Shield of the Episcopal Church
 This
shield was adopted in 1940 as the symbol for the Episcopal Church USA. The
shield brings together some of the Episcopal Church USA's history, offering
a brief history lesson through its design.
The Episcopal Church was founded in 1789 as a separate group from its parent
Church of England, from which the churches in the colonies found themselves
divided by the American Revolution. The red white and blue colors are the
colors of the American flag. Many of the founders of this nation, including
George Washington, were Episcopalians.
The white field with a red cross is St.
George's Cross, the patron saint of the Church of England (and incidentally
the colony of Georgia). This remembers the Episcopal Churches roots in the
Church of England.
There are nine miniature crosses on the field
of blue symbolizing the nine dioceses that met in Philadelphia in 1789 to
ratify the initial constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States of America. The crosslets are formed after the St. Andrews
Cross. St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. This remembers the
Scottish Episcopal Churches part in our history as it was their bishops who
ordained Samuel Seabury as the first American Bishop in 1784.
The Episcopal Church today remains a part of the Anglican
Communion, the name for all those churches around the world which trace
their origin to the church of England. As such, King of Peace is part of a
worldwide denomination with more than 72 million members.
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PANORAMA
Canterbury Appoints Pastoral Visitors
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in February appointed a group of interim pastoral visitors to assist in healing and reconciliation across the Anglican Communion.
His appointments came in response to the Anglican primates. At their meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, they affirmed recommendations of the Windsor Continuation Group and called for the development of a pastoral council and the appointment of the visitors.
This interim group of pastoral visitors are to be called upon in any dispute or situation of tension until the May 1-12 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, the communion's main legislative body. They are to act in a manner "consistent with the constitutions and canons of those provinces" in which they operate. Williams has said that the visitors "would not have any authority to make dispositions or proposals for structural solutions to any situation, unless expressly authorized to do so by the primate or other lawful authority of the particular provinces with which they have been asked to work."
The six men appointed by Williams are:
* the Rt. Rev. Santosh Marray, bishop of Seychelles (Indian Ocean);
* the Rt. Rev. Colin Bennetts, retired bishop of Coventry (England);
* the Rt. Rev. Simon Chiwanga, retired bishop of Mpwapwa (Tanzania) and former chairman of the Anglican consultative council;
* Major General Tim Cross, a retired British soldier who was the U.K.'s senior-most officer involved in the Pentagon's post-war planning in Iraq;
* Canon Chad Gandiya, Africa desk officer for the U.K.-based mission organization ESPG; and
* the Very Rev. Justin Welby, dean of Liverpool Cathedral (England).
Anglican women under-represented
Noting that women make up just six percent of the Anglican Communion's top decision-makers, the International Anglican Women's Network urged at its Feb. 22-27 meeting in New York City that the worldwide church study the role of women and find ways to empower female leadership.
The network, which represents 40 million Anglican women in 165 countries, was formed in 1996. Representatives of 30 of the 38 Anglican provinces and the network's steering committee attended the meeting in New York.
The network supports implementation of a resolution passed in 2005 by the Anglican Consultative Council that calls for each province to consider the establishment of a "women's desk." Few provinces have women's desks or departments. The same resolution acknowledged that one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals is "equal representation of women in decision-making at all levels" and requested that the ACC’s standing committee identify ways in which that goal "may appropriately be adapted for incorporation into the structures" of the communion.
Three of the communion's four "instruments of unity" are open only to bishops: the Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the primates' meeting. In many Anglican provinces, ordination is not open to women. The Anglican Consultative Council (the fourth instrument) has members who are bishops, priests and laity.
MDG Inspiration Fund near s goal
Episcopal Relief & Development’s Millennium Development Goals Inspiration Fund is close to meeting its target of raising $3 million for global health programs by the end of 2009.
ERD launched the fund with the support of a generous grant comprising 0.7% of the Episcopal Church’s budget over three years.
Since then, the MDG Inspiration Fund has stimulated tremendous support. This Fund and other resources have enabled Episcopal Relief & Development to implement programs that reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and water-born illnesses in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Last year, the MDG Inspiration Fund supported programs that trained roughly 45,000 people about HIV prevention and provided medical support to more than 15,000 people affected by the virus. Money from the Fund also was used to build wells, latrines and water stations that protected thousands of people from water-born illnesses in 2008.
The Fund has assigned $2 million of the total $3 million to support NetsforLife®, a partnership for malaria prevention in sub-Saharan Africa. So far, NetsforLife® has distributed more than one million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, primarily to children and pregnant women living in remote villages.
To help ERD fight disease through the MDG Inspiration Fund, visit www.er-d.org or call 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to: Episcopal Relief & Development, “MDG Inspiration Fund” PO Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.
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