[ELD] Zimbabwe's oppressed Anglicans embody hope and courage, Massachusetts bishop says / Everyone, Everywhere mission conference concludes with call for continued, deeper engagement

[Matthew Davies]

Episcopal Life Daily
June 9, 2008

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

Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Zimbabwe's oppressed Anglicans embody hope and courage,
Massachusetts bishop says
* TOP STORY - Everyone, Everywhere mission conference concludes with call
for continued, deeper engagement
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - LOS ANGELES: Holy Nativity parish dedicates community
garden; produce to go to food bank
* DIOCESAN DIGEST - NEW HAMPSHIRE: Bishop enters into civil union with
partner
* WORLD REPORT - BURUNDI: Church leaders hail cease-fire as end of war
* WORLD REPORT - CANADA: New Westminster diocese sends warning to clergy at
breakaway parishes
* WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Government 'moral without a compass,' says report
into Church and Welfare
* WORLD REPORT - ENGLAND: Religious leaders call for cooperation to combat
poverty
* WORLD REPORT - ITALY: Religious leaders call on U.N. to act now on food
crisis
* WORLD REPORT - MIDDLE EAST: Tutu says only Gaza solution is for both sides
to sit down and talk
* WORLD REPORT - SOUTHERN AFRICA: Archbishop urges election monitors after
Zimbabwe visit
* FEATURE - Mission from all to all: Five Marks provide for inclusive
ministry
* DAYBOOK - June 10, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment

_____________________


TOP STORIES

Zimbabwe's oppressed Anglicans embody hope and courage, Massachusetts bishop
says

By Lisa B. Hamilton

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, bishop of the
Diocese of Massachusetts says it was "a privilege" to spend a week with
Anglican Zimbabweans in the Diocese of Harare, which encompasses the
nation's capital and outlying areas. "Zimbabweans are a gentle people of
tremendous resilience," Shaw reports, and he contends that those who are
being oppressed for being Anglicans have much to teach us. 

Shaw returned to the United States June 4, after a week-long visit during
which he met with 49 priests, 40-50 laypersons, human rights attorneys and
U.S. Embassy staff. He describes a grim situation: "One million percent
inflation, 80-90% unemployment, empty shelves at the grocery stores, long
lines for fuel, short lifespan, high HIV-AIDS rates, and oppression of those
who are not aligned with President Mugabe, including Anglicans."

Shaw noted that "amidst all this suffering, it was when their lives were
upended that they [Zimbabwe Anglicans] stood up and said, 'Nobody's going to
touch my relationship with God or my community of faith'."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_97722_ENG_HTM.htm

- - - - -

Everyone, Everywhere mission conference concludes with call for continued,
deeper engagement

By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] During the second half of the June 5-8 Everyone,
Everywhere World Mission Conference participants heard calls for deeper
engagement with the gospel, people of other faiths and issues beyond the
hoped-for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. 

The conference, which was held at the Conference Center at the Maritime
Institute near Baltimore, Maryland, was also a joint meeting of the Global
Episcopal Mission Network (GEM) and the Episcopal Partnership for Global
Mission (EPGM).

Some 300 people from more than 60 dioceses of the Episcopal Church and six
provinces of the Anglican Communion gathered to worship together, tell their
mission stories, learn effective ways to build relationships throughout the
world, and share mission interests and experiences. The church-wide
conference included participants from across the theological spectrum.
Conference organizers say they hope to run a similar gathering every three
years.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_97717_ENG_HTM.htm

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

_____________________


DIOCESAN DIGEST

LOS ANGELES: Holy Nativity parish dedicates community garden; produce to go
to food bank
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_97719_ENG_HTM.htm

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Bishop enters into civil union with partner
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_97720_ENG_HTM.htm

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

_____________________


WORLD REPORT

BURUNDI: Church leaders hail cease-fire as end of war
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_97709_ENG_HTM.htm

CANADA: New Westminster diocese sends warning to clergy at breakaway
parishes
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_97705_ENG_HTM.htm

ENGLAND: Government 'moral without a compass,' says report into Church and
Welfare
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_97707_ENG_HTM.htm

ENGLAND: Religious leaders call for cooperation to combat poverty
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_97713_ENG_HTM.htm

ITALY: Religious leaders call on U.N. to act now on food crisis
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_97721_ENG_HTM.htm

MIDDLE EAST: Tutu says only Gaza solution is for both sides to sit down and
talk
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_97711_ENG_HTM.htm

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Archbishop urges election monitors after Zimbabwe visit
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_97708_ENG_HTM.htm

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

_____________________


FEATURES

Mission from all to all
Five Marks provide for inclusive ministry

By Matthew Davies

[Episcopal Life] The Five Marks of Mission were "considered radical when
they first appeared in 1984," notes a recent issue of the Church Mission
Society's Yes magazine. "Now they are effectively the official mission
agenda of the Anglican Communion." 

The marks "show that God's mission is bigger and wider than we sometimes
understand it, and in this sense they provide for an inclusive ministry,"
says the Rev. John Kafwanka, Anglican Communion research/project officer for
mission and evangelism.

They also have influenced the planning for this summer's Lambeth Conference
of bishops and feature prominently in a proposed Anglican covenant designed
to strengthen the unity of the Anglican Communion amid differing viewpoints
on biblical interpretation and human sexuality.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_97723_ENG_HTM.htm

More Features: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78936_ENG_HTM.htm

_____________________


DAYBOOK

On June 10, 2008, the Church remembers Ephrem of Edessa, Syria, deacon
(c.036-373).

* 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 10, 869, Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople
was condemned by a Roman synod and later by a general council at
Constantinople. But the various rulers of the area began choosing up sides,
leading toward the split of the Eastern and Western churches within the next
two hundred years.

_____________________


CATALYST

"Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment" from Paraclete Press, by
J. Brent Bill, foreword by Richard J. Foster, 191 pages, hardcover, c. 2008,
$19.95

[Paraclete Press] How do you discover God's will for your life -- every day?


Sacred Compass offers a fresh and deeper way of living a God-directed life.
J. Brent Bill draws on the quiet beauty of the Quaker path to show how
spiritual discernment is more about sensing God's gracious presence than it
is about making the right decisions. As you use this book to chart your own
spiritual course, you will find yourself led to unexpected places, comforted
by the knowledge that God uses all of our experiences to bring us close.

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