Class Photo Day:Lambeth Conference Class of 2008

Saturday was "photo op" day at the Lambeth Conference ... and at 2:00 p.m the hill was a sea of vested bishops heading to the bleachers for their portrait sitting.
As the official photographer gave instructions through a bullhorn herding the bishops into rows, the "unofficial" photographers gathered, as well, to document the scene ...

... while the Archbishop of Canterbury waited patiently.

It was interesting, after a week of being kept at a distance from the bishops by fences and stewards and Lambeth Conference staff to be so close to "the action" for a change. Here's me ... just a stone's throw from my own bishop, Jon Bruno ...

... who scored an aisle seat and seemed to be enjoying himself VERY much.

A couple of shots of the "long view" ...

... of very many bishops ...

... and yet, not all of them, is it? Sad to think of the ones who chose not to come because others were included and sadder still to remember that +Gene was excluded because of who he is.

After the "official" shot there was lots of impromptu photography going on, including this one of me with my bishop and Davis MacIyalla ... who was celebrating having just gotten word that his request for asylum in Great Britain from Nigeria had been granted.

Then there was the "other" official photo sitting ...

... of the 18 women bishops participating in Lambeth Conference 2008. (There are actually 24 women bishops in the Anglican Communion but the others are either retired or currently between jurisdictions.)

And here's was this picture of the American women ...

... and of Cynthia Black who orchestrated the "women 's photo" with extraordinary grace and efficiency. (Her official photos are online here.)

One of my favorite parts of the day ...

... were the men bishops lining up to get their own photos. And best of all were these two Korean bishops ...

... who after taking pictures of the women came over and asked if please, they would do them the honor of allowing them to be photographed together to be part of this historic occasion.

Then the opportunity for a few more shots ... this one of Richard Schori and his charming wife Katharine ...

And finally, having screwed up my courage to ask the Presiding Bishop if she was willing to have her picture taken with me, was overwhelmed when she said she'd be honored.

This is me ... being overwhelmed!

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Out and about on the Kent U Campus

So today I had the chance to go up to the University of Kent campus ... where the Lambeth Conference is happening ... and wander around a bit.

I started out in the "Sports Hall" where the exhibits are set up in the "Market Place."


From there I went on a little explore to make sure our makeshift kiosks for "The Lambeth Witness" were where we'd put them and that all was well in newsletter distribution land.

All was well.

In the process of wandering about, who should I run into but ...

... David Virtue. (Here we are -- taking a few minutes to "catch up" ... much to the amusement of a number of folks circulating about the lobby in the Grimond Building. From there, I went over to Darwin Hall where I got to spend a few minutes catching up with ...

... my OWN bishop ... +Jon Bruno. (I saw +Sergio earlier but didn't have the camera out at that point.) Jon was in great spirits and finding the conference, from his perspective "going well ... so far."

So back I headed to the Market Place where -- serendipitously -- I spied the Bishop of New Hampshire on a walkabout ... here greeting an admirer from I-don't-know-where ...

... and then having getting "hugs all around" from brother bishops +Curry and +Gibbs who were vestment shopping.

"It's totally you!"

I left +Gene talking with a member of the Irish press, having been called back down to Darwin, where -- rumor had it -- the Archbishop of the Sudan was about to show up and announce that he disapproved of the actions of the American Episcopal Church. (Amazing what some people think is news!)

So they were right and here he came and off we went ...

... to get our responses written, our blogs blogged, our newsletter written and ...

... EDITED! Here's our crack team of international editors, hard at work getting every jot and tittle correct so we can start the process over again the next day ... getting The Lambeth Witness out into the hands of those gathered up on the Kent U Campus.

Playing Catch up ...Pictures from Saturday

I've gotten really behind posting pictures but there's a lull while we're waiting for the newsletter to get edited and printe out so here' a bit of what Saturday looked like.

It was a finishing set up/volunteer orientation day. The Bishop of New Hampshire stopped by to see the space and to pray over the volunteers gathered.

Here he is giving Katie Sherrod a couple of quotes for the newsletter.

Then we headed off to the "marketplace" (AKA "exhibit hall") to see how the set up was going with our "stall" (AKA "booth.")

Here's me 'n Colin having a little "photo op."

Meanwhile, John Clinton was getting the rest of the credentials sorted out. (No, he's not praying for mercy from the nice Lambeth Conference voluteer ... just filling out forms.)

On the way out we ran into our friend, Jenny TePaa, who is one of the Bible Study coordinators here.

