Our blogging bishops are back! Here is the first entry from the House of Bishops meeting on September 17, 2008 from Salt Lake City, Utah.
Bishop Neff Powell, Diocese of Southwest Virginia
"In your Lambeth experience, for what are you most grateful?"
That was the question for our morning session. We answered this question in small groups of seven sitting at table. One wall of our room was filled with newsprint reporting the highlights of the table conversation. Among the many responses were these:
- The retreat with the Archbishop of Canterbury prior to the opening of the conference.
- The daily Bible study groups where we met with some bishops from around the world to study the great “I am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel according to St. John. There was always deep loving honesty.
- Spending honest time with people we have never met and with whom we sometimes have differences of culture and theology.
- The day in London when we marched in witness to show our support of the Millennium Development Goals, culminating with a stirring speech by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
- The Lord’s Prayer at each workshop occasion when everyone spoke in their own language was a Pentecost moment every time.
In the afternoon we had an open conversation about our Lambeth experience. Two of our bishops spoke to us through interpreters. Another witnessed the devastation caused by the recent hurricanes. Another reflected on how grateful he was for the translators at the Lambeth Conference.
The presence of these bishops and their voices at the microphones was a reminder that The Episcopal Church extends beyond the borders of the United States and that we have our own internal cultural differences and challenges. And for those challenges, I give thanks to God.
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