Diocesan Digest
Episcopal News Service. August 25, 2005 [082505-2-A]
* OREGON: Province VIII's Synod notes "an explosion of creative energy"
* NEW YORK: Rick Johnson named head of Trinity Television & New Media
* EUROPE: Message on the occasion of the funeral of Brother Roger
* WASHINGTON: John Danforth, Jim Wallis added to Values Conference line up
* NEW YORK: Trinity Church announces grants addressing HIV/AIDS pandemic
OREGON: Province VIII's Synod notes "an explosion of creative energy"
By Dick Snyder
[ENS] -- Representatives of Episcopal dioceses in the western United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Taiwan gathered recently for their convocation and synod and elected the Rev. Jack Eastwood as president of Province VIII.
The conference theme was taken from the Province's mission statement: "Doing together with God what we can't do alone."
The Rev. Jerry Drino, acting executive director of the province, explained that the province, like the people of the Bible, "is on a pilgrimage. It's not so much the destination that is important, but what happens along the way."
He noted that the dioceses in the province have been participating in a review of the structure of the province and of its many programs.
The province, he said in his address, "is at a crucial juncture."
The discussion and review about the province's future will continue at least until the next meeting, he said.
He noted that the province's program networks have created "an explosion of creative energy" that provide a laboratory for the future of the church" that brings together "many cultures and peoples."
The province's programs are successful "because we do it together and we share the experiences," said the Rt. Rev. Nedi Rivera, Suffragan Bishop of Olympia, during a luncheon keynote speech.
Eastwood is rector of St. Paul's Church in Oakland, California. He will succeed Bishop Harry Bainbridge of Idaho as president. His term will start after General Convention.
Bainbridge was elected vice president of the province.
Synod delegates approved a budget of $232,000 for next year. They also elected the Rev. Floyd "Butch" Gamarra to Executive Council. Gamarra, of the Diocese of Los Angeles, is convener of the InterCultural Ministry Development program of the province.
The provincial synod and convocation was held at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, in late July.
Participants in the provincial convocation represented program networks consisting of educators, health ministry, youth ministry, African American ministry, Jubilee Ministry, peace and justice, altar guild, United Thank Offering, commissions on ministry, native Hawaiian ministry, Native American ministry, and communications.
Dr. Rod Dugliss, dean of the School of Deacons, was a first-time participant in the convocation.
He said he was impressed "by the sense of diverse racial ethnicity" within in the province. That makes for a "much richer participation that is very exciting," he said.
Dr. Donn Morgan, president and dean of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, was preacher for the synod's opening Eucharist.
-- The Rev. Dick Snyder is a deacon in the Diocese of Utah and is senior correspondent for Episcopal Life.
NEW YORK: Rick Johnson named head of Trinity Television & New Media
[ENS, Source: Trinity-St. Paul's] -- The parish of Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel has named Richard Johnson, canon for media ministry at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco and executive director of GraceCom, as its new director of television & new media.
In his new role, Johnson will lead the department in establishing Trinity's website as a multimedia resource channel to build the faith community and offer multimedia resources for personal spiritual growth. He will assume his new position and responsibilities in September.
"This past year, we've begun to envision our website as the 'third sacred space' alongside Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel," said Linda Hanick, vice president for communications and marketing at Trinity-St. Paul's. "As we look to engage a virtual congregation with a wide variety of faith formation resources and to connect to our local and global neighbors, I can't think of a more qualified person to take this journey with us. We're delighted to have Rick join our team."
Full announcement: http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/news/article_540.shtml
For more information on Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel, visit: www.TrinityWallStreet.org.
EUROPE: Message on the occasion of the funeral of Brother Roger
[This message is also available in French at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_64432_ENG_HTM.htm]
Dear Brothers,
It is with great emotion that I send you my condolences on the occasion of the funeral of our beloved Brother Roger, and I want to assure you of the deep sympathy of all Anglicans in Europe. He was so cruelly torn from us, but we join with you and all disciples of Jesus in the assurance of his resurrection to eternal life.
Brother Roger did so much to show the world the way that leads to Jesus, a way that has come to its end for him but in which we continue to walk. As a teenager, I met him in Taizé for the first time. Meeting this man in your community greatly influenced me to decide to follow Christ, and finally, to accept to be in service to his Church. I know it is the same for thousands and thousands of people who had a similar introduction to the Lord, reinforced by the ecumenical witness of your community that offers the world a vision of the Church without divisions.
I deeply regret that I am unable to attend personally your celebration of Roger's life, but I rejoice that many Anglicans will be with you to represent the Episcopal Church and the whole Anglican Communion. Please know that our congregations in Europe will be united in thanking God for Roger, whom God sent to do the remarkable work which all of you continue to share. We will pray as well for you in your grief, and of course, for his assassin.
