Reflections on the Gulf…by Revd Sarah Buxton-Smith

“I have seen the church of the future” was what I heard from the Vicar of Bagdad as he shared about St. George’s Anglican Church, Bagdad, IRAQ. Known as Abuna to his loving flock, the Vicar was quoting a Lord Patron’s response to visiting this once newly fledg-ling now abundant flock. Growing in five years from 5 worshippers to 2,000, St. George’s is just one of the many compelling Anglican minis-tries happening in the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf. For me this was one of the ways I had the privilege to see our future church.

After our Compass Rose Society mission trip to Cyprus in fall of 2008, and speaking in some depth with The Rt. Rev. Michael Lewis, Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf, I became increasingly interested in what the Gulf had to show me.

As I was returning to the Middle East mid-January for a program at St. George’s College and the Synod of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf was scheduled for the week following, I contacted Bishop Lewis who granted me the opportunity to attend their Synod with official observer status. In addition to considering this spot for my 2010 sab-batical exploring “Being a Christian in the Arab World” and “How Does the Ruling Faith of Islam Shape the Response of the Anglican Church?”, as a board member I wanted more time to discern how the CRS might best support this region.

As we have heard some about our Church in Cyprus in a previous article, what follows is a focus on Anglican Church in the Gulf, a place I was to learn, where our tradition as a mission church is genuinely revealed.

Most of the Anglican Churches in the Gulf are on compounds and

M e s s a G e f R o M o u R P r e s i d e n t

Dear FrienDs ,

The spring board meetings held this year in Toronto, Canada from April 1st to 3rd concluded successfully. Shortly after the board left for their respective homes, a rogue snowstorm hit the area, dumping upwards of 6 inches of the white stuff. It was a nasty and somewhat unusual start to spring in Toronto.

The Board heard from the Secretary General, Canon Kenneth Kearon, who gave a thorough report on a number of discussions and initiatives taking place in the Communion. On our behalf he carried prayers and congratulation to Gregory Cameron whose consecration as a bishop in Wales he was attending immediately following our meetings.

Kenneth shared some of the unique work the Anglican Observer, Helen Wangusa, is undertaking at the United Nations, encourag-ing groups of Anglican to join in significant lobbying efforts at that august body to make a difference in the world. Her office is providing an effective presence for Anglicans. Kenneth reported that a number of Anglican relief and development agencies throughout the Angli-can Communion have discussed establishing an Anglican Relief and Development Alliance, seeking to work more closely together in the areas of strategy, advocacy and development. The Anglican relief and devel-opment agencies make an enormous difference throughout the world and Kenneth is encouraged by the discussions so far.

JULY 2009

Continued on page 7Continued on page 4

The Revd Sarah Buxton-Smith, CRS with the Sr. Warden of St. George’s Baghdad, The Revd Canon Andrew White, Vicar of Baghdad and the first

Iraqui to be formed for the Diaconate.

The Compass Rose Society 2009 mission trip is scheduled for October 1-7, following the Annual General Membership meeting September 29-30 in London. This year we will travel to the Diocese of Southern Malawi at the invitation of Bishop James Tengatenga. Final details for the trip are forth coming, but tentative plans call for flying from London the evening of Thursday, October 1 and returning to London from Blantyre, Malawi on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 7.

Plans in the works include attending a festival, visiting schools, churches, and learning about seminary and hospital needs. Visit the Compass Rose Society web pages for updated information http://www.compassrosesociety.org or http://www.angsoma.org.mw/ or contact Terry Noble at terry.noble@com-passrosesociety.org.

Janie Stevens Compass Rose Society Board Member

upcoming events

General Convention of The episcopal Church

July 8–17, 2009The Society will have a booth/stand.

Bishop Poole will be there from the 6th to the 11th.Contacts: Norris Battin & Connie Gray

annual General Meeting - Londonseptember 28-30, 2009

Includes meeting, address from the Archbishop of Canterbury complete with private question and answer time, dinner and worship at Lambeth Palace.

For more information on any of these events please contact your regional coordinator or Terry noble at

terry.noble@compassrosesociety.org

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Mission Trip Planned to Diocese of southern Malawi

Goats are seen entering their house in Southern Malawi. A garden that is fertilized with goat dung, part of an Anglican Church sustainability project, can be seen in the background.

