News Brief
Episcopal News Service. January 28, 1982 [82023]
The Rev. Omar Ortiz, a 44-year-old Chilean priest, has been elected auxiliary bishop of Paraguay with right to succession, according to the Rt. Rev. Colin Bazley, presiding bishop of the South American Anglican Council (CASA). The bishops and executive committee of CASA ratified the election by a diocesan synod held in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Nov. 19. Ortiz will succeed Bishop Douglas Milmine, an Englishman who has spent most of his life in Latin America as a missionary of the South American Missionary Society. Ortiz, a priest for 20 years, served churches in his native Chile before moving to Paraguay a year ago. He and his wife Sonia have five children. His episcopal consecration is expected to take place next May in Asuncion.
Preparing for the 1983 National Conference on Renewal, Ministry and Evangelism, PEWSACTION has tabulated returns from a poll of over 1,000 bishops, clergy and lay people across the country. The conference theme is "The Reign of God: Enabling and Equipping Tomorrow's Church," with specific focus on "The Body of Christ, Gathered," "The Followers of Christ, Discipled," and "The Commands of Christ, to Minister." Plenary sessions will be addressed by speakers from the Episcopal Church and the Church of England. The poll results led to selection of 50 workshop topics to be offered concurrently twice daily to all participants. The most popular topics deal with prayer, shared ministry, spiritual gifts and their discernment, parish and personal evangelism and social outreach, specific fields of ministry in and to the community, and others never offered in previous renewal conferences. The Conference will be held Nov. 9 to 13, at the Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, N.C. Advance information will be available shortly from PEWSACTION, F.C. Gore, chairman, 101 East "D" St., Belleville, IL 62221, and the Evangelism and Renewal Office of the Episcopal Church Center, New York.
A seminar on Christian life and practice, entitled, "Community and Communion," will be held at the Convent of St. Helena here from June 25-July 4. The seminar is planned to include addresses, discussions and time for study. There will also be focus on silence, journal writing and recreation. There will be a two-day conducted retreat. Participants will share in the life and work of the Community including the offering of the Eucharist and the four offices. The seminar will be limited to twelve persons. To help cover the expenses of the program a donation of $150 is suggested. Interested women and men over the age of 21 may contact the Convent for further information and/or an application to Seminar, Convent of St. Helena, P.O. Box 426, Vails Gate, NY 12584.
-- The Seabury Press has published Design of My World: Pilgrimage To Christianity by the Episcopal Bishop of Iran, H.B. Dehqani-Tafti. Now living in exile in the United Kingdom, Dehqani-Tafti is also the author of The Hard Awakening, a personal account of the Islamic revolution in Iran. In that account, the bishop told of the terrorism he witnessed: the shooting of his wife, Margaret; the brutality suffered by his secretary; and the senseless murder of his only son, Bahram. Design of My World: Pilgrimage to Christianity is the story of the spiritual journey of H.B. Dehqani-Tafti – of his birth to a Muslim father and a Christian mother and his upbringing in the Christian Faith. Design of My World: Pilgrimage to Christianity, by H.B. Dehqani-Tafti is available from Seabury Press in a $4.95 paperback edition.