The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church is meeting in retreat at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, NC (Diocese of Western North Carolina) from March 8 to March 12.  The following is an account of the activities for Saturday, March 9.

The theme for the spring retreat meeting of the Episcopal Church House of Bishops is Godly Leadership in the Midst of Loss. The schedule calls for prayer-filled sessions, and bishops participate in daily Bible study, reflection and worship.

The emcee for the day was Bishop Todd Ousley, Diocese of Eastern Michigan www.eastmich.org/

Continuing the theme of Godly Leadership in the Midst of Loss, the reflection during Morning Prayer was on Leadership in the Midst of Natural Disaster, presented by Bishop George Councell of the Diocese of New Jersey http://newjersey.anglican.org/. His diocese and the neighboring dioceses of Newark, New York and Long Island were profoundly assaulted by Hurricane Sandy. Bishop Councell observed that in other times, and still in certain industries, such natural disasters were called “acts of God,” and described that as a slur on God. Instead, he said, we are called “to show the world in times of natural disaster just what an act of God looks like; acts of compassion, acts of ‘going there.’”

The bishops gathered at lunch according to Provinces for discussion and planning.

During the afternoon, the bishops will gather in small groups for reflection and for planning future initiatives.

The day will conclude with Eucharist celebrated by Bishop Alfredo Morante of the Diocese of Ecuador Litoral http://litoralepiscopal.org/  Preacher will be HOB chaplain, the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers, Diocese of Long Island.  www.dioceselongisland.org/

Media Briefers for Saturday March 9

Bishop Andy Dietsche, Diocese of New York www.dioceseny.org

Bishop Sean Rowe, Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania https://episcopalpartnership.org/

HOB on Twitter: #HOB2013