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TEAM—Towards Effective Anglican Mission—Conference wraps up
in AfricaOur woman at TEAM is Regina Ratterree, All Saints, Cayce, and Province IV coordinator for ECW's United Thank Offering. Watch for an eyewitness account from Regina!
Read the letter from the official Episcopal Church delegation to TEAM issued at the conclusion of the conference at www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_83594_ENG_HTM.htm.
[From ENS reports] Towards Effective Anglican Mission (TEAM)—Meeting March 7-14 at the Birchwood Conference Centre near Johannesburg, TEAM is welcoming more than 400 people from 30 of the Anglican Communion's 38 provinces to review the Church's response to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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The Most Rev. Rowan Williams addresses the TEAM Conference (ENS photo by Mary Frances Schjonberg) |
The "Towards Effective Anglican Mission" (TEAM) conference,
which met in Boxburg, South Africa, March 7-14, brought together
representatives from the worldwide Anglican Communion to focus
on issues of poverty and AIDS and to enhance current initiatives
in social outreach work to achieve the United Nations'
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Rev. Canon Brian Grieves, director of Peace and Justice
Ministries for the Episcopal Church and a TEAM planning committee member, spoke with
Episcopal News Service about the importance of the conference,
which is being hosted by Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of the
Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
"What's so important about this [conference] is that instead of
a few provinces addressing this issue, we are calling together
the whole Communion, and that is what can really generate a
holistic response that has a real chance to achieve something
very significant in the life and mission of our Church," Grieves
said. "That's what's exciting to me—that we're doing it
together."
Towards Effective Anglican Mission (TEAM)—Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori reiterates MDG commitment at TEAM conference
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a good frame for the Anglican Communion's mission and ministry because they are ''real evidence of what it means to love your neighbor as yourself,'' Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said the morning after her arrival at the Towards Effective Anglican Mission conference in Boksburg, South Africa.
''When Jesus calls us to feed the poor and water the thirsty and provide clothing to the naked, visit the prisoner, visit the sick, heal the sick – the Millennium Development Goals are about all of those,'' Jefferts Schori said during an interview on March 13. ''They are concrete images that people can wrap their minds around. They are a specific way of addressing the Gospel challenge to care for our neighbors. They're achievable in our own day if we have the will to do it and, increasingly, this church is vested in that.''
Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori arrived on the evening of March
12. She participated in TEAM events on March 13 and addressed
the conference's closing luncheon on the 14th. Archbishop
Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, Primate of the Province of
the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, welcomed Jefferts Schori
to the TEAM conference at the March 13 morning session. To the
applause of participants, he said that the TEAM conference
''reflects the Anglican Communion at its best and we say without
any shadow of doubt that the Anglican Communion is alive and
well.''
[ENS] The Episcopal Church's Executive Council, at the
close of its three-day meeting in Portland, Oregon, on March 3,
acted "clearly to affirm that our position as a church is to
welcome all persons."
"We wish clearly to affirm that our position as a church is to
welcome all persons, particularly those perceived to be the
least among us," the Council said in a letter to the Church
issued at the end of the meeting. "We wish to reaffirm to our
lesbian and gay members that they remain a welcome and integral
part of the Episcopal Church.
"Further, we offer our prayerful affirmation to all who struggle
with the issues that concern us: those who are deeply concerned
about the future of their Church and its place within the wider
Communion, and those who are not reconciled to certain actions
of General Convention. We wish to reaffirm that they too remain
a welcome and integral part of the Episcopal Church."
The letter said that the requests made by the recent session of
the Primates Meeting "raise important and unresolved questions
about the polity of the Episcopal Church and its ecclesiology."
"The questions facing us raise significant concerns for members of the
Episcopal Church," the letter acknowledged.
| Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger |
| Goal 2: Universal Primary Education for Children |
| Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women |
| Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality |
| Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health |
| Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases |
| Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability |
| Goal 8: Create a Global Partnership for Development |
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the millennium development goals |
At a recent Lunch and Learn, a regular gathering during which an
ERD staff member gives an update of their work, Matthew St.
John, Program Associate for Latin America and Caribbean
Programs, presented an overview of ERD’s initiatives in the
region.ERD has programs in 7 of the 10 countries ranked lowest
according to Human Development Index. These include Haiti,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Belize and the
Dominican Republic.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of
life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living for
countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring
well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to determine
and indicate whether a country is an underdeveloped, developing,
or developed country and also to measure the impact of economic
policies on quality of life.
In
Haiti, where 80% of its 8.5 million citizens live on less that
$390 a year and a third of its children are malnourished, ERD
has programs in diverse areas such as micro-credit loans, food
security, reforestation and education, which reach about 50,000
beneficiaries. Millennium Development Goals 1, 3, 7 and 8 are
addressed.
