Dr. Virginia Kimball, president of the American ESBVM chapter, has just published her doctoral thesis in paperback and electronic form. Liturgical Illuminations, Discovering Received Tradition in the Eastern Orthros of the Feasts of the Theotokos examines ancient liturgical and iconographic traditions that provide new understanding for Marian mediation and devotion having origins in the 5th to the 11th century, common history to all Christian denominations. Available from www.authorhouse.com and www.amazon.com .

The Executive of the ESBVM notes the publication on November 9th 2009 of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus which provides a means by which groups of Anglicans may enter into the communion of the Catholic Church while preserving those aspects of the Anglican tradition that are compatible with the teaching of the Catholic Church. In respecting the conscience of those who freely wish to take up this offer of the Holy See the ESBVM remains committed to the wider unity that all Christians involved in the ecumenical movement continue to seek. The Executive will place this matter for further discussion on the agenda of the January 2010 meeting of the ESBVM Council.

ESBVM does not comment upon the internal life of particular churches and ecclesial communities, and notes that this Apostolic Constitution is similarly published not as a commentary on difficulties within the Anglican Communion in recent times but as a pastoral response by the Holy See to requests from bishops and groups of the Anglican tradition over a number of years.

Conscious that the Anglican tradition originated in England, known across the centuries as ‘Our Lady’s Dowry’, it is the sincere prayer of ESBVM that under the patronage of Our Lady, and building upon the work of many, including the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity & Mission (IARCCUM), the response by groups of Anglicans to Anglicanorum coetibus will make a significant contribution to the reconciliation of all Christians in one flock with one shepherd, that ‘they may all be one’.

Patriarch Bartholomew delivered an interesting address at Fordham University this month in his visit to the USA.

Click on this link for his addresss at a convocation held on October 27, 29.   http://www.patriarchate.org/documents/discerning-gods-presence-in-the-world

The triennial forum of Churches Together in England, of which ESBVM is a body in association, took place at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick from September 7th – 9th 2009, taking the theme Changing World: Changing Church? The moderator of the forum was Bishop Declan Lang, Catholic Diocese of Clifton, and the deputy moderator was Val Potter, County Ecumenical Officer of Dorset. Nearly three hundred delegates were present at the forum from the thirty one churches that are members of the CTE.

Like any big ecumenical gathering of this kind being in the company of Christians with a common purpose and hearing about positive stories of churches working together gave one encouragement to continue with the ecumenical effort. At the same time, one heard and shared constructive criticism of how the structures and instruments needed to change to be fit for purpose in the altered circumstances of both contemporary society and the churches. This particularly applies to the intermediate or county bodies.

The idea of thirty or forty years ago of achieving ecclesial institutional unity within a generation or so has now receded, the emphasis is now on churches working together on practical initiatives addressing the needs of society often in partnership with secular or statutory agencies. Additionally, the exchange of gifts that the different Christian traditions can offer to each other to enrich the spiritual lives of all Christians has become a greater priority. This is referred to as receptive ecumenism. There still remains the challenge of engaging the great majority of faithful across all the mainstream churches in the ecumenical dimension of Christian life. A more positive development is the increasing participation of the black-majority churches in the ecumenical structures. However, Christian communities of an evangelical complexion, often vibrant in themselves, remain, with some exceptions, outside the ecumenical structures.

There was also a feeling that the church leadership should also have a higher profile by being seen responding and addressing together issues raised by society as well as local clerical leadership across the board, as opposed to enthusiastic and committed individuals, encouraging their congregations to engage in ecumenical activity. Last, but not least, is the issue of funding of the ecumenical instruments and endeavours particularly in the current economic climate. The level of financial support will surely be at least one measure of the ecumenical commitment of all the churches engaged in this movement.

N.B. Access to the full text of David Cornick’s and Timothy Radcliffe’s address, the audio files of the biblical study by the archbishops and the four stories are available through the link:

http://www.churches-together.net/Articles/163221/Churches_Together_in/CTE/Forum_2009/Texts_Sound_Recordings.aspx .

