And Now...

My work here is done. On Sunday I will start my journey back: to London for a couple of days and then on to Toronto. Overall, it has been a worthwhile experience: mostly enjoyable, interesting at times, bumpy on the edges but in every way productive. It has been a great opportunity to network and reconnect with bishops I would not have been able to see otherwise. Granted, it was difficult to find them and - even when you did - to hold their attention. By now, most of them are suffering from information overload aggravated by sheer exhaustion. And for people accustomed to being in charge most of the time, the confines of the student residences and the unrelenting rigidity of a set program weeks-on-end cannot be easy. So, you sort of understand when they are not as wildly excited about your "new ideas" as you may be.

It is amazing, though, how quickly you develop the technique of going right to the point in the few seconds that you have their attention. That's what you do.

Now, here is a potentially newsworthy development coming out of the July 23rd fringe event that I had the privilege of planning. The Diocese of Central Tanganyika (with the possibility of endorsement by the Province of Tanzania) is offering to stand with the Anglican Church of Canada in our effort to discern God's will around the issues of human sexuality. Bishop Mhogolo says that he is going to engage his diocese in a process of intentional bible and theological reflection over some of the issues and questions around this problem as a gesture of being in partnership with us on this journey and they will be delighted to share their learning with us along the way. Bishop Mhogolo and I will work out details on exactly how such a process might look like. However, they will likely be looking more at the methodological issues rather than the subject of human sexuality itself. Bishop Mhogolo is also committed to securing the endorsement of the Province on this and possibly getting some other dioceses involved in doing something like this. Bishop Philip Baji of the Diocese of Tanga and John Semalenga of the Diocese of South West Tanganyika have already expressed an interest in participating.

This development (if it holds) is very significant because it enables us to begin turning the corner away from going our separate ways toward working together in prayer, bible study and theological reflection even if we end up at different points on this journey.

I want to thank you very much for your prayers and for checking in from time to time to see what I was up to here in the cradle of Anglicanism.

Blessings