Children in a Diocese of Southern Malawi school

Villagers patiently awaiting distribution of Nets for Life.

Photos courtesy of The Rev. Susan Barnes, Diocese of Texas.

Spreading the message of the Compass Rose Society is always a joy. Since we last gathered in November a number of events have been held. Here is a quick recap of what has been hap-pening.

President Philip Poole visited the beautiful parish of St. Michael and All Angels in Corona del Mar, home to members Norris Battin and Doug and Donna Neff. Their rector Peter Haynes, who has attended annual meetings and mission trips in the past, entertained Karen and Philip. Bishop Poole spoke at two church services and a special gathering in between ser-vices. He also spoke at the home of the senior warden.

Two days later, member and former Vice-President of the International Board Carol Ann Brown hosted an event for the Compass Rose Society attended by clergy, professors and seminarians associated with Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven.

Later in March, Sarah Buxton Smith arranged for Secretary General Kenneth Kearon to attend a number of events in the Buffalo area where a Western New York chapter membership is being explored.

Board member Janie Stephens has two events planned for Dallas and Houston, Texas that will include a founder of the CRS Bishop Claude Payne.

The Canadian Compass Rose Society held an event in Au-rora at Trinity Church where some 60 members and prospec-tive members heard the CRS story. Trinity Aurora is a founding member of the Canadian Compass Rose Society and a great supporter of mission trips. The Reverend Canon John Peterson, former Secretary-General and a founder of the Society, spoke passionately about the work of Compass Rose. It was a delight for John to be reunited with his many Canadian friends.

The Canadian Board hosted the International Board with a reception attended by Rectors and members of Toronto area parishes. The new Director of Philanthropy of the Anglican Church of Canada, Dr. Holland Hendrix, indicated that he will soon take out a membership.

If any member of the Society would like to organize an op-portunity to tell the Compass Rose story we can help. We have written material on how to organize such an event, a good DVD which tells the story and a number of individuals who are will-ing and able to tell the CRS story. Please contact Archbishop Terry Finlay at thefinlays2@sympatico.ca if you would like to explore this a little bit more.

We rely on our members to be ambassadors for this unique ministry in support of the Archbishop of Canterbury in and through the Anglican Communion.

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Compass Rose Message spreads

page 5 - membership focus

Welcome to new members: Michael Brown, from Monte-video, Uruguay. Robert and Laura Muglia from Washington State, USA.

Currently the Compass Rose Society has over 250 members in ten countries. In order to encourage the development of new members and to provide updated information to the present members, the International Board has created twelve regions and appointed a co-ordinator for each region. Two regions are pending confirmation of the coordinator.

It is hoped that the Regional Co-ordinators will keep the members up to date on special project requests of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and ongoing activities of the Compass Rose Society as well as promoting the organization and build-ing membership. They will also keep members informed of the International Meetings of the Board of Directors, upcoming Mission trips and news about the AGM in London, England.

The twelve regions with their regional co-ordinators and present membership are as follows: Canada (26)Terry Finlay; Far East (30) Joey Fan; Northeastern U.S. (31) pending; North-western U.S. (13) Marshall McReal; Far Western U.S. (20) Jon Bruno; Florida (23) Bob Foltz; Georgia (24) John Rogers; Other Southern States (18) Sam Candler; Capital Region (20) Connie Gray; Texas (13) Janie Stevens; Midwestern U.S. (21); Australia and New Zealand (1) Victoria Matthews, and the Rest of the World (6) Elliott Holman.

New and present members of varying perspectives come together in the Compass Rose Society. They appreciate remark-able opportunities to support the mission of the Communion and to discover what it means to be an Anglican in challenging situations.

