| The Official eNewsletter of the Anglican Mission in the Americas
|
Here's your July Issue of Currents!
Dear ,
Hope you enjoy this edition!
If you have an upcoming event, news item or story of interest send us an email.Also, please consider forwarding Currents to an Anglican friend.  Cynthia Brust
Director of Communications, Anglican Mission in the Americas |
|
Tell Your Story at the 2009 Winter Conference "Film Festival"
Each year, Winter Conference provides the opportunity for us to gather, connect and strengthen our mission. In 2009, we have planned a special way to inspire and encourage each other to engage our culture.
Given the multimedia world in which we live, what better way to tell our stories than to capture them on video?
Under the leadership of Bishop TJ Johnston, the Anglican Mission will sponsor a Film Festival to kick off Winter Conference 2009.
 Across the Anglican Mission, congregations are creatively and passionately taking the Gospel message into their communities seeking to draw individuals into a saving, transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. Now is the time to tell your story--give voice to what God is doing in your churches--on "the big screen."
We invite each Anglican Mission congregation to create an original video of six minutes or less that testifies to the way your church has lived out the Great Commission, as well as the impact of your ministry. (Hint: one of the conference themes is "fruit produced.")
In the coming weeks, check the Anglican Mission Web site and Currents for additional details on submitting videos (on DVD). In the meantime, we encourage you to put together a video team, if you don't already have one, and begin planning your short film to submit to the film festival.
Don't miss out on being part of this exciting opportunity to release faith, inspire others, encourage creativity, honor God and celebrate the work He does in and through us!
|
Empowering Worship at the
Great Smokey Mountain Retreat
Thirty Anglican Mission worship leaders gathered last month at the Valley View Lodge in Townsend, Tennessee, for the 2008 Anglican Mission Worship Leaders Retreat hosted by Andy Piercy, Director of Worship Development, and wife Judy.
Nestled along the peaceful border of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, this sheltered time away allowed participants to embrace solitude, teaching, worship, creative exploration and collaboration. In addition, the group built lasting relationships in the short time away as they enjoyed barbecues, late night chats and even a talent show.
"We laughed a lot, were blessed by teaching, communion and prayer time, and had great conversations about leading worship as well as the call of the Lord on each of our lives," said Eric Bolash from Church of the Apostles in Raleigh, North Carolina.
"Our goal for the forum is to equip, empower and encourage," explains Andy. "We work hard to make participants feel a part of the big picture so they are not isolated, to build friendships and then to pass on what they have learned here to their local worship teams."
Small group exercises in writing music and collaboration complemented Andy's teachings on the values of worship and song writing. As a result, several worship leaders were inspired to write their own songs of worship.
"The retreat was wonderful and very well planned," said Ellen Loomis, of Holy Trinity Anglican in Hudson, Ohio. "I learned so much and have been inspired to be more disciplined. I have already taken time to re-write, re-organize, conceptualize and ponder what I've learned."
This annual opportunity, geared toward those in key leadership roles, dovetails with other Anglican Mission worship training events Andy Piercy leads across the country. If your church is interested in being part of hosting a worship training event, please email him.
|
A Foot in the Door: God lives
in a Michigan Pool Hall
Colorful banners now hang where pool balls and cues were once stored, and Canon Jack Lumanog overflows with enthusiasm about his congregation's visible and accessible location. The Rector and his team transformed an abandoned 7,000 square foot pool hall into a new place of worship for members of Christ the King Anglican Church in Lansing, Michigan--a growing part of the city that neighbors Michigan State University (MSU).
"The people of Christ the King drew my wife and me to Lansing, but the campus was a close second," recalls Jack. "I got a call from Jon Shuler, Rector of Grace Anglican in Florida, while I was still living in Kansas, urging me to come to Lansing, noting that there are 45,000 college kids on the campus of MSU.
Canon Lumanog is Rector of one of only three churches offically recognized
to participate in Michigan State University activities.
Jon challenged Jack to consider the global impact of influencing students, especially those from abroad. "I couldn't stop thinking about it," admits Jack.
Christ the King is an official, recognized church on MSU's campus, giving them the freedom to advertise, rent space, have their own email account and take part in the university's academic orientation, which includes meeting with incoming freshmen and their families. The congregation's status has gotten Jack's foot in the door, opening opportunities for him to speak, pray at ministry events and lead students in Bible study. He has also accepted a recent invitation to take part in an upcoming campus-wide ministry event called Veritas Forum organized by Campus Crusade and InterVarsity ministries.
"Christ the King is one of three churches asked to be involved; the other two have over 2,000 members each, while we average 65 people on a Sunday," quipped Jack. "We are an ancient...future church connection on campus with a sacramental presence that makes sense to people. We don't have slick programs, but we offer a timeless message and can promise people an encounter with God through the liturgy."
|
|
"Drink Coffee. Do Good." One Caffeine-Driven Grand Opening
 The early morning commute for those living in Historic Roswell, Georgia, offered a pleasant surprise June 19 as enthusiastic employees from Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company (LOTH) made their way around stop-and-go traffic to serve complimentary cups of coffee to passersby on Highway 9. Dressed in "Drink Coffee, Do Good" attire, employees were kicking off a celebratory weekend filled with fun activities to promote the grand opening of the first Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee House (TOTH) on the planet.
"The shop seems to have tapped into a need in the community to take
part in something with purpose," explains the Rev. Jonathan Golden,
Anglican Mission Pastor and Founder of LOTH. "I see the Coffee House as
a means of reaching out to the community and showing customers how
redemption, excellence, justice and entrepreneurship can be lived out
in a business."
"The team at the coffee house sees it as a platform not only to serve
excellent coffee, but also to build relationships and share the love of
Christ," continues Jonathan.
