Account for Monday, September 19

The Episcopal Church

Office of Public Affairs

 

 

Episcopal Church House of Bishops Fall 2011 meeting:

Daily Account for Monday, September 19

 

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church is meeting in Province IX in Quito, Ecuador (Diocese of Ecuador Central) from September 15 to September 20.  The following is an account of the activities for Monday, September 19.

 

The Episcopal Church House of Bishops began Monday, September 19 with Morning Prayer and Bible Study. The Bible study focused on the Mission of the Church through the lens of Matthew 5:21-26. At the conclusion of the Bible study, HOB chaplain the Rev. Stephanie Spellers of the Diocese of Massachusetts asked the bishops to reflect on their call to be reconcilers asking, "What is the breach you feel most compelled to repair?"

 

Emcee for the day was Bishop Paul Lambert of Dallas. Bishop Clay Matthews reintroduced the theme "Proclaiming the Gospel: Caring for the Least as Bishops in the 21^st Century."

 

The morning was devoted to a panel discussion on Migration, Poverty, Indebtedness, and the Environment in Ecuador. Panelists were Franklin Canelos, economist and university professor; the Rev. Nilton Giese, General Secretary of Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias (Latin-American Council of Churches); Esperanza Martinez, sociologist, biologist and researcher with Oil Watch; and Ana White, Immigration and Refugee Policy Analyst at the Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations.  Each presented data which detailed the many points and aspects of the topic; presentations were in English and Spanish.

 

In the afternoon session, Bishop Don Johnson of West Tennessee moderated the open discussion with the morning's panel members and HOB members.

 

Province IX of the Episcopal Church is comprised of the Dioceses of Colombia, Ecuador Central, Ecuador Litoral, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.

 

Eucharist was celebrated at noon by Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce, Diocese of Los Angeles, in three languages: English, Mandarin and Spanish. HOB chaplain the Rev. Simon Bautista, Diocese of Washington, was the preacher.

 

 

Media Briefers for Monday, September 19

Bishop Mary Glasspool, Diocese of Los Angeles

Bishop Steven Miller, Diocese of Milwaukee

 

Links

Diocese of Dallas http://edod.org/

Diocese of Los Angeles http://www.ladiocese.org/

Diocese of Massachusetts http://www.diomass.org/

Diocese of Milwaukee http://www.diomil.org/

Diocese of Washington www.edow.org

Diocese of West Tennessee http://www.episwtn.org/

Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn

Province IX http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/directory_11134_ENG_HTM.htm

 

Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias: http://www.claiweb.org/

Oil Watch http://oilwatchmesoamerica.org/

The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

 

On the web:

Episcopal Church House of Bishops Fall 2011 meeting: Daily Account for Monday, September 19

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/newsline_129867_ENG_HTM.htm

 

# # # #

 

For more info contact:

Neva Rae Fox

Public Affairs Officer

The Episcopal Church

publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org

212-716-6080  Mobile: 917-478-5659

 

 

 

 

Guest Blog: Presiding Bishop's Sermon from Cathedral during HOB meeting

The Episcopal Church

Office of Public Affairs

 

 

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori preaches

at Quito Cathedral during House of Bishops meeting

 

 

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church is meeting in Province IX in Quito, Ecuador (Diocese of Ecuador Central) from September 15 to September 20. 

 

 

[September 18, 2011] Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori presided at Eucharist at Catedral del Buen Señor, Quito, Ecuador, and preached in English and Spanish, noting "No one receives more than another, for all we have is a gift from God." "Nadie recibe más que otro, por todo lo que tenemos es un regalo de Dios."

 

The House of Bishops, meeting in Quito, joined the parishioners of the Cathedral along with Episcopalians who traveled hours for the Sunday morning Eucharist.

 

The following is the text of the Presiding Bishop's sermon:

 

Catedral del Buen Señor, Quito

18 septiembre 2011

 

            It is very good for brothers and sisters to live together in peace – even if it doesn't happen very often.  Human life has been marked by conflict since Cain and Abel.  Their conflict was about whose religious offering was better – sheep or crops.  They were competing for God's recognition. 

Es muy bueno para los hermanos y hermanas a vivir juntos en paz - incluso si esto no sucede frecuentemente.  La vida humana ha estado marcada por el conflicto desde Caín y Abel.  El conflicto estaba a punto de que era mejor oferta religiosa - de oveja o de los cultivos.  Los hermanos estaban compitiendo por el reconocimiento de Dios.

Most conflict beings with a scarcity – hunger, no land to call your own, no job to support a family, even a person's reputation.  Wars erupt when one nation thinks it needs something belonging to its neighbor – land, other resources, or more people to do its bidding.  Think about the conflicts over land formerly occupied by native peoples, or the attitudes toward migration from one country to another.  The United States is currently fighting two different wars, searching for greater security, both in terms of physical safety and having enough oil.  The conflict in the Middle East is about land and security, and it has many echoes of Cain and Abel's struggle over whose religious practice is best.