Canada Terry Finlay thefinlays2@sympatico.ca

Far east Joey Fan joey.fan@intern.com

northeastern U.s. pending

northwestern U.s Marshall McReal marshalmcreal@hotmail.com

Far Western U.s. Jon Bruno jonbruno@ladiocese.org

Norris Battin nbattin@usa.net

Florida Bob Foltz robert.foltz@ahss.org

Georgia John Rogers rogers@atlanticnationalbank.com

Other southern states Sam Candler scandler@stphilipscathedral.org

Capital region Connie Gray cgray@triad.rr.com

Texas Janie Stevens jstevens@epicenter.org

Midwestern U.s. pending

australia and nZ Victoria Matthews Bishop@chch.ang.org.nz

rest of the World Elliott Holman eholman@palmettoinsurance.com

New approach to Membership

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provide space for a variety of Christian denominations to wor-ship. Congregants include a wide spectrum of the ex-pat com-munity as well as those working for industries employing non-lo-cal citizens. Outreach work is predominantly through Anglican provided medical clinics with ministry to any variety of refu-gees and a large immigrant population. Thousands, though not necessarily Anglicans, worship in Anglican Churches inside the compounds from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. seven days a week. In some cases, the British Embassy or Consulate are also used as worship locations. All clergy are called and consider themselves to be chaplains of the Compound.

In KUWAIT, St. Paul’s has an average of 3,000-4,000 wor-shipers per week, 120 of which are Anglicans. The Chaplain sponsors visas for seven pastors from other denominations. A Chinese language Anglican Congregation has recently evolved and is being served by the first Chinese speaking Anglican priest in the Arabian Gulf.

In BAHRAIN, St. Christopher’s is host to fifty congregations other than Anglican including the Church of South India, the Mar Thoma, the Ethiopian Orthodox; some Pentecostal Church-es have their own pastors or priests. Communities meet either by denomination or language, mainly Indian – Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Each week between 4,000-5,000 people pass through the Compound. The Christian population is growing and His Majesty the King of Bahrain and the government are eager to try and meet needs as the number of Christians in Bahrain from around the world increases.

THe UniTeD araB eMiraTes: St. Andrew’s, abu Dhabi is host to over 60 different con-

gregations including the Oriental Orthodox Coptic, Ethiopian Orthodox, Armenian, Eritrean and Syrian Orthodox whose services are in Arabic; and the Eastern Orthodox who wor-ship with the Anglicans. There are also Mar Thoma as well as attendees from the more well known western denominations: Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal and Ro-man Catholics as well as many other home-grown American de-nominations On Fridays, Holy Day in the Arab World, 20,000-30,000 people pass through the our church in the Compound. The Anglican Church is in its “accepted role throughout the Gulf” and the land for the present Compound was granted by His Highness Sheik Zayed. The priest of St. Andrew’s has worked to foster good relations with Muslims and is invited to “sit at a place of honor,” representing Christians in the country. The Presiden-tial Advisor on Religious Affairs comes to special services and St. Andrew’s priest visits him regularly during Ramadan and Eids.

At Holy Trinity, Dubai, 700 Anglicans worship in the church at 4 masses each week. 120 other denominations are also host-ed, with a total of 40,000-50,000 worshippers weekly.

In ras al Khaimeh, St. Luke’s four worship halls are insuf-ficient to accommodate the growing numbers of the 30 different congregations. A large worship hall has been built to accom-modate the burgeoning number of Christians.

In Jebel ali, Holy Trinity is one of the new phenomena of enormous Church City Churches. There are 200 Anglicans and 1,800 other Christians belonging to 25 other denominations all worshipping under the Anglican roof. 13 languages are repre-sented.

St. Martin, sharjah, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the land of migrant labor with men and women coming from South Asia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, China, Central Asian Republics and Africa . Many have been “fooled” into their arrival in the Gulf, incur tremendous debt and live in the netherworld of being unable to return to their native country or live in the UAE. Those who do have jobs live in labor camps of about one and a half million. Anglican work in the labor camps is at the heart of ministry in the Gulf; Volunteers from St. Martin’s visit on weekends. A laborer from the camps has been appointed a church worker. Visiting clergy minister in English, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi and Urdu, soon to add Tagalog and Shingala. The Church is hoping to appoint three more church workers and is currently seeking someone with at least four Indian languages and English. They are also planning to enter the migrant labour women’s ministry which is just as large and even more challenging.

In OMan, the people of St. Martins await a priest to serve the 9,000-10,000 meeting every week.

