wfn.org | [ELD] Committee sees vitality in Episcopal Church amidst challenges / Video: Advent message from the

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>Episcopal Life Daily
>December 1, 2009

Episcopal Life Online is available at  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife.

>Today's Episcopal Life Daily includes:

* TOP STORY - Committee sees vitality in Episcopal Church amidst  challenges
* WORLD REPORT - AUSTRALIA: Global faith leaders hope to give push to
climate change action
* WORLD REPORT - KENYA: Faith groups told they have key role in AIDS  fight
* PEOPLE - Seven team leaders named for Church Center's new strategic  model
* MULTIMEDIA - Video: Advent message from the Presiding Bishop
* SPIRITUAL REFLECTION - Daily Advent meditations from Episcopal  Divinity School
* DAYBOOK - December 2: Today in Scripture, Prayer, History
* CATALYST - Be Merry! - Celebrate Advent and Christmas with Gloriæ  Dei Cantores

>_____________________

>TOP STORIES

Committee sees vitality in Episcopal Church amidst challenges

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church has underlying
indications of vitality despite membership declines in 2008 and signs
that the church is "swimming against some difficult cultural tides."

That was the assessment of Matilda Kistler, chair of the House of
Deputies Committee on the State of the Church, after the group met
Nov. 17-20 in Chicago.

Kistler also acknowledged in a press release (LINK) that "the internal
conflicts within the Episcopal Church have also distracted from the
message of hope our clergy and lay leaders seek to share."

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_117454_ENG_HTM.htm

More Top Stories: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife

>_____________________

>WORLD REPORT

AUSTRALIA: Global faith leaders hope to give push to climate change  action

>By Kim Cain

[Ecumenical News International, Melbourne, Australia] As the world
prepares for the United Nations climate change conference in
Copenhagen, on the other side of the globe people gathered to pray for
the delegates who are to meet in the Danish capital.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_117447_ENG_HTM.htm

>- - - - -

KENYA: Faith groups told they have key role in AIDS fight

>By Fredrick Nzwili

[Ecumenical News International, Nairobi] In advance of World AIDS Day
on Dec. 1, Kenyans living with HIV gathered at Nairobi's All Saints
Anglican Cathedral to send 10,000 Thanksgiving Day postcards to U.S.
President Barack Obama.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_117445_ENG_HTM.htm

More World news: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>PEOPLE

Seven team leaders named for Church Center's new strategic model

[Episcopal News Service] Seven current Episcopal Church Center
employees have been named to lead program-based "mission teams" housed
in a new Department of Mission.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_117423_ENG_HTM.htm

More People: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_ENG_HTM.htm

>_____________________

>MULTIMEDIA

Video: Advent message from the Presiding Bishop
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm

More Multimedia: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80056_ENG_HTM.htm

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>SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS

Daily Advent meditations from Episcopal Divinity School

[Episcopal Divinity School] The new president and dean of Episcopal
Divinity School has an Advent gift for people of faith. "Our gift, not
a Christmas gift, but an Advent gift, is a short daily meditation on
the season and the lectionary," said the Very Rev. Dr. Katherine
Hancock Ragsdale. "Advent is a season that is hard to live into. City
streets and suburban lawns all are decked out with Christmas
decorations; the newspapers are full of ads for Christmas sales;
everything conspires to rob us of the depths, lessons, and joys of
Advent. During this season, I hope you find time, once a week, to go
to church. I hope you find time, once each day, to retreat into your
own center to find that place where you can be present to the meaning
of the season."

Delivered by Ragsdale, Monday through Friday, these brief video
meditations are posted daily on the Episcopal Divinity School website
at http://www.eds.edu. To watch and listen, click on Advent Resources
and Events.

"Because we live in such a fast-paced age, where computers and
technology are present in nearly everyone's lives on a daily basis,
these meditations provide a moment for everyone to escape their
obligations and reflect in spiritual thought," said the Rev. Dr. Ran
Chase, dean of student and community life at EDS. "It is a great
medium for everyone to use."

>_____________________

>DAYBOOK

On December 2, 2009, the church remembers Channing Moore Williams,
missionary bishop in China and Japan.

* Today in Scripture: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82457_ENG_HTM.htm

* Today in Prayer: Anglican Cycle of Prayer:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/index.cfm

* Today in History: On December 2, 1697, St. Paul's Cathedral in
London, designed by Christopher Wren, was dedicated.

>_____________________

>CATALYST

"Be Merry! - Celebrate Advent and Christmas with Gloriæ Dei Cantores"
from Paraclete Press, by Gloriæ Dei Cantores, directed by Elizabeth C.
Patterson, CD, c. 2008, $18.95

[Paraclete Press] Gloriæ Dei Cantores offers a joyful Christmas gift!
Be Merry! captures that wonder of Christmas - its joys, mysteries and
sheer delight! Listeners can sing along as the choir shares new
arrangements of familiar and beloved Christmas carols like "What Child
is This?" and "Deck the Hall' with contributions from Gabriel V Brass
and Extol Handbell Choir. The beautiful and festive 24-page booklet
enhances each carol, providing a meaningful gift ensemble.

>Track list:

>What Cheer? - Seagull Sever
>Adam Lay Ybounden - Boris Ord
>Noël Nouvelet - arr. John Rutter
>Down in Yon Forest - arr. John Rutter
>Today the Virgin - John Tavener
>Gaudete - arr. Richard Lakey
>Go, Tell It on the Mountain - arr. Cynthia Dobrinski
>Patapan - Reginald Jacques
>All this Time - William Walton
>Immortal Babe, Who in Thine Own Way - David Campbell
>Shepherd's Pipe Carol - arr. John Rutter
>God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - arr. Valerie W. Stephenson
>What Child Is This? - arr. Seagull Seven
>A Boy was Born - Benjamin Britten
>My Dancing Day - Gerald Near
>Joys Seven - arr. Stephen Cleobury
>Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow - arr. Cynthia Dobrinski
>Go, Tell It on the Mountain - arr. John Rutter
>The Snow Lay on the Ground - arr. Beth P. McCoy
>Ah, Bleak and Chill the Wintry Wind - from The Alfred Burt Carols
>We'll Dress the House - from The Alfred Burt Carols
>Caroling, Caroling - from The Alfred Burt Carols
>Deck the Hall - arr. Seagull Seven

To order, please visit Episcopal Books and Resources online at
http://www.episcopalbookstore.org, call 800-903-5544, or visit your
local Episcopal bookstore.