Bishop Ackerman, Diocese of Quincy, says cancel The Episcopal Church General Convention 2009

From Hans Zeiger in Canterbury for Virtue Online:

A leading orthodox bishop of The Episcopal Church has proposed canceling the 2009 Episcopal Church General Convention in order to fund the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Following the Thursday march on London by over 600 Anglican bishops and their spouses in support of the MDGs, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, said that "there should be no General Convention this year, and all the money for the convention should be sent to fund the goals."

Ackerman furthermore called for The Episcopal Church to "cancel all meetings that require face to face and conduct nothing but video conferencing." He said that the American wing of the Anglican Communion should "donate its money to churches that would be positively affected."

Though leaders of The Episcopal Church have stated their commitment to the MDGs and made their biggest stand yet in London on Thursday, Ackerman has doubts that The Episcopal Church has yet made a true commitment.

"If the church is absolutely, totally committed to these goals, there are three things it needs to do," Ackerman said.

"First, place the goals in the context of the Gospel itself.

"Second, leaders must make the necessary changes in their own personal lifestyle so that they can make their own commitment to model what God wants done.

"Third, the church must corporately find a way to fund this."

In response to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's invitation to African bishops to join her for drinks at a Canterbury reception (despite the Sudanese bishops' abstinence from alcohol), Ackerman offered a specific MDG funding proposal. "Do not invite the Sudanese to a reception. Cancel the reception and give the money to the Sudanese church."

Check it out. And here is an interview I did with Bishop Ackerman in March of last year for AnglicanTV. He is such a gentle soul, but so strong in the faith.

Prayer needed for Jennifer Leber's hospitalization (Uganda)

Well, all I can say is God works in mysterious ways. Just yesterday, I posted this on the mission work of Phil and Jennifer Leber (whom I had never heard of before I saw their website and learned of their work in Uganda), only today to have this arrive in my email:

Prayer Needed for Jennifer Leber's Hospitalization

Just got this today.

Jennifer is one of our missionaries and has been the "right hand" person for Mama Phoebe while she is in the states. Please hold Jennifer before our Lord for complete healing.

Phil and Jennifer Leber <leber@ugandamission.org> wrote:

Prayer for Jennifer

July, 2008

Jennifer was admitted to Nairobi Hospital early last week with a serious pulmonary infection. The initial x-ray was so clouded with infection that it hid the specific culprit for some days. With a follow-up x-ray, the doctor realized she has pneumonia in the lower left lobe and will in the hospital probably until Tuesday. She has been on intravenous antibiotics, steroids and oxygen, and only now does the combination seem to be working. She was receiving 80mg intravenous steroids and several intravenous antibiotics, as well as supplemental oxygen. Her white blood cell count was 23,000 when admitted (7,000 is normal).

Today, she is doing better. Her white blood cell count is down to 11,000 and her blood oxygen content is up to 90% from a low of 79% late last week. Please pray for her full recovery and for God to give the doctor wisdom in her treatment. Needless to say this has been a week of grief and emotional exhaustion.

So, please, prayers for Jennifer, Phil, her doctors, and those she has touched with her work in Uganda.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works"

Just in case we get too caught up in what's happening on the Anglican political front in Lambeth, a reminder from Phil and Jennifer Leber posting on Clear River Missions on where we should be putting our energy [boldface mine]:

This month [May 2008] we celebrate our 10th anniversary serving in Uganda. It has been one of the most challenging, rewarding and life-changing decades of our lives. We know with certainty that God has called us to be faithful in serving the people of Uganda. Even though we have sometimes felt we are not "spiritual enough" to be missionaries, and have battled feelings of discouragement, we have also learned the importance of being faithful to do the work God has called us to do. We have seen His miracles of provision, His healing touch and His power to transform hearts. We pray that the seeds we plant will reap a harvest that will remain long after we leave Uganda.

We thank God for you and remember you often in our prayers. We greatly appreciate the love and support that our Uganda Mission family has shown us. In answer to your many prayers, closed doors have been opened, finances have been provided, and lives have been changed. We understand more than ever the need for an army of intercessors to be behind us. You will touch Uganda with the hidden work of prayer even though you may never meet the people for whom you are praying. . .

