News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. July 16, 1987 [87155]
The Church Deployment Board met on May 28-29, 1987 at the Marydale Conference Center here. The Rt. Rev. C. Charles Vache, chairman, reported "significant progress" on the preparation of a housing booklet for clergy, which discusses various options available to parishes and clergy; new approaches to mutual ministry review; a videotape to be made available to parishes to assist them in clarifying the calling process for new rectors; and highlighting concerns of interim clergy who are employed during the vacancy period. The Board also heard from the Rt. Rev. David E. Richards of the Office of Pastoral Development, who outlined possible areas of collaboration between two groups, and from the Rev. Charles Long of Forward Movement Publications, who asked the Board to consider possible publications for use and distribution through their offices, such as the one recently published for the Church Deployment Board "Prayer in the Calling Process." The Board also accepted the resignation of the Rev. David L. Seger and wished him well in his new position as Director of admissions and alumni relations at Nashotah House. The Board authorized the recruitment of an associate director to replace Seger. The next Board meeting will be hosted by Dr. Larry McNeill in Nashville, Tenn. on Nov. 16-17, 1987.
"The Congregation: A Community of Care and Healing" has been designated as the theme for the 1987 Alcohol-Drug Awareness Sunday, sponsored annually by the National Episcopal Coalition on Alcohol and Drugs. Scheduled for Nov. 22, this Sunday was designated as a way of helping congregations to further their understanding of the role that alcohol and drugs play in our society and the problems associated with their misuse. The 1987 Alcohol-Drug Awareness Sunday Resource Packet includes: information and resource booklet, poster, sample bulletin cover, litany suggestions and information about NECA. Parishes may order a complimentary packet by writing to NECA at 1511 K. Street, N.W., Suite 314, Washington, DC 20005. Additional packets may be ordered by the public at an introductory price of $5.00. Orders will be filled by on the basis of availability. The National Episcopal Coalition on Alcohol and Drugs is an independent, nationwide network of Episcopal laity and clergy, dioceses, parishes, schools, agencies and other institutions all with a common, shared commitment to address the issues associated with use and misuse of alcohol and other drugs in relationship to the church. NECA publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, sponsors an annual gathering, provides technical assistance to diocesan commissions and the national church and distributes special publications.
An educational package dealing with the issues surrounding abortion has recently been developed by the Diocese of Virginia and is available at cost to parishes, adult education groups, youth groups and others. A 30-minute videotape provides an introduction to "Abortion: The Dialogue Continues." The videotape features a panel discussion on the variety of positions Christians hold on abortion. The 111-page written curriculum and videotape were developed by the diocesan Committee on Childbirth and Abortion. The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, bishop of Virginia, credits the committee and their work with "honoring different and conflicting points of view, of even changing the framework of the discussion, moving it forward from simply a pro-life/pro-choice standoff." The Rev. Jean Milliken, who chairs the diocesan committee, notes that childbirth and abortion are related to many other issues. The curriculum reflects this, with sessions on teenage sexuality, genetic engineering, women's issues, the family and public policy issues. The curriculum's flexible design means that groups may use the entire package for an eight-session study, or selected chapters may be used independently for shorter programs. "Abortion: The Dialogue Continues" (written curriculum and videotape) may be obtained by sending $21.00 to the Diocese of Virginia, 110 Franklin St., Richmond, VA. 23220.
The Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation is seeking qualified and interested persons to become field sales representatives in order to increase the usage of video and audio software in local churches and by individuals. Field representatives would be paid on a commission basis. Contacts could be made through on-site visits, diocesan events, clergy conferences, diocesan papers, etc. It is hoped that the field representative would also assist in raising the visibility of the Foundation generally in the Church and to share an interest in its special projects and accomplishments. While the foundation has historically distributed its resources by direct mail sales advertising, it hopes the field representative concept will expand the use of these resources through person-to-person contact. All interested persons should contact the executive director, the Rev. Louis C. Schueddig, at: The Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation, 3379 Peachtree Road, N.E., Atlanta, GA. 30326; telephone: (404) 233-5419.
Thomas G. Riley has been named executive director of Faith Alive, a lay witnessing fellowship within the Episcopal Church, succeeding Fred C. Gore, who founded the national organization in 1970. Riley, of Vienna, Va., and Gore, of Hockessin, Del., were re-elected as chairman and president, respectively. Other officers are: K. Michael Smith of Madison, Ind., vice president; Elmore Hudgens of Rutherfordton, N.C., secretary; and Howard M. Tischler of Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., treasurer. Those newly elected to the board, comprised of 24 laity and clergy, were Frederick H. Bowes, Duxbury Mass.; Dr. Robert E. Flanders, Griffin, Ga.; Ralph C. Gilbert, New Freedom, Pa.; Thomas E. Hammer, Lancaster, Ohio; Thomas H. Harrington, Seattle, Wash.; LeRoy M. Lacey, Kokomo, Ind.; the Rev. Edward A. Rouffy, Castle Rock, Colo.; the Rev. Robert L. Schwarz, Sayville, N.Y.; Douglas L. Smith, Great Falls, Va.; Dr. Harrison T. Steege, Berwyn, Pa.; and the Rev. B. W. Wait, III, Tallahassee, Fla. During the past 17 years, almost 2,000 Faith Alive Weekends have been held in churches throughout the country and abroad. Although most of the Weekends have been held in Episcopal parishes and missions, churches of many other denominations have hosted Faith Alive Weekends, Gore said. Churches interested in learning more about this parish experience are urged to write to Faith Alive, P.O. Box 1987, York, PA. 17405.