In QaTar, The Church of the Epiphany, another Church City Church, has just been dedicated on land offered by the Emir of Qatar. This the first land in the country for a Christian church since the 7th century when Islam first took root in the Gulf. The Anglican Center in Doha is being built with the kind permission of His Highness The Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani on a site provided by the State of Qatar. The Islamic tradition in Qatar is Wahhabi, one of the strictest, which makes this project even more significant as a Christian presence.

saUDi araBia is host to another outreach of the diocese, The Canterbury Group sponsored by the Arab American Oil Company. Christian worship is not allowed in Saudi Arabia. Two special American Teachers work in three different locations.

In YeMen, Christ Church, Aden was built as a garrison church for British Forces with Queen Victoria as one of the first benefactors. The Communist Government of South Yemen lat-er requisitioned the building. Then, from 1987-1993, the then Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf held negotiations with Govern-ment of South Yemen and subsequent Republic of Yemen for a restoration of the church. An agreement was met comprised of (1) the Church building, funding and running a medical clinic and (2) a fatwa issued by the Grand Mufti of Yemen ordering that Christians should be permitted to worship freely.

A significant eye clinic for all of Yemen has been developed at Christ Church, also offering eye surgery, general medical care and medical tests for Somali refugees before departing for Can-ada. The staff of the clinic are Egyptian, Canadian, Dutch, Paki-stani and Indian. A lab technician is Hindu and all but one of the doctors are female and Muslim.

Reflections on the Gulf…continued from page 1

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in COnCLUsiOn

Comprising many jurisdictions, equal number of royalty and varying degrees of Christian welcome and tolerance, as Angli-cans we are given a gift in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf. Here we see the Anglican capacity to act on what it means to be Anglican and, in the middle of a world where being a Christian is more a “soft evangelism” of presence, offer the embrace of hospitality to Christians of innumerable other denominations.

In Cyprus and the Gulf, it also seems that Anglicanism has the capacity to gracefully engage in conversation with heads of state as well as the leadership of the varying degrees of the prevailing faith tradition, in this case, Islam. In a world where it is only the Anglican Church that acts as host to other Chris-tians (the Roman, Orthodox and all other large churches do not) and reaches far beyond its perimeter to care for those in deepest need, what of the future do we see? What world and what kind of a church are we privileged to be a part of creating?

I thank Bishop Lewis for his openness to my attending and Julia Lewis, his spouse, for sharing her reflection from an address given in Wales which has assisted me tremendously in crafting this article. I also offer deep appreciation for the meditations on Islam and Christianity and walking with those who are different given by ret’d Bishop David Gillet . My deepest thanks goes to the many people from this diocese who are working with joy in some of the most poverty stricken and conflicted parts of the world and who, living palpably into the heart of God, gave me the warmest welcome. And thank you, Compass Rose!

The Revd Sarah Buxton-Smith is on the International Board of Directors of the Compass Rose Society and Rector at St. Andrew’s, Buffalo, NY

W e L C o M eto new members:

Michael Brown, from Montevideo, Uruguay

Robert and Laura Ellen Muglia from Mercer Island, WA, USA

St Nicholas event in Beit Jala Palestine, sponsored by CRS dioceses and members. (SNS Photo)

One of the founding CRS parishes, St Luke’s Church, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is to be desig-nated as the National Shrine of St Nicholas, as part of the St Nicholas Society (SNS) founded by honorary CRS member Canon Jim Rosenthal. The shrine will offer a place where people can email, phone or send prayer requests concerning children. A guild of St Luke’s will maintain the prayer requests and lighting of candles. The church, in its cathedral-like beauty, has as a notable assistant, former TEC Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, another CRS supporter. The rector is Canon Gregory Smith. Visit www.stnicholassociety.com for more informa-tion. Many CRS members are members of the SNS. Canon Smith said, “When I travel around the Communion I see vividly the vulnerability of young children and it saddens me beyond belief. I hope the prayers offered at the shrine will inspire us all to do all we can to help the future leaders of our world, our children. I am especially interested in the SNS work in Beit Jala, Palestine at St Nicholas Church near Bethlehem.”

The Revd Canon Dr James M RosenthalGrace, mercy and peace, be with us all....