Lango Diocese

Thanks to the generosity of a grant by the Church of Apostles, our home church in Virginia, 46 clergy in Northern Uganda received new bicycles. This is the area that has suffered from the 20-year war inflicted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) where thousands of children were abducted to be child soldiers and sex slaves. The clergy told stories of the difficulty to spread the Gospel because of the many hours they had to walk to visit their parishes. Each pastor is responsible for as many as twenty parishes spread over many of miles of difficult travel. Most pastors would get to meetings late or not at all because of the great distances they had to walk to get there. Many said it was hard for them to fellowship with the community effectively because of the distances they must walk.

With their new bicycles, these pastors can now reach the surrounding villages to share the love of Christ and encourage people to come to church. One pastor said that he was planning to buy a bicycle this year and had saved to make the purchase, but God did a miracle with the gift of the bicycle. Now the money could be used to take care of his family. Another said that he would be able to transport his family to the clinic and school more efficiently than before. A pastor who serves several IDP camps with twenty thousand or more people said that he was not able to visit them often because of the great distance between them, but now he can go to see the people regularly to encourage them to go to church. His new bicycle makes it possible for him to reach out to these people who are thirsty for God's Word. It is such a blessing to put a smile on the faces of so many. . .

Read it all, and check out the Leber's own web page, Mission to Uganda.

Strong ecumenical presence set for Lambeth Conference

From EpiscopalLife Online [boldface mine]:

A strong ecumenical presence is planned at the 2008 Lambeth Conference, where Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will welcome more than 75 representatives from a wide variety of churches and Christian communities.

Two of the principal speakers at the conference come from the ecumenical world.

Cardinal Ivan Dias, who will address the bishops in plenary July 22, is head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, and deeply involved in the mission work of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Dias has served not only in his native India, but also in Denmark, Sweden, Indonesia, Madagascar, Poland, and Albania. A frequent speaker at Vatican-sponsored events, the Cardinal continually stresses the need for a "strong witness to the Christian faith, in every situation.". . .

Humm, the work of evangelism for the Catholic Church has begun, I see. Wonder what Cardinal Dias will talk about now?

The Anglican Communion has a longstanding commitment to the ecumenical movement,

Sure it does.

and is presently involved in dialogues at the international level with the Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Old Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches. Recent international bilateral ecumenical agreements include The Church of the Triune God with the Orthodox Church, and Growing Together in Unity and Mission with the Roman Catholic Church. Both documents were issued only last year and will be discussed at the Lambeth Conference. . .

How many of these dialogues is the Anglican Communion still involved in? And is it as equals, or as a mission field for other branches of Christianity?

In addition to these ecumenical relationships, some member churches of the Anglican Communion have established full communion agreements with churches of other traditions, involving a complete mutual recognition of ministry and sacraments. Several representatives of these full communion partners will also participate in the conference: Archbishop Joris Vercammen and Bishop Joachim Vobbe, Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht; Bishop Ernst Baasland, Church of Norway; Metropolitan Mar Basilios, Malabar Independent Syrian Church; the Most Rev. Godfredo David, Iglesia Filipina Independiente; Bishop Mark Hanson, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Bishop Susan Johnson, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; Archbishop Jukka Paarma, Finnish Lutheran Church; Bishop Ragnar Persenius, Church of Sweden; Archbishop Karl Sigurbjornsson, Icelandic Lutheran Church. . .

Wait a minute, they don't list the new church, the Reformed Catholic Church of Venezuela, decribed this way by George Conger:

The Bolivarian Church, which models itself on the nationalist catholic church formed in Nineteenth century Mexico that has since become the Anglican Church of Mexico, uses the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer and has adopted a liberal moral ethos, making clerical celibacy optional, permitting divorce and remarriage, and holding that homosexual conduct is not immoral.

How judgmental and non-inclusive to leave them out!

Read it all.

DioBytes: eNews from the Diocese of California

Just by chance I happened upon the Diocese of California's DioBytes web page for June 24. It is described as "a newsletter for clergy, lay leaders, and members of the Diocese of California. We welcome submissions that have a connection to the ministry of the diocese and/or the approval of a diocesan department or commission. Inclusion of submissions is at the discretion of the editors."

