[ELD] President Bush, First Lady visit American Cathedral in Paris

[Matthew Davies]

Episcopal Life Daily
June 18, 2008

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

Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - President Bush, First Lady visit American Cathedral in
Paris
* MISSION - PROVINCE VI: Synod delegates share stories of vitality, find
strength in shared mission
* PEOPLE - Herbert M. Barrall, former dean of Denver cathedral, dies at
86
* EDUCATION - 'How Shall They Hear': Episcopal Chaplains' Conference to
meet June 24-27
* WEEKS AHEAD - Upcoming special events and services
* SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - Sixth Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 7 - Year A
[RCL]
* DAYBOOK - June 19, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know --
And Doesn't

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TOP STORIES

President Bush, First Lady visit American Cathedral in Paris

By Matthew Davies
 
[Episcopal News Service] President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura,
were among the visitors attending the 11 a.m. Holy Eucharist service on
June 15 at the American Cathedral in Paris.

The Bushes were accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to France Craig Roberts
Stapleton and his wife, Debbie, both parishioners at the cathedral. The
president's visit was part of a weeklong tour of Europe, which included
June 16 meetings in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

In celebration of Father's Day, the June 15 liturgy at the American
Cathedral honored the children and youth of the parish, and their
mothers and fathers "who love, nurture and support them through the
journey into adulthood," said the Very Rev. Zachary Fleetwood, cathedral
dean, in a pastoral letter to parishioners.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_97965_ENG_HTM.htm

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

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MISSION

PROVINCE VI: Synod delegates share stories of vitality, find strength in
shared mission

By Joe Bjordal

[Episcopal News Service] Delegates from the eight dioceses of the
Episcopal Church's Province VI gathered June 12-14 to share stories of
vitality, both as a way to discover new strength for mission and to
approach decision-making in a new way. 

The Rt. Rev. Michael Smith, the host bishop, welcomed delegates to the
Diocese of North Dakota and to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation,
where, he said, the Episcopal Church has had a ministry with Native
Americans for nearly 150 years. The gathering was held at the Prairie
Knights Lodge in Fort Yates, North Dakota.

Delegates were also welcomed by the Rev. Marianne Ell, rector of St.
Peter's Church, Williston, North Dakota and president of Province VI.
She explained that in recent years a significant amount of time at the
annual synod gathering has been devoted to mission development and
empowerment. Programs in recent years have focused on radical
hospitality and spiritual transformation.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_97974_ENG_HTM.htm

More Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_ENG_HTM.htm

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PEOPLE

Herbert M. Barrall, former dean of Denver cathedral, dies at 86

[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Herbert M. Barrall, former dean of St.
John's Cathedral, Denver, died on June 10 in Salem, Oregon. He was 86.

During his 44-year ministry, Barrall served congregations in
Connecticut, Ohio, New York, Colorado, Illinois and Oregon. His longest
tenure was at St. John's Cathedral, where he served as canon pastor for
four years and as dean for 17 years. While in Denver he developed a
coordinated team ministry to help meet the needs of the inner-city
cathedral's large congregation, with a focus on meaningful worship,
genuine pastoral concern and community outreach, including education,
the arts, and extended social services.

After his official retirement in 1986 from St. Mark's Church,
Barrington, Illinois, he assisted in parishes throughout Western Oregon,
including St. Alban's Church, Albany, St. Thomas' Church, Dallas, and
St. Paul's Church in Salem, where he was a member.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_97978_ENG_HTM.htm

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

'How Shall They Hear': Episcopal Chaplains' Conference to meet June
24-27
 
[Episcopal News Service] Exploring ways chaplains can become better
listeners to the call of and cry for the gospel and their role in the
life of the larger church will be the focus of the 2008 Episcopal
Chaplains' Conference. 

"How Shall They Hear" will run June 24-27 at the Desmond Tutu Center
located on the General Theological Seminary campus in New York City. It
will be preceded by a conference specifically for new chaplains that
will take place June 23-24.

The Rev. Dr. William W. Rich, senior associate for Adult Christian
Formation, at Trinity Church Copley Square in Boston, Massachusetts,
will serve as the conference's main speaker. He will address the
questions of how to engage young people in the life of the gospel and
strategies for being effective evangelists on university campuses.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_97972_ENG_HTM.htm

More Education: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80263_93222_ENG_HTM.htm

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WEEKS AHEAD

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/78650_1669_ENG_HTM.htm

_____________________


SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS

Sixth Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 7 - Year A [RCL]

Genesis 21:8-21, Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 or Jeremiah 20:7-13, Psalm
69:8-11, (12-17), 18-20; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39

By Charles Hoffacker
 
[Sermons That Work] According to the gospels, a big part of the ministry
of Jesus was that he refused to be scandalized. 
First, he refused to be scandalized by garden variety sinners. Indeed,
he was often seen in company with them: prostitutes, who sold their
bodies, for example; or tax collectors who ripped people off. He knew
full well what they were up to; he didn't countenance their behavior,
but he didn't reject them.

Nor was he scandalized by victims, by the losers in his world. These
included the handicapped, the marginalized, all the literal and
metaphorical lepers who were shunned by self-proclaimed "good people,"
sometimes for reasons that appeared religious. With such victims he kept
company, and he did what he could to help them.

Full reflection: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82478_97841_ENG_HTM.htm

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

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DAYBOOK

On June 19, 2008...

* 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 19, 1566, James VI of Scotland, who later
became King James I of England, was born. He is famous for setting into
motion a translation of the Bible known as the King James Version.

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CATALYST

"Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- And Doesn't"
from HarperCollins Publishers, by Stephen Prothero, 296 pages,
hardcover, c. 2007, $24.95

[HarperCollins Publishers] The United States is one of the most
religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious
illiteracy. Only 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five
major world religions and 15 percent cannot name any. Nearly two-thirds
of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of
life's basic questions, yet only half of American adults can name even
one of the four gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of
the Bible.

Despite this lack of basic knowledge, politicians and pundits continue
to root public policy arguments in religious rhetoric whose meanings are
missed -- or misinterpreted -- by the vast majority of Americans. 

"We have a major civic problem on our hands," says religion scholar
Stephen Prothero. He makes the provocative case that to remedy this
problem, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools.
Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic," religion ought to become
the "Fourth R" of American education. 

Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the
doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion
from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound
misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious
history," Prothero writes, "it was the nation's most fervent people of
faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how
that happened is one of the stories this book has to tell." 

Prothero avoids the trap of religious relativism by addressing both the
core tenets of the world's major religions and the real differences
among them. Complete with a dictionary of the key beliefs, characters,
and stories of Christianity, Islam, and other religions, Religious
Literacy reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront
the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.

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