News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. June 20, 1985 [85139]
(DPS, June 20) -- A "study guide and resource for action" is now available for "Central America: A Perspective", the film from the Episcopal Church's Central America Task Force. The guide was designed by the Rev. David W. Perry of All Saints Church, Pasadena, Calif., and, with the film, is intended to carry on the task force's mandate from the Presiding Bishop to: "foster educational and consciousness-raising opportunities about Central America; encourage and support church leadership at all levels to make the Church's voice heard prophetically in the Central American crisis and in the United States' involvement in that crisis; and to continue in prayer and awareness of the people of Central America: their history, culture, victimization, suffering, needs." The film is available for a $15 rental fee from BOA Films, 914 North Fourth Street, P. O. Box 661, Milwaukee, WI 53201. The study guide is available from the Public Issues Office of the Episcopal Church Center, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017.
(DPS, June 20) -- Church World Service, relief and development arm of the National Council of Churches, was one of three organizations aiding victims of the Ethiopian famine to be honored here recently by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. The Roger E. Joseph Prize is given annually "to pay tribute to an individual or organization whose conduct or work enhances or encourages ideals and values derived from religious teachings." Church World Service, through which much of the work of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief is channelled, shares the $10,000 award with Catholic Relief Services and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
(DPS, June 20) -- The Rev. David Robert Ruppe and the Rev. Charles Francis Caldwell have been named, respectively, Instructor of New Testament and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Nashotah House Seminary, here. Ruppe, a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University who has served several parishes in New York, will take up his post when the academic year begins in September. Caldwell, who holds degrees from the University of the South and Notre Dame, will arrive here in July. He has served parishes in Florida and Illinois.
(DPS, June 20) -- The Very Rev. William H. Petersen, Dean of Bexley Hall since 1983, has been concurrently appointed Provost of Colgate Rochester/Bexley Hall/Crozer Theological Seminary. The Provost is chief academic officer of the school; acts as chief executive officer in the absence of the President; supervises all deans, directors, the faculty and staff related to academic programs; and has direct oversight of all educational matters. Petersen, an Episcopal priest and member of the Church's Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations, said of his appointment: "Bexley Hall will remain strongly committed to continued growth as a vital seminary of the Episcopal Church. This concurrent appointment also exhibits to Episcopalians, and, indeed, to a much wider audience, our traditional Anglican vocation to authentic ecumenism. An ecuemnical context for theological education today is not only good if it can be had, but essential for the life and mission of the whole Church."
(DPS, June 20) -- The Olympia Churchman, newspaper of the Diocese of Olympia, has received four awards in the 1985 Washington Press Association Journalism Competition. The Churchman won first in its class for newswriting; first for interview/feature articles; second for special supplements; and honorable mention for photography. The Washington Press Association is a professional journalism organization affiliated with the National Press Women.
(DPS, June 20) --The Episcopal Times, newspaper of the Diocese of Massachusetts, has received four awards from the Associated Church Press, an ecumenical association of church publications from around the United States and Canada, at the organization's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The awards were for poetry, humor (a cartoon), photography, and an honorable mention for the front page of the November issue. The Times was similarly honored in 1983, winning an award for front page.
(DPS, June 20) -- Former first lady Betty Ford will be the recipient of a Special Recognition Award from the National Episcopal Coalition on Alcohol at its annual luncheon, which this year will take place Sept. 11, during General Convention here. Ford, an active Episcopalian, has been a major spokeswoman for the treatment and prevention of alcohol and drug abuse since her own treatment in 1975. In addition to helping found a treatment program, she has spoken on the subject around the country -- and there are plans for her to do so before the House of Bishops at General Convention. The National Episcopal Coalition on Alcohol is a nationwide network of Episcopal laity and clergy, dioceses and agencies which share a common commitment to address alcohol and drug use and misuse issues. In addition to the Special Recognition Award, the Coalition will present its third annual Samuel Shoemaker Award posthumously to the Rev. James Golder of San Francisco, founder of the Recovering Alcoholic Clergy Association.
(DPS, June 20) -- The Armed Forces Chaplains Board has reviewed and approved for airing over the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service Network four radio and one television public service announcements produced by the Episcopal Church. The t.v. spot was "Peace and Family Violence" and the radio announcements were those on teenage suicide, wife beating, child abuse and elderly abuse. In a letter to Armstrong Information Services, Inc., announcing the decision to use the spots, Capt. R. Alan Plishker, USN, called them "extremely well done" and added, "we are grateful to you and the Episcopal Church for making them available to the Armed Forces personnel stationed overseas."
(DPS, June 20) -- The Rt. Rev. Wesley Frensdorff, bishop of Nevada, was honored with resolutions, proclamations, and the gift of a car during the annual diocesan convention held here in early May. Frensdorff is resigning, effective the end of September, to become assistant bishop of Arizona. He will continue to serve part-time as bishop of Navajoland. Gov. Richard Bryan, an Episcopalian, officially proclaimed May 4 "Wes Frensdorff Day", citing Frensdorff's service to the state and diocese since 1951 as a vicar, rector and bishop. In addition, Frensdorff received a State Senate Resolution, whose primary author was State Senator Sue Wagner of Reno, also an Episcopalian. During convention, the bishop learned that he was being given the diocesan car which he has been using. Convention delegates approved a year-long process for selecting a new bishop which will end with nominations at the 1986 diocesan convention. In addition, 12 people, four clergy and eight lay, were elected to a nominating committee.
(DPS, June 20) -- The Diocese of Central New York recently saw the early fruits from its $1.8 million Venture in Mission campaign, as ground was broken here for the DeAlton Johnson Ridings Building at its Thornfield Conference Center. The ceremony marked the close of the 116th diocesan convention, which was held at nearby Cazenovia College. The new structure, named in honor of an active lay member of the diocese who died in 1984, will include a Chapel of the Holy Cross, classrooms, and a youth hall. It will be the fourth building in the Thornfield complex. Located on a former estate on the west shore of Cazenovia Lake, it is used as a conference center by diocesan groups and parishes and by some outside organizations, both church-related and otherwise. The new building, one of many projects to be supported by the diocese's Venture funds, will be used in large part to meet the growing diocesan need for education and training for lay leaders.