Interesting that on this page for June 24, 4 out of the first 7 items dealt with areas of interest for Oasis California, including an invitation to join Bishop Andrus in San Francisco's Pride Celebration this weekend, as well as to participate in the Lambeth "Listening" process through their Letters to Lambeth program.

But the most interesting to me was this:

Youth Confirmation Program

Confirm not Conform, the innovative confirmation program developed by St. John's Oakland, is available for your congregation! Already used by St. John's, Ross; Epiphany, San Carlos; and over 30 parishes nationwide, CnC is a 16-session curriculum that encourages youth to claim and articulate their faith while taking action to change the world and promote the Millennium Development Goals. . .

What can I say? No longer a church, but an arm of the United Nations.

The perils of conversion *Updated*

UPDATE: A very interesting comment line going on at Stand Firm on this presentation and the topic of evangelizing in Muslim countries. Take a look.

Original: From EpiscopalLife Online, a story on the Everyone, Everywhere World Mission Conference (June 5-8) held at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute near Baltimore, Maryland. It was also a joint meeting of the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEM) and the Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission (EPGM).

But lest this sound too "evangelistic" for you, be reassured that ECUSA is still ECUSA [boldface mine]:

. . . The Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler, Episcopal missionary and author and the conference's June 6 plenary speaker, urged participants to work to "bridge this chasm of misunderstanding" between Christianity and Islam, not by seeking to convert Muslims but by working to form interfaith friendships in which both religions can explore all that the two faith have in common.

"Our starting point always has to be to see the redeeming values of the other," he said.

Muslims who are pressured into converting to Christianity suffer in what Chandler called a "total break with society," describing how Christian converts from Islam in Senegal, where he grew up as the son of Christian missionaries, were exiled for the choice they made.

"They ended up getting Jesus, but the rest of their life was hell," he said.

Chandler said he feels called to help find another way of showing Muslims about the way of Christ. Muslims must be able see Christ in the lives of Christians, not simply be told about Christ, he said.

Chandler, who is the rector of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Cairo, suggested that Christians use the Five Pillars of Islam as a way to explore their common religious heritage with Muslims. That commonality is centered in the fact that Jesus was a Middle Eastern man whom Islam reveres, he said.

To the five pillars, Chandler added the concept of jihad, noting that the Qu'ran characterizes jihad as an internal wrestling towards God's intention for one's life. Christians must "actively wage peace on Islam," he said.

Concerning the shahada -- the first pillar, which calls for a profession of faith -- he compared the Muslim proclamation of "There is no god except for God and Muhammad is the messenger of God" to the earliest Christian creed simply professed as "Jesus is Lord."

With the pillar of Salat calling for ritual prayers done in the proper way five times each day, Chandler compared Christianity's emphasis on proper postures for prayers and the east-facing orientation of traditional churches.

Of the practice of Zakat -- charity -- Chandler suggested that Christians need to act charitably toward Muslims, loving what they love in themselves and their culture. When Christians act as the guests of Muslims and not their conquerors, "they know it, they sense it instinctively, even if you speak not a word of Arabic," he said.

Chandler noted the commonality between the pillar of Sawm -- fasting during Ramadan -- and the Lenten fast. He also suggested that Christians and Muslims must "fast" from the implication of both religions' notion that Christianity is a western religion. Christians and Muslims must return Jesus to his incarnated cultural context and remember that the Bible is not a western text received yesterday but a "collection of ancient Middle Eastern texts."

Finally, Chandler pointed out that both Muslims and Christian are called to the Hajj, or pilgrimage. He urged Christians to act more like pilgrims asking for directions and seeking companions on the way, rather than assuming they have already arrived at the truth that they need to proclaim to unquestioning listeners.

He reminded the participants that both Christians and Muslims hold dear Psalm 84, whose fourth verse says: "Happy are the people whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.". . .

Read it all.

Anglican Relief and Development Fund accepting Myanmar cyclone donations

From the Anglican Communion Network [boldface mine]:

Update: The Province of Southeast Asia reports successfully making contact with Archbishop Stephen on May 7.