La mayoría de los conflictos tiene su origen en la escasez - el hambre, no hay tierra para llamar a su cuenta, no trabajo para mantener a una familia, aun la reputación de una persona.  Las guerras estallan cuando una nación piensa que necesita algo que pertenece a su vecino - la tierra u otros recursos, o más personas para hacer su voluntad.  Piense en los conflictos por la tierra anteriormente ocupada por los indígenas, o las actitudes hacia la migración de un país a otro.  Los Estados Unidos están luchando dos guerras distintas, en busca de mayor seguridad, tanto en términos de seguridad física y suficiente petróleo.  El conflicto en el Medio Oriente está a punto de la tierra y la seguridad, y tiene un montón de ecos de la lucha de Caín y Abel a lo largo de cuya práctica religiosa es el mejor.

Scarcity can be relative – it may not even noticed until there's a comparison with somebody else.  Kids and adults who decide they have to have the latest toy or fashion are living in a relative kind of scarcity, but so are those who want a higher status in their community. 

La escasez puede ser relativa - ni siquiera notó hasta que haya una comparación con otra persona.  Niños y adultos que deciden que tienen que tener el último juguete o ropa de moda están viviendo en la escasez relativa, pero también son aquellos que quieren un estatus más alto en su comunidad.

Scarcity leads to conflict, whether the scarcity is objectively real or only relative.  Scarcity also has something to do with judgment when we criticize others when we demand an immediate resolution, forgetting that God's opportunity for judgment is abundant and eternal.

La escasez lleva al conflicto, si la escasez es objetivamente real o relativa.  La escasez también tiene algo que ver con el juicio - cuando criticamos a los demás y buscamos una solución inmediata, olvidándonos de que la oportunidad de Dios para el juicio es abundante y eterna.

The Israelites in the Exodus reading we heard today are complaining because they don't like the food – either how much they're getting or the kind of food they have to eat.  They would rather go back and be slaves in Egypt than be free to find the land God has promised them.  God hears their complaints, and God sends them enough – both meat at night and bread in the morning.  It is enough, but it's not way more than enough.  On the sixth day of the week they get enough for two days, so that they don't even have to gather and prepare the food on the sabbath.  They get enough rest, too, along with their daily bread. 

Los israelitas en el desierto se quejan porque no les gusta la comida - ya sea la cantidad o el tipo de comida que tienen que comer.  Prefieren volver y ser esclavos en Egipto que ser libre para encontrar la tierra que Dios les ha prometido.  Dios escucha sus quejas, y los envía suficiente - tanto en la carne por la noche y el pan a la mañana.  Es suficiente, pero no es demasiado.  En el sexto día de la semana, reciben lo suficiente para dos días, así que no tienen ni recoger o preparar la comida en el día de reposo.  Pueden descansar lo suficiente junto con su pan de cada día.

Jesus tells a story in the Gospel about scarcity and conflict as well, but it's about relative scarcity.  The landowner, the owner of the vineyard, hires anybody who needs work, all day long, and he agrees to pay each one a day's wage – enough to live on.  But when he starts to pay all those who worked at the end of the day, those who were hired first get angry.  They think they should get more than those who only worked the last part of the day.  They feel cheated, even though they get what was promised.  

Jesús cuenta una historia acerca de la escasez y el conflicto así, pero es la escasez relativa.  El dueño contrata a alguien que necesita trabajo, durante todo el día, y se compromete a pagar a cada uno un día de salario - lo suficiente para vivir.  Pero cuando empiece a pagar al final del día, los que fueron contratados primero se enoja.  Ellos piensan que debería recibir más que los que sólo trabajó la última parte del día.  Se sienten engañados, a pesar de que se lo había prometido.

Scarcity has something to do with what or who we worship.  When the Israelites get their priorities right, they discover that God gives them enough.  When they get their priorities mixed up, they build a golden calf and worship that.  It doesn't turn out very well.  Those workers hired at the beginning of the day seem obsessed with their own effort – they are comparing themselces to those who came to work at the end of the day.  Competition and conflict result.

La escasez tiene algo que ver con qué o quién adoramos.  Cuando los israelitas conseguir sus prioridades, descubren que Dios les da lo suficiente.  Cuando llegan sus prioridades equivocadas, construyen un becerro de oro y adórenla.  No salió tan bien.  Los trabajadores contratados en el inicio de la jornada parecen obsesionados con su propio esfuerzo - en comparación con aquellos que vinieron a trabajar al final del día.  El conflicto resulta de la competencia.

