We have begun with 3 days of Bible Study and a retreat led by Archbishop Rowan Williams at Canterbury Cathedral.

     This is certainly the best Bible Study I've ever been part of. We are studying Jesus' "I am" statements in John. The materiasl are excellent but the group is what makes it special. We have 3 Americans, 2 Brits, and 3 Africans. 2 of the Africans are from Zimbabwe. That puts them in the middle of the Robert Mugabe crisis. The third African bishop has 3 children of his own, but he has taken in 9 others. They are the children of his dead siblings. All of the children are AIDS orphans. I sat on the bus today with yet another African bishop whose sister recently died of AIDS. He has taken in her 4 children. These people live with their faith on the line. I am in awe of them. Hearing their stories made me espeically pleased to read on the Episcopal Public Policy Network that our lobbying has paid off. Congress has tripled the allocation for combatting AIDS, malaria, and tubeculosis interntionally. Let us pray and lobby now for the Global Poverty Act. (see below)

       Our retreat began with something especially valuable for us in Nevada. Take a look at Galatians 1:16. Your translation probably has Paul thanking God for "revealing his son to me." But the Greek preposition is quite clearly not "to." It's "in." Paul thanks God for "revealing his son in me." Read it in the context of the chapter. That is definitely what Paul is saying. Archbishop Williams said, "Every calling in the Church is to be a place in which Christ is revealed." That is so important for those of us committed to Total Ministry and MOAB (ministy of all baptized). We do not do Total Ministy and MOAB as a way to hold down operating costs of church. We doTotal Ministry and MOAB because all Christains, lay and ordained, are called "to be places in which Christ is revealed." Only when we are all revealing Christ is the gospel truly proclaimed.

       It was special to pray yesterday at the place where Thomas a' Beckett was martyred for pitting the Church against the State/Crown. Today I prayed at the place his shrine stood until a later King Henry (our not always beloved VIII) had the shrine demolished and Beckett's bones shot out of a canon into the river to prevent pilgrms from commemorating his faithful resistance to government in the name of God. 

       Worship with the bishops has been a joy too. We sing good music -- African songs and Taize chants. Not boring old 19th century stuff. I have enjoyed meeting lots of new folks, but also enjoyed good talks with Katharine and several American bishop buddies, especially our neighbors in Province 8, my House of Bishops tablemates, and my classmates in Bishop School.

       One surprise: As you probably know, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and the Southern Cone (Chile & Argentina) are offically boycotting the Conference. But there are some Nigerian and Kenyan bishops here. That is a act of real courage for them. In their churches, the Priimate  has the power to effectively extinquish their vocations for such disobedience. Their faithfulness remind me of Beckett. Only their stand is against church oppression instead of royal oppression.

       Tomorrow is the last day of retreat. The Indaba groups and education sessions begin after that. We are just about to roll up our sleeves.

                                                                                                                                         BD