wfn.org | [ELD] North American Anglican group holds inaugural gathering

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

>Episcopal Life Daily
>June 25, 2009

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

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY ? North American Anglican group holds inaugural gathering
* WORLD REPORT - CUBA: Electoral synod for new bishop ends in stalemate
* WORLD REPORT - UGANDA: Bishops declare full communion with Anglican
Church in North America
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - LOS ANGELES: Dissident parish takes property fight
to U.S. Supreme Court
* OPINION ? Covenant aligns with Episcopal identity
* OPINION - Consider facts about proposed covenant, not myths
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: Listening Process embarks on new phase
* DAYBOOK - June 26: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Torture Is a Moral Issue - Christians, Jews, Muslims, and
People of Conscience Speak Out

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

North American Anglican group holds inaugural gathering

>By Pat McCaughan

[Episcopal News Service] The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA),
a new entity composed mainly of groups that have left the Episcopal
Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, concluded its four-day
inaugural assembly June 25 in Bedford, Texas.

"We are oriented toward a hopeful future that has been at the heart of
this week. We are reaching out to North America in particular and the
whole world with the transforming love of Jesus Christ," said former
Episcopal Church bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, who was installed
as archbishop of ACNA.

About 700 laity and clergy from Canada and the United States attended
the gathering. Nine Anglican provinces, from as far away as Africa,
Asia and South America, sent official delegations indicating their
support, he said.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_111236_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

CUBA: Electoral synod for new bishop ends in stalemate

>By Leigh Anne Williams

[Anglican Journal] The Episcopal Diocese of Cuba held a special
electoral synod June 19-20, but after 10 rounds of voting no new
bishop was elected to replace Bishop Miguel Tamayo Zaldívar who has
served as interim bishop for six years and plans to retire.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_111173_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

UGANDA: Bishops declare full communion with Anglican Church in North  America

>By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal News Service] The bishops of the Anglican Church of Uganda
have said they support the formation of the Anglican Church in North
America, and stand in full communion with the dissident conservative
entity that has been meeting in Bedford, Texas this past week.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_111182_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

LOS ANGELES: Dissident parish takes property fight to U.S. Supreme Court

>Court may respond by October

>By Pat McCaughan

[Episcopal News Service] A breakaway congregation in the Episcopal
Diocese of Los Angeles has taken the fight to keep its property to the
U.S. Supreme Court, according to a statement released June 24 by St.
James Anglican Church.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_111234_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>________________________

>OPINION

Consider facts about proposed covenant, not myths

>By James Stockton

[Episcopal News Service] Regarding the idea of a proposed Anglican
covenant, it bears repeating that the assumption that our "Anglican
roots" involve "re-affirming together the essential doctrines of
Christianity" is thoroughly mistaken. Yes, there are roots in the
Church of England, but the roots of the churches that grew from the
Church of England's colonial expansion have nothing to do with a
desire to create a global allegiance of independent churches. At this
juncture, it seems to me of critical importance that we reflect upon
the facts, not the myth.

Full article: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81840_111231_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

>Covenant aligns with Episcopal identity

>By Bruce Robison

[Episcopal News Service] Over the next few years, the provinces of the
Anglican Communion will receive and study an invitation to deeper
relationship through a formal covenant. The text (with a few
procedural items still being edited) may be found online at the
website of the Anglican Communion Office.
For our upcoming General Convention, I am a co-sponsor of a
resolution, D020, titled "Provisional Acceptance of the Anglican
Covenant." It builds on the foundation of two resolutions adopted by
the last General Convention in 2006.

Full article: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81840_111233_ENG_HTM.htm

More Opinion: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_80421_ENG_HTM.htm

>______________________

>MULTIMEDIA

>Video: Listening Process embarks on new phase

Video available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm

[Episcopal News Service] The Anglican Communion Listening Process is
embarking on a new phase made possible with a $1.5 million grant from
the Satcher Health Leadership Institute in Atlanta.

The Anglican Consultative Council, at its recent meeting in Kingston,
Jamaica, supported the renewal of the Listening Process, which was
officially launched by the ACC in 2005.

Led by the Rev. Canon Phil Groves, the process is intended facilitate
listening to homosexual people and those who struggle with their full
inclusion in the life of the church.

The project will facilitate five "pilot conversations" around the
communion to address issues related to sexuality, the authority of
Scripture, faithfulness to tradition and the respect for the dignity
of all people.

But some conservative Anglicans have raised questions about the
authenticity of the new phase. They suggest that the funding, coming
from a progressive source, is likely to influence the process, a claim
that both Groves and the funders have refuted.

While in Jamaica, Groves spoke with Bishop Robert Thompson of Kingston
to hear his views about the importance of the Listening Process.

ENS international correspondent Matthew Davies reports.

Video: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On June 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 June 26, 1989, James E. Solheim began as News
Director in the Department of Communication at the Episcopal Church
Center. On June 26, 1982, A. Theodore Eastman was ordained and
consecrated bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland at
the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Torture Is a Moral Issue - Christians, Jews, Muslims, and People of
Conscience Speak Out" from Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., edited by
George Hunsinger, 272 pages, paperback, c. 2008, $26

[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.] In this hard-hitting volume two dozen
scholars, activists, military officers, and religious leaders call for
an immediate end to the practice of torture, paying particular
attention to its use in the American war on terror.

Torture Is a Moral Issue begins with background material, including
vivid firsthand accounts from a torture survivor and a former U.S.
interrogator in Iraq. The heart of the book contains respectively
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim arguments against torture, and the final
part charts a way forward toward a solution, offering much principled
yet practical advice. Included as an afterword is an interview with
Darius Rejali, one of the world?s foremost experts on torture and
democracy.

Contributors: Taha Jabir Alalwani, William T. Cavanaugh, John Conroy,
Edward Feld, David P. Gushee, Yahya Hendi, Scott Horton, George
Hunsinger, Adm. John Hutson, Tony Lagouranis, Ellen Lippmann, Ingrid
Mattson, Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Marilyn McEntyre, Gen. Richard M.
O'Meara, Dianna Ortiz, Darius Rejali, Lousie Richardson, Kenneth Roth,
Fleming Rutledge, Melissa Weintraub, Carol Wickersham.

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

>_____________________

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