The Anglican Relief and Development Fund is accepting donations to pay for relief efforts after the cyclone that caused devastation in Myanmar May 3–4. Reports suggest more than 20,000 people were killed by the storm with thousands more still missing.

Yangon (Rangoon) was among the areas hard hit by the storm. “Since the cyclone came ashore, we have been unable to contact Archbishop Stephen Than Myint Oo or any other church leader in Yangon or elsewhere,” said Bishop Henry Scriven, who recently attended Archbishop Stephen’s consecration on behalf of the Network and the Common Cause Partnership.

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Anglican Relief and Development Fund received a donation from Anglicans living on the border of Thailand and Myanmar to help the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. They gave out of what little they had when we were in need. I pray we show the same generosity to our brothers and sisters,” said Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network.

Donations to the Anglican Relief and Development Fund will be collected and then passed on to the Anglican Province of Southeast Asia for distribution and oversight, said Canon Nancy Norton, executive director. Since its founding in 2004, the fund has been active in Myanmar on several occasions. In 2006, it supported an effort to provide health care to tens of thousands of people in the dioceses of Sittwe and Toungoo by training 110 health care workers.

Forward in Faith North America, whose members form a non-geographical convocation of the Network, work with the diocese of Pha-an, which is establishing village primary schools and developing a community learning program for adults using the school venues and equipment.

Forward in Faith is also helping to fund a tutoring program at the diocese of Hpa-an’s hostels, to assist Christian young people in attaining the qualifications they need in order to teach in the diocese’s schools.

Gifts for relief work in Myanmar may be sent to:

The Anglican Relief and Development Fund
PO Box 3830
Pittsburgh PA 15230

Please write “Myanmar Cyclone Relief” in the memo line. An online giving option will be available shortly at http://www.anglicanaid.net/.

Changes in missionary compensation prompted by concerns over equity, budget constraints

From EpiscopalLife Online, it looks like budget cuts, they are a'coming [boldface mine]:

Missionaries who work outside of the United States under the auspices of the Episcopal Church will soon see major changes to their compensation.

According to a letter from the Rev. David Copley, Anglican and Global Relations mission personnel officer, sent to all overseas missionaries, the church will no longer pay them a monthly stipend (about $500, in most cases) or cover their airfare, relocation expenses, language study, vaccinations, and any health expenses not covered by insurance. . .

Copley, who works in the church's Office of Anglican and Global Relations, said in the letter and a subsequent interview with ENS that the decision was made in the face of what he called "the realities" of a $50,000 increase in health-insurance premiums for this year, a five percent cut in the current Episcopal Church budget and the $130,000 cost to provide increased pensions contributions for lay missionaries in 2008. . .

Copley said the alternative to the compensation changes was to cut the number of missionaries in order to balance the budget.

"For some of you, this will mean an increase in benefits with the addition of a lay pension component, but for others this will mean that there will be a reduction in support," Copley acknowledged in his letter.

The decision affects about 70 missionaries, for whom the new package will go into effect at the next renewal of their Letter of Understanding with his office, Copley said.

"Missionaries will be asked to raise funds to cover other costs," according to the letter.

Copley, who spent seven years as a missionary in Liberia and Bolivia, acknowledged "it is a lot of money" to have to raise, in addition to what most missionaries routinely gather for their work. He added that he hopes the missionaries' sending congregations and dioceses will look seriously at their financial commitment to the people they send out to minister in the name of the church.

"The hope is that people will get even more involved in the lives of the people they're sending out," he told ENS.

The General Convention budget is "finite," Copley told ENS. "We're hoping that parishes and dioceses will step up to fill the gap," he added. . .

[Randall] Giles [a lay missionary in India for nearly eight years] also said he worries that the changes in compensation will result in a change in the Episcopal Church's missionary efforts. He doubts that there will be many people who can commit to being "long-term presences" overseas "unless they are of absolutely independent means." As a result, Giles said, there may be more people who can only work as missionaries for a few years and may not have the same commitment to the work.

Read it all. Remind me again how much ECUSA is spending on litigation??

