wfn.org | [ENS] GTS announces financial plan, explores possible sale of property

[<mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

>Episcopal News Service
>May 20, 2010

Episcopal News Service is available at  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ens.

>Today's Episcopal News Service includes:

* TOP STORY - GTS announces financial plan, explores possible sale of  property
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - MARYLAND: Bike to Church Sunday brings blessings
to pedal pushers
* PEOPLE - Retired bishop criticizes anti-gay policies, calls for
networking, developing Ugandan LGBT community
* OPINION - Called to collaborate: Episcopal Church addresses domestic
poverty, together
* DAYBOOK - May 21: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* EBAR PICK - "For Lovers of God Everywhere: Poems of the Christian  Mystics"

>_____________________

>TOP STORY

GTS announces financial plan, explores possible sale of property

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] General Theological Seminary's
(http://gts.edu/) Board of Trustees has agreed on a series of steps
that they say will assure that the Manhattan-based school will
continue "for the next several years."

The trustees said in a news release that they agreed May 18 to create
a $10 million operating reserve fund that could be built in part by
selling as many as four residential apartments in the seminary
building known as Chelsea 2, 3 and 4. The fund will also be built by
what the release called "special philanthropic efforts, which have
already resulted in $1.5 million in firm commitments."

The apartments, which according to the release have an estimated value
of $8 - 10 million, have been rented to outside tenants for the last
six years and have never been used for seminary purposes. The trustees
approved the steps needed to turn the property into condominiums for
possible sale.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_122348_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DIOCESAN DIGEST

MARYLAND: Bike to Church Sunday brings blessings to pedal pushers

[St. Anne's Parish] In its first-ever Bike to Church Sunday on May 16,
42 people pedaled their way to St. Anne's Parish of Annapolis.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_122340_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

Retired bishop criticizes anti-gay policies, calls for networking,
developing Ugandan LGBT community

>Senyonjo: 'God is not only for heterosexuals'

>By Pat McCaughan

[Episcopal News Service] Retired Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of
Buganda has a simple, if dangerous message: "God is not only for
heterosexuals ... [if you are gay] accept yourself, love yourself."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_122345_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>OPINION

>Called to collaborate

Episcopal Church addresses domestic poverty, together

>By Matthew Ellis

[Episcopal News Service] The late April conference "Called to Serve:
The Episcopal Church Responds to Domestic Poverty" brought together
three organizations that address domestic poverty in different and
unique ways -- Jubilee Ministry, Episcopal Community Services in
America, and National Episcopal Health Ministries.

We had no idea if this event would be a success or not. Each of us had
specific ideas about what a conference should look like, and they were
often quite different. Each of us had elements of our past events that
we felt could enhance this larger meeting, yet we also wanted to be
sure this gathering was unified and had a coherent theme and approach.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80050_122330_ENG_HTM.htm

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

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

>On May 21, 2010...

* 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 May 21, 1981, John Forsythe Ashby was
consecrated as the second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western
Kansas at St. John's Military School.

>_____________________

>EBAR PICK

"For Lovers of God Everywhere: Poems of the Christian Mystics" by
Roger Housden, softcover, 240 pages, c. 2009, $14.95.

[Hay House] Roger Housden, author of the best-selling Ten Poems to
Change Your Life, celebrates the growing popularity of mystical poetry
with this beautiful compilation from the Christian contemplative
tradition. Although the writings of the Sufi mystics (Rumi and Hafez)
and the Indian mystics (Mirabai and Kabir) have reached a wide
audience in recent years, the poetry of the Christian mystics has yet
to be discovered by a general audience.

For Lovers of God Everywhere, a collection of nearly 100 poems from
both historic and contemporary writers, heralds the reemergence of the
great spiritual voices of the Christian tradition -- a tradition with
its own love songs to God, cries of longing, and bliss of union.

In this collection, Roger introduces us to some of the foremost poets
of both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions. He takes us from
the wisdom of the Desert Fathers to the passion of St. Augustine,
through the medieval ecstasies of St. Francis of Assisi and St.
Catherine of Siena, to the subtleties of St. John of the Cross and St.
Teresa of Avila; and on to contemporary voices such as Rainer Maria
Rilke, T.S. Eliot, and Mary Oliver. Roger's insightful commentary on
each poem inspires us to take its words more deeply into our souls and
shows how the mystical tradition transcends sectarian divides and
speaks to the heart of humanity.

To order, please visit Episcopal Books and Resources online at
http://www.episcopalbookstore.org, call 800-903-5544, or visit your
local Episcopal bookstore.