House of Bishops, Friday March 25

The Spring House of Bishops meeting at the Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina got off to a start at 2 PM today.

I had arrived a day early to participate in the Coaching Program for new bishops run by the College of Bishops. Our leader was David Renick whom the clergy of the Diocese of Arizona will remember as the leader of our clergy retreat two years ago.
David always has interesting insights, and it is great to spend time with him.

Most of the HOB time was taken up with hearing preliminary reports dealing with such topics as blessing of same gender partnerships, disciplinary procedures, Episcopal schools, etc. There are many of these, all mercifully brief.

Tomorrow we will get down to our major themes which center around ways to reach young adults, Christianity and Islam, and the Anglican Covenant. We will have outside speakers for these seasons. There is plenty of retreat time planned as well.

We welcomed as visitors one of the bishops from the Congo and the Archbishop of Korea. My former colleague from St. Jame's Los Angeles, Aidan Koh, is with the Archbishop as a translator, and it was great to see him again.

Of course the real interesting conversations happen over dinner or during social time when some of us sit on the porch overlooking the lake and smoke a cigar.

I will try to get a picture or two posted tomorrow.

Keep us in your prayers!