Answering God's call: Loving hands of Garden of Innocence take abandoned babies to their final rest

From Saturday's San Diego Union-Tribune, a story by Sandi Dolbee on a true calling [boldface mine]:

Bare branches of trees in winter form slender shadows on the lawn, like fingers reaching out to gently rock a cradle. A raised marker welcomes visitors with these words: “Garden of Innocence. Final resting place for abandoned children.”

Annmarie joins them this morning, when she will become the 100th baby buried by a charity whose founder couldn't bear the thought of infants going unclaimed in death.

“These are human beings,” Elissa Davey said. “They don't deserve that.”

Davey, a 59-year-old Vista woman, formed Garden of Innocence in 1998 and held the first funeral the next year.

“To me, it's giving dignity to somebody who had none, and it's giving love to somebody who had none,” Davey added. “The people who come to these services walk away knowing that that baby is a part of their lives.”

Like many of those buried at the Garden of Innocence, Annmarie was a hospital stillborn. A spokesman for Grossmont Hospital said the family was unable to make any other arrangements. Others were found dead elsewhere, their grim discoveries in a landfill or trash bin, often making the news.

“We don't dwell on that part,” said Georgene Kruzel, a 54-year-old Spring Valley woman who became president of the group in January. “We dwell on making that life recognized. Our agreement with the county is we basically get the child with very little information. We don't need to know.”

Here is what Kruzel and Davey do know: It takes a village to bury these babies.

The initial land was donated by El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley (donations have subsequently helped buy adjacent property). Volunteers make the caskets and baby blankets, write poems for each child and supply a toy to be tucked into the coffin. The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic service organization, provides the honor guard.

Larry Campitiello, a local Knights of Columbus member, was there in full dress uniform for the first service nearly nine years ago.

“I showed up with six of my brother Knights,” remembers Campitiello, who is 71 now and lives in Rancho Bernardo. “We've had Knights of Columbus at every burial ever since.”

Baby-naming honors are rotated to volunteers, donors and anyone who expresses an interest, according to Davey. Campitiello and his wife named Baby No. 100. “My wife and I had three sons,” he explained. “We decided way back that if we ever got a girl, we would name her Annmarie.”. . .

The lining for Annmarie's casket was made by Alice Busch, a 60-year-old San Marcos resident who learned about the Garden of Innocence through the Mormon church she attends. The cloth is polka-dotted flannel, trimmed in lace. Busch said she wanted something soft and delicate, something that would bring comfort.

“I just have never had anything touch my heart like this has,” Busch said of the Garden of Innocence project. “You hear about these things all the time in the news, but you never hear about what happened to them afterward.”

Howard Sanders, a woodworker who heard about the program through his mother, crafted the coffin out of sapele wood, which has a reddish-brown luster similar to mahogany.

Sanders, a 39-year-old San Marcos resident, said he got involved because he felt it was the right thing – and because it may serve as an example of service to his own children.

“By doing this, I am able to teach my daughters that this is what we do,” he said.

Wally Hobbs, one of several funeral directors who volunteer their services, will deliver Annmarie this morning in his shiny hearse, a specially outfitted black van.

“I take pride in doing the funeral,” said Hobbs, 61, of All Faiths Mortuary and Crematory Services in Rancho Peñasquitos. “When it comes to children, they need to be loved.”

Even with the donated help, each funeral still costs about $400 in fees and other expenses. Those costs are borne by donations to the Garden of Innocence, a registered nonprofit charity.

Davey's hope is to take the program national. Already there is a similar garden in St. Louis, and one in Las Vegas should be finished this summer. . .

John Edwards, deputy public administrator for the county, said there have been no complaints against Garden of Innocence. “Personally, I think it's a wonderful program,” he said. “It's been a godsend to the county.”

Abandoned babies used to be buried in unmarked graves at the city-owned Mount Hope Cemetery. Now, after a certain amount of time elapses in which babies of at least 20 weeks in gestation remain unclaimed, county officials contact Davey.

“We never take aborted fetuses,” Davey said.

The services are open to the public, generally drawing crowds of a handful of people to more than 70. . .

Through the years, a range of clergy have presided over the graveside funerals – from Pentecostal to Religious Science to an American Indian shaman. Today, San Diego Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Salvatore Cordileone will be there. . .