Compass Rose Parish to take on Global Prayer for Children Ministry

from her seat by the fire, calling in welcome, “Are you with the Compass Rose? Come sit with us!” With that, I joined the eager band of Toronto pilgrims.

Then more came, from all over North America, and of course several from the United Kingdom, Europe, and the far East. In Canterbury, at our meetings, I began to perceive the Anglican Communion for the first time, to comprehend that it was more than an office, or a cathedral or a palace, all with attendant com-munications, staff, letters and policies. Rather, it was a people, not necessarily of one mind and one view, but of one heart, with a love for one God and a common desire to understand and be in relationship with and love one another, all as Christ has taught us. The Anglican Communion was just as its Latin root foretold, a communion, a body actually one with, God – a body both expressing and seeking, through its own yearning, reaching and sharing, the love of the body of Christ.

Our body of pilgrims experienced and perceived the rich-ness of the past in our tour of the deanery and the cathedral with Dean Willis, with so much of our common literary, artistic, theological, musical and political history united in that spot. We also hoped and longed for a future where God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven as Archbishop Rowan Williams shared with us what he hoped the 2008 Lambeth conference had fos-tered through its simple agenda – that the bishops sat together, studied scripture together, broke bread with one another, loved

one another and were in relationship as a body of Christ. This remembrance of the past and faith in God’s kingdom to come was embodied in the ancient roof nails we were given by the cathedral’s capital campaign, weighty, pointy, hand-made, old objects that have helped hold the roof on our Anglican spiritual home for hundreds of years. I loved the thought of the genera-tions of hands in the body of Christ that made those nails and built and now maintain that cathedral and all of our spiritual homes in service to the body of Christ.

We pilgrims journeying on to Cyprus were privileged to con-tinue to see the communion revealed, with our realization of our relationship in one love and one God heightened in its juxta-position in the diamond light of the Cyprus sun with unfamiliar theological expression, languages, vegetation, geography and

My family loves to travel. That is, my educator husband loves to travel, and the children and I follow him. His tireless cu-riosity, planning and patience lead us to some amazing places, which I unfailingly recognize as I look up upon arrival, finally disengaging from my law practice as the kids conclude the ami-able argument that has sustained their attention for a day. We look up. We are amazed. I am amazed. I am surprised and gen-uinely delighted after a day’s worth of hours and thousands of miles to realize that I am in the Badlands. In Rome. In Port An-geles. In Manhattan. In Oaxaca. Standing on skis at the top of a lift at Lake Tahoe, looking down one side of the mountain into the deserts of Nevada, and 45 degrees to the right into a snowy but evidently lush California valley. It is this happy but uncom-mitted, uninvolved and entirely dependent ongoing experience of travel that formed the backdrop and contrast for the spiritual gift of my trip to the Compass Rose Society annual meeting in Canterbury and mission trip to Cyprus in November.

In the spring of 2008, as I completed my term as senior war-den of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, our rec-tor, Geoffrey Hoare, invited my husband and me to take his place at the Compass Rose Society annual meeting due to his conflict with another meeting. I happily agreed and then learned that, despite the existence of at least 365 days in every single year, the Compass Rose meet-ing and mission trip had a four-day overlap with Jere’s planned trip with his students to Earth Univer-sity in Ecuador. Without my agent, guide, protector and friend, I was going to need to engage actively in this trip, to concentrate on planning, preparation, reservations, tickets, con-nections, currency, trans-fers and signposts. I had a sudden realization that this trip would be as much about the transformative effect of the journey itself and my experience with my fellow travelers as it would be about the most remarkable individual sight I might see, or words I might hear, while traveling. This was not a trip; this was a pilgrimage.

With that perspective, and after personally planning most likely the first intentional journey I have made in my lifetime, I, like pilgrims since long before Chaucer’s time, “to caunterbury …wende/ The hooly blisful martir for to seke.” After landing at Heathrow, airport bus to terminal train to local train to transfer at Charing Cross to Canterbury station and taxi to the Chaucer Hotel, I checked in and settled into the pub, happily anticipating a lovely chicken pie. I had not dented the soft cushion of my wing chair before Beverley Paterson Wood appeared before me

Della Wager Wells by Aphrodite’s Rock on the way back to Nicosia from Paphos in Cyprus.

