Saturday afternoon and evening

The afternoon session began with the official nominations for the Presiding Bishop office. In addition to the four put forward by the Nominating Committee, three were nominated from the floor. The House of Bishops had previously voted not to consider anyone nominated after April 1, to ensure that all nominees had the appropriate physical and psychological testing. The House of Bishops votes on Sunday, after Eucharist, in closed sessionl

I missed the rest of the afternoon session to attend the reception by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and Witness, a publication of Episcopal Church Publishing Company. The reception was held in Trinity Church, which is beautiful - a bit larger than our St Mark's Cathedral.

The keynote speaker at the reception was the Rev. Canon Niam Ateek, director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, and a strong and tireless proposent of faith and non-violence. His message of inclusive faith concluded with the story of Jonah. That marvelous little story tells us that God is larger than what the Israelites could imagine, the people of God included many more than just the Israelites, and the lands of God extended farther than just the biblical lands of Israel to include the lands of the enemy, the Ninivites (if I have the names correct). Rev Attek is impatient with those who believe they have the only true faith.

The Rt Rev Barbara C Harris, President of Episcopal Church Publishing, and Janet Chisholm, Chair of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, presented the awards of the evening. This was the first time I have seen Bishop Harris in such an intimate setting. She is very small and yet so large. Reminds me of Betty Cunningham.

The opportunities for activities such as this reception abound at General Convention. It's impossible to fit everything in!