Read it all.
And an update from the San Diego Knights of Columbus, who have been at every burial since the first one nine years ago:

Brothers,

On March 1st we had 70 Knights in colors and 30 other Knights to help AnnMarie to have a dignified Funeral. The Auxiliary Bishop Cordileone presided over the service.

John Ramirez, GK 9710

And from the Garden of Innocence website, a description of how the Knights of Columbus serve this ministry:

Even though we are a non-denominational organization, these wonderful gentlemen from the Catholic Knights of Columbus have made it part of their personal journey to add dignity to every memorial service.

At our first service for Adam there were 7 and we have had as many as 70 show up. We can't tell you how awe inspiring it is to see these gentlemen, some in their late 80's, walking toward the garden escorting a small casket, containing a child that no one else wanted, out to their final resting place.

They stand at attention in their capes, caps, gloves and swords, They salute each child and make the services so much more wonderful by their presence. We are so proud to have them take on this honor. They have been faithful and awesome in their love and care in which they treat each and every child that comes into the Garden of Innocence. You will find this one memorial service that you will want to tell your friends about and return again and again. . .

Sharing Our Faith conference videos

From AnglicanTV:

Sharing Our Faith

For a small donation of $10 you can watch hours of teaching from the Sharing Our Faith Conference. This conference was video taped in the Metro DC area and is brought to you as a ministry of AnglicanTV.org.

For more information on the Sharing Your Faith Ministry Click Here

Included videos include:

• Evangelism: Why Bother?


• Faith-Centered Cathecesis


• What Good News?


• How Can I Motivate My Church for Evangelism


• The Church God Multiplies


• One-to-One Evangelism


• Every Church a Planting Church


• and many more....

After you complete the paypal transaction, you will be immediately forwarded to the video page.

Anglican District of Virginia to hold inaugural missions and outreach training event

Via email, the ADV continues along (looks very interesting):

WHAT: The Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) and its members unite this weekend at its inaugural outreach event, Inspired Service Through Missions – a conference designed to enlighten, equip and encourage. The conference is for those in ADV churches who would like to get involved in missions, those who are actively supporting or participating in outreach, and those who are planning to participate in a local, domestic, or international trip in the future. At the event, there will also be a list of all 2008 mission trips planned by ADV churches.

ADV parishioners travel around the globe each year with the goal of responding to God’s call to share the Good News of Jesus Christ by loving and serving the nations. Through mission trips, prayer and financial support, ADV member churches provide outreach to over 50 different countries or regions of the world from Afghanistan to Uruguay.

WHO: The featured speaker will be Jim Hobby, Rector of Trinity Anglican Church in Thomasville, Ga., and Director of Ethne Mission Networking and Equipping (http://www.ethneonline.org/).

WHEN: Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23, 2008

Friday
7:00 – 7:30 p.m. – Registration and Check in
7:30 p.m. – “Why Don’t We Just Send the Money?” – Short-term Trips That Make a Difference

Saturday
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. – Registration and Check in
9:30 – 11:30 a.m. – “But There Is So Much Need Right Here.” – The World through the Eyes of a Missionary God
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Lunch
12:30 – 1:45 p.m. – “Why Do They Do That?” – Engaging Cultural Differences
2:00 – 3:15 p.m. – “This Isn’t What I Had in Mind!” – Conflict and Expectations Going and Coming
5:00 p.m. – Worship and Eucharist – Rev. Jim Hobby Preaching

WHERE: Church of the Apostles, 3500 Pickett Road in Fairfax, Va.

RSVP: To attend the conference, please contact Jerry Baker, ADV Outreach Coordinator at 703-626-6774, or ADVOutreach@cox.net. (For members of the media who wish to attend any portion of the conference, please RSVP to Caitlin Bozell (ext. 119) or Kelly Oliver (ext. 140) at (703) 683-5004.)

Kenya missionaries return to work despite continuing unrest

From EpiscopalLife Online:

Kenya's Episcopal missionaries Nan and Gerry Hardison are steadfastly committed to continuing their ministry as teachers and health care specialists in Maseno, despite tribal and criminal gang violence that has roiled the east African nation since the December 27 contested presidential election.