Ronald C. Barlow, president of Morehouse-Barlow Company, Inc., has announced the appointment of E. Allen Kelley as publisher. For several years, Kelley has been president of his consulting business for publishing and book manufacturing. Prior to that, he was senior editorial director of Morehouse-Barlow company. Kelley is a graduate of Trinity College and the General Theological Seminary and is a member of St. Stephen's Church, Ridgefield, Conn. Founded in 1884, Morehouse-Barlow Company is a publisher and retailer of religious publications, curriculums, gifts, church goods and supplies. It is now a subsidiary of Miltco Corporation t/a BSC Litho, of Harrisburg, Pa.
Atlanta will be the site for the 1987 national conference of the Prayer Book Society. The city's Colony Square Hotel will host the meeting, which is to be held Sept. 25-27, 1987. According to the organizers of the conference, the city is in close proximity to the largest concentrations of Prayer Book Society members in the nation. The three-day conference will convene leaders and members of the Society to discuss issues of importance to church members, to worship together and to socialize with both clergy and laity from all areas of the country. Of primary concern will be a recent report by the Diocese of Newark that favors church recognition of homosexual and heterosexual relationships outside the bonds of marriage. The Prayer Book Society, which is concerned with upholding what it claims is the traditional faith and worship of the Episcopal Church, has chosen "Crusade for Conscience" as the theme for the Conference.
A conference of more than 200 people from nine Christian traditions in Scotland (Reformed (Church of Scotland, Congregational, United Free), Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Quaker, Salvation Army, Methodist, United (URC) Eastern Orthodox) has proposed to "go forward together" with formation of a Scottish Assembly of Christians -- an every-two-years "meeting place for those who have responsibility and authority in the churches," and also for "as wide a spectrum as possible of church membership."
According to the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, US "church investors are proposing more social-responsibility shareholder resolutions to more companies than ever before in the 16 year history of the church corporate-responsibility movement" -- 165 resolutions challenging 122 companies on issues such as investment in South Africa (the focus of about two-thirds of the resolutions), weapons production, treatment of women and minorities, the environment, the "world debt crisis," marketing of infant formula and employment practices in Northern Ireland. ICCR Executive Director Timothy Smith said "the combined economic power of the churches and these [giant public and private] pension funds poses an unprecedented challenge to US business to be socially responsible."
Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr., an Episcopalian, is the 1987 recipient of the Henry Wilton Peace Prize, an annual award given by the Unitarian Universalist Peace Network. The prize was presented May 1 at the Unitarian Church here. Weicker was selected for the award because of his consistent support for nuclear arms control legislation and his opposition to "the dominant role of the military in U.S. foreign policy," said the Rev. Stephen M. Schick of Philadelphia, director of the peace network. The award, which is accompanied by a gift of $3,000, was established by an endowment donated by Henry Wilton, a member of First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles.
A feminist Roman Catholic theologian who is currently a professor of New Testament at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., has been given the annual award of U.S. Catholic magazine. Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, who has frequently clashed with the Roman Catholic hierarchy, has received the magazine's Steuben Glass award for her work in furthering the cause of women in the church. Fiorenza was cited for having "challenged the silence about women in the history of the church." U.S. Catholic is published in Chicago by the Claretian Fathers and Brothers, a religious order. The theologian has been a leading scholarly critic of church restrictions on the role of women, including the ban on women's ordination to the priesthood. Among her recent books are Bread Not Stone: The Challenge of Feminist Biblical Interpretation and Women -- Invisible in Theology and Church. In another work, In Memory of Her, named for the anonymous woman in the Gospel of Mark who anointed Jesus, she writes: "The Christian Gospel cannot be proclaimed if the women disciples and what they have done are not remembered."
The election of new officers and the welcoming of two new and three returning members of the Board of Directors were highlights when the Board of the National Episcopal Coalition on Alcohol and Drugs met here in conjunction with the Under One Roof Conference June 3 and 4, 1987. Elected as president was the Rev. Dr. Philip Parham of San Antonio, Texas, who has served on the Coalition's Board since its inception in 1983. Mary Brendenberg of Kirkwood, Mo., was selected to serve as vice president. Sally A. S. Michael of Falls Church, Va., was re-elected as treasurer, and the Rev. Gilbert Dent, of Greenwood, S.C., was elected to serve as secretary. The two new Board members are the Rev. Phil Allen, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, Minn., and a member of the National Committee on Indian Work, and Virginia King, assistant director of the Department of Community Ministries for the Diocese of Atlanta. Re-elected to the Board were Parham, David Else and Michael.
The University of the South has announced the appointment of the Most Rev. John M. Allin, former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, as interim chaplain for the summer and Advent semesters. Allin will serve his alma mater while the University seeks a replacement for the Rev. William W. Millsaps, who resigned last December. Since December, the acting chaplain has been the Rev. Kenneth Cook, who will remain at Sewanee in his previous capacity of assistant chaplain. Allin, who has his home at Sewanee, was chancellor of the University of the South from 1973-1979 and has been a member of the university's Board of Trustees (1959-1973) and Board of Regents (1965-1973). More recently, he was national co-chairman of Century II, the university's successful $50-million campaign. Allin is priest-in-charge of Christ Chapel in Hobe Sound, Fla., from November to May each year. This year, he will delay his departure from Sewanee until December. Allin received both his bachelor's and master of divinity degrees from Sewanee.