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Next Meeting of the Newark
Companion Diocese Committee:
Will be posted on this
page
Pray for the Newark/Panama
Companion Diocese Relationship
Your prayers are requested
for the work of the Companion Diocese
Committee, Diocese of Panama and Bishop
Julio Murray. The following dates are
specifically requested for prayer for our
relationship in the Diocese of Newark
Cycle of Prayer.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Saturday, March 29. 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Note: Items below are in order by
date posted, newest
first.
Episcopal Life Articles Highlight
Companion Relationships
New
York, 21
December 2007.
Walking
together: Companion relationships
strengthen ties, transform
lives
By Pat McCaughan and Matthew Davies
Quotes from the
article appear below. Link for the full article.
"Our ministry
together is never a one-way street, but
mutual," says Iowa Bishop Alan Scarfe. "It
is most important that we work together in
those direct actions of the Spirit, which
brings about new birth and reconciliation
with God and one another."
A three-way
partnership, among the dioceses of
Indianapolis, Brasilia (Brazil) and Bor
(Sudan), "has enriched us in ways we could
not have imagined," says Indianapolis
Bishop Cate Waynick. "We have been
privileged and humbled to share
significant moments of each other's lives.
... The deep affection we have for each
other is undeniable."
Brenda Hamilton from
the Diocese of Maine, a General Convention
deputy and Standing Committee member, has
visited Haiti twice. She says "It is
tempting for Americans to think of
companion relationships in simply
financial terms; as outreach only, rather
than exchange. But Jesus was not in the
business of handing out shekels. Rather,
Jesus was intimately involved in creating
opportunities for touch, for healing and
for grace to happen in the exchange
between human souls."
Read
the full article. Additional stories
highlighting individual companion diocese
relationships are available at the links
below also.
Argyll and The
Isles-Delaware
Bor-Brasilia-Indianapolis
Brechin-Iowa-Swaziland
Haiti-Maine
Lui-Missouri
Enjoy Panama's Cuisine
During Hispanic Heritage Month
By Donald
Roberts, Companion Diocese
Committee
Newark, 4 October
2007. It's
said that there is no better way to know a
people than through the food they eat.
Members of the Diocese of Newark who have
visited Panama at the invitation of the
Episcopal Church of Panama got a taste of
Panama's culture and its foods. One item
well remembered was patacones -- fried
plantains.
During Hispanic
 Heritage Month -- September
15 to October 15 -- try cooking patacones
in your home kitchen. Patacones are best
right out of the fryer and are relatively
easy to make. They are widely served in
Panama and throughout the tropical climes
of Hispanic America, where they may be
known as patacones, tostones or tachinos.
Fresh green
plantains are readily available in the
produce section of New Jersey
supermarkets. Easy-to-follow step-by-step
instructions are on the web.
Recommended are the
web pages of Panamanian
Chef Melissa de Leon. Let her be your hostess for
a tour through Panamanian cooking. In her
attractive website she combines culinary
arts, pleasing web design and excellent
photography to give you a feel for Panama
through its food and its culture. Her
writing is lively and entertaining -- both
in English and in Spanish.
The recipe
for patacones is on the Chef Melissa's
Appetizers web page, just below an article
about Tree Tomato Sauce.
More
about plantains
A
horticultural point of
view
More
plantain recipes from
Panama
Youth Trip to Panama:
Stretching Our Boundaries and Spreading
Our Wings
by Kaileen
T. Alston, Diocesan Youth Missioner
Newark,
10
September 2007. Summer is a time for growth
and adventure. So, in the spirit of
broadening our horizons, I led a group of
four youth, Lily Byerly (All Saints',
Leonia), Janelle Grant (St. Paul's,
Paterson), Helen Hoxie (St. Stephen's,
Millburn) and Ashlee Saro (House of
Prayer, Newark), and one other youth
minister (Tim Wong of St. Paul's, Chatham)
on a trip to our Companion Diocese of
Panama. We departed from Newark Airport
with great anticipation and varying levels
of Spanish proficiency. But we returned as
a strengthened community with Panamanian
slang and memories and relationships to
last a lifetime!
When we arrived in
Panama, we were almost overwhelmed by the
cadre of 20 or so young people and adults
who welcomed us at the airport! They
received us like family who had been
eagerly anticipated. From then on we
laughed and learned with our new friends.
The youth and adults who spoke English
readily translated for us and we quickly
became more comfortable speaking en
español.
Part of  our visit was spent at a
program called Raíces (Spanish for
"Roots") at the diocesan camp in Santa
Clara. In true Episcopal fashion, the
retreat had three foci: religion, culture
and tradition. The youth and adults
explored the ways in which these aspects
influence our lives through discussion,
arts and crafts, dance, music and Bible
study. Bishop Julio Murray Thompson was
present for the entire 4-day camp session.