Spotlighted recently on Fox 5's Good Day Atlanta morning television
show, Robert Crow, Relationship Director, communicated the mission of
Land of a Thousand Hills in four segments while giving a tour of the
new shop, allowing viewers to see inside the store and watch baristas
make latte art on live TV.
"The response from the show has been amazing," reports Robert.
"I was thrilled when one of our customers pulled me aside shortly after
my recent trip to Rwanda and said, 'I don't want to take up your time,
but I've been reading your blog, and I want to do something that makes
a difference in this world'," said Jonathan. "I told him, 'This
is exactly what I live for!'"
If you live or are visiting in the area, stop by Land of a Thousand
Hills Coffee House on 352 South Atlanta Street in Historic Roswell. See
for yourself how your dollars are making a difference for the people of
Rwanda.
View coverage of Land of a Thousand Hills on Atlanta's Fox 5 Television.
DRINK COFFEE. DO GOOD. Robert Crow (left) and Rev. Jonathan Golden (center) celebrate the coffee house grand opening with employees.
|
Anglican Mission in the News
Bishop Alexis's visit at All Saints Anglican Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was featured in the local newspaper...
African bishop encourages Baton Rouge churchBy MARK H. HUNTER
Special to The Advocate
Jun 21, 2008
After years of American churches sending waves of missionaries to evangelize Africa, one mainline denomination is seeing a tide of African missionaries coming here to lead.... The All Saints Anglican Church of Baton Rouge is the only AMiA church in Louisiana and is affiliated with the Little Rock Network of AMiA, a group of 12 parishes from California to Tennessee, four smaller fellowships and two mission works. The Baton Rouge congregation has no priest, but is led by local lawyer Robert D. Hoover and is being visited by priests from other areas. On June 8, the church hosted one of those Africa-to-America missionaries, Bishop Alexis Bilindabagabo (above), of the Anglican Diocese of Gahini, Rwandda.... Read the full article
[Laura Waters Hinson whose documentary film, "As We Forgive" won
highest honor (gold) 2008 Student Academy Award for best documentary
film was recently featured in World Magazine and in The Washington Post,
excerpted here...]Acts of Reconciliation
A Student Filmmaker Turns Her Lens on Rwanda, And Finds a Personal Truth Reflected Back at Her
By Gabe Oppenheim, Staff Writer
The Washington Post
Saturday, July 5, 2008; C01
 In a way, it's a story of those two diamond engagement rings. Laura Waters Hinson (left) sits cross-legged on a plush beige sofa in the Discovery Channel building at the Silverdocs film festival, flashing a brilliant stone on each hand, explaining how she got here. A couple of weeks ago, the 29-year-old won the top documentary prize at the Student Academy Awards in Los Angeles for "As We Forgive," her film about reconciliation in Rwanda between survivors of the 1994 genocide and its perpetrators. Previous Student Oscar winners include Trey Parker, Bob Saget and Spike Lee. Hinson's film, begun as an MFA thesis at American University, captures victims' meetings with their freed attackers. A decade after the extermination of one in eight Rwandans, after the Hutus turned on the Tutsis and even some of their own, the two tribes had to learn to live together. (The government has released more than 60,000 convicts connected to the genocide to ease prison overcrowding, according to the BBC.) In the film we meet Rosaria, who pulls up the hem of her dress to reveal mounds of raised scar tissue running down her legs. Hacked and beaten during the genocide, she now lives in a house built for her by Saveri, the man who killed her sister. Another survivor, Chantale, who lost 30 family members, meets John, the stooped gangly man who killed her father. He can't face her; her eyes are embers. "Remember all your old neighbors," she says. Yet the next day, Chantale begins working to build a house for another ex-con who confessed his crimes... Read the full Post article See the World Magazine article
Laura
Waters Hinson films Rosaria and her neighbors -- including the man who
killed her sister -- as they process the sorghum crop in Rwanda. (Image
Bearer Pictures)
|
Rodgers Scholarships Awarded
The John and Blanche Rodgers Endowment Scholarship Fund was established in 2004 to support theological education for prospective clergy in the Anglican Mission. The fund is a gift from generous supporters who have grown in grace through the ministry of the Rodgers who have influenced generations of pastors and theological students through godly mentoring.
For the 2008-2009 academic year, the Anglican Mission has awarded five John and Blanche Rodgers Scholarships. The recipients are:
- Mr. David Appleby, a student at Beeson Divinity School, Sanford University in Birmingham, Alabama;
- Mr. Tim Brophy, a student at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania;
- Ms. Amanda Goin, who will study at Trinity School for Ministry;
- Mr. Jonathan Parker, a student at Trinity School for Ministry; and
- Mr. Benjamin Rey, a student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Scholarships are based first upon a genuine profession of Christian faith and a heartfelt commitment to the mission and doctrine of the Anglican Mission. The second criterion is a demonstrated vocation to ministry as a presbyter in the Anglican Mission and a disciplined life as a promising pastor and theologian as exemplified by the Rt. Rev. John Rodgers. In choosing between qualified candidates, financial need is also a consideration.
|
|
|
OPPORTUNITY
TO SERVE
If your congregation is interested in hosting a worship training event please Email Andy Piercy.
|
GOT COFFEE?
For More Info
DID YOU KNOW...
· Thirty percent of profits from coffee sales go back into the Rwandan economy?
· Two-thirds of profits help the growers and their families; the remaining proceeds go to micro-finance loans for genocide widows? 
If you enjoy great coffee,
helping others, and reaching out to your community, consider being an ambassador for Land of a Thousand Hills in your
church.
Introduce Rwandan Coffee to your
congregation with a Ministry Starter Kit. Contact Robert Crow
866-875-4369 |
|