            Peace, about which we sand when we came in today, is more than an absence of conflict, but it comes through an awareness of true abundance – it's the opposite of scarcity.  The kingdom of God is about a feast where everybody has enough, and enough more to celebrate.  That is the promised land God first told them about.  Peace has a lot to do with the absence of anxiety about scarcity – I'm not afraid about where my next meal is coming from, or how to clothe my children.  And I know that my neighbor isn't going to come and take what I have, because he, too, has enough.

            La paz es más que la ausencia de conflicto, pero viene la paz a través de una toma de conciencia de la verdadera abundancia - es todo lo contrario de la escasez.  El reino de Dios se trata de una fiesta donde todo el mundo tiene lo suficiente, y bastante más para celebrar.  Esa es la tierra prometida, que Dios primero prometió a los israelitas.  Paz tiene mucho que ver con la ausencia de ansiedad por la escasez - no estoy preocupado por mi próxima comida, o como puedo vestir a mis hijos.  Y sé que mi vecino no va a venir y tomar lo que tengo, porque él también tiene lo suficiente.

            The surprising thing about all of this is that it is those who don't have very much are often most generous and least anxious.  The guys in the vineyard who got a good job and had a productive day's work surprisingly ended up having the greatest sense of scarcity.  The ones who had been anxious all day until they were called to work were simply grateful.

            Lo sorprendente de todo esto es que aquellos que no tienen mucho son usualmente más generosos y menos ansiosos.  Es sorprendente que los chicos de la viña, que tiene un buen trabajo y un día productivo son los que tienen la mayor sensación de escasez.  Los que habían estado ansiosos todo el día hasta que fueron llamados a trabajar eran simplemente agradecidos.

            The conflict in this diocese is mostly about relative scarcity – decision-making authority is the scarce commodity in most people's eyes.  It's pretty clear that it isn't distributed effectively enough for people to believe there is abundance.  All the bishops here can tell you of similar conflicts in their own dioceses, but most of those conflicts have not risen to this level of intensity.

            El conflicto en esta diócesis se refiere principalmente a la escasez relativa – autoridad para tomar decisiones es el bien escaso en los ojos de la mayoría de la gente.  Es claro que no se distribuye con eficacia suficiente para que la gente cree que hay abundancia.  Todos los obispos aquí pueden decir de conflictos similares en sus propias diócesis, pero la mayoría de esos conflictos no se han elevado a esta intensidad.

The answer to all conflicts over scarcity is remembering that God intends for everyone to have enough – enough food and drink, adequate shelter and clothing, and enough security to be able to lay down weapons and live together in peace – that is the promised land.  We can't begin to live with that vision until we're ready to stop competing for resources.  The answer almost always is to share what we have.  When we do, we discover the wealth we do have.  To be able to say, mi casa es tu casa is to know that abundance only comes when it's shared.  Hoarded resources will always seem scarce.

La respuesta a todos los conflictos por la escasez es recordar que Dios quiere que todos tengan lo suficiente - suficiente comida y bebida, alojamiento y ropa adecuada, y la seguridad suficiente para poder renunciar la violencia y vivir juntos en paz – es la tierra prometida.  No podemos empezar a vivir con esa visión, hasta que estemos listos para dejar de competir por los recursos.  Usualmente, la solución es compartir lo que tenemos.  Cuando lo hacemos, descubrimos la riqueza que tenemos.  Para ser capaz de decir, mi casa es tu casa, es saber que la abundancia viene solamente cuando es compartida. Recursos atesorados siempre parecen escasos.

            Are we the workers who came first in the day, or those who came last?  Can we be grateful for what we have, and willing to share the blessing? That is the purpose of this table of thanksgiving.  No one receives more than another, for all we have is a gift from God. 

¿Somos los trabajadores que vinieron por primera parte del día, o los que fueron contratados últimos?  ¿Podemos estar agradecidos por lo que tenemos, y dispuestos a compartir la bendición de abundancia?  Ese es el propósito de esta mesa de acción de gracias.  Nadie recibe más que otro, por todo lo que tenemos es un regalo de Dios.

¡Aleluya – celebremos la fiesta!

 

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate

The Episcopal Church

 

 

On the web:

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori preaches at Quito Cathedral during House of Bishops meeting

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/newsline.htm

 

The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/episcopalian

Twitter: twitter.com/iamepiscopalian

YouTube: www.youtube.com/TECtube

 

# # # #

 

 

For more info contact:

Neva Rae Fox

Public Affairs Officer

The Episcopal Church

publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org

212-716-6080  Mobile: 917-478-5659

 

HOB for Saturday, September 17

The Episcopal Church

Office of Public Affairs

 

 

Episcopal Church House of Bishops Fall 2011 meeting:

Daily Account for Saturday, September 17

 

 

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church is meeting in Province IX in Quito, Ecuador (Diocese of Ecuador Central) from September 15 to September 20.  The following is an account of the activities for Saturday, September 17.