In Nicaragua, where 25% of its population lives on less than $2
a day and 90% of urban and 50% of rural dwellers do not have
access to safe water, ERD works with its partners in water
sanitation and health education programs which affect 4,100
individuals. Millennium Development Goals 4, 5, 6 and 7 are
addressed.
As a final example, in Peru which has a long history of HIV
(since 1983) and where 96% of infections are due to sexual
activity, ERD and its partners focus on youth health education.
They also offer micro-credit loan programs. A total of 9,000
benefit and Millennium Development Goals 1, 3, 6 and 8 are
addressed.
To make a contribution to help people affected by the flooding in southern Africa, please donate to the Africa Relief Fund. Donations can be made online at
www.er-d.org or by calling 1.800.334.7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief and Development, Africa Relief Fund, PO Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058
Regarding the meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion which ended February 19, I commend to your reading, study and prayer the following three documents in their entirety which can be found as noted by the links below. (Beware of brief media coverage, which in my experience hardly ever—if ever—portrays an accurate, balanced accounting.) {Editor's note: These were included in the March 1 e~DUSC snail-mail print version and are online at the Bishop's blog, http://uppersc.wordpress.com.)
1.“The Communiqué Of the Primates’ Meeting in Dar es Salaam 19th February 2007”.
2.“The Key Recommendations of the Primates” (at the end of the Communiqué, linked above).
“An Anglican Covenant: Draft prepared by the Covenant Design Group, January 2007”.
You will see in these documents that the Primates considered many areas of Christian mission: ways to improve theological education across the entire Communion; methods of achieving the Millennium Development Goals; and the decision to pursue an international study of approaches to scriptural interpretation. However—to be sure—much attention was on The Episcopal Church (hereinafter sometimes referred to by the abbreviation “TEC”), within the context of the Windsor Report.
The Primates affirmed and challenged The Episcopal Church, and expressed confidence in the future of the communion, as expressed in these excerpts . . . [The full text is available on the Bishop's blog, and is enclosed for those receiving e~DUSC print version by post].
The Rev. David Ewing Stewart, Jr., well known and much loved in Upper
South Carolina, having served as priest in many congregations, died
suddenly on Friday, March 2. Requiem masses were celebrated on March 5
at Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Still Hopes in West Columbia, where
Stewart had been serving as chaplain since late 2006, and on March 6 at
Trinity Cathedral, Columbia.
Stewart, born in New Haven, Connecticut, attended A. C. Flora High School in Columbia and was a graduate of Amherst College and General Theological Seminary. Immediately before moving to Still Hopes to serve as chaplain, Stewart was rector of St. Luke's, Newberry. He was engaged in many diocesan activities and ministries. At the time of his death he was serving in a number of roles, including as member of Diocesan Executive Council, of the Commission on Congregations, and of the Commission on International Concerns and the Anglican Communion. He was also ecumenical officer for the diocese.
He is survived by his wife Jemme, son Matthew, daughter Christi, brother James, sister Linda, and parents, David and Virginia Stewart. Memorials may be made to the Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Newberry, or a charity of one's choice. From his obituary in the State newspaper: "David will always be remembered for the unique and caring ways in which he reached out to members of the community. His death has brought great sadness to his family and friends. He will be deeply missed." May light perpetual shine upon him.
Diocesan Leadership Conference— 85th DIOCESAN CONVENTION PART I--"The Healthy Church Initiative: Nuts and Bolts," May 19 at Christ Church, Greenville.
Since this conference is the official beginning of our 85th Convention (to conclude at Christ Church on October 26 & 27), clergy and elected delegates are expected to attend.
Stay tuned to the diocesan Web site for more information.
SC
State Day at National Cathedral will be Sunday, July 15, 2007, with the
opportunity to participate in a contemplative pilgrimage on the cathedral
grounds on Saturday, July 14. Every Sunday at the National Cathedral one of
our 50 states is honored, but every four years there is a great celebration
for the state remembered on that day, and 2007 is our year to celebrate. You
won't want to miss it.
Go to the diocesan Web site, www.edusc.org, for lots of information, including local and national contacts, registration links and acolyte info.
COLUMBIA
— For the second consecutive year, the US Patent Model Foundation has tapped a
student at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School as the nation’s top inventor in her
grade.
Tay Davant, a fifth-grader at Heathwood Hall, earned Fourth Grade First Place in
the 2006 INVENT AMERICA! Student Invention Competition for the Firefly, a
hearing aid she invented last spring that lights up like its namesake whenever
it is removed or falls out, allowing the wearer to more easily locate it.
“My grandmother wears hearing aids, takes them out a lot and sometimes has
trouble finding them again,” said Tay. “I thought it might help her if they had
a little light in them that would flash when they weren’t in her ear so she
could see them. That’s why I invented the Firefly.”
