The Episcopal Church has dioceses in 17 countries, extending from Taiwan to a parish in the nation of Georgia, whose capital is a three-hour flight from Moscow. Our world in crisis is a natural topic for side conversations at our spring House of Bishops meeting at Camp Allen, Texas, two hours from Austin. Bishops Angel Roberto Rivera Rodriguez of Cuba and Juan Carlos Quiñonez Mera of Central Ecuador offer insights that are significantly more nuanced than what one reads in the papers.
Meanwhile, as we spend our first three days exploring how to enhance collaborations between dioceses and seminaries as the Holy Spirit forms the church’s is next generation of leaders, the eighth bishop of Los Angeles, Antonio José Gallardo Lucena, quickly got the hang of the time-tested House of Bishops sacrament of developing concepts in table groups, writing them on butcher paper, and posting them on the wall to compare and contrast.