The Hardisons returned to Maseno in west Kenya January 25 and are back to work, Gerry as the medical director of Maseno Mission Hospital and Nan as a teacher at St. Philip's Theological College.

They had been evacuated to Nairobi January 11 following the post-election conflict that threatened their security and is responsible for the deaths of more than 900 people. Also evacuated were a Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) volunteer, Liz White, who continued home to the U.S., and nine student nurses.

Violent protests between supporters of President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga erupted across the country after Kibaki was declared the winner in the closely contested election.

Parishioners from All Souls' Church, Point Loma, in the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, the Hardisons said that people in Maseno "are thankful and grateful to have us here -- we are a sign of hope. They are afraid for the future, and we are a signal that they are not abandoned by brothers and sisters in Christ from other parts of the world.". . .

Meanwhile, Ndungu and Rose Ikenye, Episcopal missionaries based in Thika, are reported to be safe, and Canon Percia Hutcherson, a former Episcopal missionary to the Diocese of Eldoret, Kenya, returned to the United States on January 9.

Hutcherson, 86, is a physical therapist who works with crippled children and adults at a clinic she established at the bishop's compound in Eldoret.

Reached at her Los Angeles home, Hutcherson said that the facilities there have not been directly affected by the violence. "In the past, churches were respected," she commented. The deliberate torching on January 2 of a nearby Assemblies of God church where some 35 women, children and elderly persons had sought shelter was a terrible shock to Kenyans, she said. . .

Read it all.

Joshua Project: Bringing definition to the unfinished task

Check out the Joshua Project!

"Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations"
Jesus said it 2,000 years ago. Where do we stand today?

Our Purpose ... to spread a passion for the supremacy of GOD in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.
Our Mission ... to highlight the people groups of the world that have the least Christian presence in their midst and to encourage pioneer church-planting among every ethnic people group.

H/t to the Webelf Report.

Resources for Sanctity of Life Week, January 20-27 *sticky*

I've listed some web resources and ideas for this coming week, Sanctity of Human Life Week, January 20-27, 2008. This week marks the 35th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions that legalized abortion in the USA.

• March for Life (January 22 in Washington, D.C.)


• Anglicans for Life (and don't forget to sign the petition!)


• January Pro-Life Events (Priests for Life)


• Annual Commemoration of Roe v. Wade Events (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)


• Be a Voice for Life (An Outreach of Focus on the Family)


• A New Way to Celebrate Sanctity of Human Life (Bethany Christian Services)


• Life Sunday Resources (The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod)


• Presbyterians Pro-Life


• 2008 Sanctity of Human Life bulletin insert (Buckner International)


• Physicians for Life


• Blogs for Life (third-annual Blogs for Life Conference on January 22 at the Family Research Council Headquarters in Washington, D.C. beginning at 8:00 a.m, to precede the March for Life; a webcast will be available)


• ProLifeBlogs

The MEA Foundation in the Diocese of Dar-es-Salaam

Yesterday I had the opportunity to hear the Rt Revd Valentino Mokiwa, bishop of the Diocese of Dar-es-Salaam of the Anglican Church of Tanzania, speak to the San Diego chapter of the American Anglican Council at their monthly board meeting. Bishop Mokiwa was visiting Holy Trinity Parish, an Anglican parish in the Diocese of Argentina (in the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone), and will be in Charleston for the January 26 consecration of Mark Lawrence as bishop of South Carolina.

In his talk, Bishop Valentino mentioned the MEA Foundation which sponsors the Buguruni Anglican Health Centre. The centre's mission is to deliver clinical health care services and public health programs to women and children.

According to the MEA Foundation website, the Diocese of Dar es Salaam is

developing a comprehensive women and children health program serving the impoverished Buguruni District (population 250,000) of Tanzania’s capital city. The health center and public health programs will be carefully linked with the government district hospital, the other two general clinics serving the area, and the medical school hospital in order to create an integrated health system for the mothers and children of the area.