Legend has it that a nude midnight swim three times around the rock will lead either to lifelong fertility or to one’s true love.

Della married her true love in 1981 and they have two teenaged children already, so she happily settled for another meze in Nicosia with her friends and fellow pilgrims instead.

The un-accidental Touristby Della Wagner Wells, CRS Member

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Kenneth has also been busy telling the Compass Rose Society story, most recently in Buffalo and Philadelphia.

Board member Sarah Buxton-Smith gave an insightful account of the Compass Rose mission trip to the Diocese of Cy-prus and the Gulf, sharing the challenges and opportunities that the Anglican Church faces in those diverse areas. It was encour-aging to hear of the ecumenical work that our church is engaged in, often providing space for fellow Christians to worship Our Lord. The Board has responded to a request for funding a retreat center in the Diocese and sent the Bishop a check for $10,000 to help clergy and laity gain needed retreat time in the midst of challenging ministries.

The Board is acutely aware that we need to improve in the area of Communication with our members. Through the use of skilled volunteers we have: • Improved the website, thanks to the support of board

member Joey Fan

• Created Regional Coordinators to communicate with members in their local areas. This initiative has been steered by board members Archbishop Terry Finlay and Bob Foltz.

• Established the beginnings of a communications plan in order to strengthen our links with members and allow us to tell it to others. We are deeply grateful for the input of our communications team, board members Connie Gray and Norris Battin ably assisted by Sonja Krastman.

A good deal of our Board meeting focused on these last two issues. We are guided in all of our planning by the fact that the Compass Rose Society exists to support the work of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury in and through the Anglican Communion.

Message from our President continued from page 1

We re working on a booth at General Convention, courte-sy of former board member Bishop Jon Bruno and the Diocese of Los Angeles. We also had a presence at the meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Jamaica. So much of what we do is relational and we are seeking as many opportunities as we can to connect Anglicans with Anglicans for their mutual learn-ing, prayer and pastoral support.

Our Treasurer, Bob Biehl, provided a financial report which showed a good year overall for the Compass Rose Society. We have now exceeded the $6.3 million dollar mark in our gifts to the work of the Anglican Communion. If you wish to see a copy of the financial statements and other information please visit our website at www.compassrosesociety.org.

The Canadian Compass Rose Society reported it had entered into partnership with the Anglican Church of Canada to support the education of a Rwandan priest who is completing doctoral studies at a Canadian seminary. This is an initiative in response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s concern that theological edu-cation be given a high priority in the Communion. The Compass Rose Society has also sent some 31 sets of theological textbooks on Anglicanism to seminaries who have requested them. A list of the books and the schools that have received them is now on our website.

We welcomed new board members Rick Lord from Virginia, Sarah Buxton-Smith from Buffalo and Antonia Wong Tuen-Yee to their first board meeting. On the first evening in Toronto, the Canadian Board hosted a reception in which the story of the Compass Rose Society was told to a number of potential new members. The Board was feted to a delicious meal courtesy of Diocese of Toronto and Bishop Colin Johnson. The Diocese is a long-standing member of the Society. We were particularly thrilled that the Primate of Canada, the Most Reverend Fred Hiltz was able to share that relaxed evening with us.

We have taken the decision to hold the mid-year board meet-ings for 2010 in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been enormously generous to the Anglican Communion and has been actively supportive of the Compass Rose Society. This will be a strategic opportunity for us to strengthen our support in that part of the world.

As I write this, the final arrangements for the Annual Meeting in London at Lambeth Palace and the mission trip to the Diocese of Southern of Malawi are being put in place. Southern Malawi is a vibrant diocese with ministries to HIV/AIDS, youth, and school campuses among their many initiatives. We look forward to being with Bishop James Tengatenga and the Diocese of South-ern Malawi for a unique experience of local Anglican ministry, all in the name of Our Lord. I hope to have the applications for the Annual Meeting and the Mission Trip to Southern Malawi in your hands very soon.

I am reminded that the road to the Empty Tomb must pass through the cross. Without the cross of course there can be no Christianity. Please pray for those who live the faith of Jesus Christ in other more difficult circumstances on this earth we share. Thank you for your continued support of the Compass Rose Society. You make a huge difference in the lives of others.