Paul Paniccia
Inter-Church Relations Secretary

Mailing Address for president:
Virginia M. Kimball
4 Wayne Road Westford, MA 01886 USA

To mail in dues:
ESBVMUSA 1116 Criton Street Herndon, Virginia 20170

ESBVM website address: www.esbvm.org

BOARD MEMBERS and Counselors
E-MAIL ADDRESSES:
President: Virginia M. Kimball virginiakimball@comcast.net vkimball@assumption.edu
Vice President: Frank Romance FRomance@verizon.net
Treasurer: Girgis Girgis GGirgis2000@yahoo.com
Corresponding Secretary: William Johnston johnstonw@juno.com
Recording Secretary: Vacant
Membership Secretary: Bruce Lawrence LAWRENCE@pire.org
Newsletter Editor: Susan L. Fall esbvmeditor@gmail.com
Rev. Don Lacy: DLacy33@MSN.com
Dr. Frances Fowler-Collins: hamiltonia@aol.com
Rev. Jennifer Juliano: matisonjm@yahoo.com
Susan Crowley: SueCrowley5@comcast.net
BOARD COUNSELORS:
Bro. John Samaha: Mariaduce@aol.com
William Ryon (former president): wryonjr@verizon.net
Dr. Maura Hearden: maura.hearden@desales.edu
Rev. Janyce Jorgensen: rjjorg@aol.com

This past summer, Dr. Frank Romance and Dr. Virginia Kimball took part in an interview (in two parts) on Midwestern radio broadcast RADIOMARIA. They spoke of the role of ecumenical Mariology. See www.radiomaria.us.

ESBVM USA is working on the development of a model for an “Ecumenical Day with Mary.” For two years, in the Fall of 2007 and 2008, members of the ESBVM conducted a “Mary Day” at the First Congregational Church, UCC, of Walton, with the thought in mind of developing an ESBVM prototype for such a program for other churches. Recently, parish members of the Walton Congregational Church who had taken part in the “Mary Day” programs joined a panel with ESBVM members to discuss the viability of developing a model for use in other churches. An audio recording was made of the panel discussion which is accessed directly by clicking on the following link:

http://www.patgohn.com/patgohn/ESBVM_Mary_Day.html

[Pat Gohn is an ESBVM member and audio engineer who volunteered to record this discussion.]

Please listen and then register your replies on this blog. We will keep track of all replies.

Greetings from the ESBVM in the USA! This is to announce our October 2009 meeting which will be held at Zion Lutheran Church, 2215 Brandywine Lane,  in York, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, 10 October, 2009! (Registration, presentations and lunch, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm / business meeting 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.)  Rev. Janyce Jorgensen, pastor at Zion Church, will  host the meeting.

Our schedule will include presentations by Dr. Carl Winderl, Professor of Writing at Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, California, who will recount his spiritual journey and share his Marian poetry; Dr. Frank Romance, Vice-President of the ESBVM-USA, who will speak on ”Mary and the Knights of Columbus”;  and a presentation by Sr. Regina Vieyra MGSpS of Immaculate Conception Church / Old St. Mary’s in York, Pennsylvania, on “Blessed Virgin Mary in the Latino tradition.”

The meeting is open to the public and there is no entry fee. Lunceon will be served. A business meeting will follow and all are welcome to attend.

Please contact ESBVM-USA Chapter President Virginia M. Kimball at vkimball@assumption.edu for further information.

The meeting is reached via Harrisburg Internationall Airport (25 minutes away  by car) or Baltimore Washington International Airport (one hour and 15 minutes away by car.) Lodging will be available at Comfort Inn Corporate Gateway (PA 257), 2250 North George Street, York, Pennsylvania 17406 ( Phone 717-699-1919 / Fax 717-864-7209) or Homewood Suites by Hilton, 200 Masonic Drive, York, Pennsylvania, United States 17406 (Tel: 1-717-434-1800   Fax: 1-717-434-1848.)

Our sincere apologies to Mr Bernard V. A. Woods of Co Dublin, Republic of Ireland and current Chairman of the Dublin Branch for the erroneous report of his demise in the August ESBVM Newsletter which seems to have arisen as a confusion of information.

The report is premature as he is still happily with us. His dear wife Anita’s death had been recorded earlier by the Society RIP. We deeply regret any distress caused to friends in this misreporting. Our only hope is that Bernard will see himself ranked now with the famous Mark Twain who said ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’