[ELD] Episcopal Life Daily

[Matthew Davies]

Episcopal Life Daily
June 20, 2008

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

Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* MISSION - Going deeper: Outreach at St. Timothy's feeds hungry in
Iola, Kansas
* PEOPLE - Bishop Baxter receives honorary degree from Lincoln
University
* MULTIMEDIA - Closing comments from Executive Council
* DAYBOOK - June 23, 2008: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in
America

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MISSION

New Series: "Put Your Faith to Work" -- With this issue, Episcopal Life
Daily begins a new weekly series on congregations and dioceses that are
reaching out in community service, putting their faith to work to
respond to individuals and groups in particular need. The stories will
be logged on both Episcopal Life Online (Mission Section) and the
recently launched visitors' website, http://www.putyourfaithtowork.org.
Editor for the series is Daphne Mack, dmack at episcopalchurch.org, who
welcomes story leads from across the church.

- - - - -

Going deeper: Outreach at St. Timothy's feeds hungry in Iola, Kansas
 
By Melodie Woerman
 
[Episcopal News Service] St. Timothy's Church, Iola, might be small, but
it's really cooking up a storm. Literally.
 
Its parishioners' efforts to provide food for people in their southeast
Kansas town - and lots of it - have earned them a nickname.
 
"We're known as the church that feeds people," said the Rev. Jan Chubb,
vicar.
 
The church, with 40 baptized members and an average Sunday attendance of
about 26, for four years has used monthly community dinners to raise
money for outreach needs.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_98039_ENG_HTM.htm

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

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PEOPLE

Bishop Baxter receives honorary degree from Lincoln University

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Nathan D. Baxter of the Diocese of
Central Pennsylvania, was recently awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters,
honoris causa, by Lincoln University, Oxford, Pennsylvania. He was
honored for his contributions to religion and public life.

Lincoln University is the oldest historically black university in the
country and counts among its alumni noted Episcopalians Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall and poet Langston Hughes.

Baxter has been bishop of Central Pennsylvania since 2006. He was
previously dean of Washington National Cathedral from 1991 to 2003;
administrative dean at Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge,
Massachusetts; dean, Lancaster Theological Seminary; chaplain, St.
Paul's College Lawrenceville, Virginia; rector, St. Cyprian's Church,
Hampton, Virginia; and curate, St. John's Church, Carlisle,
Pennsylvania. 

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_98026_ENG_HTM.htm

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

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MULTIMEDIA

Closing comments from Executive Council

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and
President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson speak at the
conclusion of the recent Executive Council meeting in Albuquerque, New
Mexico.

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

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

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DAYBOOK

On June 23, 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 23, 1988, Presiding Bishop Edmond L.
Browning established a new unit at the Episcopal Church Center called
Refugee/Migration Ministries.

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CATALYST

"The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America"
from Oxford University Press, by David Domke and Kevin Cole, 231 pages,
hardcover, c. 2008, $30

[Oxford University Press] In The God Strategy, scholars David Domke and
Kevin Coe offer a timely and dynamic study of the rise of religion in
American politics, examining the public messages of political leaders
over the past 75 years-from the 1932 election of Franklin Roosevelt to
the early stages of the 2008 presidential race. They conclude that U.S.
politics today is defined by a calculated, deliberate, and partisan use
of faith that is unprecedented in modern politics. 

Sectarian influences and expressions of faith have always been part of
American politics, the authors observe, but a profound change occurred
beginning with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. What has developed
since is a no-holds-barred religious politics that seeks to attract
voters, identify and attack enemies, and solidify power. Domke and Coe
identify a set of religious signals sent by both Republicans and
Democrats in speeches, party platforms, proclamations, visits to
audiences of faith, and even celebrations of Christmas. Sometimes these
signals are intended for the eyes and ears of all Americans, and other
times they are distinctly targeted to specific segments of the
population. It's an approach that has been remarkably successful,
utilized first and most extensively by the Republican Party to capture
unprecedented power and then adopted by the Democratic Party, most
notably by Bill Clinton in the 1990s and by a wide range of Democrats in
the 2006 elections. 

"For U.S. politicians today, having faith isn't enough; it must be
displayed, carefully and publicly. This is a stark transformation in
recent decades," write Domke and Coe. With innovative, accessible
research and analytical verve, they document how this has occurred, who
has done it and why, and what it means for the American experiment in
democracy.

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