 

On Saturday, September 17, the members of the House of Bishops and the HOB Spouses/Partners group, which is meeting concurrently, visited various sites of mission and ministry in and beyond Quito.

 

One group traveled to the Episcopal Mission in Tulcan, located more than four hours outside of Quito, on the border between Ecuador and Colombia. While there, they conducted a prayer service at the bridge where people seeking refuge to cross, and they met Colombian refugees who have fled the violence and troubles in that country.

 

Another group traveled to an Episcopal Church in Ibarra, about three hours from Quito. The group met with clergy and parishioners and learned about the ministries sponsored by the church for the people in that area.  The church members talked about their ties with the Dioceses of Atlanta, Connecticut, New Jersey and the Cathedral in Indianapolis.

 

The third group visited a neighborhood in Quito, including an Episcopal church that hosts Colombian refugee events, a daycare, and a school.

 

The evening will provide an opportunity for bishops to gather with others in their Provinces for discussion and sharing.

 

 

Media Briefer for Saturday, September 17

Bishop Andrew Waldo, Diocese of Upper South Carolina

 

 

Links:

The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

Diocese of Upper South Carolina http://www.edusc.org/

 

 

 

# # # #

 

For more info contact:

Neva Rae Fox

Public Affairs Officer

The Episcopal Church

publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org

212-716-6080  Mobile: 917-478-5659

 

 

 

Account for Friday, September 16

The Episcopal Church

Office of Public Affairs

 

 

Episcopal Church House of Bishops Fall 2011 meeting:

Daily Account for Friday, September 16

 

 

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church is meeting in Province IX in Quito, Ecuador (Diocese of Ecuador Central) from September 15 to September 20.  The following is an account of the activities for Friday, September 16.

 

The House of Bishops opened its session on Friday with Morning Prayer, with parts in English, Spanish and French.

 

Emcee for the day was Bishop Julio Holguín, Diocese of Dominican Republic.

 

The morning discussion focused on Scriptural and Theological Foundation for Liberation Theology, presented in Spanish by Silvia Regina, Director of Departamento Ecumenico de Investigaciones (Department of Ecumenical Research).

 

At noon, Holy Eucharist was celebrated by Bishop Alfredo Morante, Diocese of Ecuador Litoral.  Preachers were the HOB chaplains, the Rev. Simone Bautista, Diocese of Washington, and the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, Diocese of Massachusetts.

 

Bishop David Alvarez, Diocese of Puerto Rico, moderated the afternoon session on "Prophetic Proclamation and Liberation Theology" with Don Compier, professor at St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, MO;  the Rt. Rev. Naudal Gomes, Bishop of Curitiba, Brazil; and Professor Silvia Regina, the morning speaker.  All three speakers spoke of how the principles of liberation theology, which is God's good news for the poor, can speak to our various church contexts.  "There is only God and the poor," said Prof. Regina, highlighting the importance of this theological understanding for authentic biblical witness today.

 

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori addressed the conflict in the Diocese of Ecuador Central.  The conflict is "public and it is painful," she said.   "Our presence here is a remarkable statement to the people of this diocese," she said, adding that conversations continue.

 

Bishop Martin Fields of Western Missouri provided an update on the tornados and the devastation to Joplin and the damage to other areas. Joplin, he said, will not return as it was, with estimates of 10 years needed for that area. He noted that among the items needed for the area are Christmas decorations.

 

 

Media Briefers for Friday, September 16

Bishop Eugene Sutton, Diocese of Maryland 

Bishop Michael Vono, Diocese of Rio Grande

Bishop James Waggoner, Diocese of Spokane

 

 

Links

The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

Diocese of Curitiba, Brazil http://www.ieab.org.br/ieab/

Diocese of Dominican Republic http://episcopaldominican.org/

Diocese of Ecuador Litoral http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=654

Diocese of Maryland http://www.ang-md.org/

Diocese of Massachusetts: www.diomass.org

Diocese of Puerto Rico http://episcopalpr.org/

Diocese of Rio Grande http://www.dioceserg.org/

Diocese of Spokane http://www.spokanediocese.org/

Diocese of Washington www.edow.org

Diocese of West Missouri http://www.diowestmo.org/home0.aspx

St. Paul School of Theology http://www.spst.edu/

 

On the web: Episcopal Church House of Bishops Fall 2011 meeting:

Daily Account for Friday, September 16 http://www.episcopalchurch.org/newsline_129844_ENG_HTM.htm

 

# # # #

 

For more info contact:

Neva Rae Fox

Public Affairs Officer

The Episcopal Church

publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org

212-716-6080  Mobile: 917-478-5659