The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church is meeting in Nashville, TN (Diocese of Tennessee) and concludes today. The following is an account of the activities for Tuesday, September 24.
The theme for the fall meeting of the Episcopal Church House of Bishops is Transforming Loss into Possibilities.
The bishops began the session with Morning Prayer.
Emcee for the day was Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of New Hampshire.
The day’s theme was Moving Missionally: Episcopal Perspectives. Using biblical periscopes as a frame of reference, a panel which included Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce of Los Angeles, Bishop Dan Edwards of Nevada, Bishop Julio Holguin of Dominican Republic, Bishop Jeff Lee of Chicago, and Bishop Todd Ousley of Eastern Michigan spoke to this topic.
Bishop Edwards addressed Moving through loss; the following table talk focused on: As a bishop where have you experienced the greatest loss? Bishop Holguin spoke about financial subsidiarity. Bishop Bruce talked about transformation. Bishop Ousley shared experiences of rediscovery in the diocese for transformation. Bishop Lee used the familiar gospel story of the fishes and loaves to illustrate abundance in ministry.
The morning session concluded with Noonday prayers and a sharing of gratitudes.
The afternoon started with a Town Hall meeting and the discussions were private.
The day concluded with the business meeting, chaired by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who started the session with prayer. Secretary Bishop Ken Price reported 146 bishops registered, with 138 eligible to vote, indicating there was a quorum
The most senior bishop present was Bishop William Sanders, the first bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee, who is the third most senior bishop in The Episcopal Church.
The House of Bishops requested the Pastoral Development Committee to prepare a resolution proposing a canonical change for presentation to the 78th General Convention that would prohibit diocesan staff from serving on diocesan standing committees.
The day concluded with Eucharist celebrated by Bishop Ann Hodges-Copple of North Carolina. HOB Chaplain the Rev. Simon Bautista of Washington preached.
Media Briefers for Tuesday, September 24
Bishop Wendell Gibbs Diocese of Michigan, http://www.edomi.org/
Bishop Terry White, Diocese of Kentucky http://www.episcopalky.org/