The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church is meeting in retreat through 17 at Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, NC. The following is an account of the activities for Monday, March 16
The theme for the spring meeting of the Episcopal Church House of Bishops is Fostering a culture of curiosity, compassion and courage in Christ.
The day began with Eucharist, celebrated by Bishop Mariann Budde of Washington. .edow.org
The emcee for the day was Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce of Los Angeles http://ladiocese.org/
A meditation on Interfaith was presented by Bishop Mark Beckwith of Newark. http://dioceseofnewark.org/
He spoke of his first interfaith experience as a young boy in public school and the power it has had on his life and ministry. In his comments he identified the experience of inheriting our traditions but we end up choosing our faith. We discover that Jesus takes us to the edge and there we find our center.
Bishop Laura Ahrens of Connecticut .episcopalct.org and Bishop Brian Prior of Minnesota invited the bishops into table conversation based on the meditation.
In the afternoon, the House reviewed and discussed the proposal from TREC (The Task Force for Reimagining The Episcopal Church http://reimaginetec.org/). The discussion was led by Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves of El Camino Real http://wwwhttp://www.realepiscopal.org/, Bishop Andy Doyle of Texas. http://epicenter.org/, and Bishop Sean Rowe of Northwestern Pennsylvania/Bethlehem. .dionwpa.org/ .diobeth.org
Table discussion focused on revelations about self and process that were brought up through the listening process. The discussion also challenged the House to “show-up, be heard and live brave”. This was followed by conversation by the entire House, facilitated by Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina .dionc.org/, which touched on topics like CCABs, unicameral body, and the need to focus on the reality that structure must facilitate mission.
Sam McDonald, Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Director of Mission, presented an overview of The Report To The Church http://wwwhttp://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/report-church-2015, and thanked the bishops for their faithfulness to calling.
The afternoon session concluded with a form of Evening Worship.
Following dinner the bishops will break into groups to discuss various topics included: Bishops Against Gun Violence, TREC, Ecclesiology Report, The Report To The Church, the Marriage Task Force report and Evangelism.
Media Briefers for Monday March 16
Bishop Wendell Gibbs of Michigan http://edomi.org/
Bishop Michael Milliken of Western Kansas http://diowks.org/
Bishop Jim Waggoner of Spokane .spokanediocese.org/