Day Two from Camp Allen

Daily Account from the House of Bishops for Saturday, March 8

• The Saturday, March 8 session started with Morning Prayer and small group Bible study.


• During the morning session, the bishops engaged in a lively program preparing for the Lambeth Conference through an exercise for developing and delivering messages, presented by Macky Alston of Auburn Media. Alston led the discussion on preparing for media interviews and the principles of giving voice to faith concerns in the media.


• The Eucharist was celebrated at 11:30 a.m.


• Following lunch, the Rev. Canon Brian Cox of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the Hon. Joanne O'Donnell of the Diocese of Los Angeles led a presentation on faith-based reconciliation.

O'Donnell said the goal was not to reach reconciliation but to lead a reconciling life. She was not advocating for agreement, but for a transformation of attitude toward persons whose ideas may differ from your own.

Cox presented eight core values for religious and faith-based reconciliation: pluralism; inclusion; peacemaking; social justice; forgiveness; healing; sovereignty; and atonement.

This was followed by small group discussions on the question presented by Cox: How do my world view, core values and collective identity influence my perception of the conflict in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion?

Cox then led a discussion on Demolishing Walls of Hostility: the Principles of Inclusion. Part of reconciliation, he said, is for people to address the hostility that resides in their hearts. Hostility, he continued, can come from sources of gender, class, or tribalism. Cox cited racism and nationalism as examples of tribal hostilities. Cox referred to Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in applying Jesus' principles of loving your enemy and transforming hate into love.

He talked about the current dynamics within the three Abrahamic faiths -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Cox noted that all three are facing the key issue of identity.

He charged the bishops to discuss the following question in small groups: To which groups do I feel hostility, and how have I given and received offense?
Following Sunday morning Eucharist, the next session of the House of Bishops will be the evening of Sunday, March 9.

Media briefers for Saturday, March 8, 2008:
The Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls, Bishop of Lexington
The Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf, Bishop of Rhode Island