosity and thoughtfulness in the real world.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_105390_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

Bishop Barbara Harris reflects on a pioneer role

>By Tracy J. Sukraw

[Episcopal News Service] On February 28, 2009, the first female
primate in the Anglican Communion, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts
Schori, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the elevation of women
to the episcopate. The celebration and Eucharist at the Cathedral
Church of St. Paul in Boston marks two decades since the consecration
on February 11, 1989 of Barbara C. Harris as suffragan bishop in the
Diocese of Massachusetts.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_105426_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

Barney Hawkins to lead Virginia Seminary's institutional advancement  office

[Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia] The Board of
Trustees of Virginia Theological Seminary has appointed the Rev. Dr.
J. Barney Hawkins IV, associate dean and director of the Center for
Anglican Communion Studies, as vice president of institutional
advancement.

Hawkins has served as interim director of the Office of Institutional
Advancement since his predecessor, Ed Hall, retired in September 2008.

"Barney brings tremendous gifts to his work," said the Very Rev. Ian
Markham, dean and president of Virginia Seminary. "He is
well-connected within the Episcopal Church; has a passion for
theological education and is skilled at explaining the Seminary's
mission; and he has an interest and experience in the area of
fundraising and development."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_105410_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>OPINION

>Kicking up some dust

>By Tim Schenck

[Episcopal News Service] I don't like dust. And I especially don't
like dust bunnies. You know, those mysterious furry things that lurk
behind your bedroom door, or in your closet, or under your bed. Who
knows how they got there? Who wants to know how they got there? But
they're there and I don't like them. And I especially don't like when
they move around. You've probably seen them do this. You open a door,
look behind it, and the dust bunny catches just enough air that it
starts moving like it's possessed.

Ash Wednesday always makes me think about dust because of the words
said during the imposition of ashes: "Remember that you are dust, and
to dust you shall return." It is not a particularly uplifting image.
If the oak tree is the symbol of strength and permanence, dust is the
symbol of transience and fragility. Here one moment, gone the next. To
be dust is to be fleeting. Dust can be swept away in an instant; or
blown away by a gentle breeze. Dust scatters; it is transitory. Just
like us. We are no more permanent upon this earth than the smallest
speck of dust. With the slightest breath we can be lost forever.
Forgotten. Erased as if we had never existed.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_105394_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

>_____________________

>SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS

>March 1 - First Sunday in Lent - Year B

Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15

>By Jason Sierra

[Sermons That Work] "Discernment" is a word we throw around a lot in
the church, most often in regard to ordained ministry. As in "She is
in the discernment process" or "I have agreed to be on his discernment
committee." But it is also an essential part of each of our spiritual
journeys and our lives as human beings.

In calling ourselves Christians, Children of God, we acknowledge that
God has called us, we acknowledge the pulling at our cores: to be
more, to be God's, to live into our calling. And discernment is how we
figure out what that looks like. It is the way we ask ourselves, "How
do I live as a child of God?"

In today's gospel we hear a three-part story of Jesus' call and his
response. For Mark, this is the beginning of the story of Jesus.

Full reflection:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermons_that_work_105103_ENG_HTM.htm

More Spiritual Reflections:  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On February 26, 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 26, 1401, William Sawtrey, an English
priest who followed the teachings of John Wycliffe, was condemned for
heresy. On February 26, 398, John Chrysostom became bishop of
Constantinople.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Most Loved in All the World: A Story of Freedom" from the Houghton
Mifflin Company, written by Tonya Cherie Hegamin, illustrated by Cozbi
A. Cabrera, 40 pages, hardcover, c. 2009, $17

[Houghton Mifflin Company] An authentic and powerful account of
slavery and how a handmade quilt helps a little girl leave home for
freedom. With a poet's keen ear, Tonya Hegamin tells the account of a
little girl whose mother is a secret agent on the Underground
Railroad. Before sending her daughter north to freedom, the mother
sews a quilt for her daughter, not only to guide her with its symbols
of moss and the north star, but also to remind her always that the
smiling girl in the center of the quilt is "most loved in all the
world." Strikingly illustrated in unique textile collaging and
expressive acrylic paintings.

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

Please note: all Black History Month titles are on sale at 25% off.
Sale ends on February 28.

More Catalyst: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/83842_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

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