Tay’s award follows on the heels of last year’s fourth-grade national winner, Heathwood’s Gabriel Brandner. Last year, Gabriel won the same award for his
invention — the Tsunami Warning System. The special tracking device was designed
to utilize satellites and capitalize on certain animals’ ability to sense
approaching Tsunamis, warning people in advance to move to higher ground to
escape the killer tidal waves.
Heathwood has participated in INVENT AMERICA! for 8 years. Current senior Adam
Walker won the school’s first competition and received a national
honorable mention for his moving fishing lure.
For her outstanding accomplishment, Tay will receive a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond
and award certificate. She is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Davant VI
of Columbia.
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Dr. Paul Farmer |
Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer, founding director of the international charity organization Partners in Health and well known to Upper South Carolinians involved with our diocesan ministries in Cange, Haiti, will speak at Church of the Advent, Spartanburg, on Tuesday, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. A reception will follow at the Advent Parish & Community Life Center.
Earlier in the day, Dr. Farmer will receive from Wofford College
the Sandor Teszler Award for Moral Courage and Service to
Humankind and an honorary degree. He will speak on the Wofford
campus at the 11 a.m. convocation honoring him.
The Sandor Teszler Award for Moral Courage and Service to
Humankind represents the highest ideals that the Wofford
community espouses, and it carries with it an honorary degree, a
citation, and a $10,000 cash award, made possible by Reed
Hastings, CEO of Netflix Corp.
Farmer’s work draws primarily on active clinical practice. He is
an attending physician in infectious diseases and chief of the
Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at Brigham
and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston, and medical director of a
charity hospital, the Clinique Bon Sauveur in rural Haiti, and
focuses on diseases that disproportionately afflict the poor.
With his colleagues at BWH, in the Program in Infectious Disease
and Social Change at Harvard Medical School, and in Haiti, Peru,
and Russia, Farmer has pioneered novel, community-based
treatment strategies for AIDS and tuberculosis (including
multidrug-resistant tuberculosis). He and his colleagues have
successfully challenged the policymakers and critics who claim
that quality health care is impossible to deliver in
resource-poor settings.
Partners in Health, which Farmer helped found and continues to
serve as a member of its board of directors, provides direct
health care services and undertakes research and advocacy
activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in
poverty.
Farmer has written extensively about health and human rights,
and about the role of social inequalities in the distribution
and outcome of infectious diseases.
Levine to offer one of three lectures at Trinity Cathedral, March 29
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Dr. Amy-Jill Levine |
Jesus and women and how the church divorces Jesus from
Judaism are topics that Dr. Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt
University Divinity School will tackle as part of the University
of South Carolina's Nadine Beacham and Charlton F. Hall Sr.
Lectureship in New Testament Studies and Early Christianity,
March 29-30.
In its 12th year, the lectureship is held the week before Palm
Sunday during Lent to make top New Testament scholars available
to South Carolinians and clergy. Levine's primary lecture,
titled "Jesus and Women," will be held Thursday, March
29, at 8 p.m. in USC's Russell House ballroom and is one of three lectures that
are free and open to the public.
Earlier on Thursday, Levine will speak at 10 a.m. at Columbia's
Trinity Cathedral. Her lecture is entitled "Jesus and Judaism."
She will offer her third and final presentation, "Jesus, the
Church, and the Academy," on Friday, March 30, at 10:30 a.m, at
Stavros Lecture Hall on the Lutheran Theological Southern
Seminary campus.
Levine is one of the country's best known Jewish New Testament scholars. She is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies and director of the Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender and Sexuality in the Divinity School and graduate department of religion at Vanderbilt University. For more information on Levine and the 2007 Nadine Beacham and Charlton F. Hall Sr Lectureship in New Testament Studies and Early Christianity, call USC's Department of Religious Studies at 803.777.4100.
On Tuesday, April 10, Partners in Dialogue, an interfaith community service project of USC's Department of Religious Studies, will sponsor a screening of the acclaimed documentary "Divided We Fall." The 7:30 p.m. showing will take place in the Gambrell Hall Auditorium on the USC campus, followed by an opportunity for conversation with the filmmakers. Admission is free and open to the public.
Armed with only a camera, an American college student journeys across the country to find out who counts as one of us in a wold divided into "us" and "them." Five years in the making, "Divided We Fall" weaves expert analysis into a cross-country road trip that confronts the forces dividing Americans in times of crisis.
