News Brief
Episcopal News Service. March 1, 1979 [79068]
The Rt. Rev. Wesley Frensdorff, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, has been elected president of the Nevada Conference of Churches, which represents an informal federation of more than 350 Protestant, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Jewish congregations in the state.
At a recent meeting here, the Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on Church Music approved a training plan whereby groups of musicians and clergy from dioceses will meet at a theological seminary for training in order that they might help small congregations in the singing of the services in the Proposed Book of Common Prayer and in the supplements to the Hymnal. The commission received from the Church Hymnal Corporation the second supplement in the Church Hymnal Series and learned that volume three will be published in March and volume four in May. The commission also continued its discussion of the accreditation of musicians in theology and liturgy.
David E. Osborne, of San Jose, Calif., has been named director of newspaper services for the National Council of Churches. In his position, he will be responsible for all news releases and alerts concerning the work of the NCC, as well as being a liaison between the NCC and newspapers and wire services. He was formerly an editor with Pacific News Service and was a staff writer for The New Republic magazine. He is a member of the Stone Presbyterian Church in San Jose.
The consecration of the Rev. Calvin O. Schofield, Jr., as Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida is scheduled for March 23 at Trinity Cathedral here. The Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop, will be the chief consecrator. The Rt. Rev. Clive O. Abdulah, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago, will be the preacher. Father Schofield has been rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Miami since 1969.
The Rt. Rev. Robert Runcie, Bishop of St. Albans of the Church of England, hopes to strengthen relationships between the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Church during an extensive sabbatical tour of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Bishop Runcie, who is Anglican co-chairman of the official talks between the two communions, will discuss the future direction of the dialogue and will also report to Orthodox leaders on last year's Lambeth Conference.
Morehouse-Barlow Co., an independent but Episcopal Church-related publishing house, has taken special note of the 1979 General Convention of the Church in planning some of its Every Sunday Service Folders. The back of each folder is devoted to a message for the particular Sunday, based on the day's Gospel. For five Sundays (August 12 through September 9) five church leaders connected with the Convention provided the messages. The five authors are: Dr. Charles R. Lawrence, II, President of the House of Deputies; the Hon. Chester J. Byrns, member of the Executive Council; Mrs. Daniel S. Connelly, Presiding Officer of the Triennial Meeting of the Women of the Episcopal Church; the Rev. Robert B. Hedges, first-year member of the House of Deputies; and the Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop.
An expanded version of "Jesus of Nazareth" -- the award-winning, critically acclaimed and widely viewed Biblical epic directed by Franco Zeffirelli -- will be presented on the NBC Television Network. The presentation will be telecast in four two-hour segments: Sunday, April 1 (8-10 p.m.); Monday, April 2 (9-11 p.m.); Tuesday, April 3 (9-11 p.m.); and Palm Sunday, April 8 (8-10 p.m. )All are New York time. (Note: Check time and date in your own area.)
The Educational Development Program Unit of the Appalachian People's Service Organization of the Episcopal Church is sponsoring a weekend conference here March 23-25 on the American Dream. The APSO office says, "The purpose of the conference is to examine the basis of the dream so that participants can be free from unconsciously being directed by the elements of the dream; and then to plan for the duplication of the conference in other places, especially the dioceses of APSO. " Information may be secured from NORTH APSO, 234 Spring Garden St., Easton, Pa. 18042, telephone 215/ 253-7764.
Statistics released here by the American Bible Society show that at least one book of the Bible has been published in 1,660 languages and dialects by the end of 1978, an increase of 29 languages over the 1977 figure. The complete Bible has been published in 268 languages and the complete New Testament in 453. Africa ranks as the region with the largest number of languages in which at least one book of the Bible has been translated (482), followed by Asia with 428 languages and Latin America with 269.
The Seabury Press' 1979 Lenten Book, A Season with the Savior: Meditations on Mark, by the Rev. Edward R. Sims, has been chosen as a major selection by two book clubs: the United Methodist Library Services and the Catholic Spiritual Book Association. The book has also received favorable reviews in the American Lutheran Church's Augsburg Publishing House journal and the Kirkus Review. The book contains 92 daily morning and evening readings for the 46 days of Lent. The book is in its second printing at Seabury Press, an official publishing house of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Sims is rector of Christ Church, Cincinnati, and is a nominee for Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of California.