Bishop Philip Poole

architecture. We journeyed together, grew to know one another and, at least for this pilgrim, grew to know ourselves better as we walked, talked, met, looked, prayed and ate countless me-zes, mixes, together -- hummus, local olives, tabouleh, roasted peppers, lamb and chicken roasted on a spit close to our table -- breaking fresh bread to dip in olive oil pressed from the olives that thrived under that same diamond sun.

On our last evening together in Nicosia, we pilgrims cel-ebrated communion at St. Paul’s Cathedral, breaking bread to-gether in the name of Christ as fellow travelers. Outside the cathedral, as we departed, there was a soft brushing of the palm fronds in the light temperate breeze. The sky was cloudy and dark until, as I stood looking up from the walk, the clouds shift-ed and revealed the impossibly bright moon outlining the high roof of the cathedral. I have a sensory impression in my heart of that moment, of the breeze, of the whispering sound of the palm fronds, of the gently moving clouds, of the brightness of the moon, of the temperature of the air and of the cross on the ridge of the roof, an impression formed not in amazement upon unthinking arrival at a single sight, but over the transformative experience of a journey, a pilgrimage.

a Prayer for These Troubled DaysHeart of Christ, your compassion flows to those who have lost their jobs, their

livelihood, their homes and their dignity as a result of the world’s greed and our global lack of care for others and even ourselves. Give strength to colleagues, families and friends that travel with those in distress. We ask you to bless those who continue to work and heal their brokenness and loss and aid them as they face added tasks and stress. Show your mercy to those entrusted with making difficult decisions that affect the lives of others and, curb our greed and give us true repentance when we fail to uphold the dignity of all living things.

Loving Jesus, our times are in your hands. Your sacred heart embraces us as we call upon you. May the fire of your love strengthen us to move forward and seek your guidance for the days ahead, as our hope is in you, our risen Savior.

Amen

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JOin Us as:

Chapter Groups, Parish and Diocesan Groups and individual Members.Annual London/Canterbury Meeting Mission Trips

www.anglicancommunion.org • www.compassrosesociety.org

If you would like more information please email Bishop Poole at philip.poole@compassrosesociety.org.

As part of our ongoing effort to improve communications we would like to update our files to better understand who has email and would be willing to receive the Compass Rose Communicator via email, helping to reduce postage costs. If email is your preferred method of receiving the Communicator and other Compass Rose Society material, please email: terry.noble@compassrosesociety.org

LinKs OF inTeresT:The Arch bishop of Canterbury: www.archbishopofcanterbury.org The Compass Rose Society: www.compassrosesociety.org The Anglican Communion: www.anglicancommunion.org The Anglican Church of Canada: www.anglican.caEpiscopal Life Online: www.episcopalchurch.org The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.: www.cathedral.org/cathedralThe 2008 Lambeth Conference: www.lambethconference.org “Canterbury Tails”, CRS blog from Lambeth 2008: http://tinyurl.com/5srhqxAnglicans Online: http://anglicansonline.orgSave Canterbury Cathedral: www.savecanterburycathedral.comRev. Rick Lord’s blog “World of Your Making”: www.ricklord.org For Facebook users, A Compass Rose Society Group has been

established Follow Compass Rose at Twitter: @tomcranmer

To view, post video for viewing by the membership go to: www.youtube.com/group/compassrose

THe COMpass rOse sOCieTYSupporting the work and Ministry of the Archbishop of

Canterbury and the Anglican Communion Office.

THe COMMUniCaTOrAn occasional newsletter of the international Compass Rose Society.

JULY 2009Connie Gray, Communications Committee Chair

Sonja Krastman, AdvisorNorris Battin, CRS Board Member, Advisor

The Compass Rose society operating summary

Dear members,In these difficult times I think it is particularly important that we all

prayerfully consider our ability to give to those in need. Your contributions to the Anglican Communion support ministries and projects that others in this world, even more profoundly affected by the global economic distress than many of us have been, are unable to contribute to.

Please use the included response card and envelope for your contribution or pledge.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our worldwide Anglican Communion and to ministry in our Lord’s name.

Bishop Philip Poole President, The Compass Rose Society