And then it was "bishops swimming upstream" time, as the bishops came out from their morning session and headed off to lunch.

You can see why they call it "The Big Top" and the stewards ... in the orange vests ... were QUITE thorough in herding traffic and keeping sheep and goats (AKA the bishops and us) apart.

I was so very pleased to run into two of MY favorite bishops on the planet ... Mark Beckwith and Marc Andrus.

Then it was back to the Communication Centre where we met up with Ruth Gledhill who came to see a preview of "Voices of Witness: Africa" ... which she pronounced "an incredibly powerful and moving film" and publicized in her Lambeth Diary for July 20.

Ruth was no sooner on her way down the hill on her bike than Simon (Thinking Anglicans) Sarmiento arrived to give our team a briefing on "things British Media." (Thanks, Simon!)

Then the "all volunteer orientation" which began with Evening Prayer led by our Conference Chaplain, the Reverend (soon-to-be-Dr.) Caro Hall. A perfect end to a VERY busy day!

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Friday in Canterbury

So here's a view of Canterbury Cathedral down through the High Street ...

...heading toward the cathedral gates which are CLOSELY monitored to keep all but bishops OUT! (A Lambeth Steward -- one of the folks charged with keeping this an orderly gathering -- called it "the bishops on lock-down.")

Here's a shot of a gaggle of them -- bishops, that is -- heading toward the Cathedral this morning ...

... and here's a familiar face ... +Cathy Roskam (Suffragan, New York) with (I think) +Henry Parsley (Diocesan, Alabama) a bit behind on the right.

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Meanwhile, John continues to make miracles happen via mobile phone at the Communication Centre ...

We were amused by this headline on the church hall bulletin board ...

... while we plug away at typing and formatting and networking ...

... and Katie has staked out her "Don't Mess With Texas" spot!!

And then, miraculously, there was a MOST satisfactory "humming" sound from the far end of the church hall and ...

... VOILA!

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The prototype of our "Lambeth Witness" news letter emerged from our now-networked, now-printing-happily printer/copier. So all -- for the moment -- is well in Integrity Communication Centre land!

Getting Ready to get Set and Go!

We're now ensconced in a lovely Canterbury neighborhood not far from the University of Kent ...

... near St. Stephen's Church.

We're setting up our Communications Centre in the St. Stephen's Church House ...

And today has been mostly all about ethernet cables and network cards and copy machines ...

... and much progress has been made!

But we did get out to walk about a bit ... to not only smell but snap some flowers:

How "English Country Garden" is this???

Last night we had supper on the Canterbury High Street in the shadow of the old city walls last night ...

Across the street from this quite lovely pub with the fun name ... "The Bishop's Finger" ...

We had a lovely curry with Changing Attitude leaders Brenda Harrison and Colin Coward ...

But perhaps the highlight of the evening was this window display:

Confirmation of the rumors that that there would INDEED be "Anglican Fudge" at the Lambeth Conference ... or at least in the shop window down the road!

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Day Four: And off to Canterbury we go!

Yes, we brought too much luggage. But it's here now so there's nothing to be done for it but to schlepp it around!

Here we are ... or John Clinton is ... arriving at our Canterbury "home away from home" ...

The Ebury Hotel

So after lunch at the local pub (fish & chips, of course!) we started to get ready for the work ahead.

Katie Sherrod, our newsletter editor and head writer took some time to do some remedial reading: "Homosexuality (Perspectives from Uganda)" by Sylvia Tamale while Integrity volunteer Michael Bell looks on.


Meanwhile, Louise and Cynthia got us "provisioned." (We're in what they call "self catering cottages" so will be brewing our own tea and toasting our own crumpets.)

Then we all ventured out together to get our mobile phones "topped up" as they say over here. The photo above is of what we're calling "Sudden Onset Group Slowness Syndrome" ... when it inexplicably takes us a very long time to do a very small thing for no discernable reason.

Then it was up to the University of Kent ... the site of the Lambeth Conference ... where media and participants (AKA "bishops") were registering and getting their credentials. Here's Solange De Santis, the editor of Episcopal Life, interviewing +Pierre Whalon.

Here's Team Integrity getting their media credentials ... a somtimes laborious process that was mercifully short and organized ... giving us hopes of good things to come in the conference organizational department!

Finally, here's Katie Sherrod comparing notes with +Chilton Knudsen -- figuring out UK phone numbers is NOT the easiest thing in the world, but then it's probably tough for those who come our way across the pond, too!

.And now that we are officially "settled in" ... Let the Games Begin!