Arrivals

Hello everyone!

Today we spent a majority of the day checking in Bishops. There is an expected number of roughly 1200 (Bishops and their spouses) or so that will be attending the conference. Throughout the afternoon, we waited in a parking lot for buses of Bishops to arrive so that we could take their luggage, label their luggage with a circular sticker that told us which building to send it to and direct the Bishops to another building for registration. At times, there was a small trickle of Bishops and at other times, loads of Bishops would arrive at one time, traveling from all over the world.

I also spent some time looking for Bishop Zawo's (Bishop of Sudan) luggage since he seemed to end up staying in a different building than where his luggage was. Luckily, I have been appointed the team leader for one of the Stewards groups so I had a walkie-talkie on hand to dialogue with other various Steward groups around the campus to locate the luggage. After walking from various buildings across the University of Kent to locate the luggage, it was finally found and delivered to the Bishop. Mission complete! Not quite...

My last shift for the evening was at this rather large blue tent (or marquee as the British would call it) that was planted right in the middle of this parking lot at the University of Kent just for the purpose of holding various large meetings that included all the Bishops. Hurrying down, I finally made my spot and started to hand out translation headsets to all the Bishops (since the Lambeth program is being translated in some 7 languages this year). As I handed out the handsets, to what my surprise, there was Bishop Bruno! It was good to see him and meet Mary Bruno who was also attending the conference. I also ran into Bishop Carranza after the service in the "Big Top" (the witty name that the Lambeth Conference Designing Committee gave the large blue tent). It was good to see these familiar faces. I also got to participate in the opening service in the Big Top, which consisted of a speech made by Archbishop Rowan who gracefully and eloquently spoke about the importance of the Anglican Communion. He was followed by a series of informational sessions led by Sue Parks, the Conference Manager for the Lambeth Conference and the Rt. Revd. Dr. Winston Halapua who is the Conference Chaplain and the Bishop for the Diocese of Polynesia in Aotearoa New Zealand. Archbishop Rowan was preceded by a speech made by Canon Kenneth Kearon, the Secretary General for the Lambeth Conference. It was a good day overall. The service opened and closed with various hymns.

Tomorrow the Bishops will go on retreat at the Cathedral, but before that the Bishops will attend their assigned Bible Study groups on the University of Kent's campus, which will meet together each day of the conference in the morning. The focus of each Bible study is the "I am" sayings of the Gospel of John. The Bishops will then head to the Cathedral and the Stewards will help out with the separate Spouses Conference that is happening on Kent's campus in the Sports Arena. The spouses have a seperate conference on campus and it is similar to the layout of the Bishops' Conference. Later in the week there are also events in the evening called "Fringe Events," which consist of evening programs on campus. Overall, the topic matter for these Fringe Events (about 56 events over 20 days of the conference) center around LGBT issues, ranging from groups such as Integrity to Redeemed Lives. Gene Robinson will be speaking at two of these events, one on the 23rd and the second on the 30th. I am hoping to go to one of these. In addition, these events focus also on womens concerns with target groups such as IAWN. As a Steward, I have access to any event, which makes it easy to pick and choose what I want to see, as long as I am not scheduled to work.

It's been quite exciting! I already met Archbishop Rowan quite randomly as I headed out of one the college to work. He was walking up with his wife, Jane Williams. As I passed I said, "Hello Archbishop!" Surprisingly, he stuck out his hand, said hello and I introduced myself and said that I was from Los Angeles, California and then I met his wife. She asked quite nicely, "Are you getting to know the campus?" and I responded with, "We're trying!" Honestly, the campus is rather large and in between cramming the sessions about First Aid, Boundaries and Security, it's been hard to know the campus really well!

Along with Archbishop Rowan and Jane Williams, I have met Bishop Mathes, Bishop of San Diego, Bishop Councell, Bishop of New Jersey and his wife Ruth, Bishop Barry Clark, Bishop of Montreal and Bishop Victoria Matthews, Bishop of New Zealand.

I think one thing I am learning the most is how large our communion is. St. John's Cathedral within the context of the LA Diocese is part of a church that is worldwide, including many ethnicities and languages. We are a very diverse group and for me, that is very reassuring - because I know I have brothers and sisters all over the world. More importantly, it has been reassuring to see different cultures shape the Anglican tradition within the context of their own culture, shaping it with their own music and their own forms of expression. We are a very diverse group!

All right, it's time for me to get to bed. Tomorrow morning I have to direct the Bishops in the breakfast hall. I'll keep you updated! Over and out!