He led a workshop on the first night and
enjoyed fellowship with the youth. Other
clergy and lay adults were also
instrumental in nurturing the youth's
leadership skills and spiritual depth.
Like our diocesan youth ministry, theirs
is clearly a fun, dynamic and supportive
community.
I was so proud of
how eager our youth were to learn from and
share with our companions. We all began to
understand Spanish more. Helen's athletic
prowess and fun-loving nature were on full
display when the group played good old
fashioned camp games. Very quickly nerves
turned to laughter and new names became
easier to pronounce. Our group developed
strategies to cope with the intense heat
and humidity and Lily emerged as our
defender against insects at camp! Tim
developed a wonderful friendship with a
young man named Eric from the Diocese of
El Salvador. Interestingly, Tim doesn't
speak Spanish and Eric had only been
studying English for four months.
Nevertheless, they enunciated and gestured
their way through meals and walks across
the camp and were often seen laughing
appreciatively at each others' efforts.
On our last full day
in Panama, their diocesan youth director,
Reyito, and some of the Panamanian youth
took us to the Panama Canal and a shopping
mall. Janelle especially enjoyed being
able to engage in the age-old Jersey
pastime of shopping and by then Ashlee was
cracking jokes in Spanglish.
I'm sure youth from
our diocese will visit Panama again soon.
They'll laugh, sweat, explore and grow
just as we did. In the meantime, I thank
God for our companion relationship and the
opportunities that we had to weave our
bonds tighter. Until we meet again, I wish
for our Panamanian la bendición de
Diós (God's blessing).
(The photo above
is from Padre
Mickey's blogsite in Panama -- Thanks
Mike)
Youth trip to Panama
scheduled!
Newark,
17
May 2007. On
July 30-August 4 diocese youth will take
their first diocesan youth delegation to
visit
our companion diocese of
Panama.
This first trip is open to 15 youth in
grades 9-12 and 3 adult chaperones who are
leaders in their congregation or district
or in the diocese. One of the greatest
purposes of this visit is for our youth to
share with the youth and adults of Panama
ways that they are leaders of the Church
and learn from our Panamanian brothers and
sisters, as well. The application for the
visit is due by June 15th and may be found
at http://youth.dioceseofnewark.org/ (approximately half way down
the page). For more information, please
feel free to contact Kaileen Alston,
Diocesan Youth Missioner, at (973)
430-9991 or by email kalston@dioceseofnewark.org.
Executive Council
Officially Recognizes
Newark-Panama Companion Relationship
Portland,
Oregon, 4 March 2007. The Executive Council of the
Episcopal Church, meeting in Portland,
Oregon officially recognized the companion
relationship between the Diocese of Newark
and the Episcopal Church of Panama with
the Resolution INC-015:
Resolved, that the
Executive Council meeting in Portland,
Oregon from March 2 -- 4, 2007 vote to
recognize a new Companion Diocese
Relationship between the Diocese of Newark
and the Episcopal Church of Panama in the
Anglican Church of the Central American
Region, until such time as this
relationship is terminated by mutual
consent.
The Dioceses of
Newark and Panama had passed their own
resolutions
of companionship in 2005 and 2006.
Bishop Murray Elected
President
Of Latin American Council of Churches
Peter Kenny
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Bishop
Julio Murray
Photo: Peter
Kenny/ENI
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Buenos
Aires, 23 February
2007
(ENI). The Latin American Council of
Churches, known under its Spanish acronym
CLAI, has elected Panamanian Episcopal
(Anglican) Bishop Julio Murray as its
first black president in a tightly
contested election.
"This is a new day for CLAI," the 48
year-old Bishop Murray told
Ecumenical
News International after his election. "Son of
the world, man of God, man of Panama. You
are going to find a new direction
here."
The voting took place on 22 February at
Ward College in the city of Ramos Mejia,
on the outskirts of Buenos Aires during
the 5th assembly of CLAI, with different
regions represented in the council
jockeying for different candidates.
"I am very happy about this election," the
Rev. Antõnio Olimpio de Sant'Ana,
the executive secretary of Brazil's
National Ecumenical Council to Combat
Racism told ENI. "We need to have more black
people represented in this church body and
we also need to have women in the
leadership."
Murray won after a third run off in voting
for the presidency of the 150 member
church council that is represented in 20
countries, after he and Pastor Felipe
Adolf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Ecuador each got 66 votes. The
Panamanian clinched victory in the third
round against Adolf, a former general
secretary of CLAI.
Bishop Murray had garnered the second
highest number of votes in the first round
with the third candidate, Pastor Oscar
Bolioli, president of the Methodist Church
in Uruguay, getting the third highest
number of votes.
Brazilian churches, which had said they
were not happy with the report presented
by the CLAI general secretary the Rev.
Israel Batista, had backed Adolf, an
Ecuadorian Lutheran.
