Following on the popularity of Women’s Uncommon Prayers: Our Lives Revealed, Nurtured, Celebrated, this all-new collection of prayers, with its multicultural global reach, will be organized according to themes of the Millennium Development Goals. Prayers will show the connections between the global concerns of women and girls and their personal lives. The book will be published under the Morehouse imprint of Church Publishing, Incorporated.

“The first book included extraordinary prayers by women in the United States, with the overall theme being prayers from a woman’s life cycle,” said the Rev. Margaret R. Rose, director of the Episcopal Church’s Center for Mission Leadership and one of the new book’s editors. “With this new book, we will intentionally seek the voice of women and girls worldwide as they pray their experiences of global concerns.”

The general editors are Canon Rose, Abagail Nelson, vice president for programs at Episcopal Relief and Development, the Rev. K. Jeanne Person, co-author of Where You Go, I Shall: Gleanings from the Stories of Biblical Widows, and Dr Jenny Te Paa, Ahorangi, or Dean, of Te Rau Kahikatea, the College of St John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand, and a well-known leader in the Anglican Communion. An international editorial board of clergy and lay women and girls, representing national and cultural heritages within the Anglican Communion, will review prayers for inclusion in the book. Among those serving on the editorial board is Phoebe Griswold, founder of Anglican Women’s Empowerment (AWE) and wife of Frank Griswold, former presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA. With a foreword by the Most Revd Katherine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, the new book will debut in May 2009.

The new book, the editors say, will reveal how Anglican women are envisioning a way forward for the welfare of creation, including within the Anglican Communion itself. “At a time when a small cabal of male leaders are insisting on dividing the Anglican Communion over issues of human sexuality,” said Dr Te Paa, “Anglican women are offering a way forward. We are committed to prayer, to the unity of the Anglican Communion around Christ’s table, and to a common mission that leads to the full flourishing of all people.”

Each chapter of the new book will focus on one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. Agreed to by all member states of the United Nations, the MDGs form a blueprint for radically improving the lives of the world’s poor. The goals are to:

*Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger *Achieve universal primary education *Promote gender equality and empower women *Improve maternal health *Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases *Ensure environmental sustainability *Develop a global partnership for development

The prayer book will reveal how Anglican women and girls worldwide are deeply connected by global issues, the editors say, even across cultural and economic divides. For example, the book might show the spiritual bond between a teenage girl in the United States struggling with self-image because of debasing popular culture and a teenage girl from the Global South who has disappeared into the slave trade. The book will also show how nurturing an inner life of prayer can give women and girls the courage to care and advocate not just for themselves, but also for their sisters throughout the Anglican Communion.

“The prayers will reflect – and reveal – the very difficult realities for women and girls today, yet also proclaim a vision.” the Revd Person explained. “The women and girls who submit prayers will be speaking truth, but with love, hope and commitment to change.”

Currently, the editors are partnering with networks of Anglican women worldwide to extend the invitation for prayer submissions. Already the editors have held a prayer-writing workshop, for example, with the international Anglican women delegates who were in New York City in February 2008 for the annual gathering of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, representing every province of the Anglican Communion.

Royalties from the book will help to strengthen global partnerships. All proceeds will be given equally to the International Anglican Women’s Network, the organization through which the voices of Anglican women are reported to the Anglican Consultative Council, and Episcopal Relief and Development in support of programs for women.

The deadline for submissions is September 1, 2008. Submissions may be made by email to prayers@cpg.org. To read an online invitation for submissions, visit the website Contact: Nancy Fitzgerald, Executive Editor: nfitzgerald@cpg.org

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As reported on Ekklesia, over the next three years 2,500 young adults will be sponsored to do voluntary work in a developing country and raise awareness of development issues in the UK. The million scheme is backed by the Department for International Development (DfID) and will be run in partnership by Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and BUNAC.

Announcing the scheme in Birmingham recently, international development secretary Douglas Alexander said: ‘This scheme aims to give young British adults who wouldn’t normally have an opportunity the chance to make a valuable contribution to the lives of people overseas who are blighted by poverty.

‘By living and working with people from very different backgrounds, facing very different challenges, they will learn new skills and help unlock the potential within them to become better global citizens. And on return they’ll be applying what they’ve learned to activities in their own local communities.

‘It is important that young people understand the issues that shape the world they live in. All round this should prove to be a very rewarding life experience for the young adults involved.

‘I’m pleased that BUNAC, Christian Aid and Islamic Relief will together be helping the government to deliver on our commitment to tackle inequality and poverty.’

Starting in summer 2008 with placements to Ghana and South Africa, the volunteers will be:

* spending 10 weeks in a developing country working on local community development projects such as environmental conservation or HIV / Aids awareness;

* designing personal activity plans with other volunteers during a residential weekend on their return to the UK; and

* building understanding about the world back home through road shows and activities in their local communities and encouraging their peers to join the fight against global poverty.

Christian Aid’s Director Daleep Mukarji said: ‘We are delighted to take a lead in this venture, which is the first of its kind. Christian Aid’s mission is to expose the scandal of poverty and together with Islamic Relief and BUNAC we will be able to directly engage young adults with the issues surrounding poverty, and give them an opportunity to make a real difference.’

Dr Hany El Banna, President of Islamic Relief said: ‘This project is an amazing opportunity for everyone involved. It will offer young British adults from all ethnic and religious backgrounds, especially those from the least well-to-do families in the UK, the chance to travel as a group and do a voluntary work placement in a developing country.

‘It will be a continuous journey of discovery; of how and why different people across the globe face different levels of poverty and development, and of how all our actions and destinies are so intertwined.

‘Sharing these stories upon their return will potentially have life-changing consequences, not just for the young travelers themselves, but also for their families, friends and possibly whole communities, both here in the UK and beyond.’

Callum Kennedy, Director of BUNAC said: ‘BUNAC is excited and proud to be a member of this partnership and is looking forward to playing its part in this new DfID venture. Volunteering in a developing country shouldn’t be the preserve only of those who can, literally, afford to give up their time to do it. Many people are unaware of the existing opportunities or do not have the means to take advantage of them.

‘The DfID initiative will show that young adults from all walks of life and from all backgrounds can contribute to and learn from the volunteering experience.’

Mark Vyner, global volunteering programme manager, from Christian Aid, said: ‘These young adults will have an experience that will transform the rest of their lives. After being fully involved in a 10 week programme of grass roots development work, we hope they will take their enthusiasm and commitment back to their own communities.’

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