Currently on a 3-year mission in Dar-es-Salaam to help with this effort are Drs. Henry and Priscilla Ziegler, a physician and nurse team with community health training and experience. They have had experience in several other African countries: Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda, and are sponsored by the Episcopal Church. You can read some of their letters here but this most recent note from August, 2007, says:

. . . We are now actively helping 94 children by supplying a small amount of emergency food aid, full health care coverage, and support for education or job training. The children stay in the community with extended family caregivers or adoptive families. Since beginning in January of 2006 with a $15,000 grant from the Incarnation Episcopal Church in North Carolina, we have helped 107 children. Unfortunately, we can no longer accept new children into the program because the funds are fast disappearing and we must fund the educational needs of children already in the program. We are seeking grants to continue the program but could certainly use your help.

We just graduated another class of community health workers. They include community residents from the Buguruni area, a community resident from the Rufiji Delta, a nurse from Mafia Island, and a doctor who will be our rural health educator. Their community outreach, mosquito net distribution, and health education through the Nets for Life program are one of the most valuable things that we do in helping decrease death and suffering in our communities. . .

Read it all and consider donating as well. Donations should be sent to:
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church
4228 Factoria Blvd. SE
Bellevue, WA 98006
Attention: Ziegler Mission

Centurions Sought

From Touchstone Magazine:

Chuck Colson's Centurion program is looking for a hundred Christians to enroll in this year's class that equips Christians with worldview skills for ministry:

The Centurions Program is a distance-learning/networking program that equips Christians to engage a starving culture with the choice fruits of biblical truth. Studying under Chuck Colson and other great leaders and teachers, students learn to handle accurately the word of truth as it applies to every area of life and culture—including politics, education, mass media and the arts, bioethics, business, and marriage and family. And they gain confidence to speak persuasively and winsomely amid the stew of distorted beliefs and values.

Equip, educate, engage.
Each year we select 100 Christians—from hundreds of applications—and train them through an intense combination of rigorous reading and writing assignments, teleconferences, three weekend residences, worldview devotionals, monthly meetings with accountability and prayer partners, and a thriving online forum that supports a free-flowing exchange of ideas and experiences.

Will you consider becoming one of a hundred in 2008?
To apply, you can visit our website to download an application and get more program details. Or call 1-877-478-0100. We will be accepting applications through November 30, 2007.

Personal encounters: The church's future depends on missionaries, not mission work

A personal story by the Rev. Richard Lindsley Walton Jr., in EpiscopalLife Online:

In our relationship with the Anglican Communion today, particularly with those in the Global South, it appears we Episcopalians are reaping what we so often have sown by the aloofness of our wired money transfers: the deep division of alienation.

With all due respect to our archbishops, diocesan bishops and professional theologians, the essential point is this: It is much harder to dismiss the other when we have lived, worked and worshipped together, when we have shared a common meal. This is especially true about those with whom we have the most profound disagreements. Living together is still the best way to discover what we truly have in common and what it means to be in communion.

From the first hour Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, she made it clear that she believes the church is currently being forced to neglect its most urgent mission. A few months later, on the day Jefferts Schori was officially invested, when addressing in her sermon those who "disdain" the Episcopal Church's theological position on human sexuality, she proclaimed the great importance of making poverty history, of funding AIDS work in Africa, of distributing anti-malarial mosquito nets around the developing world. And yet, as laudable as those aims and projects are, the question is not the importance of mission; it is the means by which we do it.

In 1933, close to 500 Episcopal missionaries were serving outside the United States. By the late '70s, however, there were fewer than 70. And the trend continued to decline, or to show unstable improvement, until the 1990s. . .

. . . The decline in Episcopal mission is a complicated story, but much of it had to do with a trend toward sending money to fund development projects rather than sending missionaries themselves. That trend often was motivated by guilt about colonialism, both political and religious, and by fears of current economic and cultural imperialism.

Yet, when compared to other Christian relief agencies, the Episcopal Church was not even notably generous. That is the bad news. The good news is that by the dawn of the new century, Episcopal Church mission work began a remarkable renewal. The future of that renewal, however, is very much in question. . .

. . . For decades, dioceses around the communion consistently have requested large numbers of educators along with medical personnel, and more specifically theology instructors, but the Episcopal Church often has shied away from education, especially theological education, as seemingly nonessential. . .

Unfortunately, Walton's suggestion for mission is to export ECUSA's brand of theological chaos, but read it all for yourself.