"His feast be without end" (from Br. Roger's book, Ta fête soit sans fin)
Bishop Pierre Whalon
Convocation of American Churches In Europe
23 avenue George V
75008 Paris, France
+33 1 47 20 02 23
office@tec-europe.org
(this message is part of a letter by Bishop Whalon delivered personally to the Brothers of the community by Bishop Marc Andrus, Suffragan Bishop of Alabama)
WASHINGTON: John Danforth, Jim Wallis added to Values Conference line up
[ENS, Source: Values, Vision and Via Media] -- Former Senator and UN Ambassador John Danforth and noted Evangelical author Jim Wallis will headline "Values, Vision and the Via Media" -- the October 13-15 conference set for the Washington National Cathedral. This national gathering of progressive Christians will initiate a path to reclaim the moral values debate from the Religious Right.
"Danforth and Wallis are two of the most influential voices speaking today in opposition to the hijacking of "Christian Values" in the service of a radically conservative political agenda," said the Rev. Susan Russell, one of the conference organizers. "We are thrilled to be able to add their witness to this groundbreaking gathering of Christian activists."
The conference program will outline practical Christian approaches to topics ranging from economics, consumerism, and the environment to peacemaking and family values. Participants include Christian leaders from across the country representing a wide spectrum of interests and sharing a commitment to the values held by the majority of moderate Americans, Republican and Democrat alike. Danforth will be part of the opening plenary session of the conference to be held in the nave of the National Cathedral on Thursday evening, October 13th while Wallis will address the conference as the keynote speaker at the Friday, October 14 banquet.
Other confirmed speakers include journalist and Brookings fellow E.J.
Dionne, American historians David Hollinger and Michael Kazin, and political writer Amy Sullivan, who will discuss the tradition of progressive Christianity in America, the representation of Christianity in the media, and the organization necessary for long-term social change. "The goal of this interdisciplinary values conference is far more than talk," said Kevin
Jones, coordinator of the conference's economic track. "It's to work together to find a path to faithful action personally, locally and globally on the issues confronting 21st century American Christians."
Detailed program information is available online at: http://www.everyvoice.net/values
NEW YORK: Trinity Church announces grants addressing HIV/AIDS pandemic
[ENS, Source: Trinity, St. Paul's] -- The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, rector of the Parish of Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel, announced $844,926 in new grants to 18 partners in the U.S., Latin America, and Africa, covering issues ranging from advocacy on behalf of former prisoners to encouraging visual arts initiatives within the Episcopal Church USA.
Two grants had a particular focus on the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, in the United States and across the world.
The Diocese of Swaziland will receive $130,758 over three years to fight HIV/AIDS. The smallest country in the Southern Hemisphere, it has the world's highest rate of HIV/AIDS with 42 percent infected and 200,000 dying of HIV/AIDS or related illnesses annually. The country has only six hospitals with a total of 2,000 beds. Infection is particularly high among people ages 15 to 45.
Trinity's funding will support a program covering all three archdeaconries of the Diocese of Swaziland and will fund production and distribution of HIV/AIDS prevention materials and workshops throughout the country.
In accepting Trinity's grant, Bishop Meshack Mabuza of Swaziland said, "Thank God for Trinity Wall Street, because it has demonstrated that the body of Christ is universal: the distance between Swaziland and the U.S. is not so material. I am grateful that our sisters and brothers at Trinity Church have identified themselves with our challenge, HIV/AIDS, which is of great magnitude in Swaziland. The grant will enable us to go a long way in responding to the challenge."
Domestically, a grant of $36,000 will support San Juan Bautista Mission's "Hablando Claro" program in its educational activities for HIV/AIDS prevention among Latino residents of the Hunts Point-Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. This neighborhood has one of the highest HIV infection rates in New York City and the church's prevention efforts have a particular focus on at-risk Latino women living in the area. An evaluation program coordinated with the Columbia University School of Public Health will help share the lessons of these prevention efforts with other programs.
"For more than twenty years, the Trinity Grants Program has helped local communities battle the AIDS pandemic," said the Reverend Canon James G. Callaway Jr., Trinity-St. Paul's deputy for faith formation and development. "Congregations have the trust that is crucial for effective prevention efforts, if they have the tools they need."
Other Trinity grants include $171,000 to support the second year of the "Feed the Solution" initiative that is helping the Episcopal Church expand its responses to hunger in New York and New Jersey, and support for interfaith networks between Christian, Muslim, and Jewish groups in New Jersey; telecommunications equipment throughout the Episcopal Church of Brazil; and the Anglican Web Portal in London.
Grants announced today are the second of three cycles annually by Trinity to meet four objectives: strengthening the Church in the Global South, social transformation in metropolitan New York, spiritual formation and development, and strengthening telecommunications in the Anglican Communion.
For more information on Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel, go to www.trinitywallstreet.org.