The Order of St. Luke the Physician at Christ Church, Greenville, in partnership with Greenville’s Buncombe Street United Methodist Church, will offer a healing workshop on April 21, from 8:30 a.m. till 5:30 p.m., at Christ Church. The workshop, entitled “Empowerment & Encouragement for Healing Ministry ,” will be led by the Rev. Nigel Mumford, director of Christ the King, Spiritual Life Center in Greenwich, New York. Cost of the workshop is $25. Download the brochure and registration form here. Please register by April 6. Contact the registrar with questions: Debbee Gordon, 864.292.6352, deborah.gordon@bb&t.com.
Teens and adults are need to make
repairs to the homes of the elderly and the
disadvantaged I the Greater Columbia area. Repairs will
be made to 35 homes! No skill level is required.
There is a dire need for adults.
Two planning meetings are scheduled
at the Benedict-Allen Community Development Center, 2001
Two Notch Road, Columbia, beginning at 6:30 p.m. (Pizza
and soda will be served.) The first meeting will take
place on Thursday, March 22, the second on Thursday,
March 29.
For information, or to help in any
manner, please contact
Hank Chardos, 803.781.4536.
The Large-Print Ministry is offering two CDs that can help the blind and visually-impaired in their devotions and to be able to more fully take part in worship.
The Large Print Book of Common Prayer CD includes the entire Book of Common Prayer (1979). It is mainly in 18-point Times New Roman font, laid out for 8.5 x 11-inch pages, and can be used to help prepare worship materials. It’s been suggested that material on the CD can be adapted and used to help children who are learning to read. Books for beginning readers are usually in large print. Grownups can help children learn to follow along and take part in worship.
Prayers & Psalms for Today, the Large-Print Ministry's second CD, reaches out to those who are hurting in body, mind, or spirit. It includes selections from Prayers and Thanksgivings, Prayers for the Sick, Prayers for Use by a Sick Person, and the entire book of Psalms from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.
The Prayers CD is in APhont, a font developed by American Printing House for the Blind. It is in Microsoft Word Most of the material is in 20-point type and is laid out for 8.5 x 11-inch pages. Blind individuals with electronic note takers and special software and visually-impaired people with access to computers can use the CDs. The material can be loaded into a note taker device and re-edited into a form of Braille. The search function on the device can be used to quickly locate passages. The CDs should also be useable in optical-character readers that can read material formatted in Microsoft Word.
The Large-Print Ministry, a lay ministry, is a labor of love in thankfulness to God for His many blessings and in memory of the creator’s father who was visually-impaired. To order one CD, please send a self-addressed, stamped 6x9-inch envelope with three 39-cent stamps attached (four on a padded envelope) to Ann Dahlen, 1900 6th Ave., Apt. 513, Rock Island, IL 61201. Please indicate which CD(s) you want. Please add additional postage for more CDs.
A donation to help cover costs would be appreciated. The ministry is not a program of any diocese, church, or organization. Please make check out to Ann Dahlen. For more information, anndahlen3@aol.com.
“Being in Ministry Without Losing Your Soul,” September 17-19, at Camp St. Christopher, Seabrook Island, SC, offers a deeper look at what drains the life from clergy and a deeper understanding of what can empower clergy to serve faithfully as vocational ministers. This interactive retreat is designed to address the Soul Drainers and Soul Gainers for ministers. Fees: single occupancy: Lodging, meals and program, $275; double occupancy: Lodging, meals and program, $240. More info: 803.296.3045 or 800.444.9334.
The
Lombard Mennonite Peace Center is offering its seminar
"Leadership and Anxiety in the Church: A Family Systems
Perspective" on April 20, 2007, in Columbia.
Topics to be covered include: "The Road to Damascus: The Church and Change in an Age of Anxiety," "'They Know Not What They Do': The Scapegoat Mechanism and Church Conflict," "The Importance of Not Being Earnest: Reversals, Playfulness, and Paradox," "The Road to Damascus: Lessons for Leadership in Anxious Times."
Those who attend the seminar will be exposed to material that could have an impact in preventing destructive conflict from emerging in churches served by your judicatory. Clergy who are currently in the midst of a challenging conflict situation may particularly want to attend.
Pre-registration fee is $79. For more information, contact the Peace Center, 630.627.0507 or visit the Web site, www.lmpeacecenter.org.
| April 2 | Renewal of ordination vows |
| April 18–20 | Gravatt residency |
| April 21 | Diocesan Continuing Ed Training day |
| May 19 | Leadership Conference (Diocesan Convention, Part I), Christ Church, Greenville |
| May 31 | Clergy Business Day |
| June 20–22 | Piedmont residency |
| July 15 | SC State Day, National Cathedral |
| September 10–12 | Fall clergy retreat |
| September 22 | Training the trainers day |
| October 13 | Diocesan Continuing Ed training day |
| October 26–27 | 85th Diocesan Convention, Christ Church, Greenville |
| November 14–16 | Reedy River residency |