Murray replaces the Rev. Julio
César Holguín, bishop of the
Dominican Episcopal Church, who became
president at the 4th assembly of CLAI in
2001, held in Barranquilla, Colombia.
©
1994 - 2007 Ecumenical News
International.
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 Newark's Bishop Mark
Beckwith with Panama's Bishop
Julio Murray following Beckwith's
consecration in Newark.
Photo by Steven Boston
Click on photo for large
view
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Panama's Bishop
Murray
Participates in Consecration
Of Newark's New Bishop
The Rt Rev
Julio Murray, Bishop the
Episcopal Church of Panama,
traveled to Newark to participate
in the consecration the Rt Rev
Mark Beckwith as the newly
ordained Bishop of Newark on
January 27. While in Newark he
met with Bishop Beckwith,
Diocesan staff, and members of
Newark's Companion Diocese
Committee, and was welcomed into
our congregations. The diocese
warmly greeted him at a reception
at Christ Church, East Orange,
following the service of evening
prayer, at which he
officiated.
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Other News
New slide
show
See
the Newark/Panama PowerPoint
slide show - (11MB)
Good news about
Newark's convention
offering:
The offering totaled $4,217 to be
divided between Panama's
congregational development
efforts and the Cathedral
Enrichment Fund.
Bishop Murray's
visit - A report from Companion
Diocese co-chair Martha
Gardner:
The wonderful weekend of Bishop
Murray's visit!
February 2007 -
Thursday, January
25, 2007. Bishop Murray arrived
at Newark Airport in the
afternoon and I brought him to
the Roger Treat Hotel in Newark,
where had accommodations near the
Performing Arts Center for the
Consecration of Bishop Beckwith.
Committee members and Carter
Echols were able to join together
for dinner with Bishop Murray on
his first evening in town.
Friday. Bishop Murray lunched
with Louie Crew and Carter
Echols, and then met with a
recently retired priest of our
diocese who would like to spend
time as soon as possible in
Panama to supply. Bishop Murray
then met with Bishop Croneberger
in the afternoon, before
attending the dinner for Mark
Beckwith in the evening at the
Robert Treat Hotel.
Saturday. A glorious day! After
the consecration, Bishop Murray
spent time and dined with his
sister (she is lovely!)
Unfortunately, Bishop Murray
discovered Saturday morning that
his computer had been stolen out
of his room, most likely Friday
night while he was at the dinner.
Michael Francavaglia spent time
with Bishop Murray and the hotel
management and the police after
the consecration service; the
hotel promised financial
reimbursement (by the way, at
least 3 computers were taken from
rooms that night on his
floor!)
Sunday. Bishop Murray celebrated
and preached at St. George's
(Bishop Murray's sister took the
train to Maplewood and joined us
for the service and reception
afterwards) and then we stopped
at St. Andrew and Holy Communion
so he could wish Sandye Wilson
well on the festive celebration
of her 25th ordination (Bishop
Murray and Sandye have known each
other a long time!) Then I
brought him to Bert Jones' home
(Bert's wife and Bishop Murray's
sister went to nursing school
together!) for a visit. Then we
had a festive 4:30 Evensong
service at Christ Church, East
Orange followed by a gala,
delicious reception! Maggie Gat
from the Hispanic Commission
attended and was able to have a
brief chat with Bishop Murray
afterwards. Then I took him to a
New York hotel, where he stayed
for additional meetings.
Monday. Bishop Murray had all day
meetings in New York at Church
Pension Group.
Tuesday. Bishop Murray had a 10
a.m. meeting with the Presiding
Bishop, and then I took him to
various offices at 815 where he
had to do business. He got a CD
of the wonderful photos from
Saturday's consecreation (and
Friday's dinnner) from Richard
Schori (the Presiding Bishop's
husband, who took LOTS of photos)
and met with the Anglican and
Global Relations folks,
Fortunately, since there was a
big meeting scheduled in the
afternoon, Bishop Murray was able
to see lots of folks who normally
aren't in the builiding,
including Bonnie Anderson
(President of House of Deputies)
and former PB Frank Griswold. He
then took a train to Newark to
meet with Carter Echols
(follow-up to her visit last
August and planning for her
upcoming visit in March) and with
Mark Beckwith.
Wednesday. Bishop Murray had
morning meetings at Church
Pension Group and then came to
815 where he met with Church
Building Fund folks (he has been
in discussion with them), Angela
Ifill of the Office of Black
Ministries, and Kurt Barnes, the
Treasurer. Then he was off to the
hotel and a car picked him up at
2:00 pm to take him to the
airport. Fortunately, Bishop
Murray left with the check in his
hand from the Robert Treat for
the missing laptop (thanks to
Cecil of Episcopal House who
brought it into NYC).
Phew!
For
an archive of companion news:
LINK
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